Faults:

Power steering at 32K miles. Oil change service did not pick up leak in fluid reservoir, which ran dry.

Pan gasket leak at 38K miles.

O2 sensors at 38K miles.

Rear brake cylinders leaking at 53K miles. Replaced myself with 2 $14 NAPA cylinders.

General Comments:

This car was bought new by my mother-in-law in 1998. Fortunately, she opted for the six cylinder version.

The car was built after the factory found a fault with the routing of the wiring harness on earlier cars, and changed to a better routing and insulation.

My mother in-law drove it gently and had oil/filter changes every six months. She had a transmission flush at 20K miles. The car was always garaged and waxed 2x a year.

I was given the car in 2009 when it had 43K miles. I am a rather competent auto mechanic. I replaced the rear wheel brake cylinders due to one leaking.

I ran a flush of Castrol GT-X 10/30 oil, and at 2000 miles switched to Mobil1 10-30.

At 51K miles, I did an 8 quart transmission flush.

Now, 11/10, the car has 53K miles, looks new and runs very well. I do not cruise at over 65mph, at which speed on long trips the car gets a consistent 32mpg on Chevron regular. I only use Chevron because of the additive package.

This car was made to compete with the Accord and Camry, but comes up short on build quality. Features are excellent, such as fold-down rear seats allowing a 7' item to fit nicely via the trunk. Leather seats are comfortable for a 500 miles trip. The A/C works well in temperatures well over 100 degrees. Everything works.

Faults:

I bought this car used from a private owner off craigslist.

I got really nervous after all the bad stuff I read online about it, and within 2 weeks my ignition switch failed and I had to get a new set of keys.

Then for the next two years NOTHING. It ran great. I drove it from California to Chicago, and from Chicago to Texas GLITCH free!

I kept up with general maintenance. The guy before replaced the transmission in 03.

I recently scheduled to replace the tires. I got 2 of the 4, and was on the highway in the rain when the car hydroplaned. I spun a few times in a ditch, and the car hit the ground so hard I cracked the radiator. I kept the car running while waiting for the troopers and I burned the motor.

Unfortunately it's not worth it to fix it. The guy did say though that the car is in such great shape, that if he fixed it, it would last another 4 years! So overall I think it's a great car, and got great gas mileage for me!

Faults:

After 10-15 miles of driving, the car would start to buck/shudder/jerk violently. My mechanic's computer scanner showed that a faulty transmission range sensor was trying to send the car into neutral and even reverse while cruising. New sensor and installation cost $180, and seems to have fixed the problem.

Speedometer briefly fails on a seemingly random basis.

Engine temperature gauge never seems to show it getting warm, but the scanner confirms that it actually does.

Front springs cracked and replaced.

General Comments:

Looks nice and rides well.

Large trunk.

Very poor reliability so far.

Inexpensive, and for good reason.

Faults:

Purchased used with 65,000 miles... immediate disaster.

After 15 miles of driving, the transmission begins to jerk violently; Very good mechanic can't diagnose the problem, let alone fix it.

Speed sensor failed; ECU failed.

General Comments:

Looks very nice, but is total junk.

Run, don't walk, away from a Mystique as far and as fast as you can.