There are 9 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2003 Mazda Mazda6in NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
WHEN I TAKE MY FOOT OFF THE GAS IT STAYS AT THE SAME SPEED OR IT SPEEDS UP ON ITS OWN. WHEN I PRESS ON THE BREAK SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE IT'S NOT GOING TO STOP AND JUST KEEP GOING OR IT JERKS FORWARD WHEN I STOP. THIS HAPPENS WHEN I AM DRIVING ON THE ROAD AND THE CRUISE CONTROL IS NOT ON WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
2003 MAZDA6 MODEL CARS WERE BUILT WITH FAULTY THROTTLE BODIES. UNAWARE OF THIS, I BOUGHT ONE OF THESE VEHICLES AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN EXPERIENCING ISSUES WITH IT. WHEN DRIVING VERY SLOWLY, UNDER 15 MPH, THE CAR WILL SUDDENLY THROTTLE, ACCELERATING IT IN BURSTS EVEN WHEN APPLYING THE BRAKES. THAT ISSUE IS PROBLEMATIC BUT RELATIVELY MINOR; HOWEVER, THERE IS A MUCH MORE DANGEROUS ISSUE THE FAULTY THROTTLE BODY CREATES. WHEN DRIVING AT ANY SPEED, THE FAULTY THROTTLE BODY CAN CAUSE THE ENGINE TO CUT OUT WITHOUT WARNING. MY WIFE WAS DRIVING WITH OUR KIDS IN THE CAR THE FIRST TIME WE HAD THE ENGINE CUT OUT WHILE DRIVING (SOON AFTER PURCHASING THE CAR). LUCKILY, SHE WAS DRIVING IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA AT 25 MPH. THE ENGINE HAS CUT OUT ON ME WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON THE FREEWAY. I WAS FORCED TO COAST THROUGH FREEWAY TRAFFIC TO THE SHOULDER IN ORDER TO STOP THE CAR AND RESTART THE ENGINE. THE ENGINE HAS CUT OUT, WITHOUT WARNING, AT SEVERAL SPEEDS. THERE IS NO RHYME TO WHEN IT WILL CUT OUT AND NO INDICATION IT'S GOING TO CUT OUT AHEAD OF TIME. I SPENT OVER $500 TRYING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM WITH MECHANICS UNSURE WHAT WAS WRONG. THEN A MECHANIC HAPPENED TO HAVE AN OLD SERVICE BULLETIN (SB), DATED 5/18/2006, FROM MAZDA THAT STATED THROTTLE BODIES WITH THE MARKINGS AA, AB, OR BA AT THE END OF THEIR SERIAL NUMBERS (AS IS THE CASE WITH THE ONE IN MY CAR) ARE "NO GOOD". BECAUSE THE PART IS LABELED "NO GOOD" UNDER MAZDA LETTERHEAD, I FIGURED THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A RECALL ISSUED BEFORE I OWNED THE CAR THAT THE PREVIOUS OWNER SOMEHOW MISSED. I TOOK THE CAR IN TO A MAZDA DEALERSHIP WHERE I WAS ASSURED NO RECALL HAS EVER BEEN ISSUED ON THE PART AND IN ORDER TO REPLACE IT, THE COST WILL BE OVER $1,000. A RECALL MUST BE MADE ON THIS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND FAULTY, BY MAZDA'S OWN ADMISSION, PART BEFORE UNSUSPECTING PEOPLE ARE INJURED OR KILLED, IF THAT HASN'T HAPPENED ALREADY.
I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE IN GA GOING A LITTLE OVER 70MPH IN THE FAST LANE AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT KICKED IN TO LIMP MODE TO ABOUT 10MPH. I ALMOST HAD A SEMI REAR END ME BUT WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET OUT OF THE WAY JUST IN TIME. I COULD TURN THE CAR OFF AND IT WOULD RESET IT FOR AWHILE AND THEN DO IT AGAIN. THEN IT FINALLY GOT TO THE POINT IT WAS DOING IT WAY TOO MUCH. IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE THROTTLE BODY. I LEARNED THAT THEY KNOW ABOUT IT BUT WONT RECALL IT. ITS BEEN SITTING FOR A YEAR BECAUSE THEY WANT $900.00 TO FIX IT. I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD DRIVE IT AND LET SOMEBODY HIT ME JUST TO MAKE IT A RECALL SO ALL THE 1000S IF NOT 10 OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WILL BE ABLE TO GET IT FIXED. CLEARLY THAT IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE AND SHOULD BE A RECALL. *TR
WHILE DRIVING HOME THE CAR SEEMED TO HAVE LOST ALL POWER, BUT WAS STILL RUNNING. I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO MY HOUSE BUT THEN TRIED TO STOP AND THE CAR SURGED. I HAD TO PULL THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP. I WAS QUITE SHAKEN AT THAT POINT. THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE IT BACK TO TOWN TO HAVE THE CAR CHECKED, NO ERROR CODES SHOWED UP ON THE COMPUTER. THE ENGINE LIGHT DID GO OFF, THE CAR RAN FINE FOR ABOUT 3 MONTHS THEN PROCEEDED TO DO THE SAME THING. THE CAR LOST POWER BUT I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO MY PLACE OF WORK. HOWEVER EVEN THOUGH THERE SEEMED TO BE NO POWER AGAIN WHEN I TRIED TO BRAKE THE CAR SURGED AND THE CAR ALMOST JUMPED THE CURB, WHICH WOULD HAVE PUT ME IN MY OFFICE. I AGAIN HAD THE VEHICLE CHECKED, NO ERRORS. AFTER RESEARCHING IT SEEMS THIS MAY BE DUE TO THE AUTOMATIC THROTTLE SENSOR. QUESTION WITH ALL THE COMPLAINTS, CARS STALLING AT HIGH SPEEDS AND THE SURGING OF VEHICLES WHY IS THERE NO RECALL. YOU RECALL FOR A STUPID LIGHTS, OVER SPRAYING OF A CLEAR COAT, BUT NO RECALL ON SOMETHING THAT IS PUTTING PEOPLE IN DANGER?? I DON'T UNDERSTAND. *TR
