Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (front, side and curtain air bags, sensors and inflators).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2003 Mazda Mazda6 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
I hit a deer at 45 miles an hour then hit the hit totalling the car, the airbag did not come out, the seat belt did not lock causing me to be slammed into the steeling wheel, now I suffer great pain, can't move my neck, can't lay down bc of such bad headache I throw up, I sleep sitting up, something in the car like metal fragment hit me in the left eye, now I can barely see out of my left eye. And must continue medical treatment. And someone is going to pay for my medical treatment and pain and suffering, bc that seat belt not locking caused my injuries, my insurance company totalled my car out bc of the severe damage to it.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2003 Mazda 6. While driving 40 MPH, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The VIN was included in NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V345000 (air bags) and 15V382000 (air bags); however, the parts needed to repair the vehicle were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 190,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available and parts distribution disconnect, respectively.
Dt*: the contact stated after fainting, the vehicle struck a stop sign at 10 MPH. The impact occurred in the center of the hood. The air bags didn't deploy until the consumer opened the driver's side door to exit the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealership and was deemed totaled by the insurance company. There has been no inspection of the air bag problem. Updated 6/16/2006 -
While driving at 45mph consumer's vehicle was hit from behind, causing it to rear end another vehicle. Upon impact, both frontal air bags did not deploy. Driver sustained minor injuries. Prior to accident, left front tire kept loosing air. Dealer re-beaded it but didn't found anything wrong with the tire. Dealer told consumer to come back if tires still losses air.
After being run off the highway by a SUV the air bags failed to deploy during a head on collision into the woods going 65mph down a 50ft embankment. Whole front end of the car, and the drive side of the car was destroyed, causing the engine to come up resulting in the steering wheel and console to come up.
While driving 55 MPH the vehicle was involved in a side impact collision with an semi- tractor trailer. As a result the vehicle flipped twice landing in a ditch. None of the airbags deployed. No injuries reported. Please provide any additional information.
In 2018, the car was part of a trade in for a certified used car at my dealership. The car had over 350,000 miles and could no longer run.
On 01/18/2019 I took vehicle I purchased, to mock Ford in grant's pass oregon for takara airbag recall. This is when I became aware of safety issue that vehicles aur bags had been cut out and removed. The service guy at mock Ford explainedand gave estimate which was greater than what cars value was. The seller of car aaron ronson never disclosed any issues. Only that he bought from a friend that buys and fixes cars. His friend worked at a wrecking yard. My safety concern as well as insurance coverage is have been b.ceffected. My complaint is no found records of vehicleaccident. And no branding of title it is clear. No evidence of airbad deployment. I have been refused copies if previous owner to investigated knowledge prior to my purcgase.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2003 Mazda 6. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V382000 (air bags) and 16V354000 (air bags). The part was not available within a reasonable time frame to schedule the recall repair. The contact called two dealers, but there was no response after several calls. The contact was unable to determine when the vehicle would be repaired. The manufacturer could not provide an estimated date for when the contact's vehicle would receive the recall repair. The contact was not experiencing a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2003 Mazda 6. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15V382000 (air bags) and the contact waited for months to receive the second notice indicating that the parts were available. The manufacturer had not sent the parts to the dealer in order for the recall remedy to be performed. The manufacturer was contacted and was unable to provide a specific time frame that the parts would become available. The VIN was not available. The contact had not experienced a failure.
Related recalls
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2004-2005 MPV, 2004 RX-8, and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 vehicles. These vehicles had their passenger frontal air bag inflators previously replaced under a prior recall using inflators of the same design.
Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate one, free of charge.
Air bags › Frontal › Passenger side › Inflator module
Mazda North America Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 and 2004 MPV vehicles nationwide. Mazda is also recalling 2005-2006 MPV vehicles in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky,…
Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge.
Air bags › Frontal › Driver side › Inflator module
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 2003-2008 Mazda6, 2004-2008 RX-8, and 2006-2007 Mazdaspeed6 vehicles. The affected vehicles are equipped with a dual-stage driver frontal air bag that may be susceptible to moisture intrusion and other factors, including manufacturing variability that, over…
Remedy: Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the remedy is performed. Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge.
NHTSA investigations
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture
From 2000 through 2017, Takata produced millions of air bag inflators using two types of phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate ("PSAN") propellant -- propellant 2004 and propellant 2004L. After prolonged exposure to high temperature cycles and humidity, inflators using propellant 2004 can degrade, causing the propellant to burn too quickly when ignited.
Air Bag Inflator Rupture
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE14-016 in June 2014 based on six inflator rupture incidents involving consumer owned vehicles produced by five vehicle manufacturers.All six vehicles were operated in Florida or Puerto Rico at the time of the rupture and for the majority of their service life, and were equipped with inflators produced by Takata, a tier-one supplier of automotive air bag…
Airbag complaints in other Mazda6 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are airbag problems on the 2003 Mazda Mazda6?
NHTSA has 30 complaints about the air bags of the 2003 Mazda Mazda6, 17% of the model year's 174 complaints. The component named most often is frontal (2 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2003 Mazda Mazda6 airbag problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 19V-781 (inflator module, Oct 31, 2019); NHTSA recall 18V-402 (inflator module, Jun 15, 2018); NHTSA recall 17V-474 (inflator module, Jul 26, 2017). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 2003 Mazda Mazda6 airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 43,000 miles, and 38% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 9 crashes, 0 fires and 4 injuries to air bags problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.