Mazda Protege
Owners filed 1,074 complaints across 17 model years of the Mazda Protege. The 1995 drew the most (165); the 2006 the fewest (0).
Model years17
Complaints1,074
Recalls38
Fires22
Deaths2
Every Mazda Protege model year compared
Complaints per year| Year | Complaints | Relative volume | Recalls | Fires | Crashes | Most reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | Routine | |
| 2005 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | Routine | |
| 2004 | 0 | 1 | — | — | — | Routine | |
| 2003 | 120 | 4 | 2 | 16 | Seat Belts | Fatalities reported | |
| 2002 | 98 | 4 | 2 | 12 | Seat Belts | Routine | |
| 2001 | 50 | 5 | 1 | 12 | Air Bags | Routine | |
| 2000 | 102 | 3 | 3 | 25 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Routine | |
| 1999 | 88 | 3 | 1 | 21 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Routine | |
| 1998 | 46 | 2 | — | 8 | Power Train › Automatic Transmission | Routine | |
| 1997 | 66 | 2 | 2 | 15 | Air Bags › Frontal | Routine | |
| 1996 | 70 | 2 | 1 | 24 | Air Bags › Frontal | Routine | |
| 1995 | 165 | 5 | 4 | 30 | Air Bags › Frontal | Fatalities reported | |
| 1994 | 74 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Seat Belts | Routine | |
| 1993 | 44 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Seat Belts | Routine | |
| 1992 | 63 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Seat Belts | Routine | |
| 1991 | 51 | 1 | 2 | 5 | Seat Belts › Front › Retractor | Routine | |
| 1990 | 37 | 1 | — | 3 | Seat Belts | Routine |
Which Mazda Protege years should you avoid?
On raw complaint volume the 1995 is the weakest year on record, with 165 complaints concentrated in the air bags › frontal. It carries 5 recalls.
Read these numbers with sales volume in mind. A model year that sold in huge numbers naturally accumulates more reports than a rare one, and older cars have had more years to fail. The stronger signal is the severity columns and whether the same component keeps coming up year after year.
Data: NHTSA complaint and recall files, September 2026. Complaints are unverified owner reports.