Owners have filed 3 complaints on the Mazda MX-5, covering 2019–2019. The system named most often is Fuel System (2 reports). Worst years by volume: 2019; cleanest: 2019. On average the car was 3.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mazda MX-5
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 3 MX-5 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Fuel System 2 Read
The contact owns a 2019 Mazda MX-5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V875000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began to lose power with the check engine and traction control warning…
The contact owns a 2019 Mazda MX-5. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V875000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the…
Power Train 1 Read
TCM recall 2016-2019 mx-5 (nd) transmission control module software concern safety recall 3019a; NHTSA campn number 19V-072 did not work problem still exist getting worse. See pdf file in complaint uploads
MX-5 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 3 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.0 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the MX-5?
By complaint volume, 2019 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which MX-5 years are the cleanest?
2019 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mazda MX-5 have?
3 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2019–2019. Of those, 0 describe a crash and 0 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.