General Comments:

The car that won't die. I got it for 550 bucks 4 years ago and it's been a good reliable car that's taken me on multiple roadtrips up and down the east coast. It has 220,000 miles.

The only things that have gone wrong with it were minor things like belts and hoses and stuff like that. No major repairs till today.

I just had to spend 200 getting some air hose replaced, and apparently it's leaking oil too, but that costs more to fix than it's worth.

I might just be getting a new car soon, but I'll be sad to see my Mazda go.

Oh yeah, I forgot, it gets really good gas mileage.

Faults:

Right now its sitting with a crapped out alternator and belt, runs on 3 cylinders and burns oil. It also has the usual rust and needs a door.

General Comments:

Great car and is very reliable. handles well for a car of its age and size.

Faults:

We bought the car for our daughter and it was on sale from a private owner. He sold it to us for $500.00 and we thought it was a good buy for a first car. When we test drove it, it didn't seem to have any problems other than a knock from the suspension. Little did we know that the transmission was not going to shift into 2nd 3rd or 4th gear until we paid for it and drove off. Well thinking we still had a steel, we took it home and can't understand why the (hold) light is blinking. The car will shift into 1st, and then the light starts to blink. Is this something electrical, or something more serious?

I think I know what the knock noise is in the steering/suspension system.

The car does smoke a little. I think the car just needs some tender love and care, it seems like it will be a good car to keep.

General Comments:

Great paint on the car---bright bright red.

Interior is still good. Even came with a JVC cd player.

Faults:

Rear brakes needed replacing at 70,000 miles.

Exhaust needed replacing at 70,000 miles.

General Comments:

Bought the car with extremely low mileage after being owned by an old couple, was well-serviced.

However because no long-distance driving had been done on it, the mileage hid the fact that after 15-16 years everything on it was still original equipment.

This does not skew my review though, I would still buy the car again if it was available at the same price I bought it for.

Very roomy, comfy ride, nothing wrong with the car apart from very hard to find spares now, which forces me to scrap/sell it.

Faults:

Transmission went at 148ooo miles. drivers side window doesn't go all the way up on it's own. minor electrical problems (tape deck doesn't work, windshield wipers won't start immediately when it's raining, but work all the time when it's not raining, power antenna doesn't retract, drivers side seat belt is stuck in forward position on door).

General Comments:

For a 15 year old car with 149k miles, this thing runs and handles great!

Faults:

At 110,000km, paint on front edge of hood has started bubbling/flaking off. We have a maroon colour; this is the second maroon one I've seen with the problem.

At 120,000km, rocker gasket failed, oil in the spark plug holes; it's cheaper to buy new HT leads every couple of years, rather than to get the gasket fixed.

At 127,000km, radio aerial failed to retract; seems to have come loose from internal extender or has stripped its gears.

At 127,000km, CV joints on the front are just starting to get noisy when turning corners.

General Comments:

Lots of room with the back seats down - I got a 2.1m computer rack in; which is as good as some station wagons.

Handles well with power steering.

Slightly underpowered when you put your foot down, and we have the V6 version; I'd hate to try the 4-cylinder model.