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Visibility & wipers

Mazda MX-5 Visibility problems by year

7 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Mazda MX-5's visibility & wipers. Windshields, wipers, defrosters, mirrors, backup cameras and glare.

Visibility complaints by model year

YearVisibility complaintsCrashesInjuriesRecalls
20241000
20174000
20161000
20121000

Latest MX-5 visibility complaints

2024 Mazda MX-5LightsVisibility & wipers

The vehicle has a recurrent malfunction of the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS), part of the exterior headlight system and advertised as a safety feature within Mazda's i-ACTIVSENSE technology. The failure presents as a dashboard warning stating: "Headlight System Malfunction. Have the vehicle inspected." The affected components remain installed and are available for inspection upon request. This malfunction poses a potential safety risk because it affects a system intended to improve visibility during night...

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driving and around curves, creating uncertainty about headlight performance under low-visibility conditions. The issue has been confirmed by an authorized Mazda dealer, which recorded fault logs related to the headlight system. The vehicle has been inspected multiple times. Repairs performed include replacement of the headlamp wiring harness and replacement of the entire headlamp assembly, but the malfunction continues and has increased in frequency over time. The problem first appeared intermittently over a year ago, progressed to weekly, and now occurs daily. The failure occurs under normal driving conditions, including at very low speeds (approximately 5 mph) while exiting a parking lot. One documented instance occurred with the engine still cold (blue low-engine-temperature indicator illuminated), indicating no aggressive driving. Several additional occurrences happened below 35 mph with no harsh steering or acceleration. Suggestions that this is related to "spirited driving" are contradicted by observed conditions and video evidence.

Filed Incident Exterior lighting · Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11706227
2017 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

Vehicles rear windshield spontaneously shattered. Vehicle was idle and upon starting the vehicle a cracking sound was heard in the cabin and the rear view mirror was unusable as the rear windshield was entirely shattered into <1 inch pieces. Small pieces of loose glass had fallen from both upper corners of the windshield. The windshield is still attached to the vehicle and rear visibility is severely limited. No third-party inspections have been executed. There was no previous damage to the windshield and the car was idling when the failure occurred. There were no indications of potential failure before the incident.

Filed Incident Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11667552
2016 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

Sun visors on first generation nd mx-5 subject to catastrophic failure, leading to dangerous driving conditions. I was at highway speed when the driver's side visor failed on my car. The visor would no longer stay in position. It just hung at the bottommost position. As a tall driver I first scrunched down in the seat in order to see properly out the windshield. Eventually I held the sagging visor up with my left hand and steered/shifted with my right hand. Not ideal and definitely not perfectly safe. Online...

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forums indicate this is a widespread problem with first generation nds.Though the sun visors in my 2016 nd have been used sparingly, both driver and passenger side visors have failed in the same place: at the hinge near the dome light. The replacement part is nearly $300, not including installation. The part was quickly redesigned by mazda but owners of early vins are out of luck.

Filed Incident Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11365631
2017 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

The windshield cracked while the vehicle was parked in a lot. The crack appears to have started on the passenger side edge of the windshield and rapidly propogated horizontally along the center of the windshield to roughly the center of the glass. The car had 12000 miles on it when the windshield cracked.

Filed Incident Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11221551
2017 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

At 8300 miles this car has dozens of rock chips in the windshield, most of which were picked up from driving on relatively clean interstates and some of which have begun to spiderweb. I believe that the glass on this vehicle is abnormally susceptible to picking up chips from rocks which will in time create stress risers and cause the windshield to fail prematurely. I talked to a mazda rep and they said that there were no recalls on this vehicle nor was the windshield covered by the factory warranty. They directed me to take my complaint to my insurance company. More pictures are available upon request.

Filed Incident Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11186624
2017 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

The headliner on my convertible top comes unfastened right above the rear window. It sags down blocking the veiw by an inch and a half. This has been fixed 3 times and continues to happen. This window is small to begin with. The car was stationary and the top was being taken down.

Filed Incident Visibility / wiperNHTSA 10959824
2012 Mazda MX-5Visibility & wipers

2012 Mazda miata sun visors do not rotate left to right, making morning southbound drive and evening northbound drive dangerous, as left hand is occupied blocking sun, and right hand required to operate both manual transmission and steering. Result is, there is an accident waiting to happen. *Tr

Filed Incident VisibilityNHTSA 10454731

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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