53 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2004 Mazda RX-8 cite air bags, 10% of all 515 complaints for this model year. NHTSA also lists 4 recalls on this component.
“For a year I have responded to every notice for a recall repair (7 total) Mazda has not repaired my vehicle or scheduled its repair. My recall ID is 016742248 and my Campaign Number is 100409. My car has a DO NOT DRIVE status and Mazda tells me I MUST drive the car 2 hours to get it repaired each way. And they refuse to transport y vehicle even thought I have told them in phone conversations about my cars do not drive status. The latest attempt for filing for a repay was 7-21-25 at 9:40am central time.”
“ON 10/19/19 THE VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A CRASH WHEN SWERVING TO AVOID A DEER ON THE ROAD. TWO TREES WERE HIT AND THE VEHICLE WAS FLIPPED ON ITS SIDE. NO AIRBAGS DEPLOYED DURING THIS ACCIDENT AS I WAS EXPECTED. PICTURES SHOW THE FRONT DAMAGE AND INTERIOR.”
“THE PASSENGER AIR BAG IS AFFECTING THE DASH CAUSING IT TO CRACK. IF THE AIR BAG IS TO DEPLOY THE DASH COULD SPLINTER FROM THE CRACKS AND CAUSE SERIOUS BODILY ENJURY.”
“TAKATA RECALL I RECEIVED A CALL REGARDING AN 'ESCALATION' OF MY RECALL AND WHEN I CALLED BACK THE INDIVIDUAL ON THE PHONE SAID THEY COULD NOT FIND MY INFORMATION. THE LAST TIME I TRIED TO GET MY RX8 REPAIRED I WAS TOLD I HAVE TO DRIVE THE CAR OVER AN HOUR TO THE SHOP TO GET AIRBAG FIXED - THIS IS AFTER I RECEIVED A VERY GRAPHIC POSTCARD SHOWING AND TELLING ME HOW I WILL BE INJURED OR KILLED IF I DON'T GET MY CAR REPAIRED. I AM TRYING TO GET THIS CAR REPAIRED, HOWEVER I WILL NOT DRIVE THIS CAR OVER AN HOUR IN HEAVY TRAFFIC IN SOUTH TEXAS HEAT AND HUMIDITY IN ORDER TO MAKE THE REQUIRED 100% COMPLIANCE EASY FOR TAKATA THERE ARE MULTIPLE OTHER RECALLS ON THIS CAR, INCLUDING ON THE ENGINE THAT I HAVE REPLACED 4 TIMES. DEALERS WERE TOLD TO INSTALL THE OLD ENGINES THAT WERE IN THEIR INVENTORY AND NOT INSTALL THE NEW DESIGN. THE OLD ENGINES CONTINUED TO LOOSE COMPRESSION OVER TIME AND EVEN THOUGH MAZDA EXTENDED THE WARRANTY TO 100K ON THE VEHICLE, EVENTUALLY I EXCEEDED 100K - AND THE 4TH ENGINE WENT BAD @102K. MAZDA NEVER REPLACED THE ENGINE WITH AN ENGINE THAT DID NOT HAVE COMPRESSION ISSUES. THE DEALERS USED THE SAME ENGINE AND MAZDA WAITED FOR CONSUMERS TO EXCEED…”
“I BOUGHT A CAR THAT HAD A RECALL OF THE AIR BAG THE PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG HAD BEEN DEPLOYED WAS TOLD BY DEALER IT WAS UNDER RECALL.AFTER CHECKING WITH THE DEALER THE SIDE SEAT AIR BAG WAS NOT PART OF THE RECALL WAS NOT REPLACED OR EVEN LOOKED AT .SO WE TOOK THE SEAT OUT TO SEE ANT OBVIOUS ISSUES AND WE FOUND ALL THE WIRES THAT PLUG INTO SEAT ALL WAY TO UNDER CARPET AGAINST FRAME ALL THE WIRES WERE MELTED.WITCH IS AN OBVIOUS MANAFATURING PROBLEM.WE HAVE READ MUPLTILE FORUMS WHERE TONS OF PEOPLE HAVE HAD SAME PROBLEM BUT YET NO RECALL WE COULD FIND ON THIS ISSUE.MY MOTHER IS ON OXYGEN AND IF MY CAR CATCHES FIRE TO DO THIS AND NO ONE LOOKING INTO THIS IT CAN BE FAR WORSE.THIER IS ANOTHER RECALL ON FRONT END SUSPSION THAT THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO REPLACE AT THIS TIME.THEY TELL ME THEY ARE WAITING TO SEE IF THEY COME UP WITH A BETTER SOLUTION TO FIX IT.IM GOING TO MAZDA DEALER TOMORROW MORNING TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT I'M EXPLAIN TO YOU AND SINCE THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE IF THEY REFUSE TO DO ANYTHING I'M TURNING THIS OVER TO LAWYER.I FEEL WHEN I MENTIONED IT TO THEM THE FIRST TIME AND THEY DID NOTHING TO FIND OUT WHAT THE ISSUE WAS THEY HAVE NO INTENTION OF…”
“TAKATA RECALL AFTER RESPONDING TO NUMEROUS NOTICES REGARDING THIS RECALL AND THE DEADLY DANGER OF THE AIRBAGS, MAZDA STILL INSISTS THAT I DRIVE THE VEHICLE AN HOUR AWAY AND IN HEAVY CITY TRAFFIC TO HAVE THE SERVICE DONE TO CORRECT THE AIRBAG ISSUE. IN ADDITION, FOR YEARS THE ENGINE HAD COMPRESSION ISSUES AND I FOUND OUT THAT AFTER REPLACING THE ENGINE 4 TIMES UNDER WARRANTY, MAZDA WAS REPLACING THE ENGINE WITH THE SAME ENGINE THAT HAS COMPRESSION ISSUES AFTER A TIME. I WAS TOLD THAT I COULD BUY A $7,000 GEN II ENGINE THAT DID NOT HAVE COMPRESSION PROBLEMS, OR TAKE THE REPLACEMENT WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR COMPRESSION ISSUES AS A WARRANTY REPAIR. THEY WERE ABLE TO DEPLETE THEIR STOCK OF BAD ENGINES BY USING THEM AS REPLACEMENTS, AND AS SOON AS MY WARRANTY EXPIRED I STILL HAVE A FAULTY ENGINE WHICH ALSO KEEPS ME FROM SAFELY DRIVING DRIVING FOR SERVICE WORK. THE ENGINE WILL LOOSE COMPRESSION AND POWER IN TRAFFIC AND CAUSE A SAFETY ISSUE. I KEEP MY VEHICLES WELL PAST THE 100K MARK BECAUSE I TAKE CARE OF THEM AND KEEP THEM ON THE ROAD. HOWEVER, THAT HAS NOT BEEN THE CASE WITH THIS CAR, DUE TO A COMBINATION OF MAZDA'S BAD FAITH METHOD OF REPLACING FAULTY ENGINES, AND…”
Showing 6 of 53 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
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.
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, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On July 9, 2019 this recall was expanded to include certain 2004-2011 RX-8 vehicles that were previously recalled under 16V-354 but have not yet been repaired. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, and used as original equipment or replacement equipment. In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these passenger air bag inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
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.
AS A RESULT OF AN NCAP TEST, CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES ARE BEING RECALLED FOR IMPROPERLY WIRED FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAGS.
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.