A hood flutter issue has landed Mitsubishi in court, with owners alleging poor fixes and lingering fears behind the wheel
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- Mitsubishi’s hood flutter issue triggered a revived class action lawsuit over safety concerns.
- A Technical Service Bulletin in 2021 reportedly failed to fully fix the ongoing hood problem.
- Lawsuit claims fluttering hoods can hurt fuel economy and distract drivers on highways.
The Mitsubishi Outlander might be the brand’s only mildly compelling offering in the U.S. lineup right now, but it’s been dogged by a surprisingly persistent issue: hoods that bounce and flutter like they’re trying to lift off. Owners have been raising concerns about it for years. Mitsubishi responded with a Technical Service Bulletin, but the problem reportedly persists, and now the company is facing a class action lawsuit over it.
The current lawsuit, a consolidation of two earlier class actions, claims Mitsubishi knew about the hood issue on the 2022 Outlander before the vehicle even went on sale. It argues that the company should have issued a recall to address the defect and cites a Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) as evidence that Mitsubishi has been aware of the problem for some time.
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The first TSB was issued in December 2021 after customers began complaining about hood flutter, noting that the hood could be misaligned. Dealers were instructed to replace it with a new hood that featured an updated weather strip, while retaining the original grille.
Mitsubishi would later launch a ‘customer satisfaction campaign’ and instructed dealers to fit “countermeasure weather-strips” to fix the hood flutter. The TSB was then revised to also include adjustments for the hood latch.
Hood Problems
According to Car Complaints, the lawsuit alleges that while Mitsubishi’s fixes have “essentially” eliminated the hood flutter, they “did not entirely eliminate the Hood Defect.” It also claims that any hood flutter can worsen fuel economy and that replacement hoods may not match the rest of the vehicle.
A judge paused the lawsuit in December last year so arguments could be heard by a mediator. However, this stay has since been lifted, and the class action can continue.
One of the plaintiffs says the flutter “was a distraction whenever he drove his car at highway speeds or in windy conditions,” and made him “feel unsafe and concerned whether the hood would become unlatched and fly open while driving.”
