Power, mileage, roominess, handling, interior holds up great, a blast to drive, roomy trunk.

Rotors, visors

I have owned 2 other mazda's, one Mercury Tracer and one 1989 626. I loved the other cars. This 626 is a ball to drive, My daughter, my wife and I put a lot of city miles on it. It gets about 30 mpg pretty consistently. I bought this car with 107K and now have 181K on it, I have changed the water pump, timing belt, cv shaft and put power slot rotors after I warped two sets of rotors. This has been a very good car and I feel sorry for all of you other people ho had to have auto trans.

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89 626, 89 tracer, 84 escort.

Very roomy, great gas milage, very dependable and is an 8.5 in my books.

I haven't found any yet.

This is my 3rd Mazda product. I had a 1991 323 Mazda and what a little workhorse. I gave it to my son 2 years ago and its still reliable.
I bought my wife a 2000 Protege 2 years ago and it is also a very reliable small car.
A 1998 4 cylnder 626 caught my eye at a private sale in mid July of this year. It had 160000 kilometers and I purchased it for $3600 I had my mach check it out and had new front axles installed along with a few other small minor things. The price I paid for the car and items I added totaled approximately $5000. I have put over 5000 kil on it since and it is an excellent car.

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Haven't found a similar product available

Roomy trunk for a car

Everything

This peice of junk has every problem in the book. Transmission being number 1. Only with 79,000 miles on it trasmission was slipping. Was going to pay $1500 to fix it, but the engine blew. Would never buy from mazda again.

Quick, roomy and luxurious. Nice looking.

Transmission, transmission, transmission!

Wonderful car. Horrible transmission. Has burned out more than once and vehicle only has 113k miles. This will be it's third transmission.

Mazda offers no support and continues to deny this issue. They accept no responsibility.

Details here:

http://www.freewebs.com/mazdasucks

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None

Being a Honda owner my whole life, I have high standards. The strength is that in an accident, it should be able to hold its own against a small SUV (and I won't be too sad to see it go).

This car is heavy, loud, high-maintenance and overrated. At least it keeps my wife happy so I don't have to lug it around.

I bought this car from my wife because I always drive 10+-year-old cars and she needed something reliable. I had a nice opportunity to get it in the family and so avoid buying someone's problems. Oh well, that's what I got all the same. Within 3 months, I replaced the brakes. $375 is a little more than I'm used to for this kind of work but, ok no problem. Then my wife pops the tire on a curb. I call 5 places and can't find tires for under $130 each. Next the check engine light comes on and it's the EGR valve problem that you hear everyone complaining about (hint: just Google 'Mazda 626 EGR valve'). It's been downhill from there. I've spent $3000 on new EGR valve, plugs, new battery, radiator leak, new speed sensor, hoses, the brakes a 2nd time. Even with this kind of attention, the check engine light has spent more time on than off and it still won't pass emissions. Knock on wood, the transmission still sounds OK.

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1986 Honda Accord EX (awesome! went to Mexico twice), 1988 Honda Accord Hatchback (rear-ended), 1991 Honda Civic (my trusty friend with a mild throttle problem)

Reliability if you get the 5spd trans.
30+ MPG mixed City/highway

Noisy, but you should expect this when purchasing a compact Japanese car that is priced on the inexpensive side.

The manual 5spd Mazda is rock solid!! The automatic is piece of junk manufactured by Ford. I purchased a 97 626 4cylinder, 5spd and in 9 months have put 15,000 miles on it, and I love this car. I replaced the front brake rotors [which looked original] so that is expected plus oil changes and tires. My coworker had the water pump and timing belt changed before I bought the car. It also had a new clutch put in. Do your research, the manual transmission is excellent and the automatic is one of the worst ever produced!!!! 30 MPG mixed highway/city. Car is a little noisy, but it is a cheap/lightweight car.

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1994 Plymouth Sundance
2000 Mitsubishi Galant
1992 Chevy Camaro; 1996 Chevy Camaro
1997 Chrysler Sebring

Mechanically sound, electric windows have never had a problem, engine and transmission are strong. Interior is high quality, especially the carpet. If you have children this is a great car, roomy front and backseat, durable interior. Ecellent paint quality. Looks better than when I bought it six years ago. This car gets great gas mileage. I average 26 in town and 30 highway.

