1988 Mazda 626 GT review from Finland
"Never, ever buy an old Mazda"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
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 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).
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| 1988 - 626 GLX Estate 2.0L 12v carburettor One (long) word - Indestructable |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Yes |
| Model year | 1989 |
| Year of manufacture | 1988 |
| First year of ownership | 1998 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 1999 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.0 16v Manual |
| Performance marks | 10 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 2 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 5 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 1 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 287000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 320000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Ford Sierra |
| Date of Entry | 24th July, 2009 |