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 2004 Mazda RX-8 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
For a year I have responded to every notice for a recall repair (7 total) Mazda has not repaired my vehicle or scheduled its repair. My recall ID is 016742248 and my Campaign Number is 100409. My car has a DO NOT DRIVE status and Mazda tells me I MUST drive the car 2 hours to get it repaired each way. And they refuse to transport y vehicle even thought I have told them in phone conversations about my cars do not drive status. The latest attempt for filing for a repay was 7-21-25 at 9:40am central time.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX-8. While driving 25 MPH, the contact's vehicle was rear ended by another vehicle. As a result, the contact rear ended the preceding vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy. A police report was filed. The contact received neck and back pain that required medical attention. The vehicle was not towed and was able to be driven after the crash. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V345000 (air bags) and 15V382000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 89,400.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX-8. While driving at 70 MPH, the steering wheel independently turned in both directions. As a result, the contact crashed into a curb and the air bags failed to deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. A police report was not filed. In addition, the contact noticed that the rear passenger wheel well was curved and fractured. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose or repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 95,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Takata recall. Traffic came to a halt on the freeway. I stopped and was subsequently rear ended at high speed causing the driver side and passenger side air bags to deploy. Either the air bag itself or a projectile injured my eye. The skin on my eyelid was torn requiring 7 stitches. This was extremely traumatic and I wanted to be sure this incident was included in the investigation.
On 10/19/19 the vehicle was involved in a crash when swerving to avoid a deer on the road. Two trees were hit and the vehicle was flipped on its side. No airbags deployed during this accident as I was expected. Pictures show the front damage and interior.
I bought a car that had a recall of the air bag the passenger seat air bag had been deployed was told by dealer it was under recall.after checking with the dealer the side seat air bag was not part of the recall was not replaced or even looked at .so we took the seat out to see ant obvious issues and we found all the wires that plug into seat all way to under carpet against frame all the wires were melted.witch is an obvious manafaturing problem.we have read mupltile forums where tons of people have had same problem but yet no recall we could find on this issue.my mother is on oxygen and if my car catches fire to do this and no one looking into this it can be far worse.thier is another recall on front end suspsion that they are not willing to replace at this time.they tell me they are waiting to see if they come up with a better solution to fix it.im going to Mazda dealer tomorrow …
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.
Tl* Takata recall. The contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX-8. The contact stated that the front passenger side air bag area was deteriorating. The contact later received notification of NHTSA campaign numbers: 15V345000 (air bags) and 15V382000 (air bags) however, the parts were not available for an extended period of time to receive the recall repairs. The manufacturer was contacted and was not able to supply a permanent remedy for the front passengers side air bag failure and they were unable to determine when the part might become available for the front drivers side. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
"Takata recall" my power stering goes out all the time doesnt matter if im sitting still or im going down the high way. It does eventually come back on but does go back off. It also will cause my stering wheel to jurk left and right by itself cause me to swerve in an out of lanes. It got to the point now where I have the power stering unplugged so that it doesnt jerk my wheel while driving. I just need to know if there is a recall that will pay to fix this cause its getting dangerous. Please contact back with any info
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Mazda RX-8. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired per NHTSA campaign number: 14V362000 (air bags). After the repair, the dashboard began to crack in the location where the passenger side air bags were replaced. The vehicle was taken to dealer where it was diagnosed that the dashboard failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.
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.
Air bags › Frontal
As a result of an ncap test, certain passenger vehicles are being recalled for improperly wired front passenger seat air bags.
Remedy: Dealers will install a new wiring harness in the front passenger seat air bag system. The recall began March 5, 2004. Owners should contact Mazda at 1-800-222-5500.
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 RX-8 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are airbag problems on the 2004 Mazda RX-8?
NHTSA has 50 complaints about the air bags of the 2004 Mazda RX-8, 10% of the model year's 490 complaints. The component named most often is frontal (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2004 Mazda RX-8 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 2004 Mazda RX-8 airbag problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 86,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 7 crashes, 0 fires and 9 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.