1988 Mazda 323 Sedan review from North America

The car is almost faultless. Perhaps it isn't as spunky as it was off the lot, but hey its got 125,000 on the original engine and transmission.

1) The most annoying problem is occasionally the ignition will not work unless the car is in Neutral. The Mazda mechanic who inspected it (while under warranty) could not get it to fail, and did not find any fault in the unit. Subsequent mechanics have given similar answers. No problem found.

2) At about 110,000 miles the engine developed an occasional clicking noise. I spoke with a friend who is a mechanic and he said sometimes the problem is the hydraulic lifter. Replacing the unit means openning up the engine and since the part alone is $385 (about 2 years ago). I'll live with it.

3) Last week (125,000 miles), the turn signal lever broke. Stuffed a hunk of paper in the hole to prop up the lever and I can use it almost normally. Chances of me openning up the steering column to repair that... is nil.

Car has been an exceptional value. I bought the car off the lot for $8,797.02 New (I grabbed the original paperwork and the low price surprises me).

The Paint on the car has held up amazingly. Aside from an occasional wash and wax, I tend to forget about exterior maintenance.

Gas Economy is great! The original sticker on the car indicates it should get 24mpg in the city and 30mpg on the highway (With California Emission System). As most of my driving is in the city, I think my getting 26mpg currently is GREAT!!

I put in 10-40 oil into the car every oil change and it helps. Oil change is every 9-12months (or whenever I get around to it). Last oil change was October 2003.

Everyone said that I would need to change my Timing Belt at 60,000miles. I didn't get around to it until 90,000 miles (the fuel economy dropped to 20mpg and an tune up with oil change didn't resolve it).

The only thing I kick myself for is not buying the optional Air Conditioning. When I bought it though, I spent a lot of time going up into the Sierra Nevada mountains and the AC unit would have killed the performance of the car. Sixteen years later, and half a dozen drives cross country my needs have changed and have my regrets.

Except for the repairs that I have had to put into the car for vandals (stolen once, radio stolen twice) I don't think I've spent more than $1000-aside from refilling gas, oils, radiator fluid and tires). Normal wear and tear on this car is minimal.

Last month someone told me that I should replace the Transmission Fluid. I had to look in the Owner's Manual to find where it was. Looked fine. 125,000 miles, original tranny fluid.

I'm not gonna fix what ain't broke.