2.7

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
52,875 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2003 Mazda MAZDA6 drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2003 Mazda MAZDA6 Owner Comments

problem #7

Jan 152012

MAZDA6

  • 50,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After two years of driving this car the clutch pedal assembly completely broke puncturing through the fire wall and brake reservoir, luckily I was starting the vehicle in a hospital parking lot when I pushed the clutch in it went completely to the floor and did not come back up. It was completely inoperable, I had to have the car towed after patching the firewall and replacing the clutch pedal assembly for $1800 I was told that part was faulty on this vehicle and if it happened once it would probably happen again. One year later it broke again only this time I was driving down the road when I went to shift gears the clutch went to the floor and didn't come back up, I had to pull over luckily I didn't get hit or cause an accident. I was told by Mazda there would be no recall because this part isn't a direct safety issue.

- Newark, DE, USA

problem #6

Oct 282015

MAZDA6 6-cyl

  • miles
2003 Mazda 6. consumer writes in regards to vehicle would not start after being parked for several hours. Discovered PCM needed to be replaced. The consumer was informed Mazda stopped manufacturing the PCM for vehicles manufactured in 2003 and therefore, it had to special ordered. It took eight weeks for the dealer to receive the part.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #5

Oct 082014

MAZDA6 6-cyl

  • 105,000 miles
Transmission kicks really hard making the car feel like it was hit from behind. The car is hard to control at the time this happens. I've seen numerous complaints about this. It is a serious problem, especially when our 90lb daughter is driving this vehicle. I feel that Mazda needs to take care of this issue before someone is injured or worse!

- Pell City, AL, USA

problem #4

Aug 242013

MAZDA6

  • 96,332 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I purchased a 2003 Mazda 6 about a month ago, and I have had the hard shifting problems and the temp gauge going up to high all the time and floating back down. I was not informed of this and other recalls of this model and I have been denied to get the problem fixed. The dealer where I bought it said they flashed it a couple times but it is not stated O N my repair receipt. I feel that I am driving a dangerous car and something needs to be done!!!! I am not going to keep driving this car and I feel I can take it back because my first payment is not due yet. Be it said that this car has been in the shop 4 times since day one! they still will not fix it and it is under warranty. This is a rip off and this model is unsafe and these models should be taken off of the market!!!

- Lakeland, FL, USA

problem #3

Jun 302004

MAZDA6

  • 16,000 miles
I hadn't had the car too long and was taking off from a traffic light when the hard shift first occurred. I really thought I'd been hit from behind by another car, but this was not the case. It didn't happen too often for awhile, then it started happening more frequently so I took it in. I took it to multiple Mazda dealers, where I would leave it overnight for them to try and reproduce the problem. They always insisted that they could not so I gave up for awhile. It got worse and then I saw a tsb online about the issue. The supposed fix is to flash the computer chip. Every dealer I contacted about it said they'd charge an hour labor to do this, and my private mechanic couldn't do it as it's some magical thing only the dealers can do. Anyway I have not had it flashed yet, the car is coming up on 147K and the problem is now so bad that it's dangerous. I will have the flash done in the next couple days but I don't think it will help. I also had to have the throttle body replaced a year ago as I was nearly hit by a big rig when the car shut down in the fast lane. So many people have had this and similar really dangerous problems, this car should have been recalled years ago.

- Scotts Valley, CA, USA

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problem #2

Feb 172011

MAZDA6 6-cyl

  • 102,290 miles
On 17 Feb 2011 I was driving my 2003 Mazda 6S and while driving at a low speed of 25 mph all my lights on my dashboard turned on and my car immediately began to reduce speed almost to a stand still. Luckily I was able to pull to the side of the road in time to avoid any accidents or possible damage to my vehicle. I restarted my car and was able to proceed in driving. However my engine light remained on. I researched this issue online and found that someone with the same model vehicle and year had the same issue almost verbatim. The referenced a service bulletin from Mazda bulletin no: 01-016/06 released in 2006 regarding throttle body replacement. I read the bulletin and sure enough it stated to inspect the letters on the throttle body. It showed aa, ab, ba markings = no good and bb marking = good. So I inspected my vehicles throttle body letter and sure enough it was "aa". I will have to definitely replace it, and of course I have no choice because you can imagine the ramifications of driving on a highway or freeway and something like this were to occur. Accidents, or even death. It is pretty upsetting that something has not been done to correct these issues especially with the potential consequences of this defect!

- Travis Afb, CA, USA

problem #1

Oct 152003

MAZDA6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 500 miles
I purchased a 2003 Mazda six on 6-28-03. 2 months later the engine and other dash lights appear and car shuts off. I pick up the car 6 days later only to return it a week later when the engine light comes on again. A week later I pick it up on Friday at 11:00 a.M. and by 7:00 P.M. all dash lights come on, transmission slipping, speed odometer erratic, and loss of power. It has been in the shop for 12 more days and they can not tell me anything. My piece of crap has been in the shop for 26 days, they have damaged numerous things(spoiler has crack, paint nicks on hood and doors)all I want is my money back and I walk away!

- Murfreesboro, TN, USA

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