In the 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer ES the climate control switch that controls the heat/cold is faulty. The switch has always been hard to turn and eventually broke off. Making the car owner unable to switch from hot to cold. This poses a problem in the winter months especially since the car owners will be unable to defrost their windshield. Making it a hazard. The dealership says there isn't a recall for this problem. This is the exact quote I received from the dealership on the repair. "to repair this properly we need to remove the dash and repair the heater box. If that is not done than you will damage the new heater knob. The parts for the repair are $520 and the labor to do the repair is $756" I've seen numerous complaints about this problem over the internet.

- Richmond, VA, USA

HVAC dash control unit-Mitsubishi Lancer 2003 the knob that controls the hot and cold broke, it is stuck in the cold position. Now unable to regulate the heating functions. It also hinders the de-fogging feature from working. I live in nyc and the weather has now changed. With the climate change I have no heat nor can I use the de-fogging if I am driving in the rain. Part is not repairable by dealer because it is not a defect in the car. I have researched and found that every owner of this type of vehicle since 99/00 has had this happen. Each owner has stated that Mitsubishi does not recognize it as a recall. It is a safety issue for people like myself who live where the climate changes, as well if someone lives in a warm climate/cold climate year round. I think Mitsubishi needs to admit to this defect and fix it for all owners of this model. Being that this happens so frequent there is no way to acquire the part second hand. Only at the dealer.

- New York, NY, USA

I have the same problem with the heat/cold knob and the vent knob. I complained to the dealer and they quoted me almost $1900 to fix. Yeah right!!! this is a solution.... not a complete fix but I get heat in the winter and A/C in the summer. I have to reached up under the dash and move the controls at the heater box. If you still have a knob turn it while you are moving the plastic arm from underneath. The vent control is a little harder to get to but it's up there, just a little higher and it's smaller so it's harder to get leverage. Hope this helps all of you. Look under from the driver side. You'll see the cables and they're connected to a plastic rotary arm thing. It works... yes it's a pain... beats dishing out major bucks for something that's not our fault.

- Shepherdsville, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer. The adjuster knob for the defroster was very difficult to turn and eventually failed. The dealer stated that the temp control cable needed to be replaced. There is a tsb NHTSA item number 10006466. The failure mileage was 27,000 and current mileage was 29,200.

- Valrico , FL, USA

Heater knob does not turn to hot and no heat.... cold weather in Canada

- Montreal, 00, USA

Ac/heater knob is defective, can't change between A/C and heat to effectively use defroster.

- Maricopa, AZ, USA

My heater knob is broke. It has been very hard to turn since I bought this car. It was used but this is my second car of the same type. It had the same problem in the car before this one and there was only a 1 year difference in them. I am not the only person with this problem. Most of the people I know on the internet forum has the same problem with this car.

- Green Cove Springs, FL, USA

: the contact stated the heating and cooling control knob fractured. The vehicle was taken to the service dealer, who determined that the heating and cooling control knob was redesigned and that there were none of the original knobs in stock.

- Apache, OK, USA