CAR EXPERIENCED UNINTENDED ACCELERATION IN STOP-AND-GO TRAFFIC (0-30 MPH) ON 9/4/11 AND 9/7/11. TACHOMETER NEEDLE WAS BOUNCING BETWEEN 1 AND 3. CAR ACCELERATED, AND RPMS INCREASED, WHILE ON A LEVEL SURFACE, WITHOUT THE GAS PEDAL APPLIED. CAR FOUGHT AGAINST MY EFFORTS TO SLOW DOWN BY BREAKING. CAR STABILIZED UPON REACHING 40 MPH. ON 9/7/11, THE MAZDA DEALERSHIP ATTEMPTED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM BY CLEANING THE THROTTLE BODY, BUT THE INTERVENTION FAILED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM AND IT RECURRED ON 9/7. THIS IS A SERIOUS COMPLAINT WITH A HIGH RISK OF INJURIES OR DEATH. MAZDA OWNER INTERNET MESSAGE BOARDS DESCRIBE THIS PROBLEM REPEATEDLY. PLEASE INVESTIGATE AND MANDATE THAT MAZDA IDENTIFY AN IMMEDIATE CORRECTION TO THIS DANGEROUS PROBLEM. *TR
THE VEHICLE ACCELERATION CUTS OFF AND THE DASH BOARD LIGHTS ARE ALL ON. YOU WILL HAVE TO SHUT OFF THE CAR AND TURN IT BACK ON BEFORE IT WILL WORK CORRECTLY. DEALER SAID THEIR DIAGNOSTIC DID NOT SHOW ANY THROTTLE SENSOR ERRORS BUT MY SCAN TOOL DID. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 MAZDA 6. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 20 MPH, THE CONTACT APPLIED PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE PEDAL SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE THE VEHICLE SLOWED DOWN. THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED WITHOUT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL BEING DEPRESSED. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC AND IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THE FAILURE WAS RELATED TO A DEFECTIVE THROTTLE; HOWEVER, THE VEHICLE BEGAN OPERATING NORMALLY AFTER THE DIAGNOSIS. THE TECHNICIAN RECOMMENDED THAT THE VEHICLE BE TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER. THE VIN WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 81,000. UPDATED 10/16/08. *LJ
DT*: THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN AND ON MANY OCCASIONS WHILE DRIVING 55 MPH. THIS OCCURRED EVEN WHILE APPLYING THE BRAKES. ON ONE OCCASION, THE VEHICLE ALMOST HIT A PEDESTRIAN. ON ANOTHER OCCASION, THE VEHICLE RAN THROUGH A RED LIGHT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALERS WHO DETERMINED THE PROBLEM WAS PERTAINING TO THE THROTTLE BODY. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIR HOWEVER THE PROBLEM PERSISTS.
WAS LEFT STRANDED WHEN CHECK ENGINE LIGHT AND AT LIGHT CAME ON. CAR WOULD NOT ACCELERATE ABOVE 20 MPH AND HAD SOME JERKING. HAD CAR TOWED IN. SERVICE DEPT REPLACED THROTTLE BODY AND SENSOR. CAR STILL REPEATEDLY HAS A JERK/HESITATION WHEN HOLDING STEADY BETWEEN THE SPEEDS OF 40MPH AND 50MPH. HAVE BROUGHT THE CAR IN THREE TIMES FOR THE JERKING/HESITATION AND THE SERVICE MECHANIC DOES NOT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. THEY TRIED REDOWNLOADING THE COMPUTER WHICH WORKED FOR ABOUT 1 WEEK AND THEN THE JERKING/HESITATION PROCEEDED. MY SERVICE DEPT HAS SPOKEN TO CUSTOMER SERVICE OF CALIFORNIA AND THEY SAY THEY HAVE NOT HEARD OF ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS WITH ANY OTHER MAZDA 6'S AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS. I HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED A WATER LEAK IN MY VEHICLE ABOUT A MONTH AFTER I BOUGHT IT WHICH FLOODED MY WHOLE PASSENGER SIDE. CARPET HAD TO BE REPLACED. MY BRAKES HAVE A SQUEAKY, GRINDING NOISE WHEN TURNING. MY BACK SEAT SEAMS ARE COMING UNSEWED. WILL HAVE TO GET THE FABRIC REPLACED. MY QUESTION IS, "WHAT'S NEXT?" I HAVE ALREADY RECIEVED LEGAL ADVICE AND MY LAWYER THINKS I HAVE A PRETTY GOOD CASE. IF NOTHING CAN BE DONE, THEN WHY NOT REPLACE THE VEHICLE. I AM FED UP WITH SPENDING MY TIME AT THE MAZDA DEALERSHIP. I BOUGHT A NEW VECHICLE TO STAY AWAY FROM MECHANICAL DIFFICULITIES.*AK
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026