Faults:

The head gasket blew at 115,000km, accidentally filled it with diesel instead of petrol; instant smoke bomb for three weeks until the last of the diesel had flushed out.

That's all.

General Comments:

I bought the car at auction; it was a good little car, reasonably reliable and economical. I actually regret selling it, as it was one of the best cars I have owned.

Faults:

The front engine mount has cleanly snapped twice, but this is not due to the vehicles quality, rather, what it was trying to achieve at that moment in time.

Interior items such as the seats, and door trim have started to wear quite badly.

General Comments:

Driven with the right skill, the manual version of the Mazda 323 can be a silent assassin, being able to surprise many with its acceleration off the line. Finding the red-line in the first 3 gears has helped this car to easy victory's over many Holden Commodores in the VB - VL series. This is not to claim the car is powerful, but rather very under-estimated on first glance. After all the extremes I have taken this engine to, it remains un-breakable.