1999 Mazda Protege problems
Owners have filed 102 complaints about the 1999 Mazda Protege with NHTSA. Power train accounts for 21.6% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of air bags at 20.6%.
Complaints102
Crashes26
Fires1
Injuries20
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Power train 21.6% · 22
Air bags 20.6% · 21
Tires 12.7% · 13
Engine and engine cooling 7.8% · 8
Service brakes, hydraulic 5.9% · 6
Electrical system 5.9% · 6
Unknown or other 3.9% · 4
Seats 3.9% · 4
Severity
Of those complaints, 26 describe a crash, 1 describe a fire and 20 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 6 model years of the Mazda Protege in this data, 1999 draws comparatively few complaints; 1995 is the outlier year.
Filings are rising — 6 in the last three years against 4 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 60,500 miles.
In owners' own words
Whenever car comes to a stop and takes off there's a violent jolt like getting hit in rear.*Ak consumer states when traveling at 40 mph there will be a violent jolt as if someone hit you from behind, it almost feels like the vehicle jolts foward consumer states the first time it happened he thought he had been rear-ended. Power train
While traveling about 20-50 mph on highway and without prior warning, vehicle jerked into reverse and became uncontrollable. Dealership was aware of problem.*Ak gear shift remains in drive occurring everh 2-3 months. Dealership could not find problem, but states 4-5 other owners have the same issue. Power train
Original transmission replaced by Mazda 7/26/00 due to tech. Bulletin. Since then several incidents of transmission suddenly jerking into a lower gear, at both high and low speeds. Mazda dealer unable to replicate or identify problem after 3 attempts. Mr Power train
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…