2003 Mazda MPV problems
Owners have filed 141 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Mazda MPV. Transmission is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. Next are engine (19%) and electrical system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 141 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Transmission 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 15 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 24 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 38,000 miles 113 complaints with mileage
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%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 35 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 25 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 16 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 3 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 8 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 6 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 113 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 38,000 miles. For transmission specifically, the median reported mileage is about 6,000 miles (24 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 15 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 24 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 85% 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 2003 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 13 model years of the Mazda MPV with enough data (91 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Tl* - the contact was driving a mazda mpv with an odometer reading of 75000 miles, in foggy conditions on a two lane highway, her vehicle was hit from behind causing her to hit the vehicle in front of her. The contact stated that the traffic had stopped, and she was slowing down. At the time of the impact, the vehicle was traveling at approximately 20 MPH. The second vehicle behind her did not stop and struck her vehicle at approximately 40 MPH, according to the police. The airbags did not deploy.
We were going thru an intersection when another person decided to turn left too early. We were already 1/2 way through, could not stop, traveling around 20 MPH. We hit the passenger side front tire area of his vehicle with the front end of our van. Our van totally lost the front bumper, the front is totally smashed, my husbands knees hit the dash so hard he dented the dash. My glasses flew off. My daughter who was in the rear driver side had scrapes and bruises from the seatbelt constraint kicking in.
Engine/spark knocking. Taken to dealer in charlotte. They could not detect noise. Taken back a second time. Dealer called hq in california for instructions. Van is currently in the shop. This is the second attempted fix on this problem. 2003 mazda mpv owner.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda mpv. The contact stated that the engine failed four times. The vehicle had to be towed each time. The dealer installed another engine in the vehicle. The contact stated that the check engine light continued to illuminate and the coil ignition had to be replaced twice. The dealer installed new spark plugs in the vehicle on march 13, 2007; however, they failed a year later and had to be replaced. The dealer also installed a wiring harness.