Faults:

Economy is bad, 340km per 35L tank, in my opinion anyway. 9.71 L / 100 km city driving.

I heard from a ex-Mazda mechanic that the Mazda 121 requires to be tuned at 3 different points for a proper tune.

I believe that a tell tale sign is when the car idles at 1500 RPM, and can vary for no apparent reasons.

Previously it was serviced by an 'old-school' mechanic, and no improvement was noticed. Apparently this is a common problem, as most mechanics are not aware of this 3 point tuning - which I am not sure what it actually means or entails.

This car was bought second hand, and looks like it has had quite a bit of 'backyard' work done to it - so was not in the best of condition when we first got it.

Will be getting this ex-Mazda mechanic to do the tuning, and will ask him further what it means; post results of this tuning.

I believe that the Mazda 121 93 model (MAZ DB1031) could be more economical as per Redbook website, of 8L/100km.

Faults:

Rear seat clips have snapped off and so have the ones that hold the sun visor up.

'Hold' button for the automatic transmition stopped working, and me and my father had to take out all of the plastic panels in the interior to open it up and find the problem, which was that the hold button cable was snapped in half due to being designed poorly (this was because it was in a position that would let it move, and over time fray, and it snapped in half)

CV joints are starting to crackle when I corner.

Paint on the bonnet and boot is down to the clear coat, and is almost ruined.

General Comments:

Car has never let me down, if it doesn't start the first time, it will definitely start the second time.

Its somewhat average on fuel, it gets around 330ks on 30 litres of 91 unleaded fuel.

Very spacious for a small car, has lots of head room as well, however the seats are somewhat uncomfortable because there is very little foot room, even with the seat fully back.

Has an acceptable amount of power considering the engine size is, can get you to the speed limit in no time, however it's my opinion that it should have been made in a 1.8 litre because it needs extra power on highways.

Comes with good speakers for a car its age.

Faults:

I've only had to replace the timing belt and a CV-joint.

There is also the back seats, where the folding mechanism levers have snapped off inside the seat. I have noticed this in other peoples' 121's also.

General Comments:

It's such a super cute car.

Handles very well, and can make the driver feel quite confident even in really quick, snappy maneuvers.

Gear ratios are very well spaced for a city car, however I would love a tacho to have been a standard feature, so I know what the revs are, going down the freeway. Around 90km/h and then again at 110km/h, engine noise becomes reasonably apparent, then becomes intrusive around 125km/h.

Changing gears is a breeze. The clutch is pleasant (and forgiving) and gear shift operation is fool-proof.

Definitely a quick car, especially when you consider the engine size.

The engine tends to struggle when you've got it fully laden. I had a boot full of luggage and 5 people in the car at one stage and the car definitely needed to be revved harder to get going from a stand still, and up hills.

Nice big interior, with room for 4 adults, however, I've done a couple of long distance trips with 5 people in it and it did proved surprisingly comfortable.

One disappointment is the oddly shaped boot opening. For really large objects it becomes a matter of trying to fit a rectangle into a...weird shaped hole.

Extremely easy to park.

Plenty of head room, even for 6 foot 5 individuals.

Having previously owned a large family sedan, I must say that the 121 sedan has proven to be a good compromise. (Which doesn't really feel like too much of a compromise)

Faults:

Interior light

One head lamp, left hand side.

Broken top release button on the rear folding seats.

Broken back right hand side door seal.

General Comments:

This is my first car and it has proven to be a reliable and economical transport for a young driver.

Relative to the capacity of the car's motor, 1300cc, it has good performance.

Seats and interior are of a good finish quality.

Consider a Mazda for a car as the finish quality is very good.