Faults:

Where to Start.

Front Right Wheel Bearing

Engine

Top End Rebuild

Lights

Generally not much for a car of this age.

General Comments:

Pretty much all show and no go. the engine is decent, but nothing to write home about, no real power band until 4500rpm, if it kicks in at all.

People who say it corners flat must either have coil overs on, or be driving a different car, it corners decently, but still has a large propensity towards understeer, a little bit of lift off oversteer, but nothing to worry about.

Speed wise, its got nothing on other cars, its not light / powerful enough, definitely not a car someone wants, and some days it seems like it takes forever for it to hit that powerband.

The interior is great, I'm 6'2 and I have no problems fitting in and getting comfortable, though there are much better cars available for hauling stuff around if that's what you're really looking for.

This is not a performance car, touring coupe would be a better way of describing this vehicle, as it has neither the handling or speed of other cars, and is nowhere near as satisfying to drive.

Faults:

Spring on driver side keylock cover broke.

General Comments:

Great to drive.

Very neutral handling for a front wheel drive, possible due to its low center of gravity.

For a great handling car, it soaks up major bumps/holes in the road brilliantly, due to having MacPherson struts all round, not just at the front.

Smooth, powerful and flexible engine. Driven carefully, returns the fuel economy of a much smaller car, due to its aerodynamic shape and flexible engine.

For a 9 year old car, everything works perfectly, with no creaks or rattles.

Carries a large amount in the boot, even if it is a bit on the shallow side.

Faults:

Distributor died at 120000kms, bought full Mazda replacement at exorbitant cost to my hip pocket, only for it to fail again 2 years later at 180000kms. Bought a modified replacement from a local manufacturer.

Front suspension bushes had cracked causing knocking noises through the floor, it took three shops to work out what the problem was.

Hydraulic clutch flexpipe blew in heavy traffic, had to wait an hour for the traffic to die down so RACV could tow me home. Replacement flexpipe was only AU$80ish, so I fitted it myself.

Rust has become apparent around the top of the front windscreen and near where the front suspension mounts onto the chassis.

Front windscreen is prone to cracks, and it generally doesn't take much work to crack it... perhaps that's due to the chassis prematurely fatiguing. Have replaced the front windshield three times, had have retired to the fact that the next crack will stay there.

The 4WS front rack is now continuously leaking, and thus I am considering replacing the car now as the repair bill is approximately AU$1200, without taking into account the cost of any parts that break while the action is performed.

General Comments:

This car was great! It's not so fantastic any longer, but it's still a lot better than most other cars out there in the new car market today.

It's been to the moon and back, I've been everywhere with that car since I bought it after my first car (which was brand new) suffered loss of brakes and caused an accident.

The reason it's not so fantastic any longer is most probably because of the fact that to get anything fixed on it, it costs and arm and a leg, and every time something's done the car handles or performs less like it did when I bought it.

I bought the car because it was a nimble machine, almost like a grasshopper... but nowadays I'm feeling as if the now evident structural weaknesses and ageing parts are going to throw me into a tree one day.