"How reliable is the 1997 Mazda 626?"

"Based on 451 NHTSA complaints, the 1997 Mazda 626 has a median complaint mileage of 91000 miles. The most common issue is POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION."

"What are common problems with the 1997 Mazda 626?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1997 Mazda 626 is POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, accounting for a significant portion of the 451 total complaints filed."

1997 Mazda 626: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 451 complaints

451

Total Complaints

91,000mi

Median Mileage

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

66,000 25th Percentile

91,000 Median Mileage

110,330 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION

210

AIR BAGS:FRONTAL

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE

ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:GASOLINE

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

AIR BAGS

POWER TRAIN:MANUAL TRANSMISSION

POWER TRAIN

VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"EXPERIENCING EXHAUST FUMES IN THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. *AK"

"AIR BAGS DEPLOYED WHILE DRIVING ON HIGHWAY WITHOUT WARNING. NO FRONTAL DAMAGE ON VEHICLE. *AK"

"DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT THE 35MPH, VEHICLE WAS IMPACTED AT A 12:00 POSITION, DRIVER AND DRIVER'S SIDE AIRBAG DID NOT DEPLOY. *AK"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28