2003 MAZDA MX-5 MIATA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 13 complaints · 0 recalls
Most-reported system: EXTERIOR LIGHTING (2 complaints · 15.4%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 1
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 1
  • Deaths 0
Compare with 2002 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution EXTERIOR LIGHTING appears in 2 of 13 owner complaints (15.4%) in this vehicle snapshot. EXTERIOR LIGHTING: 2 complaints, 15.4% of reports EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 · 15.4% · 1 fire reports POWER TRAIN: 2 complaints, 15.4% of reports POWER TRAIN 2 · 15.4% STRUCTURE: 2 complaints, 15.4% of reports STRUCTURE 2 · 15.4% AIR BAGS: 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports AIR BAGS 1 · 7.7% · 1 crash reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 · 7.7% SUSPENSION: 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports SUSPENSION 1 · 7.7% VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL: 1 complaints, 7.7% of reports VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 · 7.7% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 9 complaints, 69.2% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 · 69.2% · 2 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 15.4% 0 crashes · 1 fires
POWER TRAIN 2 15.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 2 15.4% 0 crashes · 0 fires
AIR BAGS 1 7.7% 1 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 7.7% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 9 69.2% 0 crashes · 2 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Jul 2003. 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2005-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2009-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2010-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2011-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2015-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2016-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 Owner reports Jul 2003 Apr 2016
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q3 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2005-Q1 Owner reports 1
2005-Q2 Owner reports 1
2005-Q3 Owner reports 1
2005-Q4 Owner reports 1
2009-Q1 Owner reports 1
2010-Q4 Owner reports 1
2011-Q2 Owner reports 1
2015-Q2 Owner reports 2
2016-Q2 Owner reports 1
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (0)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

Zero safety recalls recorded for this model year in official NHTSA records.

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-22
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 13 complaints · page 1 of 1

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-22.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources