Faults:

The warm idle is very high and I have not been able to adjust it.

Acceleration is not smooth.

Apparently, I will need to replace the ball joints. I wonder if I can just do the bushings, since it seems to only be a noise issue.

Despite the temperature gauge reading in the normal range, the engine seems to me to get pretty hot.

I am getting a whining noise in the engine compartment that I hope is just the belt tensioner pulley.

General Comments:

I really like how the cab is designed and very comfortable.

The suspension feels very good despite having very old tires.

The steering is very easy.

Despite its high miles, the motor seems strong, for a teeny four cylinder, that is.

Faults:

The most notable thing that has gone bad with the truck is the carburetor. It drowns itself in gas causing it to stall and not deliver adequate fuel and constantly needs to be tuned. Secondly are the engine sensors and the EGR sensor. Those have gone bad a few times, which turned out to be pricy at the the dealer. The clutch has been replaced twice, and the fuel gauge does not work. The odometer cable broke once, and was replaced. The tail gate handle broke once. The reason I know all this, is because my father was the previous original owner. The muffler broke twice, do to backfires. Lastly, the alternator broke 3 days ago.

General Comments:

I am a teenager, and have been treating it bad. When I first got it, I thought it was pretty beefy. It peeled out very nice, and felt like it had lots of power. Then a few months kept passing by and I noticed that the old truck was losing it. I feel that it could have given lesser problems if I continued to treat it nice like my father did. It's a reliable truck, other than the fact that the alternator broke and I can't start my vehicle anymore.

Faults:

Usual maintenance required around this mileage. All vacuum lines and electrics replaced. The carburetor has been recently rebuilt to proper running order to quell fuel consumption problems and improper float level in the bowl.

Mazda states that the EGR must be replaced every 60,000 miles, however if the diaphragm is in good shape, a stout cleaning is all that is really required. If yours stutters at normal operating temperatures, unplug the EGR vacuum control line and plug with a golf tee until you can clean or replace it.

The F2 engine is definitely more robust than the components controlling it, very overbuilt and runs quite strong.

The bed is a little crusty around the inner fenders, but a life of being parked near the Atlantic doesn't help much, along with nice salty roads to speed up corrosion. However, it withstands more rust than a Toyota of similar age, due to the seamless outer fenders.

General Comments:

Probably one of the best low cost trucks out there. For half the price of either a Nissan or Toyota of the same age, the Mazda B-series will do just about anything you ask of it. Simple, reliable and cheap are the mainstay of this fine piece of machinery.

I wished they offered the 3.0L SOHC V6 used in the MPV and 929, making for a nice contender with Nissan's Hardbody offerings.

Albeit the Ford pickups used to replace it with are decent, I don't think they are nearly as robust as the old UF B-series. Plus, your arms get a nice workout when you have to park it, having zero power assist of course, like any good pickup should. You can't go wrong with a cheap Japanese pickup truck.