Owners have filed 101 complaints on the Mazda Navajo, covering 1991–1994. The system named most often is Tires (14 reports). Worst years by volume: 1994, 1991, 1993; cleanest: 1992, 1993, 1991. 6 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 4.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mazda Navajo
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 101 Navajo complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Tires 14 Read
While driving 70mph right rear passenger firestone atx tire blew out, causing the vehicle to lose control, and go under a semi -trailer and roll over. Vehicle was a mazda navajo. DOT # wihlat51561
The spare tire that came with the vehicle is not of the same construction material as the original tires. The consumer had trouble installing spare tire. The spare tire is mounted on a steel wheel and the origina tires are mounted on aluminum wheels, while installing spare tire and tightening the lug nuts the locking…
While driving vehicle became unstable and difficult to drive, consumer immediately slowed down with great difficulty, was able to pull vehicle over to the shoulder, got out of the vehicle and inspected the firestone wilderness at tires and saw that one of the tires had come completley apart and was in shreds around…
Service Brakes 14 Read
Vehicle pulls to the right under moderate to hard braking/more noticeable during snowy or rainy conditions
The throttle was dirty causing the pedal to stick and the vehicle to accelerate quickly. Nlm
On normal road conditions the brakes locks up, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, almost caused an accident at least (3) times. The system has ABS
Vehicle Speed Control 10 Read
Cruise control failed to disengage when brakes applied/vehicle suddenly accelerated, causing loss of control/accident
The gas pedal got stuck and while trying to put the car into neutral, the car went into reverse which caused the car to rollover
Pressed accelerator pedal went to the floor. Car went additional thirty feet. Please describe other problems. Tt
Visibility 9 Read
Started vehicle snowy day turned on the defroster - smoke started coming in through heating and defrost vents, smelled like pine needles. Turned car off smoke proceeded to get worse - called fire dept. SUV was then on fire, SUV is completely totaled - from reading other incidents I really think this a fault where…
Rearview mirror vibrates, impairing visibility to the rear
Broken sun roof was open and the glass just fell out while driving. *ak
Power Train 9 Read
Replaced wheel bearings three times
Transmission failure
Automatic locking hub for the front wheels dows not work. Whenever switching from 2-wd to 4-wd hubs failed to lock in place. Took vehicle to mechanic, and informed consumer that would need a new locking hub. Gave no indication what caused problem
Engine And Engine Cooling 7 Read
Vehicle vibrates at various speeds
Pulley was defective and redesigned. Owners should be notified that pulley can disentegrate causing belt to break resulting in loss of power steering, overheating, and battery charging. The company redesinged the pulley so they know they had a problem, but the consumer is at risk. It also cost $165.00 parts and labor…
Anti lock brakes experience extended stopping distance
Fuel System 6 Read
The fuel shutoff switch unplugs causing the car to stall
No summary listed for above vehicle
While driving at 65mph and without warning the vehicle will stall and it will be hard for the consumer to control the vehicle. Dealer diagnosed the problem as fuel pump and crank sensor failure. Ts
Structure 6 Read
Qconsumer states that the hatchback cylinder broke. Manufacturer has been notified
Recall99v310002 concerning hydraulic lift cylinders. Dealer says it's not a recall, as well as owner's miles have expired
Consumer took vehicle to dealer to have liftgate bracket repaired per recall notice 99V-310, dealer refused to repair bracket free of charge claiming that the recall notice expired, as a result consumer had the bracket replaced by another company, however since the original bracket broke the tailgate does not close…
Navajo 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Electrical System | — | 3 | |
| 1993 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| 1992 | Air Bags | 1 | — | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 5 | — |
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 | 52 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.9 |
| Worst single series | 6 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.6 years |
A model average of 1.9 hides a worst series at 6. 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
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- 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 Navajo?
By complaint volume, 1994, 1991, 1993 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 Navajo years are the cleanest?
1992, 1993, 1991 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mazda Navajo have?
101 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1991–1994. Of those, 6 describe a crash and 3 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.