10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
48,571 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.

2004 Mazda RX-8 miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2004 Mazda RX-8 Owner Comments

problem #18

Dec 212020

RX-8

  • 62,000 miles

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

Front passenger airbag cracked dash and pushed out glove box.

- Dalzell, SC, USA

problem #17

Aug 122020

RX-8

  • 78,000 miles
I now have replacedclutch pedal the forth time. Im writing this to see ifi can still get one factory repair of the part the pedal will break in weld spot regardless of my trying not put to much pressure.

- Fort Worth, UT, USA

problem #16

Nov 052019

RX-8

  • 76,811 miles
Passenger dash cover has lost integrity/cracked along the lines where the airbag deploys and am concerned that the force of potential airbag deployment could be affected and not work as designed or deploy with too much force to cause injury or death to the occupant if the airbag cover should fly off upon deployment. This is an issue with the dash of many Mazda vehicles and should at a minimum be reviewed. The car has not been in any accidents and the airbags recall has recently been performed by a Mazda dealer.

- Mckinney, TX, USA

problem #15

Mar 212019

RX-8

  • 74,004 miles

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

Rusted oil cooler - lines causing major leaks that are soaking the brakes and tires with oil.this could also cause the engine to seize while driving.

- Bloomington, MN, USA

problem #14

Jun 112018

RX-8

  • 112,000 miles
As I pressed my cars clutch to change gears (6 speed manual ) while driving on my regular Sunday drive in a city street, I heard and felt a very loud explosion and noises of metal pieces ejecting from under my car. I was in the 60km/H zone so was not speeding or going fast such as on a freeway etc. I was able to pull over safely while rolling as the engine had been disabled in the explosion. I could feel my left foot was in extreme pain. My car would not start. I feared that the engine had blown up. My car is very well maintained and serviced regularly with no modifications. What I discovered was that the transmission had detonated, the gearbox bell housing was torn apart (got pictures to prove it) and I found parts of the clutch in many tiny pieces all over the roads. The clutch was replaced by Mazda 30,000kms ago and at a Mazda dealership using oem clutch kit. The force of the gearbox explosion was so great that the clutch pedal impacted my left foot and shattered the bones of the left foot in pieces (yes I was wearing thick soled sneakers) and caused severe trauma to my foot in general. At the hospital, the surgeons words were " it looks really bad". I was operated on and titanium plates and 4 screws were inserted to try to hold my shattered bones in place. 8 months and a lot of hospital visits later, I am still recovering from the day. I had further surgery few weeks ago to perform a bone graft because one break wasn't healing. I have approached Mazda regional head office. Initially Mazda contacted me via phone asking for details of the crash. I sent them photos via email. I have not heard from them since. I then also contacted the dealership. They promised to ring back and they too, have stopped. It's been difficult to find a lawyer who can see the obvious problem, that a vehicle should not blow up, or catch fire etc no matter what age it is. Help!

- Felixstow, CA, USA

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problem #13

Dec 132016

RX-8

  • 104,000 miles
Passenger side dash near airbag area (above glove box visually) is cracking horizontally and vertically. Very concerned about safety of the passenger, premature rupture of airbag, random deployment of airbag. Garage kept car. Crack horizontal has over time progressively gotten worse. Vertical crack began 12.13.16. In garage. Have appointment with Mazda dealership to repair 16V-354-but recall paperwork does not acknowledge the area(s) of dash included with repair that will resolve issue and potential hazards-including encasement of airbag. Recall notice does not articulate potential parts associated. "passenger frontal air bag inflator" is all described.

- Sapulpa, OK, USA

problem #12

Oct 062016

RX-8

  • miles

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

Driving down the highway, went to shift up into a higher gear and upon depression the clutch pedal assembly snapped and broke preventing me from disabling the transmission and allowing the transmission to go into the neutral or any other position. I was traveling at approximately 65mph and my car has only 46,135 miles on

- Uniontown, PA, USA

problem #11

Jun 172015

RX-8

  • 102,000 miles
The clutch pedal (already a known problem by Mazda, but no recall has yet been announced) cracked while I was driving last year. I was on hwy 13 in Minnesota and barely got control of my speed (was barely able to maintain use of the clutch) it sat until I could get it repaired, the same pedal is now craking in another spot, working on getting it repaired before it breaks again, this time will reinforce it.

- West Saint Paul, MN, USA

problem #10

Jul 102016

RX-8

  • miles
PCM flash

- Washington, DC, USA

problem #9

May 012015

RX-8

  • miles
Cracks in the dash immediately above the passenger airbag which is currently a recall issue. It seems that a large number of RX8 experience cracking in the same spot on the dash, generally following an "H" shape. Reports are that the cracks follow the airbag module assembly underneath the dash, and the cracks follow the seam that would be created in an impact for the airbag to deploy. In my case it began with a 4" left to right crack. In 2015 a recall was performed involving a temporary airbag fix until a permanent fix could be designed. After this interim airbag recall was performed, the cracks intensified. Just received another recall notice that the "final" airbag fix is ready to be performed at the dealer which with all the removal and jostling of the dash to make the final airbag repair, will probably create more cracks. The recall was due to the possibility that airbag parts could become projectiles and cause injury. Would not a poorly designed dash simply break into pieces upon airbag deployment and become projectiles and injury? numerous RX8 owners are seeing nearly identical H shaped cracks.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #8

