1997 Mazda MPV problems
Owners have filed 27 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Mazda MPV. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 30% of complaints. Next are engine (26%) and latches & locks (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 27 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 30% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 11 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What the data shows
Safety-related details: 11 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 14 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 99% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Mazda MPV with enough data (12 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
While driving at 30 MPH had a frontal impact with a tree, and both driver's and passenger's airbags did not deploy, which did not protect the occupant in the accident. Driver's seat belt failed in accident. Vehicle slid on icy road, skidding 200 feet into a tree, hit tree at 40 MPH. Both driver and passenger sustained injuries.
Vehicle was involved in a head-on crash with another vehicle while both vehicles were traveling about 50-60. Upon impact, there was no deployment of driver's side or passenger's side air bags. Not sure if the van would be totalled.
Consumer was involved in a 30 MPH frontal collision in which the driver's or passenger's air bags did not deploy, also the driver's seat collasped forward, causing the driver to sustain injuries. Please give any further details.
Tl* the contact owns a 1997 mazda mpv. While the vehicle was parked at a car wash, smoke fumes appeared from the hood of the vehicle and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was serviced under NHTSA campaign number: 15v674000 (electrical system), but the remedy failed to repair the vehicle. The contact mentioned that heavy fumes of smoke were seen coming from the hood of the vehicle before it stalled after the recall repair.
I have a set of american prospector SUV radial tires on my 1997 mazda mpv that have had sudden blowouts. So far 2 tires have blown in the past month, and at the time I was just driving down a paved street. These tires have not been off road, I check the inflation once a month, so I can see no reason why the tire bead and side wall would suddenly give away. I have looked online and found others with the exact same tires having similar problems.