Owners have filed 110 complaints on the Mazda MX-6, covering 1990–1997. The system named most often is Service Brakes (19 reports). Worst years by volume: 1994, 1993, 1990; cleanest: 1997, 1992, 1996. 12 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 5.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mazda MX-6
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 110 MX-6 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 19 Read
While driving on good road conditions, no rain, driver applied the brakes in a regular stopping situation and the pedal went to the floor, causing the vehicle to crash into the rear of a truck. The vehicle is being repaired. The dealership could not find a problem with the brake system
Consumer was involved in an accident. Point of impact was drivers side, front at 60 to 65 mph, in which there was no deployment of driver's or passenger's side airbags. Cause unkown. Also brake rotors have excessive wear and tear. Cause also unknown
Consumer was going about 40-45 mph when a cat ran out in front of auto, slammed on brakes, skidded and hit a trash can on the street, air bags did not deploy. Driver was slightly injured
Power Train 17 Read
Transmission
Automatic transmission failure
Several failures of the drivers door latch/handle
Engine And Engine Cooling 16 Read
Radiator malfunctioned. In addition, driver's seat belt/door locks/ oxygen sensor and engine valves failed, causing engine to be excessively noisy
Oil pump failed. Yh
It seems as if the entire electrical system and engine valves are faulty. I have seen many TSB's about all related problems...it does not look like mazda is taking care of the problems!
Electrical System 9 Read
No summary provided by consumer
All of the locking mecahnisms on the car fail. The door locks don't work all of the time. At times when you try to shut the door with lock flipped to lock, the door won't close. Thr trunk won't open with a master or secondary key, nor by the interior trunk switch. This poses a hazard because we have 2 small kids, let…
Fuse tail lights and dash board goes out, electrical short, in for repair can not found the problem. Tt
Seat Belts 8 Read
Passenger side restraint system failed in a wreck aug/95 and was replaced. The driver side restraint system has been malfunctioning the past couple of years. Automatic shoulder belt either jams in the track or fails to operate. Dealer has refused to repair or replace system. I believe the mazda mx6 was built in the…
Motorized seat belt does not retract
Front lap belts will disengage, mostlyon passenger's side
Suspension 7 Read
Front passenger's side coil spring cracked,causing tires to blowout, resulting in a collision
Whenever turning steering wheel would hear a popping noise. Temperature is not a factor. Took to an independent mechanic to try to correct problem of popping noise
While driving on the highway at any rate of speed steering wheel randomly locks up due to problem with the lower ball joint. Vehicle niot included in recall 92V045000 due to VIN. Please give any further details
Air Bags 6 Read
Frontal collision, impact 12:00, speed 20 mph, air bag deployed causing burns and injuries. Tt
Seatbelt did not lock up and air bag had a delay on deployment during impact. Tt
Upon impact, right front, owner wants to acknowledge his head was turned slightly/hearing permanently damaged from air bag deployment please describe details
Fuel System 5 Read
Faulty fuel injection system; while driving vehicle constantly misses/backfires
On my way to work about 30 minutes before 8:00 a.m. Traveling on the florida's turnpike south about to exit, on to miami dade college, on the way to work then class. I proceeded to yield then stop at the intersection at 107th and 104th. The car shut completely off and wouldn't start again, after waiting about several…
Trying to get a recall done from potamkin mazda 7400 bird rd miami, fl 33155. I called so that I could get some information, the representative told me that the towing would be free for the recall before he gave me the towing company's phone number. When my car got to the service station (potamkin mazda) they called…
MX-6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Power Train | — | — | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 1992 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1991 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 1 | — | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | — | — |
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 | 64 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.7 |
| Worst single series | 10 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.9 years |
A model average of 1.7 hides a worst series at 10. 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
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
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-6?
By complaint volume, 1994, 1993, 1990 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-6 years are the cleanest?
1997, 1992, 1996 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mazda MX-6 have?
110 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–1997. Of those, 12 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.