Parts are expensive. Changing the serpentine belt was a job. The good thing is not alot goes wrong with these cars. The only other problem I encountered were the plug wires. I had to change them ever other year. I had the vehicle checked, nothing wrong. I was informed that wires are made from neoprene, and they crack easy.

I purchased my Mazda in February of 2000. It had 77,000 miles on it. It now has 141,000 miles on it. In the six years I have owned this vehicle, I have only changed the oil,and brake pads. I travel from Texas to California at least once a year. This vehicle has been the best one I have ever owned. It handles like a sports car. It corners excellent, long drives are very comfortable and everything is convienently located. Trunk space is exceptional, and the back seats are comfortable for adults. Additionally, this car handles exceptionally well in the snow and rain. However, that could be from the Michellin tires. Either way, I always feel safe in this car. This car is very mechanically sound. I am reluctantly trading this car in, however, I am trading it in on a Mazda B3000 4WD etended cab plus truck. I would highly recommend this vehicle to anyone. But remember to change the timing belt every 75,000 miles. These cars have aluminum valves and heads, if the timing belt goes, then so does your engine. Additionally, change the transmission fluid and filter every 75,000 miles as well. This could save a potentially expensive transmission. Rebuilt transmissions run about $1700.00.

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1997 Mazda Miata- Awesome car! 1999 Ford Escort-- Hit by a Semi and lived! Good car, although I only had 25,000 miles before the accident. GMC truck-- horrible gas mileage. 1986 Trans Am-- good car 1991 Camaro RS good car, still have

Nice looking car, roomy, lots of storage compartments,good gas mileage,and it handles pretty well.

Transmission problems at less than 100,000 miles, EGR Valve mystery Engine light problem $$$$ at less than $80,000.

I have to say when I first bought this car I loved it. It had plenty of power and lots of room and handled really well. I bought it as a program car with only 16000 miles on it in 2000. I soon had problems with wheel barings, which in all fairness could have been my husbands driving. The next problem I experienced was the Engine light coming on at 79,000 miles. The cause of engine light was said to be an EGR Valve reading. I replaced the EGR Valve at $200 for part plus labor only to have the light come back on in two weeks with the same reading. The mechanic said that the exhaust line often needs suctioning after such a replacement due to "carbon build up". After another $130 the light came back on again. Still (suprise) engine light EGR Valve reading! Now I am told that I need a new sensor at $85 plus labor. During this drama the transmission went out, now at 90,000 miles. It cost over $2000 for a factory rebuild with limited warranty. I will add it's very hard to find anyone to warranty trans. It has been little over a year. I'm now at 130,000 miles and the trans is going again...EGR Valve/Engine light still a problem. Having it looked at today. No more Mazda 626 for me. Moving on.

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Mazda 323

Roomy, Comfortable, Drove smoothly when it was brand new. Even at 180KM/HR it was smooth.

Transmission Rattling in dash and rear Overall quality of engine UNRELIABLE! DEPRECIATED LIKE CRAZY!

I bought this car brand new for $30,000 CDN. At the time it seemed to be the best value for money. It also had the best finance rate. The car handled and drove well for the first 6 months. Then suddenly my engine overheated. I took it to mazda and they fixed the problem, it had 6000KM's at the time. Then a few months later my steering wheel started making this wierd noise, turn out that my steering bracket needed to be replaced. Luckily all this was under warranty at the time. The car ran great till about 110,000 KM at which time the transmission went out. In my mind i thought this is pretty weak for a japanese car, i did some research and found it the tranny was made by ford. I wish i had done a better research when buying my car. At the moment i have 126K km's on it. The dash rattles like crazy and so does the rear. The engine sounds like it is 20 yrs old. I wanted to sell the car off but was getting peanuts for it. So i am stuck with it. My engine seems like its going blow up anyday! I will never buy or recommend a mazda to anyone! Dont get fooled by the cheap price of the vehicle coz you'll spend thousands of dollars fixing it. Oh any of you guys out there that are having troubles with the car try taking it to other shops to determine the problem. My mazda dealership is quite shady! I have also read about different shady mazda dealers all over north america! So watch out.

