Total Complaints
116 filings
MAZDA MAZDA3 · model year
116 NHTSA complaints, 7 crash reports, and 6 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2019MAZDAMAZDA3 carries 116 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 7 crashes, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall Not Rated/5 rating, with Not Rated/5 front crash, Not Rated/5 side crash, and Not Rated/5 rollover scores derived from standardized barrier and dynamic tests.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2019 MAZDA3 is service brakes with 15 filings, followed by unknown or other (15) and engine (11). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 6 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 21 investigation files overlapping the 2019 MAZDA3, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
116 filings
Crashes Reported
7 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | 15 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 15 |
| ENGINE | 11 |
| POWER TRAIN | 10 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 10 |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 8 |
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | 7 |
| AIR BAGS | 6 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING | 6 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY | 5 |
| STEERING | 3 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 2 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING | 2 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS | 2 |
VISIBILITY:GLASS, SIDE/REAR
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2019 Mazda3 vehicles equipped with manual dimming mirrors. The adhesive between the interior rearview mirror and the housing may not be properly bonded, allowing the mirror to detach from the housing. Note: Vehicles equipped with auto dim
ENGINE
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2018-2019 CX-5, Mazda6, and 2019 Mazda3 vehicles. A software error in the powertrain control module (PCM) may cause the engine to stall.
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Mazda3 vehicles. The Smart Brake System (SBS) can falsely detect an obstacle while driving, activating the automatic emergency braking system and suddenly stopping the vehicle.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2019 Mazda3 vehicles. Due to incorrect programing, the passenger air bag deactivation indicator light may erroneously turn off although the passenger air bag is deactivated. In addition, the seat belt status indicators for both the front
WHEELS:LUGS/NUTS/BOLTS/STUDS
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2019 Mazda3 vehicles. The lug nuts on all four wheels may loosen, potentially resulting in a wheel detaching from the vehicle.
SEATS:FRONT ASSEMBLY:HEAD RESTRAINT
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2019 Mazda3 vehicles. The seat cover material on both front seats may interfere with the head restraint lock release button, causing it to stick in the release position and not allow the head restraint to lock into place.
1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The airbag system, specifically the curtain airbags and related airbag control components, malfunctioned by deploying spontaneously without any collision or impact. The vehicle and deployed airbags are still available and can be inspected upon request. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The spontaneous deployment of all four curtain airbags created an immediate safety hazard. Airbag deployment can cause injury, disorientation, or loss of control, especially if it occurs unexpectedly. Although the vehicle was stationary at the time, deployment without warning posed a serious risk of injury to occupants and could have resulted in a crash if it had occurred while driving. 3. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? The problem has not been reproduced, as the airbags have already deployed. However, the spontaneous depl
Driver side door handle failed. Cannot enter or exit through driver side door. If something were to happen that we need to get out in an emergency situation we cannot exit through the driver side door. No damage occurred. Just stopped working
To whom it may concern, I was on a back road late in the evening not far from home [XXX] and a small deer ran into the road. I needed to brake to avoid hitting the deer. After breaking, a Brake System Malfunction warning message and i-ACTIVESENSE System Malfunction warning illuminated on my dashboard. I brought the car to a Mazda dealership the next morning. The technician determined that the brake fluid level sensor became stuck, requiring replacement of the brake fluid reservoir and the brake fluid level sensor. What failed: The repairs include replacement of the Brake Fluid Reservoir and the Brake Fluid Level Sensor. This is the link to the dealer report [XXX] . No one other than the dealer has inspected these parts to my knowledge. There was no accident of any kind. I personally felt unsafe after these parts failing and reached out to Mazda Customer Care to request investigation of the issue. The case manager just called me back today to say they could not help me. Mazda has
To whom it may concern, I was on a back road late in the evening not far from home [XXX] and a small deer ran into the road. I needed to brake to avoid hitting the deer. After breaking, a Brake System Malfunction warning message and i-ACTIVESENSE System Malfunction warning illuminated on my dashboard. I brought the car to a Mazda dealership the next morning. The technician determined that the brake fluid level sensor became stuck, requiring replacement of the brake fluid reservoir and the brake fluid level sensor. What failed: The repairs include replacement of the Brake Fluid Reservoir and the Brake Fluid Level Sensor. This is the link to the dealer report [XXX] . No one other than the dealer has inspected these parts to my knowledge. There was no accident of any kind. I personally felt unsafe after these parts failing and reached out to Mazda Customer Care to request investigation of the issue. The case manager just called me back today to say they could not help me. Mazda has
To whom it may concern, I was on a back road late in the evening not far from home [XXX] and a small deer ran into the road. I needed to brake to avoid hitting the deer. After breaking, a Brake System Malfunction warning message and i-ACTIVESENSE System Malfunction warning illuminated on my dashboard. I brought the car to a Mazda dealership the next morning. The technician determined that the brake fluid level sensor became stuck, requiring replacement of the brake fluid reservoir and the brake fluid level sensor. What failed: The repairs include replacement of the Brake Fluid Reservoir and the Brake Fluid Level Sensor. This is the link to the dealer report [XXX] . No one other than the dealer has inspected these parts to my knowledge. There was no accident of any kind. I personally felt unsafe after these parts failing and reached out to Mazda Customer Care to request investigation of the issue. The case manager just called me back today to say they could not help me. Mazda has
The seat belt stopped retracting and no longer works, it was reported directly to the Mazda agency, but the warranty was not valid. The dealer said that the tensioners no longer work and the seat belt needs to be replaced.
For the seat belt it does not retract back and there was no issue before. It suddenly stopped working and all of the seatbelt is out. This is a safety issue for anyone sitting in the front passenger seat. For the unknown part the button in the trunk to pull the back passenger seats down suddenly stopped working and no issues before then. Iâm more concerned with the seat belt because this is a huge safety concern and issue. The seatbelt does not retract at all, leaving it completely extended and unusable. This issue occurred without any prior incident, accident, or external damageâit simply stopped working. This failure poses a serious safety risk, as the seatbelt cannot properly restrain a passenger in case of a sudden stop or crash. I have checked for recalls on my vehicle but found none related to this issue. I request that NHTSA investigate this issue, as it may indicate a manufacturing defect. If necessary, I would also like to request a recall or manufacturer repair pro
For the seat belt it does not retract back and there was no issue before. It suddenly stopped working and all of the seatbelt is out. This is a safety issue for anyone sitting in the front passenger seat. For the unknown part the button in the trunk to pull the back passenger seats down suddenly stopped working and no issues before then. Iâm more concerned with the seat belt because this is a huge safety concern and issue. The seatbelt does not retract at all, leaving it completely extended and unusable. This issue occurred without any prior incident, accident, or external damageâit simply stopped working. This failure poses a serious safety risk, as the seatbelt cannot properly restrain a passenger in case of a sudden stop or crash. I have checked for recalls on my vehicle but found none related to this issue. I request that NHTSA investigate this issue, as it may indicate a manufacturing defect. If necessary, I would also like to request a recall or manufacturer repair pro
A few weeks ago the following error message popped up on my dashboard: âAirbag Malfunction. Have vehicle inspectedâ. This message came and went intermittently whenever I had a passenger in the vehicle. I scheduled and appointment at my local Mazda dealership service center and in the meantime looked up the issue and found that it was extremely common and caused by a design flaw where the wire harness to the seat airbags was too short causing eventual failure. The issue was so prominent that Mazda even issued a service bulletin on how to fix it which included replacing the wire harness and adding extra security clips to help prevent future failure. So I get my car to the service center and after looking at it they confirm this exact issue, say it is not covered under any extended warranty and tell me that it will cost approximately $1,000 to fix (diagnostic, parts plus labor). I asked how a safey issue such as an airbag not deploying isnât covered and they reaffirm that it is
This began on 10.19.24 and as of 11.03.24 is ongoing and not repaired. On 10/19/24, while I was at a red light, the RPMs on my vehicle went up and down repeatedly. After I arrived at my destination, which was about a half mile away, and put the car in park, the RPMs repeatedly went up and down between 1,000 and 2,000 RPMs and the check engine light came on, and a message displayed saying malfunction - have the vehicle inspected. I spent $100 at my mechanic who could not pinpoint the issue. After I picked up the car, I stopped to get gas and then my battery died. I then decided to take my car to the dealer where I purchased it, Mazda of Roswell. After I put the car in park at the Mazda of Roswell service department, the RPMs started going back and forth between 1,000 and 2,500 RPMs. My car spent 6 days at Mazda of Roswell, where the service dept was unresponsive and my car was never inspected. I then spent $1600 at North Roswell Automotive, only to have the issue appear again after driv
The car has had a lot of issues. The inside driver side glass for the display dash fogged up and had to be replaced. The first replacement didnât fix it and I had to threaten legal action to get Mazda to replace the glass a second time before it finally resolved the issue. The car (which is washed and waxed weekly), got rust on it in year 3. Mazda repaired it and promised it would not return. 14 months later the rust is back and Mazda wonât repair it. I have escalated with no avail. I have had to replace the air conditioning fan for over $1K. I bought the car brand new with 59 miles on it, I have kept up on every maintenance and kept records and today it has 18,000 miles and I am told the transmission needs replaced. 18,000 miles on a garage kept car? This is not right!
