Faults:

First off, I need to say that all of you who have had problems with your transmission, you had a 4 cylinder; the transmissions in those cars seems to go quite fast.

I bought my 95 Mazda 626 in October 2007, and a year later I still have the car. The only problems I have had so far are minor, and the major problem was the ABS pump locked, causing my braking system to lock up, which cost around 1,000.00 dollars for the entire brake system to be overhauled.

My advice to anyone who comes across a Mazda 626; buy it as long as it's not a 4 cylinder. Get a V6, they are better built and last longer. I mean I put 24,600 miles in the car, that's basically almost 2 years of mileage put on a typical car. As long as you keep up the maintenance on the car, you shouldn't have any problems at all. But never ever buy a 4 cylinder, those are the money eaters.

Faults:

Replaced plug leads;

Replaced rear door lifters;

Many faults with handbrake.

General Comments:

Bought this car for it's looks. I really loved the color (teal) and rear spoiler, plus the large boot of the hatchback was useful for family trips.

On driving, you discover it is actually a pretty tame car. It accelerates fine, but is not going to be the first away from the lights. Fuel economy is good for the engine size, but only a bit better than average around town. It is really comfortable under about 200 miles, but then the seat starts to feel a bit stiff.

My big bug-bears with the car were the plug leads, which could only be bought from Mazda (no aftermarkets) and 50 pounds each, and the handbrake. This started binding after about 6 months and repeated trips to the garage and over 1000 pounds did not improve matters at all.

I would say its plus points are:

Quietness

Fuel economy

Interior layout

Reliability.

Downside:

Expensive spares

Too many optionals and not enough standard fittings.

Faults:

3rd owner of this car, air con don't seem to work. This car seems to say to people " bump into me when I'm parked".repairs are expensive eg. rear offside door £475 second hand, paint match included. Bigest problem I cannot find a repair manual anywhere for a diesel. Insurance is way to high I'm trying to find a club that might bring it down. Overall I love this car. It handles great its responsive and confortable.

General Comments:

I've owned many cars, but this one I can trust when I throw it around a corner at higher speeds more than most family cars.