Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full
Data refreshed
Our database holds 28 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 1990 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Showing 1–25 of 28 · page 1 of 2
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
WWW.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 THAT WHILE TRAVELING AIR BAG INDICATION LIGHT FLASHED . DEALER AND MANUFACTURER HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
CONSUMER NOTICED FRONTAL SEAT BELTS WILL NOT LOCK IN PLACE. DEALER AND MANUFATURER HAD 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
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
DRIVER'S SEATBELT WILL NO LONGER LATCH! DEALER CHARGED ME FOR REPAIR! *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.
CRANKSHAFT FAILURE. CLAIMS THIS PROBLEM IS COMMON TO MIATAS AND 323 BETWEEN YEARS 1990-1991. *AK
DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT DOES NOT ALWAYS LATCH; AT TIMES, IT FAILS TO CLICK/HOLD. *AK
BRAKES PERFORM POORLY DURING RAINY WEATHER. *SD
AIR BAG MODULE FAILED, NO ACCIDENT, AIR BAG LIGHT CAME ON INDICATING THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM. *AK
IN A VEHICLE COLLISION FROM THE FRONT AND REAR AT HIGH SPEEDS THE AIR BAG DID NOT DEPLOY. TT
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Data on this page last refreshed .