2018 Mazda MAZDA6 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Mazda Mazda6 has an outstanding safety rating of 5 out of 5 according to the data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It excels in various crash tests including front crash, side crash, and side pole crash ratings. The car is equipped with electronic stability control as a standard feature, which significantly enhances its safety performance by helping the driver maintain control in challenging driving situations. Additionally, the Mazda6 offers optional forward collision warning and lane departure warning systems for added safety measures.

In terms of complaints and recalls, the vehicle has had 28 complaints reported and 2 recalls issued. While the number of complaints is relatively low given the popularity of the model, the recalls indicate that there have been identified issues that required attention from the manufacturer. Overall, the 2018 Mazda Mazda6 proves to be a highly safe and reliable choice for consumers looking for a secure driving experience.

auto generated summary, may be inaccurate.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

28

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

5/5

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Safety Features

2018 Mazda Mazda6 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 Mazda Mazda6 4 DR FWD

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

Optional
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

Optional

2018 Mazda Mazda6 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 Mazda Mazda6 4 DR FWD Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2021 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 5 5 5
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 4 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2021 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 3 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2018 Score 2021 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 4
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2018 Mazda MAZDA6

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"cracked head , not caused by anything i did."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2023-04-12
Complaint:
"coolant leaking from head, informed by dealer the cylinder head is cracked and the entire engine needs to be replaced. the engine has just hit 80k miles at this point. this issue caused multiple instances of overheating while driving, one of which caused the vehicle to fail to move forward while on an elevated freeway overpass with no shoulder during rush hour. this issue appears to be widespread for 2016 and newer mazda models with the 2.5l turbo engine."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2025-05-09
Complaint:
"i was driving my car, it overheated. i took it in and was told it needs a new engine. i was told it was not fault of my own why it overheated. it had 2 oil leaks and a blown head gasket."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-02-05
Complaint:
"due to design issues, the engine cylinder head became cracked after normal everyday usage. coolant began to leak badly and car engine became hot while driving."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-04-04
Complaint:
"just noticed my coolant was leaking underneath my car and i went to mazda to check and it came out being a cracked cylinder the car are driven by my daughter from school to work only and has 68k miles, mazda doesn’t want to fix because supposedly the engine warranty only last until 60k"
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2025-03-04
Complaint:
"took care for routine maintenance to car dealer (ourisman mazda rockville md). no problems with car. they reported that i had an 'coolant leak at the cylinder head'. cost to fix: $6412.47 they reported that it was 'normal wear and tear'. i found a service bulletin from mazda whereby they admit a manufacturing defect that affected 2.5t engines. they corrected on march 25th, 2021. however, engines prior to this date had this defect. no recalls were created. no warning to owners. my car was within the mileage warranty when they identified the defect (<60k miles and < 5 yrs old). while my car is less than 5 years old, they now identified the leak, but it has over 60k miles. the local dealer said i was out of warranty and there is nothing they could do. i spoke with mazda north american operation and reported the technical service bulletin that they put out on 10/15/21 (after they had already identified the problem, re-engineered the engine, and changed the manufacturing line), i also explained what was reported to me by ourisman mazda and emailed her all the documents. she reported that she would be getting back to me in 24-48 hrs."
Components Involved: ENGINE
Date of incident: 2024-04-06

Recalls for the 2018 Mazda MAZDA6

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2018 mazda3, mazda6, 2019 cx-3, 2018-2019 mx-5, cx-5, cx-9, and 2019-2020 mazda2 vehicles. the impeller inside the low-pressure fuel pump may crack and deform, potentially causing the fuel pump to fail."
Consequence:
Fuel pump failure may cause an engine stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Dealers will replace the fuel pumps, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 18, 2022. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500 Option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 5321K.

Component(s) Involved: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE > DELIVERY > FUEL PUMP
Date of incident: 2021-11-12

MAZDA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

MAZDA ranks 16 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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