1993 Mazda 323 review from North America

It needs many repairs, including:

-gas tank

-rear washer fluid pump

-wheel bearing

-window crank/glass tracks

-exhaust system

-radio

-mysterious front end 'clunk'

-speedometer cable grinds and squeals in the cold

-paint peeling and some rust spots showing.

I bought this car about 6 months ago from the same dealer who sold me my last car; and since that car was so reliable I didn't take this one to be checked out - big mistake! As outlined above this car needs many repairs.

I'm not sure if I am going to do all these repairs needed, or just get rid of the car when it quits. In the meantime, though, this car has been fabulously reliable - starts every time, no matter how cold, gets good mileage, doesn't use any oil, and in general just seems to take a lot of hard driving without any complaints.

It is the very base model, so it is not at all fancy or luxurious; but it is surprisingly quick and gutsy despite only having an 82 hp motor. It handles fairly well, except in the winter the rear end tends to slide out a lot (which can be fun, if you are so inclined!) It also is very solid and well-built: I was hit quite hard from behind twice in it, and there was no damage at all.

As I haven't done any of the repairs outlined above; it has cost me next to nothing to run so far - but if I start repairing it...!