Mar 252010

RX-8

  • 94,000 miles

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

Clutch pedal bracket snapped and cannot go into any gear. Got stuck in a stop light unable to shift into gear immediately...when I was able to (after 1min of trying to get into gear), I couldn't get out of it immediately (took 15secs)...very dangerous considering if I was on a highway and got stuck in gear while exiting...luckily I wasn't

- Union, NJ, USA

problem #7

Feb 032010

RX-8

  • 65,768 miles
The clutch began to squeak and I took it to the dealer for inspection. They found that the clutch bracket had cracked at one of the welded location. This happened under normal daily driving to work and back. It cost me $369 to replace the clutch pedal assembly with a new one. I don't think that this should happen under normal driving circumstances. This should be a recall item because if I did not take it into the dealer right away, the crack would have led to a catastrophic failure.

- Visalia, CA, USA

problem #6

Sep 242009

RX-8

  • 52,000 miles
The Mazda people have known about the driver's side sun visor failing. They have a tsb open on it. I have a 2004 RX8 and I just installed my 6th visor. Up until now Mazda has replaced them for free, but now it's out of warranty and I'm paying for them. Sometimes when they fail they fail by dropping down and interfering with the drivers vision. I think it's high time that Mazda engineer a fix and replace all of these visors out on the road. From NHTSA web site.

- Placentia, CA, USA

problem #5

Sep 032005

RX-8

  • 16,300 miles
1. outside temperature 80F or higher. Air conditioner on seems to contribute. Possibly altitude is a factor. Much worse in city driving 2. car looses power, especially at take off. I have pulled out onto the freeway and taken >1 mile to get up to 50 mph 3. Mazda have downloaded software patches twice - no improvement

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

problem #4

Jul 132005

RX-8 0-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
While driving, the center console gets extremely hot. The area behind the shifter and also inside the cupholders are effected. I left my watch in the cupholder and when I grabbed it when I was geting out of the car, it was scalding hot. Maybe that would be good in the winter to keep my coffee warm, but it is definitely abnormal.

- Lake Forest, IL, USA

problem #3

Jun 252005

RX-8 4-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 29,000 miles
I just bought a 2004 Mazda RX8 and a piece of road debris hit my ac condenser causing all the freon to leak out. This happened due to the gaping hole in the front air dam of my vehicle. I live in southern Texas where temps can climb well over 100 degrees. (higher inside the car) I worry my 3yr old son is at risk of heat stroke or worse from the temps. Mazda will not cover this in their warranty yet they do nothing to protect the highly vulnerable condenser, oil cooler, and radiator from being pelted from road debris. As a matter of fact the air dam is so poorly designed that it actually funnels rocks into the ac condenser itself. I am now worried that a piece of ''road debris'' may hit my oil cooler and spill oil all over the highway. That is definitely not considered safe under any circumstances. Many people online I have spoken to have had this same problem and the service person at the dealership stated, ''we see cars in here for this all the time''. the total repair cost is over 800$. even having to pay my deductible is asking a lot for this type of ''malfunction''. Mazda advertises this car as a 4-door coupe and sells the car on its ''practicality''. how practical is it to have ''road debris'' destroy your ac a week after purchase? I purchased the car from ingram park auto center here in san antonio, tx. From a gentleman named juan leon. They were of no help in the matter.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #2

Apr 292005

RX-8 0-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
I bought an Rx-8 last year, and have had nothing but trouble since the day I brought it home. The engine light and tire pressure gauge have been randomly going on and off for a year. I have had the car into several dealerships, none of which could figure out the problem. I have even replaced tires because I couldnt tell that the tire pressure gauge was showing a problem, due to the fact that it was going on and off several times a day. More recently my car died on me in the left lane of I95 in South Florida, as I used the accelerator, the car decelerated for no reason then died. It was towed back to a local dealer when it would not restart. After 5 days said they could not duplicate the problem and said the car was fine. Shortly after picking up my car, I noticed that the indicators were no longer randomly lighting up. (I thought that it was weird since the dealer said they didnt do anything to the car) just this past Friday, the car died again this time in the middle of a major intersection in South Florida. The car was towed to another local dealer who called me today to tell me that they once again could not duplicate the problem and the car could be picked up. This is now a safety issue for myself, my passengers and any other cars in the vicinity when my car dies. What is Mazda going to do when I have a major accident or get killed because they created a crappy car?

- Pompano Beach, FL, USA

problem #1

May 012004

RX-8 0-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 8,400 miles
Driver's side sun visor cracked and separated from post. It was hanging and would not stay up, out of field of vision. The dealer removed the visor while waiting for the replacement part. After starting the car later the same day, the check engine light came on and the central display and door locks did not work. While dropping off passenger before returning to the dealer, passenger folded down passenger-side sun visor, which also cracked and separated from the post. Took car back to dealer, who is trying to say this is not under warranty, and has called Mazda rep to examine but is keeping my car. Several reports of this on edmunds and other auto consumer sites. I merely want visors replaced and electrical system fixed under warranty.

- Irvine, CA, USA

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