1994 Mazda 626 GL review from Australia and New Zealand
"Has been reliable up to now, but the Transmission problem has been it's downfall; no more Mazda's"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
The Hold Button Light began blinking at about 130,000km. The transmission would have to be reved to jump out of 1st into 3rd.
General comments?
It has taken me a year to track down the problem. Initially the hold button flash would disappear if I turned the engine off and started again. I could drive off; but the problem was so intermittent that mechanics couldn't find a fault. It wasn't the ECU as we trialled a replacement and it made no difference.
In the end, it was diagnosed as the transmission and is currently being reconditioned. The Transmission Mechanic strongly recommended that, as part of the rebuild, we include an external bypass cooler ($AUD400) because keeping the transmission cooler is very important. The mechanic recommends the by-pass cooler for new cars as a priority
I'll let you know how it goes, but after reading the other comments, I think I'll be getting rid of the Mazda. I don't know why people replace a transmission four times and not ditch it altogether.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 1994 |
| Year of manufacture | 1994 |
| First year of ownership | 1995 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2004 |
| Engine and transmission | 2.2 Lt Unleaded Automatic |
| Performance marks | 7 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 7 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 8 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 8 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 1000 kilometres |
| Most recent distance | 160000 kilometres |
| Previous car | Nissan Narvara |
| Date of Entry | 16th November, 2004 |