2017 Mazda MX-5 Owner Complaints

I am filing this complaint regarding a manual transmission failure on my 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata (VIN: [XXX] ) at 55,000 miles. The failure occurred without warning while driving, causing immediate and significant transmission malfunction. Mazda issued Technical Service Bulletin 05 [XXX] c addressing this exact defect — defective synchros in 2nd and 3rd gear causing grinding, inability to engage gears, and transmission failure. My VIN falls within the TSB coverage range. The cutoff is sequential number XXX and my sequential number is XXX, placing me within the affected range. Despite this documented defect and my vehicle being under Mazda's Powertrain Limited Warranty at time of failure (under 60,000 miles), Mazda refused full coverage. The dealer offered only 50% goodwill. I escalated to the Mazda regional representative, who also declined full coverage and redirected me back to the dealer — evasive given the documented nature of this defect. This is not isolated. Multiple 2016–2017 MX-5 owners have reported identical failures, and a Mazda engineer publicly acknowledged on video that weak transmission tolerances cause gear teeth to shear under load. Active petitions are calling for a formal recall. While I was able to drive to the dealership, this failure occurred without warning. A similar failure at highway speeds or in a less favorable situation could result in complete loss of vehicle control, posing significant danger to the driver and surrounding traffic. I request that NHTSA: (1) investigate this defect across all 2016–2017 MX-5 Miata manual transmission vehicles, (2) determine whether a formal recall is warranted, and (3) require Mazda to honor full warranty coverage for VINs within the TSB range. I have retained all documentation and am prepared to provide additional information upon request. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11725675

Incident

Mar 5, 2026

Happened at US 101 Southbound 0.1 MILES SOUTH of RENGSTORFF AVENUE. “Power Steering Malfunction” light came on, then suddenly after 1 second, the car’s steering went stiff and suddenly braked while at freeway speed flow of traffic. Car then sharply veered left into center divider due to automatic sudden braking with no control of the steering wheel

NHTSA ID

11717758

Incident

Feb 9, 2026

I have 205/45/R 17 on a car that I drive on short trips maybe once a week or two. Driving on the highway, the tpms light came on and the handling was instantly strange. I pulled over and checked the tire, the sidewall was blown out on the passenger rear. I had it replaced. Now about 2 months later, the right rear went flat after a trip. I took it to be repaired and was told that the sidewall was splitting and it could not be repaired. I am concerned that this may not be coincidence.

NHTSA ID

11689772

Incident

Sep 20, 2025

Vehicles rear windshield spontaneously shattered. Vehicle was idle and upon starting the vehicle a cracking sound was heard in the cabin and the rear view mirror was unusable as the rear windshield was entirely shattered into <1 inch pieces. Small pieces of loose glass had fallen from both upper corners of the windshield. The windshield is still attached to the vehicle and rear visibility is severely limited. No third-party inspections have been executed. There was no previous damage to the windshield and the car was idling when the failure occurred. There were no indications of potential failure before the incident.

NHTSA ID

11667552

Incident

Jun 11, 2025

Airbag recall mail received from Mazda, when trying to book online mazdausa.com service depart denies vehicle has a recall and refused to schedule appointment

NHTSA ID

11625369

Incident

Nov 14, 2024

THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN A LOT. THE CRACK APPEARS TO HAVE STARTED ON THE PASSENGER SIDE EDGE OF THE WINDSHIELD AND RAPIDLY PROPOGATED HORIZONTALLY ALONG THE CENTER OF THE WINDSHIELD TO ROUGHLY THE CENTER OF THE GLASS. THE CAR HAD 12000 MILES ON IT WHEN THE WINDSHIELD CRACKED.

NHTSA ID

11221551

Incident

May 30, 2019

Mileage

12,000 mi

AT 8300 MILES THIS CAR HAS DOZENS OF ROCK CHIPS IN THE WINDSHIELD, MOST OF WHICH WERE PICKED UP FROM DRIVING ON RELATIVELY CLEAN INTERSTATES AND SOME OF WHICH HAVE BEGUN TO SPIDERWEB. I BELIEVE THAT THE GLASS ON THIS VEHICLE IS ABNORMALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO PICKING UP CHIPS FROM ROCKS WHICH WILL IN TIME CREATE STRESS RISERS AND CAUSE THE WINDSHIELD TO FAIL PREMATURELY. I TALKED TO A MAZDA REP AND THEY SAID THAT THERE WERE NO RECALLS ON THIS VEHICLE NOR WAS THE WINDSHIELD COVERED BY THE FACTORY WARRANTY. THEY DIRECTED ME TO TAKE MY COMPLAINT TO MY INSURANCE COMPANY. MORE PICTURES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.

NHTSA ID

11186624

Incident

Mar 12, 2019

Mileage

8,300 mi

WHEN USING ANDROID AUTO WHILE THE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION THE TOUCHSCREEN IS DISABLED WHICH MEANS I NEED MY EYES ON THE SCREEN TO WATCH THE SELECTION MOVE BY TURNING THE SELECTION WHEEL RATHER THAN JUST TOUCHING THE SCREEN. I THINK THIS IS MUCH MORE OF A DISTRACTION. OTHER CAR MODELS ALLOW TOUCHSCREEN USE.

NHTSA ID

11155804

Incident

Dec 1, 2018

Mileage

8,000 mi

FRONT BREMBO BRAKES LOCKED AFTER CAR IS PARKED OVERNIGHT. IT UNLOCKED AFTER I FORCE THE CAR FORWARD. IT RELEASES WITH A LOUD SNAP. THIS OCCURS 2 OR 3 TIMES A MONTH. CAR DRIVES FINE. DEALER HAS NO SOLUTION. DEALER REQUESTS OVERNIGHT ASSESSMENT UNFORTUNATELY THIS OCCURS WITHOUT PREDICTABILITY.

NHTSA ID

11155218

Incident

Nov 30, 2018

Mileage

9,000 mi

WHILE MAKING A RIGHT TURN, SUDDENLY LOST ALL STEERING WITH CAR GOING STRAIGHT ACROSS LANE. "POWER STEERING MALFUNCTION" WARNING LIGHT APPEARED, THEN STEERING RETURNED. "DSC MALFUNCTION" WARNING LIGHT REMAINED ON AND "TPMS MALFUNCTION" WARNING LIGHT REMAINED ON. IF THERE WAS A CAR IN OPPOSITE LANE, WOULD HAVE RAN INTO. ONCE CAR WAS RESTARTED, ALL WARNINGS DISAPPEARED. BRINGING INTO DEALER 5/11.

NHTSA ID

10984603

Incident

May 7, 2017

Mileage

915 mi

THE HEADLINER ON MY CONVERTIBLE TOP COMES UNFASTENED RIGHT ABOVE THE REAR WINDOW. IT SAGS DOWN BLOCKING THE VEIW BY AN INCH AND A HALF. THIS HAS BEEN FIXED 3 TIMES AND CONTINUES TO HAPPEN. THIS WINDOW IS SMALL TO BEGIN WITH. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY AND THE TOP WAS BEING TAKEN DOWN.

NHTSA ID

10959824

Incident

Nov 11, 2016

Mileage

5,000 mi