Faults:

Not many things have gone wrong, coolant hose to turbocharged leaked, replaced cheaply. Slight oil leak coming from rocker cover gasket, fixed with silicon sealant. The clip for the power window that makes the window go up and down snugly has broke off, window does not go up and down properly, very minor can be fixed easily though.

General Comments:

This car seriously is a little pocket rocket when the Turbocharger kicks in. Without the Turbo, I dunno it definitely would not be the same. Driving for a bit then putting the pedal to the floor results in awesome performance, can easily burn out in 1st and 2nd gear, sometimes hard not too in 2nd gear. A/C is awesome, the car drives beautifully, handles all roads and bumps calmly and smoothly. Adjusting the suspension on the fly with a push of a button is an awesome feature when you need the car to do sporty things. All in all, an awsome car, when and if this car does go, definitely gonna try and get another one of these gems, potentially a 93 which look awesome.

Faults:

Coolant bypass hose wore a hole in it causing a antifreeze leak.

General Comments:

Very peppy, especially in second gear.

Seats are comfortable and hug you like racing seats.

Suspension is semi stiff which creates good handling even with 60 series tires.

Gas mileage is good for a turbocharged engine.

Very little noise with sunroof open.

Faults:

This car was already 7 yrs. old when I got it, so I don't know what was done to it in that time, but it was in great shape when I actually bought it.

All these problems were between '96-'00, between 106,000 and 150,000 miles:

I had to replace the alternator twice in 3 years.

The engine light went on and off mysteriously and I took it to 5 mechanics who found nothing wrong with any of the engine parts.

The dash lights and heating/vents lights went out on the right side of each and were never fixable, even by Mazda dealership.

The antenna stopped going up and down entirely, but still worked.

The driver side seatbelt stopped coming out and the panel had to be pried off to fix it. But it was fixable and it never happened again.

The turning radius and the acceleration are not particularly good.

And much later on, like 190,000 miles, I had a hard time getting the AUTOMATIC gears to shift between Park, Neutral, and Drive.

General Comments:

This car was very reliable. I had it for over 7 years and drove it cross-county 5 or 6 times.

It's a fun car, easy to drive, and comfortable for long or short trips. (In the front. The back is short on leg room.)

The paint and interior were still looking brand new 14 years and two college-girl owners later.

Even after hitting a freeway wall at 50 mph, it was drivable.

Absolutely, it's the safest car I've driven.

Faults:

Changed compressor, squealing when charged and on, change not needed because it was a belt tensioner bolt causing the problem.

Stock alternator went out at 155,000 miles, made a horrible ticking sound until then.

Slave cylinder.

Master cylinder (clutch)

Pressure plate (clutch) Still Haven't Fixed.

Bad ticking from exhaust manifold, bolts tend to loosen after many miles.

General Comments:

The car is fast for a stock 2.2, although my clutch is out so I don't get too much performance, handle's great, great stock brakes, non ABS, non 4 wheel disc.

I have done many things to the car, I added a factory spoiler off another car just like it, swinging vents, all new seats.