The 2001 Mazda MPV has 3 recalls, the most serious being a cruise control actuator cable that can break and jam against the accelerator cable, preventing the engine from slowing down while driving.
Earlier repair attempts on some vehicles may have introduced a defective replacement cable, so the cruise control concern applies both to vehicles that have never been repaired and to those that received a prior fix. On the safety equipment side, the front passenger airbag may fail to deploy in a crash due to a welding defect in the airbag module, leaving the front passenger without protection. A related issue involves the passenger airbag inflator's diffuser separating during deployment, also preventing the bag from fully inflating.