Buyer Research

2022 Mazda MX-5 Miata — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $26,000–$33,000. There is 1 high-severity known issue you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 13 Mazda MX-5 Miata years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Five complaints is a small file, but three of the five are the same thing and it is the expensive thing: the six-speed manual gearbox. Owners describe synchronisers failing, grinding between gears and cars that would not take a gear at all, one of them citing an owners' group poll that put the failure rate near one in ten among members who responded — a self-selected sample, so treat the number as a signal rather than a statistic. This is the year the problem starts showing on the record and it carries through our 2023 and 2024 pages. Everything else about the 2022 is very good, including the new Kinematic Posture Control. Drive it warm, shift it hard, and be ruthless about what you hear.

What we checked

Checked against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 5 owner complaints for the 2022 Mazda MX-5 Miata, and 1 recall campaign.

That is too small a record to read a pattern from, so we are not going to pretend otherwise — with numbers this low one owner moves the percentage by a lot. What has been filed is grouped under the transmission and drivetrain (3), the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (1), electrics and electronics (1). Treat those as things to look at, not as the vehicle's known weaknesses. A thin file usually means few of these were sold or few owners filed. It is not evidence the vehicle is trouble-free, and the issues below are our own research rather than a reading of this record.

One recall campaign covers this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2022 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Six-speed manual synchronisers fail — grinding, baulking, or no gear at allHigh — wallet impact

Three of this year's five complaints are the manual gearbox. Owners report synchroniser failure producing erratic shifting and, in one case, the inability to change gear at all; one filing cites a Facebook owners' group poll of ND drivers that found around a tenth of responding owners had needed transmission work. That is a self-selected group, not a survey, and we are labelling it as such — but three of five filings on one component is the shape of this year's record. Get the car to full operating temperature, then take firm 2-3 and 3-4 upshifts under throttle and a 3-2 downshift. A crunch, a baulk or a whine that tracks road speed is a four-figure conversation.

Repair cost (estimate): $2,500–$4,500 for a replacement manual gearbox

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the transmission and drivetrain (3).

Automatic emergency braking fires with nothing in front of the carMedium

One owner reports the collision system slamming the brakes on twice with no obstacle present, once at speed on a clear, dry parkway approaching a toll gantry. Phantom braking usually traces to the forward radar being misaimed, blocked or confused by overhead metalwork, and on a car this low a previous front-end repair is a common cause. Look behind the lower grille for a radar module that sits square and unmarked, and ask whether the front bumper has ever been off. One filing is one filing, but it is the kind that ends badly with a vehicle behind you.

Repair cost (estimate): $300–$1,200 for radar aiming or a replacement sensor

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (1).

Roof latch sensor can disarm the alarm and lock the car out of gearMedium

One owner filed that the roof would not stay sealed either open or closed, that this disarmed the alarm system, and that the car then would not move in either direction when shifted into gear. The soft top latches with a sensor that tells the car the roof is home, and a switch that has come out of adjustment or got dirty makes the car behave as though the roof is up when it is not. Latch and unlatch the roof several times and watch for a roof warning on the dash, then check the car drives normally immediately afterwards.

Repair cost (estimate): $200–$600 for a latch switch and adjustment

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (1).

Airbag control module software may deploy the front bags too hard (recall 24V695000)Medium

Every 2016 to 2023 MX-5 is in campaign 24V695000, this one included. The fault is in the airbag sensor module: its software can command the front bags to inflate harder than Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 allows, so a crash you would have walked away from becomes one that hurts you. Mazda reflashes the module at no charge and posted owner letters in November 2024. Two owners of the 2020 car told NHTSA their dealers had no tool to do it for months, so print the VIN status from NHTSA rather than accepting a nod from the seller.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: 1 NHTSA recall campaign on this model year.

Soft top drains block and water reaches the footwell carpetMedium

Rain that lands on the folded roof leaves the car through two thin hoses tucked behind the seat backs. Pine needles, blossom and road grit pack them solid, and then the water has nowhere to go but over the inner sill and into the carpet, with the spare-wheel well filling up behind it. You will smell a wet cabin before you find it, so get in with the windows up and take a breath, then knuckle the carpet where it meets the sill and pull up the boot floor. Half an hour of a shop clearing the hoses saves a rusting floorpan.

Repair cost (estimate): $150–$400 to clear and reseal the drains

Source: not yet checked against public records.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Any crunch or baulk into second or third with the gearbox fully warm
✗A gearbox whine that rises with road speed rather than engine speed
✗Brakes applying on their own with a clear road ahead
✗A roof warning on the dash, or a car that hesitates to move after latching the top
✗Recall 24V695000 still showing open on the VIN lookup

Good Signs

✓Firm, clean 2-3 and 3-4 upshifts under throttle on a hot gearbox
✓A gearbox replaced under warranty with the dealer invoice in the file
✓Front radar module sitting square behind the grille with original bumper fixings
✓Recall 24V695000 confirmed closed on the NHTSA VIN lookup
✓Roof latching home first time, every time, with the dash staying clear