1987 Mazda 626 LX review from North America

When I first received the vehicle, there were several very noticeable things wrong with it. The front end and the left front fender were damaged for example and upon closer inspection, found that they had been rigged together by the owner to appear that they had been fixed. Suspicious? You bet, but I did look up a report on the car on CARFAX.com and found that it had been in two minor accidents. I really needed a car though so I went back to test drive it drove wonderfully... for a week.

By the end of the first month I had...;

-Replaced the motor mounts.

-Replaced the radiator.

-Fixed several oil leaks.

- And replaced the front brake rotors. (They were warped)

There are still things that I have not fixed, however..

-The front passenger side window does not work.

-The rear passenger side window works only about half the time.

-The heater core is blown.

-And the rear speakers have never worked.

So what exactly do I think of this car..? Despite what has gone wrong with it that I stated above, the care is really quite good when you get down to it. The problems were most likely why the owners were selling it, but all it really needed was some care and since the odometer hit 113500, I haven't had a single problem more serious then a dim tail light.

-The interior is very, very clean for a car it's age.

-The seats are very comfortable, both front and back.

-The engine is quite at highway speeds and gets good mileage on highways. (Especially if the car is equipped with an overdrive feature which is essentially a fifth gear.)

-Cruise control works like a dream for long trips.

-The sunroof has never given me any trouble.

However, this is no sports car. You won't win any races in it, but it is a very reliable vehicle when you compare it's cost to maintain compared to other vehicles of its class from the late 80's and even the early 90's.

I recommend this car.