2018 Mazda MX-5 - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2018 Mazda MX-5 C RWD does not have an overall safety rating available. However, it does come equipped with standard electronic stability control, which is a great feature for enhancing vehicle stability and preventing loss of control in challenging driving conditions. Unfortunately, this model does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

In terms of complaints and recalls, there have been 2 complaints and 2 recalls reported for this vehicle. It is essential for owners to be aware of any reported issues and ensure that any necessary recalls are addressed promptly to maintain the safety and reliability of the vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

2

Recall Count

2

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2018 Mazda MX-5 C RWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2018 Mazda MX-5 C RWD

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.

No
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.

No

2018 Mazda MX-5 C RWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2018 Mazda MX-5 C RWD 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 2011 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2011 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2011 Score 2018 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated

Complaints for the 2018 Mazda MX-5

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:
"i've owned my 2018 mazda mx-5 for about two years. the problems slow started arising. at first i hadn't noticed, but when going in and out of 'drive' the vehicle felt like it was either going to stall or accelerate. i had initially thought was because it's a 'sports car.' in august of 2020 the window regulator on the passenger side had malfunctioned. fast forward to december 2020, the driver side window regulator has malfunction as well. i've been doing research as to why this would happen to a vehicle that's about 2 years old. i've purchased the vehicle october of 2018. internet forums suggested faults with the electrical wiring. i've informed the mazda official website of these issues and informed them of the inconvenience. make note i have only made a complaint to the window regulators failing. i've provided them with my vin and yet to hear from them since. it didn't occur to me to do research on my vin, so i did and much to my chagrin after apologizing for possibly being rude, i find that my vehicle has had a serious recall since february 01st of 2019. a year and 10 months and no recall notice what so ever! shouldn't the dealership know of the problems! seriously i could have died! i quote, directly from nhtsa, 'the sudden unexpected downshift while driving may negatively affect the stability of the vehicle, and could lead to a loss of vehicle control, potentially resulting in a crash.' this is incredibly depressing, since this is my only means of transportation. they had close to 2 years to inform me of this recall and i had to find out myself."
Components Involved: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, ENGINE
Date of incident: 2020-01-07

Recalls for the 2018 Mazda MX-5

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain 2016-2019 mx-5 (miata) vehicles with automatic transmissions. due to incorrect programming of the transmission control module (tcm), certain conditions may cause the vehicle to unexpectedly downshift and abruptly decelerate."
Consequence:
If the vehicle abruptly downshifts, the driver may lose control of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy:

Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the TCM with corrected software, free of charge. The recall began March 14, 2019. Owners may contact Mazda customer service at 1-800-222-5500, option 4. Mazda's number for this recall is 3019A.

Component(s) Involved: POWER TRAIN > AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION > CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM)
Date of incident: 2019-02-01

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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