1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Routine

Owners filed 28 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the seat belts › front › buckle assembly. No safety recall has been issued.

What fails
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Seat Belts › Front › Buckle Assembly4
000
Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine3
000
Air Bags › Frontal3
202
Air Bags3
102
Seat Belts › Front2
000
Power Train › Manual Transmission2
000
Power Train › Automatic Transmission2
000
Unknown or Other1
000
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc1
000
Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Air Bags
Filed Jul 18, 2022CO

Car has had multiple airbag lights come on I have fixed them all I cannot buy parts to fix my airbag new so I have to go and find used parts that just keep breaking I know many people with this problem almost every owner of one of these cars has this exact problem

Service BrakesFire
Filed Apr 18, 2021CA

WWW.SOUTHBAYMAZDA.COM HAWTHORNE BLVD. X ATRESIA BLVD MANHATTAN BEACH CA 91246-0762 3103235712 FAX

Unknown or Other
Filed Sep 28, 2015CA

I WAS DRIVING TO THE GAS STATION TO GET SOME TEA AND ON MY WAY BACK AS I WAS SHIFTING INTO 5TH GEAR I FELT A POP AND I FINALLY GOT IT INTO GEAR BUT I HAD TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL TO STOP I STARTED TO DEPRESS THE CLUTCH BECAUSE OF THE POP I FELT AND WITH EVERY PUSH IT LOST MORE AND MORE PRESSURE AND EVENTUALLY AFTER THE 4TH PUSH THERE WAS NO RESISTANCE AT ALL TWO PEOPLE HELPED PUSH ME TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND I HAD TO DRIVE HOME BY SHUTTING OFF THE CAR AND SHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR AND TURNING IT OVER AND PRESSING THE GAS PEDAL TO START IT AND WE HAD IT TOWED TO THE MECHANIC AND HE SAID THAT A BOLT CAME LOOSE AND FELL INTO THE SLAVE CYLINDER DAMAGING IT WHICH CAUSED ALL MY CLUTCH FLUID TO LEAK OUT AND THESE CARS ARE KNOWN TO CAUSE SOME BOLTS TO VIBRATE OUT AND THIS PROBLEM COULD SIMPLY BE FIXED WITH A LITTLE LOCTITE THREAD LOCKER AND THAT WOULD HAVE SAVED OVER 1,000 DOLLARS IN REPAIRS IF I DIDN'T HAVE GREEN LIGHTS ALL THE WAY HOME THERE COULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT.

Power Train › Manual Transmission
Filed Sep 18, 2006105,000 milesTX

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE SHIFTING FROM 5TH GEAR OR REVERSE TO NEUTRAL, THE TRANSMISSION WOULD GO INTO REVERSE. AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP DETERMINED THE SWING ARM WAS BAD ON THE VEHICLE AND SHOULD BE REPAIRED.

Seat Belts › Front › Buckle Assembly
Filed Oct 8, 200395,000 milesPA

DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT FAILS TO LATCH IT OFTEN TAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO CAUSE IT TO HOLD. *LA

Seat Belts › Front
Filed Jun 30, 2003HI

CONSUMER NOTICED FRONTAL SEAT BELTS WILL NOT LOCK IN PLACE. DEALER AND MANUFATURER HAD BEEN CONTACTED. *AK

Air Bags
Filed Jun 30, 2003HI

CONSUMER NOTICED THAT WHILE TRAVELING AIR BAG INDICATION LIGHT FLASHED . DEALER AND MANUFACTURER HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. *AK

Exterior Lighting › Tail Lights
Filed May 2, 2001WA

WHEN PRESSING ON BRAKES THERE BE NO DIFFERENCE IN BRAKE LIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS. CONSUMER FEELS BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH. *AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission › Gear Position Indication (prndl)
Filed Apr 30, 2001AZ

GEAR GETS STUCK IN REVERSE. ALSO, VEHICLE IS PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND FOOT IS RELEASED FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL VEHICLE WILL ROLL BACKWARDS. *AK

Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc
Filed Mar 24, 2001CA

WHEN IT RAINS ENOUGH TO GENERATE SOME STANDING WATER ON THE ROAD, THE BRAKES MAY NOT WORK AT ALL FOR A COUPLE SECONDS AFTER APPLIED.*AK

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline
Filed Nov 21, 2000NY

PERFORMED 60K MILE SERVICE;FAILURE DUE TO TORQUE APPLIED TO CRANK BOLT OR WRONGFUL INSERTION OF THE WOODRUFF KEY. *AK

Power Train › Automatic Transmission
Filed Nov 2, 2000IL

VEHICLE WILL LOCK INTO REVERSE WHILE IN NEUTRAL GEAR DUE TO A MECHANICAL PROBLEM IN TRANSMISSION. MAZDA SENT OUT TSB, BUT DEFECT STILL EXISTS. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK

Seat Belts › Front › Buckle Assembly
Filed Jun 26, 2000NY

DRIVER'S SEATBELT WILL NO LONGER LATCH! DEALER CHARGED ME FOR REPAIR! *AK

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine
Filed Jun 26, 2000PA

MFG RECOMMENDED 60,000 MI TIMING BELT WAS CHANGED AT 59,000 MI... ALL ROUTINE MAINTENANCE PERFORMED PER MFG SPECS. FAILURE OF CRANKSHAFT IS KNOWN MFG DEFECT IN 1990 AND EARLY 1991 MODELS. LATER MODELS HAVE MODIFIED CRANKSHAFT WITH NO KNOWN FAILURES. REPAIR ESTIMATE FROM LOCAL MAZDA DEALERSHIP IS $3,700.00 FOR A NEW ENGINE.*AK

Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine
Filed Jan 22, 2000WA

60,000 TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT PERFORMED AT 56K MILES. COST TO REPAIR ENGINE ESTIMATED TO BE $2,200. *AK

Power Train › Driveline › Differential Unit
Filed Oct 18, 1999CA

THE PINION INSIDE THE DIFFERENTIAL CAME OFF CAUSING TOTAL LOCK OF REAR WHEELS.

Air Bags › FrontalCrash1 injured
Filed Oct 14, 1999ID

WHILE DRIVING WITH SEAT BELT OON CONSUMER REAR ENDED A VEHICLE THAT HAD STOPPED FOR ANOTHER VEHICLE.CONSUMER WAS TRAVELING ABOUT 20 MPH, AND AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK

Air BagsCrash2 injured
Filed Oct 19, 1998MD

VIOLENT DEPLOYMENT OF AIR BAG RESULTING IN SEVERE INJURY TO CONSUMERS. (ATTORNEY FOR CONSUMERS).

Seat Belts › Front
Filed Mar 16, 1998VA

DRIVERS SIDE SEATBELT LATCH OPERATES INTERMITTENTLY, FAILING TO OPERATE 50% OF THE TIME.

Power Train › Manual Transmission
Filed Nov 5, 1997MD

TRANSMISSION LOCKS UP WHEN SWITCHING GEARS AND WILL LOCK UP IN REVERSE.

20 of 28 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 1999
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20054000Routine
20048000Routine
200314030Routine
200220010Routine
200122000Routine
200029020Routine
199974000Routine
19981000Routine
199711010Routine
199629000Routine
199530020Routine
199418000Routine
19938000Routine
199222000Routine
199121000Routine
1990 — this page28010Routine

Compare every MX-5 Miata year →

Reading this record

No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.

Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.