1982 Mazda 929 review from Australia and New Zealand

Head Blew after about 6 months of me thrashing the car, (being my first car, on my P plates) it overheated a couple of times, but it was worn when I got it. I had it fixed soon after (completely reconditioned) and haven't had a problem with it since, the temperature gage barely even moves!

The original Electric arial leaked water, and eventually seazed-up, but still worked fine as a standard arial, I just haven't gotten around to find a replacement.

The front exhaust pipe slowly leaked, until it blew off completely, (should have seen the look on the faces of the people on the side of the street when it happened!!) it was easily fixed myself for about $80, and is now as quiet as any other car I have been in.

The shock absorbers were worn when I bought it, handled EXTREMEMLY badly (over 90km/h was plain scary) I fixed these about 2 years later and made a huge difference, well worth the $110 each I paid for them.

The master clutch cylinder failed (while I was a pizza delivery boy) cost only $40 to fix, and once again, no problems.

The only other problem was the excessive fuel consumption and tuning problems (i think the last mechanic I went to wasn't doing his job properly), I'm having it tuned this week, should drive much better.

I paid only $1000 for my Mazda from my uncle, as my first car. He had some work done to it before he sold it, but I think 12 months of "P plater delivery boy driving" killed it pretty quickly. since then, I have been looking after it quite well, and has been the most comfortable cruiser I have driven.

The 5 speed manual is an absolutely awesome gear-box, and after driving my friend's 1982 626, I can see that paying the extra for the 929 was a great idea.

The seats look pretty much what you'd expect from a 20 year old daily-driver, but remain extremely comfortable, especially the back.

My model didn't have the optional power-steering, or electric windows, but has one of the nicest, cleanest basic interiors you could ask for in 1982, compared to the similar Gemini from the same era, it seems like a Mercedes!

The motor is gutless, the gearbox nice and smooth and the all-independent suspension handles perfectly.

In short, look after it, like a 20 year old car should, and there shouldn't be too many problems, just sit back and cruise...