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
1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata
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.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Belts › Front › Buckle Assembly | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Air Bags › Frontal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Air Bags | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Seat Belts › Front | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Power Train › Manual Transmission | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Power Train › Automatic Transmission | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Unknown or Other | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsWWW.SOUTHBAYMAZDA.COM HAWTHORNE BLVD. X ATRESIA BLVD MANHATTAN BEACH CA 91246-0762 3103235712 FAX
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.
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.
DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT FAILS TO LATCH IT OFTEN TAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO CAUSE IT TO HOLD. *LA
CONSUMER NOTICED FRONTAL SEAT BELTS WILL NOT LOCK IN PLACE. DEALER AND MANUFATURER HAD BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
CONSUMER NOTICED THAT WHILE TRAVELING AIR BAG INDICATION LIGHT FLASHED . DEALER AND MANUFACTURER HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
WHEN PRESSING ON BRAKES THERE BE NO DIFFERENCE IN BRAKE LIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS. CONSUMER FEELS BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH. *AK
GEAR GETS STUCK IN REVERSE. ALSO, VEHICLE IS PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND FOOT IS RELEASED FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL VEHICLE WILL ROLL BACKWARDS. *AK
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
PERFORMED 60K MILE SERVICE;FAILURE DUE TO TORQUE APPLIED TO CRANK BOLT OR WRONGFUL INSERTION OF THE WOODRUFF KEY. *AK
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
DRIVER'S SEATBELT WILL NO LONGER LATCH! DEALER CHARGED ME FOR REPAIR! *AK
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
60,000 TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT PERFORMED AT 56K MILES. COST TO REPAIR ENGINE ESTIMATED TO BE $2,200. *AK
THE PINION INSIDE THE DIFFERENTIAL CAME OFF CAUSING TOTAL LOCK OF REAR WHEELS.
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
VIOLENT DEPLOYMENT OF AIR BAG RESULTING IN SEVERE INJURY TO CONSUMERS. (ATTORNEY FOR CONSUMERS).
DRIVERS SIDE SEATBELT LATCH OPERATES INTERMITTENTLY, FAILING TO OPERATE 50% OF THE TIME.
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| Year | Complaints | Recalls | Fires | Deaths | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2004 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2003 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Routine |
| 2002 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Routine |
| 2001 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 2000 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Routine |
| 1999 | 74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1997 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Routine |
| 1996 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1995 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Routine |
| 1994 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1993 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1992 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1991 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Routine |
| 1990 — this page | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Routine |
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.