Some future 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata owners are saying their vehicles are delayed at ports due to what seems to be not tariffs but an alleged part shortage. Following a tip sent by a customer whose Miata hasn’t moved since arriving at the Port of Los Angeles three weeks ago, we found reports of delays from several other customers across various Mazda communities. Based on limited information coming from dealers, it appears that Mazda is waiting on some replacement parts before those cars can be shipped out for delivery.
Multiple buyers suggest that the issue is related to software and/or one of the MX-5’s electronic modules. We reached out to Mazda for additional information and will update this post if we get any.
Vehicles are sometimes held in port to address an issue that might have been discovered after a car has left the factory. Sometimes, they require a new physical part to replace a defective or improperly installed component. When Volkswagen was forced to withdraw the emissions certificates for its diesels during its emissions scandal in 2015, thousands of its vehicles were stranded in ports waiting for a fix. Sometimes those holds are just over software updates. In those cases, dealers are often capable of offering the fix. But dealing with it at the port makes for better control of the process, reducing the likelihood that a car somehow slips through the cracks and ends up in a customer’s hands with a defect.
Despite scattered reports that all 2025-model-year MX-5s are being held, it appears that some MX-5s are actually making it to customers, which suggests that the issue is specific to only a certain subset of Miatas. Our tip came from a customer who ordered a 35th Anniversary model (pictured), and from a perusal of Miata.net, it appears he’s not alone. But in that same thread, other members have reported taking delivery of the same trim, suggesting that not all of them are similarly impacted or that Mazda is starting to clear the backlog.
Quite a few current-model-year Miatas are already on U.S. lots—a cursory look at Autotrader turned up more than 700 new ones at dealerships. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a new issue kinking the flow of new cars into the country.
If there’s any good news here for Miata buyers, it’s that vehicles already entered their final port of call in the United States aren’t at risk of being assessed any further import duties, so customers can rest assured that no matter which way the political winds blow in the coming weeks, the delays will only cost them time, not money.
Do you know anything about new Miatas having trouble making their way to dealerships? Drop us a note at [email protected].
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