1999 Mitsubishi Montero problems & reliability
40 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 1999 Mitsubishi Montero, alongside 2 safety recall campaigns. Last verified Aug 7, 2026. Complaints are unverified reports submitted by owners to the federal Office of Defects Investigation.
Each complaint is counted once (by NHTSA case number), even when it names several vehicles.
4 complaints report injuries (4 injured, 1 deaths reported).
Most reported problems
| Component | Complaints | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension → | 11 | 28% |
| Power Train | 8 | 20% |
| Air Bags | 5 | 13% |
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 4 | 10% |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 4 | 10% |
| Electrical System | 2 | 5% |
| Steering | 2 | 5% |
| Unknown OR Other | 2 | 5% |
| Child Seat | 1 | 3% |
| Equipment | 1 | 3% |
Component groups as classified by NHTSA. A complaint can name more than one component, so shares may sum to more than 100%.
Complaints by incident year
What owners report
“In the dealer , I makes the appointmemt to 7am, and the dealer nimay mitsubishi, ave. Kennedy 1011 san juan, pr no work with the car at the 200pm. No work with the hours appoinment. The work is horrible”
Unknown OR Other · filed Mar 30, 2021
“It has been almost a year since this recall was issued and still there is no remedy. I feel that this is very unreasonable considering the defective airbag could cause serious injury or even death as stated in the recall notice. Please pursue this and help us come to a solution for this as quickly as possible.”
Air Bags · filed Dec 10, 2020
“Tl* takata recall. The contact called on behalf of her mother, the driver of a 1999 mitsubishi montero. The contact stated that the driver crashed into a mountain at a unknown speed and the air bags failed to deploy. As a result, the driver passed away upon impact. A police report was filed. The contact stated the…”
Air Bags · filed Mar 31, 2020
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA. Reports are not independently verified.
Technical service bulletins
25 manufacturer communications (TSBs, service campaigns, warranty extensions) are on file with NHTSA for the 1999 Mitsubishi Montero. The 10 most recent:
This is a revised Safety Recall bulletin sent to dealers informing them of new Takata inflator return procedures.
SR-20-001REV3 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jun 23, 2023
This Technical Service Bulletin was sent to dealers to explain the difference between normal dew condensation, which is a natural phenomenon, and water penetration caused by improper sealing or a defective/broken part.
TSB-22-54-003 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Apr 7, 2022
This is a service newsletter (Tech Talk) that was sent out to dealers.
TT253 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Nov 26, 2019
This is a Technical Service Bulletin sent to dealers. This bulletin supersedes TSB-18-00-003, issued April, 2018, to add updated information for Carrying Capacity Reduced Label.
TSB-19-00-008 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 30, 2019
This is a service newsletter (Tech Talk) that was sent out to dealers.
TT237 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Feb 26, 2018
This is a service newsletter (Tech Talk) that was sent out to dealers.
TT218 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Aug 28, 2015
This TSB contains troubleshooting steps for diagnosis of various customer complaints relating to the audio system speakers in Mitsubishi vehicles equipped with original equipment audio components.
TSB-15-54-004 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 29, 2015
This is a service newsletter (Tech Talk) that was sent out to dealers.
TT217 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Jul 22, 2015
This is an index of Tech Talk newsletter articles released in 2012.
TTIndex12 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 5, 2013
This is a service newsletter (Tech Talk) that was sent out to dealers.
TT195 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions · issued Mar 5, 2013
TSBs are repair guidance manufacturers send to dealers — they are not recalls and repairs are not automatically free. Full documents are available on NHTSA’s site.
Safety recalls
The 1999 Mitsubishi Montero has 2 NHTSA recall campaigns — recall repairs are free at franchised dealers regardless of the vehicle’s age.
Check whether your specific vehicle is affected
Recall campaigns often cover only certain VIN ranges. Enter your VIN on the official NHTSA site to confirm whether your vehicle is included and whether the repair is still open.
Check VIN on NHTSA →Buying a used 1999 Mitsubishi Montero?
- · Decode the seller’s VIN with our free VIN decoder to confirm the exact year, engine and trim.
- · Check for unrepaired recalls by VIN on NHTSA’s official lookup — recall repairs are free.