1998 Mazda Protege — reported problems
CarFaultIQ holds 128 evidence records for the 1998 Mazda Protege, drawn from official sources and owner complaints.
What owners report: issue areas
Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 52 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.
- Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)15 (28.8%)
- Exhaust & emissions control8 (15.4%)
- Brakes6 (11.5%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2000–2001.
- Air bags (restraint system)3 (5.8%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 1995.
- Seat belts3 (5.8%)Official recall records for this system: 1, covering model years 1995.
- Tires & wheels3 (5.8%)
Other / uncategorized: 1 classifications (1.9%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.
These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.
What the records are about, by source
Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.
- Owner complaints (1,610 records, model years 1995–2003) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), powertrain (transmission & drivetrain) and engine.
- Manufacturer communications (936 records, model years 1995–2003) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and powertrain (transmission & drivetrain).
"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records
Evidence by model year
Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.
- 1995 231 records for 1995
- 1996 120 records for 1996
- 1997 151 records for 1997
- 1998 128 records for 1998
- 1999 188 records for 1999
- 2000 203 records for 2000
- 2001 154 records for 2001
- 2002 201 records for 2002
- 2003 220 records for 2003
Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.
Reports mentioning outcomes
- 8mention a crash
- 2mention an injury
These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.
Official records held
- Safety recalls NHTSA 2
- Manufacturer communications NHTSA 79
- Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 1
- Owner complaints NHTSA 46
Where to go next
- Mazda Protege coverage hub Published problems, year windows and buyer guidance for this model.
- Evidence Explorer — the underlying records Read the individual recalls, investigations, manufacturer communications and complaints these counts come from.
- All model years of the Mazda Protege Compare how much evidence is held for each year before narrowing to one.
- Browse all vehicle coverage Every make and model CarFaultIQ has published coverage for.