Why Was Mazda Sued For Its Infotainment Systems?

Modern cars come packed with plenty of hi-tech features — touchscreens, wireless smartphone charging, voice control, adaptive cruise control, the list goes on. Unsurprisingly, the plethora of electronic gadgets on offer has led to a heightened reliance on these technologies over time. So, understandably, consumers are frustrated when they fail to work as they should.

One recent example involves buyers who filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Mazda Motor of America Inc. The suit, which was filed in Kentucky in July 2024, alleges that the Mazda Connect infotainment system suffers from a glitch that, among other things, causes the screen to become frozen, stop responding to touch input, and even triggers the software to keep rebooting itself. This issue is reportedly due in part to defective navigation SD cards. 

The glitch affects certain Mazda cars sold from the 2014 through the 2023 model years, including the 2014-2018 Mazda3, 2016-2022 Mazda2, 2016-2021 Mazda CX-3, 2016-2020 Mazda CX-5, 2016-2020 Mazda CX-9, and 2016-2023 Mazda MX-5 Miata. Although the company has denied allegations that its infotainment system was faulty, the suit claims it knew about the problem since 2016. The filing even says Mazda sent out technical service bulletins (TSBs) to dealers informing them about the occurrence of infotainment problems.

In 2025, Mazda agreed to settle with customers who claimed to have been affected by the malfunctioning of the Mazda Connect to avoid the expense of continuing with litigation — though the company did not acknowledge any defects in the infotainment system. As part of the agreement, the Japanese automaker will pay the lead plaintiff, Catherine Duffy, $4,000, with three other complainants also due to receive a payment of $2,500. For their own part, the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs will pocket a whopping sum of $1.9 million from the payout.

Mazda is issuing payouts to residents of the United States who currently or previously owned or leased any of the affected vehicles mentioned above. The court hearing to effect approval of the settlement is currently scheduled for July 28, 2025,, but vehicle owners have until August 1 to submit an expense claim for reimbursement. If, however, you wish to be excluded from the settlement class, the deadline to do so is July 2, 2025. The company has a VIN lookup tool on the settlement website where you can check to see if your model is included. Alternatively, you can contact info@MazdaInfotainmentSettlement.com or call 1-844-552-0064 to confirm if you're part of the settlement.

If your vehicle is qualified and you've ever had to pay out of pocket for a replacement or infotainment issue to be repaired, you could get up to a maximum of $1,750 for procedures performed at an independent repair shop. If repairs were completed at an authorized Mazda dealership, you're eligible for a full refund. To submit a claim for reimbursement, you can either file online or download a PDF form and mail the completed copy and supporting documents (such as repair receipts) to Mazda Infotainment Settlement, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91494, Seattle, WA 98111. Anyone who currently owns or leases a qualifying Mazda vehicle is also entitled to other benefits of the settlement agreement, such as an additional free 24-month limited warranty extension (LWE) covering potential software updates as well as repairs or replacements for the connectivity master unit (CMU).