1994 Mazda Protege problems
Owners have filed 89 complaints with NHTSA about the 1994 Mazda Protege. Seat belts is the most reported problem area, at 43% of complaints. After that come drivetrain & axles (7%) and fuel system (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 89 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Seat belts 43% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 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: 6 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 4 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1994 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 14 model years of the Mazda Protege with enough data (49 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.
Upon impact, during frontal crash at approx. 30-40 MPH, driver motorized shoulder harness failed to retract, result allowed to hit steering column. Tt
Front seat shoulder latch harness is rigidly mounted and does not yield pressure, wife forcibly struck head against latch, resulting in headaches/nausea.
Consumer states that she hit some gravel, overcorrected the vehicle and lost control of car, when hitting the brakes car went into a compelete circle and hit an oak tree. Believes brakes locked up. Vehicle has ABS.
Passenger side active shoulder belt seat belt mechanism works intermittenly when opening door. Drivers side has not worked when door is opened on a few occasions.
Automatic seat belt failed on 1994 mazda protege. Cost to replaced over $1000.00. Mazda recalled the same problem on 1994 323. The 323 and protege are the same in body style and design.