1986 Mazda B2000 SE5 review from North America

Replaced several thermostats (repeated problem - seemed like a flaw in the cooling system design)

Replaced head gasket and radiator at 95kmi (after failed thermostat caused overheat).

Replaced shocks at 80kmi.

Replace drive belts at 50kmi.

Replaced all belts including timing belt at 80kmi.

The turn signal reset broke around 90kmi. I never bothered to fix it since it was only a minor annoyance to manually reset.

Bed began to severely rust around 100kmi. To be fair, this is probably due to the fact it was parked outside for over a year while I was in college.

Window became difficult to roll up eventually for some reason.

Boy I loved my little Mazda B2000! I would still have it today if it were not for a pack of deer late at night one autumn night which bashed it up pretty good. In fact, I would buy another one today if they still made them (an original B-series, not a Ford Ranger that is).

This truck was so easy to work on. I replaced the head gasket myself after I blew it up. Overall these were extremely reliable trucks, other than the thermostat problems I encountered. I beat the!@#$ out of mine, put miles after mile on it and it just kept going and going.

I bought it new for about $6000 back in 1986 and drove it exclusively for almost 12 years and it only left me stranded once in that whole time. My friends used to tease me that I'd never get a different vehicle. I didn't need to, it wouldn't die!

It was little underpowered, but it was truly one of the all-time great little truck designs. I say this despite the repeated problems I had with thermostats dying on it. Not sure if mine was just an anomaly in that respect since I didn't see any other complaints about it in any of the other reviews here. Eventually I just took the thermostat out and ran it cold and never had any more problems (although my heat was lacking a bit in winter afterward). Other than that and a couple other minor problems this thing was bulletproof. By the time I junked it at 140kmi, it still had the original clutch in it and I think I had only changed the original tires about 25kmi before that. Also, they were sharp looking little trucks, especially if you got the SE5 package. The styling was way ahead of its time and it STILL looked good when I finally got rid of it.