AutoUtility currently tracks 56 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Mazda Mazda6. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 30 complaints (53.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 1 filing cites a crash, 1 cites a fire, 1 reports one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 56 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (30 reports • 53.6% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Powertrain & Transmission (9), Fuel & Propulsion System (6)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 1 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 1 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2018 Mazda Mazda6
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Engine & Cooling
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #19V497000 ENGINE
Powertrain & Transmission
Fuel & Propulsion System
NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #21V875000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:DELIVERY:FUEL PUMP
Brakes & Traction Control
Electrical System
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Mazda Mazda6
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Engine Coolant Intrusion / Oil Leak
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Mazda Mazda6
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"The car only has 70k miles on it. The engine started smoking under the hood. Immediately stopped to look. There was oil leaking but I could not see from where. I took it across the street to the Toyota dealership and had them look at it. They explained to me that there was a crack in the cylinder..."
"Got error message that said "Forward Smart City Brake Support Malfunction" slso fot "smart brake malfunction" while driving. The ac stopped, the car speedometer kept going from 50 to zero. The car died and couldn't open doors, windows. Lost steering while driving. We were able to get off road and..."
"Crack in Cylinder Head of engine. Mazda has been sued about this and have issued recalls on turbo engines, but not on non turbo ones though its the same systemic design issue with these engines. Wants me to pay 5-7k out of pocket."
"My cylinder head is leaking coolant. There is a well known and well documented issue with these cylinder heads cracking due to poor casting. This has become such a big issue that Mazda has even recalled the cylinder heads, BUT, only if the engine is equipped with Turbo. However, this issue is..."
"Car had a coolant leak due to cracked cylinder head that was defective from the factory it was fixed but now the car has engine problems again. Don’t want to keep having these issues in the future"
Complaint History for Mazda Mazda6
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2021)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Mazda Mazda6 | 60 | 6 | 3 | View 2015 Problems → |
| 2016 Mazda Mazda6 | 76 | 9 | 1 | View 2016 Problems → |
| 2017 Mazda Mazda6 | 60 | 1 | 1 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Mazda Mazda6 Current Page | 56 | 1 | 2 | Current |
| 2019 Mazda Mazda6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | View 2019 Problems → |
| 2020 Mazda Mazda6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Mazda Mazda6 | 17 | 0 | 0 | View 2021 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Mazda Mazda6
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 22 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Equipment & Accessories NHTSA category: EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| STEERING,SUSPENSION,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.