1994 Mazda 121 1.5 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Low cost motoring, good for running errands around town

Faults:

Rear seat clips have snapped off and so have the ones that hold the sun visor up.

'Hold' button for the automatic transmition stopped working, and me and my father had to take out all of the plastic panels in the interior to open it up and find the problem, which was that the hold button cable was snapped in half due to being designed poorly (this was because it was in a position that would let it move, and over time fray, and it snapped in half)

CV joints are starting to crackle when I corner.

Paint on the bonnet and boot is down to the clear coat, and is almost ruined.

General Comments:

Car has never let me down, if it doesn't start the first time, it will definitely start the second time.

Its somewhat average on fuel, it gets around 330ks on 30 litres of 91 unleaded fuel.

Very spacious for a small car, has lots of head room as well, however the seats are somewhat uncomfortable because there is very little foot room, even with the seat fully back.

Has an acceptable amount of power considering the engine size is, can get you to the speed limit in no time, however it's my opinion that it should have been made in a 1.8 litre because it needs extra power on highways.

Comes with good speakers for a car its age.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st April, 2007

1994 Mazda 121 1.3 16v petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

A fantastic little car that's got loads of character, is super reliable, and is great for students

Faults:

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.

General Comments:

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)

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st April, 2007

1994 Mazda 121 1.3i 1.3 petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

The perfect 2nd car

Faults:

Nothing.

No problems. Just standard routine services & timing belt change.

Car is very reliable even with high mileage.

General Comments:

The car looks very small, but is quite roomy. There's loads of head room, 4 doors and a nice boot, which makes it an ideal family runabout.

Its nice and nippy around town and easy to park. Like previous Mazda's I've had its well built and very reliable.

The only thing I don't like about this car is the automatic choke which stays on much too long in winter, in city traffic it just wastes fuel. The 1.0 litre version has a manual choke which I preferred and was easier on petrol.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th November, 2005