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96 Maxima SE (WISH I KEPT IT)

roomy work horse.

dealership, starter, alternator, head casket had to be replace at 100,000km, now need valve seals, headrest, dash lights, there are more, I've said enough

Well where do I begin. I must say even with all the problems I have had with this car I still like it. When I first bought the car, new with 40km on it, I could not be happier. First new car I ever owned after driving for 20 years. I never saw the need to own a new car. Thought I would give it a try. The joy soon ended. That weekend we went for a drive and lost a hubcap. I went in to the dealer and they wanted to charge me for a hubcap and it was going to take up to 2 weeks to get it. I had the car 3 days when this happened. It is not so much the car I have problems with, rather the dealership I bought it from. You can buy a lemon, yet if you have a good dealer behind the car the problems seem to go away. You can buy the best car on the road and if the dealer is no good then you are no better off than if you bought a lemon. 4 month after I bought the car I was having problems starting it. Then it would not start at all. They towed it to the dealer, they made sure to tell me if this was not their problem I would have to pay for the tow also. Turns out it needed a new starter and alternator. I could not even get a loaner from the dealer. They wanted to rent me a car. They rent their used cars. I was not a happy camper. Luckily I had another car, the old dependable one I had before buying this mazda. 2 years later I had to put another starter in it. I had so many problems with the car within the first 6 months that it made me sick. On the customer satisfaction form I filled in an extra 2 pages. I received a reply 2 months later. One from the regional manager and one from the dealership owner. I never felt so blamed for so much in all my life. Everything that was wrong with the car was my fault. Also, I had to put a mazda filter when getting the oil changed. I did not get the car servised at the dealership. So I would go in and buy 2 or 3 oil filters at a time from the dealership so I would not have to go in unless I had to. Also in the first 3 months the windshield started to crack from the bottom up and accross. The service manager took almost an hour to determine that it was not a rock chip. What did happen, the bottom of the windshield jumped the post under the hood. The head rest post it sticking out. If we were to have a serious accident and needed to rely on the head rest for support I am scared that the post would come through the base of the head. Also can not adjust the head rest to the proper height. I have read about the head rest problems in other posts. I have yet to meet a satisfied mazda owner in my area. I had been warned against buying a mazda yet I did not listen. Again it was not because of the car it was because of the dealer. A couple years after buying the mazda I bought an 86 honda prelude. I tried to sell the mazda. I could not give it away. I was getting repairs done on the prlude and they had to keep it over night. The honda dealer wanted to know if I needed a loaner for the night. I could not believe that they would let me have a loaner for an 1986 and I could not get one from mazda for a car 3 months old. needless to say I have owned 3 Hondas since then. I still have the mazda because as I said I cant give it away. I do not go to the dealer unless it is a dealer only part or service. Oh ya I guess I can be thankful that it is a five speed and not an automatic. It is a very plain car so not much can really go wrong with all the fency stuff. Another thing is the windows go down on their own. Just a crack and we have to roll them up. We just get alot of wind noice. Must be weak mechanism for the windows. They are not power windows either. Another problem is all my dash lights are burnt out. It will take the better part of a day to change them. Also I had to go to the dealer for dealer only maintenance and they gave me a list of things wrong with the car and a price to fix it. I took the car to another shop, with comparable rathers and got more work done on the car than mazda originaly said needed to be doen for less money than mazda quoted me in the estimate. They had miss diagnosed a problem and said it was something totally different than what it was. I knew before going in what one of the problems was and they told me that it was something totally different and again they were wrong. Anyway enough about the dealership. Well I have rambled on long enough. I said I would never talk about this car or dealer ever again. I just could not help myself when I came accross this forum. It is not so much the car as it is the dealership or maybe it is mazda Canada itself that promotes this problem. What ever it is I will never buy another Mazda. Neither will I ever encourage anyone to buy a Mazda. I must say I do feel better after this little rant. Now if I could only get someone to buy this car. I hope your mazda experiences are better than mine have been. Well I have almost used all the characters alowed in this review. In closing may I say make every day count, we only have 25500 about