2003 Mazda Mazda6 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (25) · Vehicle Speed Control (18) · Power Train:automatic Transmission (12)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mazda Mazda6 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
112 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (3)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2019-10-31 · campaign 19V781000 · 47,006 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
Defect: Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2004-2005 MPV, 2004 RX-8, and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 vehicles. These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design. The inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge. The recall began December 3, 2019. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 2618F. Note: This recall supersedes recalls 13V130, 14V362, 14V773 and 15V869.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-06-15 · campaign 18V402000 · 308,591 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
Defect: Mazda North America Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 and 2004 MPV vehicles nationwide. Mazda is also recalling 2005-2006 MPV vehicles in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia,
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began July 6, 2018. Mailing to the affected RX-8 owners began July 6, 2019. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 2618F. Note: With the addition of the RX-8 vehicles, this recall fully supersedes recall 16V
Air Bags:frontal:driver Side:inflator Module 2017-07-26 · campaign 17V474000 · 308,992 vehicles ⚠ DO NOT DRIVE
Defect: Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2004-2008 RX-8, and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over time, could cause the inflator to rupture.
Risk: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began on September 12, 2017. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 1417G. Note: This recall supersedes recall 15V-382.
Service bulletins (210)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-20 · SA-055-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
product quality information (pqi) description service information mt-041/12 is no longer valid. it has been unpublished and superseded by the field quality information report (fqir) reporting system.
Visibility/Wiper 2026-07-29 · 09-022-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin supersedes the previously issued bulletin(s) listed below. the changes are noted in red text. 09-042/04 12/10/04 description some vehicles may exhibit inoperative electric rear window defroster grid lines, integral antenna concerns causing radio reception issues or terminal tabs pulled
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-21 · SA-029-26 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this service alert supersedes the previously issued sa listed below: the changes are noted in red. sa-011/24 02/12/24, 06/06/24, 07/29/24 description mazda has developed factory recommended scheduled maintenance services that support all major vehicle systems. mazda recommends dealers follow the sch
Unknown Or Other 2025-12-10 · 07-004-25a · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
a musty/mildew type odor may come from the vents when the air conditioning (a/c) system is operating. it is most noticeable when the a/c is first turned on. this odor is the result of mold growth in the a/c evaporator/cooling unit which is caused by condensation, dust, and pollen within the cooling
Unknown Or Other 2025-08-14 · SA-036-25 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
when replacing the siriusxm satellite radio unit, a call must be made to inform siriusxm of the existing radio id and the new/replacement sat radio id as soon as possible to ensure the customer leaves the dealership with an active sat radio.
Unknown Or Other 2025-06-19 · SA-032-25 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
some customers may complain about a noisy hvac blower motor or odor after a cabin air filter replacement. foreign debris on the blower motor after servicing the cabin air filter may be the cause. during the removal of the cabin air filter, foreign debris (leaves, dust, dirt....ect.) may fall on the
Showing the 6 most recent of 210 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2022-01-25 · Fuel System, Gasoline:delivery:fuel Pump · 124,000 mi“the contact owns a 2003 mazda mazda6. the contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the odor of fuel was present inside the cabin of the vehicle. the cause of the failure was not yet determined. the contact indicated that the vehicle was previously repaired for the same failure under the nhtsa campaign number: 03v531000 (fuel system, gasoline…”
2021-05-24 · Air Bags“in 2018, the car was part of a trade in for a certified used car at my dealership. the car had over 350,000 miles and could no longer run.…”
2020-08-03 · Vehicle Speed Control · 159,185 mi“when i take my foot off the gas it stays at the same speed or it speeds up on its own. when i press on the break sometimes it feels like it's not going to stop and just keep going or it jerks forward when i stop. this happens when i am driving on the road and the cruise control is not on when this happens.…”
2019-10-15 · Power Train · 50,000 mi“after two years of driving this car the clutch pedal assembly completely broke puncturing through the fire wall and brake reservoir, luckily i was starting the vehicle in a hospital parking lot when i pushed the clutch in it went completely to the floor and did not come back up. it was completely inoperable, i had to have the car towed after patch…”
2019-09-07 · Air Bags“on 01/18/2019 i took vehicle i purchased, to mock ford in grant's pass oregon for takara airbag recall. this is when i became aware of safety issue that vehicles aur bags had been cut out and removed. the service guy at mock ford explainedand gave estimate which was greater than what cars value was. the seller of car aaron ronson never disclose…”
2019-08-28 · Seat Belts · 11,800 mi · 💥 crash“i hit a deer at 45 miles an hour then hit the hit totalling the car, the airbag did not come out, the seat belt did not lock causing me to be slammed into the steeling wheel, now i suffer great pain, can't move my neck, can't lay down bc of such bad headache i throw up, i sleep sitting up, something in the car like metal fragment hit me in the lef…”
2019-07-27 · Unknown Or Other · 240,000 mi“takata recall - i have notified mazda at least 5 times that this car has been junked, yet i keep getting harassed with mailings. please stop! this is harassment!…”
2018-02-20 · Unknown Or Other · 170,000 mi“i junked the car in january of 2018 due to having too many problems…”
2017-12-18 · Air Bags · 💥 crash“this car was destroyed in an accident, and as such can no longer be repaired.…”
2017-08-21 · Vehicle Speed Control“2003 mazda6 model cars were built with faulty throttle bodies. unaware of this, i bought one of these vehicles and immediately began experiencing issues with it. when driving very slowly, under 15 mph, the car will suddenly throttle, accelerating it in bursts even when applying the brakes. that issue is problematic but relatively minor; howev…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.