Total Complaints
12 filings
MAZDA !MX-5 · model year
12 NHTSA complaints, 2 crash reports. A VIN lookup is required to determine whether a specific vehicle has an unrepaired recall.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2017MAZDA!MX-5 carries 12 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 2 crashes, 0 fires, 2 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
The most frequently selected component label in reports for the 2017 !MX-5 is visibility/wiper with 4 filings, followed by steering (2) and electronic stability control (esc) (1). Complaint categories reflect owner reports and intake categorization; they do not establish a defect pattern or cause.
NHTSA currently has 21 investigation files overlapping the 2017 !MX-5, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should read the complaint-by-year trend as report volume, not a causal diagnosis. Use the related-complaint feed and the official recall lookup when researching a specific vehicle.
Total Complaints
12 filings
Crashes Reported
2 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| VISIBILITY/WIPER | 4 |
| STEERING | 2 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 1 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 |
| AIR BAGS | 1 |
| TIRES:SIDEWALL | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Mileage: 12,000
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.
Mileage: 8,300
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.
Mileage: 8,000
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.
Mileage: 9,000
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.
Mileage: 915
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.
Mileage: 915
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.
Mileage: 5,000
Momentary increase in steering effort after recall remedy
Inadvertent Curtain Air Bag Deployment
Front Subframe Corrosion
Lower ball joint separation
Brake Booster Failure
Data vintage: August 2026. 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.
Every figure on PlainCars is rendered directly from NHTSA complaint and safety data, no number is typed in by an editor. This year-specific record is rendered from NHTSA ODI, recall, and NCAP rows for the 2017 MAZDA !MX-5; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.