1994 Mazda 121 review from Australia and New Zealand

I've only had to replace the timing belt and a CV-joint.

There is also the back seats, where the folding mechanism levers have snapped off inside the seat. I have noticed this in other peoples' 121's also.

It's such a super cute car.

Handles very well, and can make the driver feel quite confident even in really quick, snappy maneuvers.

Gear ratios are very well spaced for a city car, however I would love a tacho to have been a standard feature, so I know what the revs are, going down the freeway. Around 90km/h and then again at 110km/h, engine noise becomes reasonably apparent, then becomes intrusive around 125km/h.

Changing gears is a breeze. The clutch is pleasant (and forgiving) and gear shift operation is fool-proof.

Definitely a quick car, especially when you consider the engine size.

The engine tends to struggle when you've got it fully laden. I had a boot full of luggage and 5 people in the car at one stage and the car definitely needed to be revved harder to get going from a stand still, and up hills.

Nice big interior, with room for 4 adults, however, I've done a couple of long distance trips with 5 people in it and it did proved surprisingly comfortable.

One disappointment is the oddly shaped boot opening. For really large objects it becomes a matter of trying to fit a rectangle into a...weird shaped hole.

Extremely easy to park.

Plenty of head room, even for 6 foot 5 individuals.

Having previously owned a large family sedan, I must say that the 121 sedan has proven to be a good compromise. (Which doesn't really feel like too much of a compromise)