Faults:

Radiator burst and clutch replaced at 20 years. Very, VERY reliable.

General Comments:

The car was bought new by another family member in 1990. Very expensive in their day, but was one of the best in its class.

Very tall gearing (manual) and maximum torque not developed until 4,000 RPM means using low gears and plenty of revs to get moving quickly (i.e You need to be doing 120km/h in 4th gear to reach maximum torque). Need to have the engine > 2,500 RPM for any pulling power. 4th gear for highway overtaking is a leisurely business. The benefit is the 323 is a great highway cruiser. In 5th gear at 110 km/h, revving at < 3,000 RPM and doing it easy. The engine is the same as the first Astina in standard form.

Uses 7 - 8 L/100 km on highway and 8.5 - 9.5L/100km in the city, and on cheap 91 octane.

Very comfortable with loads of rear legroom, very supportive front pews with excellent lumbar support, lovely velour seat fabric and plush head lining. Huge boot. Fantastic visibility in all directions. Perfectly weighted power steering.

The car is old but still looks classy.

High standard equipment, with niceties such as map reading lights and an illuminated ignition switch with time delay, which newer cars don't have. Fuel gauge indicates fuel use whether the ignition is on or off. Brilliant!

The best thing about Mazdas is they have no weird quirks, and they are easy to service and live with day to day.

Faults:

The car had nothing wrong, I was bad to my car, cos I got it when I was just 17. The car always did its job, but I like racing and going fast in corners, and that is the problem.

I had the car lowered by changing the shocks and springs, so the ride became harder and better in corners. I got used to this, but then I met this girl from Finland, and we started to date. She didn't like the ride at all, because it was too hard and the muffler at the back was too loud. So when she was in Finland and I was in Malta, I changed all the tuning that I did to my car back to stock. So one night me and my friend were going to Hal-Far, the drag strip, and while going to the place, there was this nice Ford Cortina, that we were sure that it was heading to the strip too. So off we went through the corner roads of Malta, and in one corner I span and went right into the wall. I had to wait a whole week to fix my car, and 3 days fixing it myself. I was not yet used to the stock suspension and springs! But life is like that. At least I've got that Finnish girl as my wife now :P.

General Comments:

The car is very sporty, being the 323f model with pop up head lamps.

The 1.8 DOHC GT engine is strong and revs very well. I think with a bit of tuning, the car can be a very fun track day car. And cheap too, even the parts.

Faults:

After keeping this car for 14 years!!!

- Carburetor needed servicing.

- Water pump replaced.

- Fan belt replaced every few times.

- Alternator brushes/bearings replaced after 150000km.

- CV joint boots replaced.

- CV joints replaced.

- Rear wheel bearings replaced every 3 years due to improper grease seal.

- Brake shoe/pad replaced.

General Comments:

Great car. Very strong and reliable. It was used on our sugar cane farm in Fiji islands, and dad even used it to pull hand-ploughs when bullocks couldn't go!!! Years of abuse and it still runs to this day. It carried me to the airport when I left Fiji for Canada :(

It was involved in 2 major accidents, and I personally fixed it at home. Very good engine. A well kept car would easily go over 400000ks. Mazda rocks!!!