Total Complaints
32 filings
MAZDA MX-5 MIATA · model year
32 NHTSA complaints, 4 crash reports for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 1990MAZDAMX-5 MIATA carries 32 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 4 crashes, 3 fires, 5 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 1990 MX-5 MIATA is seat belts:front:buckle assembly with 4 filings, followed by air bags:frontal (3) and engine and engine cooling:engine (3). 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.
NHTSA currently has 21 investigation files overlapping the 1990 MX-5 MIATA, 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
32 filings
Crashes Reported
4 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SEAT BELTS:FRONT:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | 4 |
| AIR BAGS:FRONTAL | 3 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE | 3 |
| AIR BAGS | 3 |
| SEATS | 2 |
| POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | 2 |
| POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION | 2 |
| SEAT BELTS:FRONT | 2 |
| VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 2 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:DRIVELINE:DIFFERENTIAL UNIT | 1 |
| ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE | 1 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC | 1 |
| POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | 1 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TAIL LIGHTS | 1 |
car has had multiple airbag lights come on I have fixed them all I cannot buy parts to fix my airbag new so I have to go and find used parts that just keep breaking I know many people with this problem almost every owner of one of these cars has this exact problem
WWW.SOUTHBAYMAZDA.COM HAWTHORNE BLVD. X ATRESIA BLVD MANHATTAN BEACH CA 91246-0762 3103235712 FAX
WWW.SOUTHBAYMAZDA.COM HAWTHORNE BLVD. X ATRESIA BLVD MANHATTAN BEACH CA 91246-0762 3103235712 FAX
WWW.SOUTHBAYMAZDA.COM HAWTHORNE BLVD. X ATRESIA BLVD MANHATTAN BEACH CA 91246-0762 3103235712 FAX
I WAS DRIVING TO THE GAS STATION TO GET SOME TEA AND ON MY WAY BACK AS I WAS SHIFTING INTO 5TH GEAR I FELT A POP AND I FINALLY GOT IT INTO GEAR BUT I HAD TO SHIFT INTO NEUTRAL TO STOP I STARTED TO DEPRESS THE CLUTCH BECAUSE OF THE POP I FELT AND WITH EVERY PUSH IT LOST MORE AND MORE PRESSURE AND EVENTUALLY AFTER THE 4TH PUSH THERE WAS NO RESISTANCE AT ALL TWO PEOPLE HELPED PUSH ME TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND I HAD TO DRIVE HOME BY SHUTTING OFF THE CAR AND SHIFTING INTO FIRST GEAR AND TURNING IT OVER AND PRESSING THE GAS PEDAL TO START IT AND WE HAD IT TOWED TO THE MECHANIC AND HE SAID THAT A BOLT CAME LOOSE AND FELL INTO THE SLAVE CYLINDER DAMAGING IT WHICH CAUSED ALL MY CLUTCH FLUID TO LEAK OUT AND THESE CARS ARE KNOWN TO CAUSE SOME BOLTS TO VIBRATE OUT AND THIS PROBLEM COULD SIMPLY BE FIXED WITH A LITTLE LOCTITE THREAD LOCKER AND THAT WOULD HAVE SAVED OVER 1,000 DOLLARS IN REPAIRS IF I DIDN'T HAVE GREEN LIGHTS ALL THE WAY HOME THERE COULD HAVE BEEN AN ACCIDENT.
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE SHIFTING FROM 5TH GEAR OR REVERSE TO NEUTRAL, THE TRANSMISSION WOULD GO INTO REVERSE. AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP DETERMINED THE SWING ARM WAS BAD ON THE VEHICLE AND SHOULD BE REPAIRED.
Mileage: 105,000
DRIVER'S SIDE SEAT BELT FAILS TO LATCH IT OFTEN TAKES MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS TO CAUSE IT TO HOLD. *LA
Mileage: 95,000
CONSUMER NOTICED FRONTAL SEAT BELTS WILL NOT LOCK IN PLACE. DEALER AND MANUFATURER HAD BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
CONSUMER NOTICED THAT WHILE TRAVELING AIR BAG INDICATION LIGHT FLASHED . DEALER AND MANUFACTURER HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. *AK
WHEN PRESSING ON BRAKES THERE BE NO DIFFERENCE IN BRAKE LIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS. CONSUMER FEELS BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH. *AK
WHEN PRESSING ON BRAKES THERE BE NO DIFFERENCE IN BRAKE LIGHTS AND TAIL LIGHTS. CONSUMER FEELS BRAKE LIGHTS ARE NOT BRIGHT ENOUGH. *AK
GEAR GETS STUCK IN REVERSE. ALSO, VEHICLE IS PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND FOOT IS RELEASED FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL VEHICLE WILL ROLL BACKWARDS. *AK
GEAR GETS STUCK IN REVERSE. ALSO, VEHICLE IS PLACED IN NEUTRAL AND FOOT IS RELEASED FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL VEHICLE WILL ROLL BACKWARDS. *AK
WHEN IT RAINS ENOUGH TO GENERATE SOME STANDING WATER ON THE ROAD, THE BRAKES MAY NOT WORK AT ALL FOR A COUPLE SECONDS AFTER APPLIED.*AK
PERFORMED 60K MILE SERVICE;FAILURE DUE TO TORQUE APPLIED TO CRANK BOLT OR WRONGFUL INSERTION OF THE WOODRUFF KEY. *AK
VEHICLE WILL LOCK INTO REVERSE WHILE IN NEUTRAL GEAR DUE TO A MECHANICAL PROBLEM IN TRANSMISSION. MAZDA SENT OUT TSB, BUT DEFECT STILL EXISTS. PLEASE PROVIDE FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK
DRIVER'S SEATBELT WILL NO LONGER LATCH! DEALER CHARGED ME FOR REPAIR! *AK
MFG RECOMMENDED 60,000 MI TIMING BELT WAS CHANGED AT 59,000 MI... ALL ROUTINE MAINTENANCE PERFORMED PER MFG SPECS. FAILURE OF CRANKSHAFT IS KNOWN MFG DEFECT IN 1990 AND EARLY 1991 MODELS. LATER MODELS HAVE MODIFIED CRANKSHAFT WITH NO KNOWN FAILURES. REPAIR ESTIMATE FROM LOCAL MAZDA DEALERSHIP IS $3,700.00 FOR A NEW ENGINE.*AK
60,000 TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT PERFORMED AT 56K MILES. COST TO REPAIR ENGINE ESTIMATED TO BE $2,200. *AK
THE PINION INSIDE THE DIFFERENTIAL CAME OFF CAUSING TOTAL LOCK OF REAR WHEELS.
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.