1992 Mazda 626 GLX 2.0 petrol from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Brilliant car. Scrapping it is akin to losing a family pet

Faults:

Nothing unexpected given the sheer number of kilometres.

General Comments:

The best car bar none. The engine is still as strong as an ox. I'm wrecking it today as it failed its WOF for rust in the A pillars, & I can't justify the $800 to fix it.

This car is a workhorse. A good accelerator from standing, & it handles well.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th August, 2014

23rd Aug 2014, 12:10

Hi. I can't believe you would junk it just for rust in the A pillars. Give the car away to somebody that is willing to do the repair if you are not. It's just a waste of a good car to junk it.

I had a 1990 Mazda 626 that I loved, but was forced to sell it because of a strange electrical problem that would keep draining the battery.

I miss that car, and would have liked to have had a manual version in mint condition.

1992 Mazda 626 LX from North America

Summary:

A car that ages gracefully

Faults:

Struts were replaced at 180000.

Air conditioner was fixed at 139000.

Radiator cracked at about 140000.

Leaked power steering fluid.

The paint on the car did not last at all - the hood looked like someone had sandblasted it. It was faded, though not peeling.

General Comments:

This was a wonderful first car.

The entire time I had it, I never had to replace anything major.

It was very fuel efficient and easy to maintain.

Always fairly comfortable to drive, though long drives were a little more uncomfortable.

I have never seen a car age so gracefully! Wish I could say the same for my Infiniti.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 8th February, 2010

1992 Mazda 626 LX from North America

Summary:

I wish I had bought two of them!

Faults:

Very little. My brakes lasted for 92K miles! No problems of any major significance until very close to 100K miles then a minor problem with the front suspension.

General Comments:

This was a beautiful car when we bought it and I believe it will become a "classic". The ride is comfortable; the engine purrs; the gas mileage is still good (23-25mpg/city) The seats are still in very good condition, the interior parts (especially the plastic molded parts) are still sturdy, seatbelts and locks, alarm still working. This is a wonderful car- I may never get rid of it!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 25th June, 2008

1992 Mazda 626 GE 2.0 EFI from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Good quality and well equipped

Faults:

The car has been very reliable and has always started first go. I have put 14,000km on it in under a year, which isn't bad for a 16 year old car.

First issue was the well known 'flashing hold light'. I researched on the Internet and was ready to face the fact that I needed a new transmission. I took it to an auto transmission mechanic who serviced the transmission and said the transmission was not the problem. It only flashed for a few days then went away for a month.

A month later while driving, white smoke was coming from the engine and the hold light was flashing again but these turned out to be two different issues, I'll talk about the smoke further on. I took the car to a Mazda dealer who only took an hour to find the problem and began work on my car straight away; it turned out that the car's computer had failed and the hold light was flashing as a result. What this means is, the transmission goes into fail mode and the car changes gears based on the speed, and therefore the gear changes were very harsh. So they fixed the computer, which saved a heap over the potential cost of a transmission. I had a heavy duty transmission cooler fitted as well.

It was a coincidence that the white smoke appeared at the same time, the oil sensor just broke and oil was dripping onto the exhaust, so I replaced the spark plugs and leads, air and fuel filter, and gave it an oil change at the same time.

I replaced the tie rods in the front, as well as other steering components.

The car also gets a rather loud tappet noise, but using thicker oil makes them quieter, but I change the oil every 5000km, so they only tend to get louder towards the end of the 5000, but it uses hardly any oil between changes.

Also, when using regular 91 RON unleaded, it has a pinging noise, so switching to premium 95 RON gets rid of the noise.

But I knew when buying a car with my budget and age range, to expect some problems, and I think I got pretty lucky; it has only had age related issues but it has never stopped working.

General Comments:

I love this car.

I spent 6 months looking for my first car. I previously had a 1982 Subaru, which I used as a 'paddock basher', and it survived 2 and a half years of thrashing, so my first road car had a lot to live up to.

I had a small budget, and at the bottom end of the market, the differences in cars is huge; some cars don't even have air or power steering, but I must have been lucky when I found this; it has air-conditioning, power steering, power mirrors and power windows front and back, not bad for 1992. It also as a CD player, cruise control and the air vents electronically swing left to right. It has a nice set of alloy wheels, a spoiler, and the green paintwork hasn't faded.

It gets around 11 litres per 100 kilometers, and most of that is around town, so I can live with that, being a small 2 litre automatic, and it gets down to around 8-9 on a long run.

It performs extremely well, considering it only has 85kw and 170 Nm of torque. It has very lively performance; it comfortably sits at highway speeds and is zippy through town.

I can't believe the quality of this car; there are no rattles or squeaks, and when it has fresh oil, it has a very quiet engine. The seat trim and dashboard plastics have not faded, and are not torn or damaged.

This was a good buy, and I would not hesitate to buy another Mazda. I'll drive this one until it falls apart (if that ever happens) and replace it with a Mazda6.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 24th May, 2008

11th Nov 2008, 01:59

The Mazda has now done 184,000km, and in the 6 months since writing the review, not much has happened. It got 4 new tyres, a right hand side CV joint and the rear brakes were leaking fluid so were replaced.

I took it on a 700km holiday and did not experience one problem, it is a very relaxed highway cruiser. I averaged 7.4 litres per 100km, which apparently is what it got when new, so I was extremely happy with that.

10th Mar 2009, 07:45

The little Mazda is up to 192,000km. I have replaced the fuel and air filters and installed a new set of platinum spark plugs.

I had problems starting the car. It would take a few starts to get it going, and once it started it would blow a cloud of smoke, and would try and stall, but replacing the fuel filter fixed that.

A few weeks later I couldn't start the car at all, I had to jump start it every time for about a week, but the battery was only 6 months old. It turns out my dad had washed the engine and got water in the distributor.

Next on the list is a transmission service, rear shock absorbers and the major 200,000km service.