Faults:

Valve cover gasket replaced at 150,000 miles.

CD replaced three times under warranty; never worked longer than 10,000 miles.

The hubcaps all came off a while ago; they were cheap and just fell off at some point.

General Comments:

Car is extremely reliable, runs like it will never quit after 170,000 miles.

Seats are comfy, which matters a lot since I have back problems. Love the moonroof.

MPG are still very good after 11 years.

It has a roomy trunk, big enough to transport son's hockey gear and several sizeable items from Home Depot (Not the hot water heater, though!)

It started off having great acceleration, which faded after about 40,000 miles.

Faults:

1. Rusty rear stability link

2. Broken oil dip stick

3. Leaking oil crankcase

4. Brake pads wore off and replaced couple of times. Still hear a sizzling sound

5. Lower arm suspension replaced with 'used part'

4. Excessive fuel consumption.

General Comments:

The engine has appetite for fuel - my only nightmare. Was initially returning 10-11km/l in town without the use of the AC and regulated speed 70-80km/h max. Once I got 14.4km/l on the highway at about 90-110km/h.

Now the engine returns 8-9kmh/l in city driving and appears slower than before.

Otherwise, the car is very, very, indeed absolutely reliable. Not quick of the pace though, but gets me to my destination on time. Handling is very good, but I'd be more careful taking bends on wet roads.

Comfortable cabin and spacious. Was surprised to notice it has the same cabin width as the 99 Mazda 626.

Faults:

First problem I had with this car was the muffler rusted & rotted. The car had less than 40,000 on it. Cost approx $400.00 to have Mazda replace it. Really aggravated me to have to pay out that kind of money when car had so little mileage.

Shortly after that, it was the engine light. Of course I got the bank 1, too lean codes.. tried changing oil, flushing the trans, getting fuel injection flushed.. The car was still not running right, idling hard, would clear the code and it kept coming back. The car had to go to dealer so I could shell out more money to replace the O2 sensor. WOW, is that a pricey little item.

The car was OK for about a year, maybe 18 months.

In July this year, surprise, engine light again, car running badly, progressively got worse, bucking, bogging down, hesitating, started stalling. This turned out to be a really easy fix... all the problems were being caused by a $20 /$30 vacuum hose that had 2 huge splits that were not obvious unless you looked at the hose and physically checked it. My brother was looking at the car at my house, told me to rev the engine a bit and air came blowing right out at him. Changed the hose, cleared the code. Car is fine and passed inspection.

Check your hose.

General Comments:

The location of the locks jab you in the arm because they do not recess all the way.

Basically quick & reliable.

Handles pretty good at higher speeds.

I don't feel really safe in it as the doors are very light.