Faults:

Window tracking tabs rusted off.

Regular replacement of the CV joint rubber boots (every 3 - 4 years).

General Comments:

Super reliable - never failed to start. Drove better than many 'sports cars' - super tight rack & pinion steering. Don't remember what redline was, I think it was 6k RPM. Had the original clutch all the years I drove it. The engine loved to rev on the road, although I never abused it. I really hated to give it up, even @ 240k mi, but it just wore out.

Velour seats were very comfortable, much better than the MX-6 and Ford Probe versions of the car. I had the 5 door hatch back, and used it to regularly haul my musical equipment to gigs. MPG not that great, avg ~24, hwy maybe 30.

Although it had an ECU, most of the workings were purely mechanical.

Faults:

Nothing really major at all for having 267,000 miles on it. The only really major thing was about a year ago, I had a crack in the tie rod - cost me $450 to get fixed.

General Comments:

It's awesome! The interior is in excellent condition. I've had it painted in stages, i.e., hood, top, etc. because I live in AZ and the heat is hard on the paint.

It has GREAT pick-up, it is a 5-speed. It does use oil, but no big deal. I need to do a commercial for Mazda!! I'm going for the big 300,000 miles and I really think I'll make it.

I took it to get it worked on, and the owners, one had worked for Mazda and one for Volvo, and they joined forces. When I left my car there, he was getting info. from me, and he asked me what year it was, and I said an 88, he said, no, the year - and I said again an 88, he then looks out the window at my car and he says no way and I said "Way"... he goes outside, walks around my car, and told me that he had NEVER seen an 88 in that good of condition, etc.!!!

Faults:

Basically, if you want the windows to go up or down, it takes a few tries.

Transmission usually slips in 2nd gear.

Passenger exterior door handle is broken.

A/C doesn't blow cold air.

General Comments:

This car is amazing. I love it because not too many people have it. I have not had a major problem yet. It starts instantly every time. Very well built.

Faults:

Drove one year, from 287000 km to 320000 km, and everything went wrong. From what I can recall (it was 10 years ago) :

The bodywork was OK and shiny from the outside, but I realised (too late) that the bottom of the car is totally rusty and rotten. The gas tank was full of holes, had to be replaced. Several other parts from the bottom had to be replaced too because of the rust. I wondered how the car didn't fall apart from a tiny push...

The car battery + charger had to be replaced. The battery was terminated while driving, so I had to pull over in the middle of a highway.

The driver's seat's backrest fell down, had to be welded back up.

One day, the driver's side door lock failed, the door didn't open at all. Had to climb out from the window or the passenger side door for months.

The passenger side electric window didn't close properly, caused awful sound while driving faster than 80 km/h.

The lights on the dashboard blinked randomly.

The power steering fluid leaked, had to fill it up every now and then.

The radiator just... how would I put it... kind of blew up. And yes, of course, when it happened, I was driving in the middle of a rush hour.

The fan stopped working completely. Man those were some cold winter days driving to work...

The car leaked some oil.

The brake discs + pads had to be replaced.

I had to keep an arsenal of tools and liquids in the trunk in case for a vehicle Armageddon.

General Comments:

This car was the worst nightmare of all. I went blind for the sporty looks and the performance (148 hp, 0-100 km/h 8 sec, top speed 220 km/h), just had to buy it and put my hopes on Japanese engineering (which is excellent if the car is not very old), despite the kilometres.

The faults were endless, and I lost a lot of money.

Still, the days when the car was running OK, were the best days of all the kilometres I haven driven so far.

Despite all the faults, the car started every time perfectly, no matter what the weather. Except for the time when the battery died, of course.

626 GT is a perfect pimp my ride car for someone, but I didn't have the money (nor the pimp).