I had an oil change back in April of 2024. I have been driving the last couple of days and after about 15 minutes my low oil light comes. this car has 58.800 miles on it. I stopped at a oil express to see if I was low on oil but they said I was at full. I also checked to see if they saw anything leaking but they also said they didn't see anything. if the gasket is bad 58,000 that is telling me it's a faulty product. I'm afraid that my engine could lock up on the highway and cause a bad accident.
I noticed oil was leaking and my engine was steaming after driving. My mechanic found a crack in a cylinder after watching YouTube and finding out Mazda has this issue.
Shown engine light on dashboard and Car was struggling to run while pressing the gas, took to the mazda dealership and they told low pressure and high pressure fuel pump needs to be replaced.
The engine coolant system/electronic coolant control valve is known for failing on the N/A Skyactiv-G engine. When it fails, it fails stuck open. There is a TSB out for this problem (01-011/21). This results in the engine coolant never making it to operating temperature, and poor heater performance during cold weather. When I took it to a dealer, they stated that the check engine light must come on from DTC P0126:00 before they can address the problem under warranty. Even after driving the car and having 30+ minute drives where the temperature gauge never makes it past the first tick (blue), I haven't had the check engine light come on. It's unclear what circumstances are required for DTC P0126:00 to occur, but I've never had a car essentially not get warm during an entire 30+ mile highway drive, even when it's 0 fahrenheit outside. It appears like this is a degenerative problem as I did not have this problem last cold season. This year, since the first day it has been colder than ab
Cylinder head is leaking oil due to known defect by Mazda. The rocker arm rubs the cylinder and causes the wall the thin and oil to leak through. Oil sprays on exhaust and other moving parts causing a safety concern due to possible oil combustion. This is in relation to TSB SA-031/21. Only alert is the low engine oil light due to the leak. At this point, oil has already covered a majority of the engine compartment and exhaust manifold.
Cracked cylinder head causing oil leak. Confirmed by Mazda Dealership. Vehicle has always had routine maintenance and remote start used to warm engine prior to driving. No warning lights appeared to alert driver prior to noticing issue- took it in because driver could smell burning oil which is a fire risk to safety of occupants while using vehicle. This type of issue is a manufacturer flaw and should be covered with recall since there are a lot of people online experiencing the exact same issue.
The vehicle's battery has gone dead on several occasions since replacing the OEM battery. The OEM battery which was approximately 3 years old, also had gone dead, prompting its replacement. The battery has gone dead within 1-2 days of not using the car. Charging the battery by running it is only a temporary fix as the car needs to be constantly driven in order to charge the battery, which is not usual and customary for the maintenance of a vehicle. This cannot be functioning to manufacturer's specifications, as I find it extremely difficult to believe that manufacturer's specifications stipulate to drive the car with more frequency. This is a safety issue. Should this happen during the winter months, an individual may be left stranded. The NHTSA must demand Mazda to issue a safety recall to fix this safety issue.
Vehicle will over heat and then show warning messages that auto light system malfunction and engine will shut off randomly.
Vehicle will over heat and then show warning messages that auto light system malfunction and engine will shut off randomly.
Momentary increase in steering effort after recall remedy
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
Front Subframe Corrosion
Lower ball joint separation
Brake Booster Failure
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.