The 1991 Mazda Protege has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 1,368,500 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 60 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the seat belts. Last updated July 5, 2026.
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…
Consequence
If the ignition switch overheats there would be an increased risk of a fire.
Remedy
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.
Complaints by component
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR
10
1crashes1injuries
SEAT BELTS
8
1crashes1injuries
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:ANCHORAGE
4
1injuries
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:WARNING LIGHT/DEVICES
3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2
1fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:IGNITION
2
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
2
SEAT BELTS:FRONT
2
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS
2
STRUCTURE:BODY:TRUNK LID
2
2injuries
Total complaints60
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“Tl* the contact owned a 1991 mazda protege. While driving various speeds, smoke appeared under the hood. There were no flames visible and no injuries. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 15v674000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was…”
“Rear strut towers rust right through. *tr”
“Tl* the contact owns a 1991 mazda protege. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 mph during rain weather conditions, the vehicle went over a pothole causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle and stopping on the shoulder of the road. The contact then attempted to drive…”
“Tl* the contact owns a 1991 mazda protege. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 mph during rain weather conditions, the vehicle went over a pothole causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle and stopping on the shoulder of the road. The contact then attempted to drive…”
“The automatic shoulder belt would retract slower and slower until it finally stopped retracting. The consequences were: on april 18, 2005 I was given a fix-it ticket for not wearing my shoulder harness.*ak the automatic harness no longer fully retracts, so it is useless.”
“The seat belt cord on my 1991 mazda protege has become inoperable and therefore I have no top seat belt on my cars driver side. *ak”
“While driving, the vehicle's hood detached resulting in the hood hitting the windshield.*mr *cb *jb”
“Transmition locked up going 65 mph. *ak”
Defect investigations
InvestigationEA94039 Opened 1994-11-30 · closed 1997-11-26
AUTO RESTRAINT SYSTEM FAIL
There is no summary currently available
InvestigationPE94059 Opened 1994-07-28 · closed 1994-11-30
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1991 Mazda Protege as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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