2002 Mazda MPV ES 2.5 V6 from North America

Summary:

Huge Lemon

Faults:

Catalytic converter failed (40k miles)

Coiled failed twice.

Numerous engine light problems.

Cylinder heads shot at 52k miles.

Piston gone at 52k miles.

In the shop more than 60 days in 1.5 years.

General Comments:

This vehicle was great the first few months and then the engine light came on and it's been downhill ever since. This vehicle has been in the shop for more than 60 days in the past year and a half. My last repair was in excess of $5,000 and only 2k miles out of warranty.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 3rd October, 2005

13th Feb 2006, 11:41

I have had similar problems with the check engine light. One dealer found a damaged vent hose from the gas tank, but we still get the light when we fill the gas tank all the way. I was dissapointed with the dealership that we bought the vehicle from, and I was a huge Mazda fan until this happened.

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2002 Mazda MPV LX from North America

Summary:

Poorly made unreliable vehicle--don't buy!!

Faults:

The stock tires wore out at 24,000 miles.

The transmission blew at < 3 years old with 75K highway miles.

The DC outlet in the back never worked.

General Comments:

This van gets horrible gas mileage. I have never seen it get more than 22 mpg and most of the time it is 18. It was supposed to get about 25mpg. I am not an aggressive driver and with my previous vehicles, I have gotten at or significantly above the estimated rating.

The cruise control is not precise and varies 3-4 mph about the set-point.

The transmission is lousy and unreliable. Mine went out before I'd even had the car 3 years. I know two other people who had the same problem and all of us put mostly highway miles on the car. All, but one of us had it happen just out of warranty. Yeah, I like paying for a $3000 repair and towing while I'm making $500/mos payments.

I bought this car because it was the only one that had windows that go down in the sliding doors which would give my dogs better ventilation. I should have bought the Toyota instead.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 26th September, 2005

26th Sep 2005, 16:06

The Toyota's have a bad track record too. The Japanese vehicles are not the ace in the hole that everybody has been accustomed to believe. In my opinion, no car company has any particular across the board advantage. I think the best course of action is to do research model by model, and chose something you like that has historically been reliable. For that, I trust this site more than any other resource, or biased publication. Sorry to hear about your difficulties.

3rd Feb 2009, 21:59

I have 68000 miles on my 02 MPV and I'm on my 2nd trann. The first @ 18500 under the Mazda warranty, the second was through an after market warranty. Oh I almost forgot, they also need to change the engine coil.

2002 Mazda MPV ES from North America

Summary:

Great small minivan

Faults:

Just brakes vibrate a little when your driven pretty fast like 60-80miles and you press the brakes and it vibrates a little. But we're fine with that so far.

General Comments:

Great minivan for a family. Very comfy seats. The only thing I don't like is that the cruise control and wiper system are to close together.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th June, 2003

19th Feb 2005, 20:13

I've had the same problem, the front brake rotors need to be trued. Otherwise it's a great van that can take the kids to school and throw into some turns on the way home. Definetely agile for a minivan.