Faults:

Brake fluid leak (corroded pipe).

Suspension mounts.

Timing belt replaced (wear and tear).

Radiator leak.

General Comments:

I bought this 626 saloon years ago for reliability and it did not disappoint.

My car was a black saloon with alloy wheels and looked great.

Inside however was a different story - dull grey plastic everywhere. Not very refined, noisy and bumpy on the move. Comfortable enough though for daily use.

2.0 engine was great, no major problems and did 35 - 40 mpg.

Practical car, lots of room.

When it was 15 years old and approaching 150K, I sold it, I doubt it is still out there, but who knows. I do miss Japanese cars from this time period, they were simple and reliable.

Faults:

Radiator started to come apart.

Locks can be sticky.

Occasional blue smoke from the exhaust when cold.

Usual wear and tear - brakes, exhaust, suspension, oil and belt changes.

General Comments:

This car was about 9 years old when I acquired it. I got it for a good price and it served me well for 10 years.

To look at it stood out due to very nice alloy wheels and the fact it was a saloon in a very dark metallic green, looked almost black in anything but direct sunlight (most 626's you see were hatchback models with wheel trims in a dull color).

Interior was nothing special with black plastic everywhere, but it was nicely laid out and comfortable with all electric equipment. My only complaint was the ride was a little too firm, and I hated the fiddly climate controls. To drive it handled good and acceleration was decent while doing 40 MPG.

To sum up, at nearly 20 years old and approaching 200,000 miles, I suppose it won't last forever and I will likely scrap it soon, as that smoke isn't getting any better and neither is the radiator, but I think I got my monies worth out of this car to say the least, and will likely replace it with something similar. A mate of mine has a Honda Accord from the same year and says this review can be pretty much copy and pasted for his car. The late 90s was an incredible time for cars of this type - all family saloons and executive cars have high ratings in reliability from this era.

Faults:

Having to disconnect battery if I want it to start in the morning. Been doing this since Aug 2015.

Engine light on for 1 month now.

TPS and TPS off - just started lighting up 3 days ago.

The car idles rough, and when in gear, switching gears sort of jumps.

Feels like the power is hesitating.

Spent 4k at Tuffys replacing a lot of things. Every time I leave Tuffys, something totally different is wrong. Stopped taking it to Tuffys.

Need help. Don't have a lot of money anymore to find out what's wrong.

General Comments:

Love this car have taken very good care of it. I don't use it a lot.

I really would like to keep using it well into its 100k miles.