1996 Mazda 626: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns for the 1996 Mazda 626. The newest campaign is 15V674000. NHTSA received the report on 19 Oct 2015. The NHTSA record gives the component Electrical System / Ignition / Switch. NHTSA has 351 complaints on file for this model year. 4 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 15V674000, in the NHTSA record

Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ignition switch, free of charge. The recall began on December 17, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800-222-5500, option#6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8715J.

NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 29 Mar 2018. Recall file through 29 Sep 2026.

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

2 campaigns, newest first. 1,581,500 units in total.

15V674000Received 19 Oct 2015. 1,368,500 units.
Electrical System / Ignition / Switch
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Mazda North American Operations (Mazda) is recalling certain model year 1989-1998 MPV, 1990-1995 323, 1990-1998 Protege, 1992-1993 MX-3, 1993-1995 929, 1993-1997 MX-6, and 1993-1998 626 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, grease applied to the contact points inside the ignition switch may become conductive and overheat.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
If the ignition switch overheats there would be an increased risk of a fire.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will replace the ignition switch, free of charge. The recall began on December 17, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800-222-5500, option#6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8715J.
Report filed by Mazda North American Operations. Manufacturer campaign number 8715J. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 17 Dec 2015.
98V249000Received 8 Oct 1998. 213,000 units.
Air Bags / Frontal / Sensor/Control Module-Inactive
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Vehicle description: passenger vehicles equipped with the sas sensor unit. These vehicles can experience air bag deployments in minor undercarriage impacts.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
Unexpected air bag deployment can result in occupant injury.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Dealers will reprogram the sas unit to reduce the probability of unnecessary deployments in low speed undercarriage impacts.
Report filed by MAZDA (NORTH AMERICA),INC. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 4 Jan 1999.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

351 complaints, 414 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

1996 Mazda 626
All 1996 vehicles

1996 Mazda 626: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	1996 626	All 1996 vehicles	626, all years	Mentions
Power Train	594.2	100.3	538	246
Air Bags	115.9	66.3	61.1	48
Engine and Engine Cooling	84.5	145.2	100.9	35
Unknown or Other	33.8	21.6	19.7	14
Service Brakes, Hydraulic	29	125.1	39.2	12
Electrical System	29	82.2	45.6	12
Suspension	19.3	54	19.2	8
Vehicle Speed Control	19.3	41.9	20	8
Steering	16.9	48.5	15.2	7
Seat Belts	16.9	22.6	40.8	7

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 18.

Complaints that report a crash: 34
Complaints that report a fire: 2
Injuries in the complaints: 137
Deaths in the complaints: 99
Date of the newest complaint: 16 Aug 2010

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1996 Mazda 626, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2002, with 60 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1996 Mazda 626
Number	Type	Subject	Component	Opened	Closed	Campaign
RQ99022	Recall query	HEADLIGHT FAILURE	Exterior Lighting	20 Dec 1999	30 Aug 2000
SQ98024	Safety query	SPEEDOMETER INOPERATIVE	Power Train	29 Oct 1998	10 Sep 1999	99I005000
EA97012	Engineering analysis	OVERSENSITIVE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT	Air Bags	23 May 1997	9 Oct 1998	98V249000
PE97006	Preliminary evaluation	INAPPROPRIATE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT	Air Bags	30 Jan 1997	23 May 1997

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Follow by RSS:Mazda recallsVehicle recalls

Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
NHTSA page of the 1996 Mazda 626The recalls, the complaints and the investigations that NHTSA shows for this model year.

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1996 Mazda 626: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/mazda/626/1996/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 29 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 29 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 29 Mar 2018
First complaint in the file: 1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file: Mazda North American Operations

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1996 Mazda 626?: 1,581,500 units in 2 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Mazda 626 have for all model years?: NHTSA lists 18 recall campaigns for the Mazda 626, model years 1979 to 2003. 2 of them name the 1996 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1996 Mazda 626 name most often?: Power Train: 246 of 414 component mentions, or 594.2 per 1,000. For all 1996 vehicles the figure is 100.3 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1996 Mazda 626 open?: No. Each of the 4 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.