1997 Mazda MX6 LS from North America - Comments

Had to change CV boots on both sides along with one of the trans axles @ 125 000 km.

Needed new 2 rotors replaced along with passenger side wheel bearing @ 130 000 km.

Replaced passenger window motor.

Replaced water pump and timing belt at 135 000 km.

Head gasket blew 2 months after water pump was fixed.

Near the end of my ownership of the vehicle the car would have an overheating problem. The fan that cools the engine was not coming on in time, and at stop lights it would gradually start to overheat. Had to run the heater to cool it back down to a normal temperature. Also the check engine light kept coming on and off at about 155 000 km and eventually stayed on until I got rid of the car.

I bought this car because of its looks, also because I didn't want to buy the typical sports car that millions of other teens had already. I had a previous MX6 (1989) and fell in love with the MX-6 and Mazda as a brand.

It is a very sexy sleek car and the ladies love it! Its quite fast and leaves most sport coupes in the dust. It handles very well in the summer or in nice weather. The MX-6 comes with a great stock stereo system. It is a seriously hot ride, but at a price...

With that said the car was a mechanical nightmare. Everything that could break practically did. I omitted some minor work because the list is so large. I must have poured at least $5000 into this car while I had it. I suggest that you be pretty well off before you purchase one of these baby's.

I still loved the car and enjoyed ripping around in it, but now that I look back at it I think think that it was'nt worth all the stress I went through. It was quite tough as a student to keep up with the repair bills. I would suggest this car to a young professional who has money to spare and enjoys little sport coupes.

Pro's - Fast, good looking, pretty good fuel economy, Sporty, nice paint job, big trunk, great stock stereo, Great engine and transmission.

Con's - Very dangerous in the winter, practically no back seat leg room, only one cup holder, rusts underneath heavily, Costs a lot for parts and repairs, not too comfy on trips over 2 hours long, would not like to be in a serious accident in one (the car is very low), stick shifter is too long,

After reading this review I found myself wondering if the reviewer had actually driven an MX6!!! It would take too long to comment on every point, so here is the concluding para...

"Con's - Very dangerous in the winter," So is any car!!

"practically no back seat leg room," it's a sports coupe show me a sports coupe that has decent leg room, at least you can get 2 adults in the back!!

"only one cup holder" Oh please : (

"rusts underneath heavily" Mines 10 years old only a few spots.

"Costs a lot for parts and repairs" Only if you're stupid enough to go to a Mazda dealer, personally I use a local mechanic, who is the DB's.

"not too comfy on trips over 2 hours long" Eh??? and the rest is total drivel this review needs deleting. So have about it Steve???

Richard Boyd.

I also agree that this car didn't have any serious winter problems. Handles like any other front wheel drive vehicle in the snow. Actually I kind of thought it handled fine in the snow... unless we got a dump...we're in Michigan. Although the one thing I agree with is that repairs are pretty pricey on this car. I had a water pump gone and was $600 to repair at a LOCAL mechanic... and he was the lowest! Now I am having a problem with my transmission. It's an automatic 2.5L V6 and it shifts abnormally hard... found myself at almost 3000 RPM's and wasn't even at 20MPH yet... just wouldn't switch gears. I also thought about the accident comment above. As of 1994 the MX6 has installed 5 star steel beams in the doors (hence why they are SOOOO HEAVY) the driver side is a 5 star rating (per consumers report) and the passenger is a 4 star rating.

Put it this way... I was going 55 MPH and 2 deer ran out in front of me, well I hit the second one and it rolled right up onto my hood into the windshield...well, the only damage was to my front headlight which was cracked and knocked loose :) COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! Except for all the deer hair I had all over the car, that was the ONLY damage. The car had also been hit on the passenger side before I got it and for how hard it was hit it should have been totalled as it should have damaged the frame so badly it shouldn't have been able to be repaired, let alone driven... although it was and looks as good as new now... no damage to the main frame or the engine compartment. Overall I LOVE this car, and it's handling and looks (as I am the ONLY person with an MX6 in my town, everyone comments on it) although I could do without ALL the repairs it constantly needs... costly ones at that! Hope this helps some readers?!

I didn't know about the steel in the doors and this helps a lot because I worried about a side impact in a 95 car that is somewhat small. So now I'm leaning to keeping my mx-6 and putting some money into repairs vs putting a lot of money into buying a comperable new auto.

I'm glad I found this discussion since I am seriously considering buying a 97 Mazda Mx-6. The car looks attractive and it handled well on the test drive, but I'm unused to driving low cars (I've only driven 2 small SUVs and a large sedan). I am also worried about traction during the winter since I drive in the Pennsylvania mountains where the snow can get tricky. The car is in great condition with 95,000 miles, and its priced under $4,000. This seems like a pretty good price for this car and its fully loaded in the inside too. Is this a good first car to get for a student? Thumbs up or down?!

Interesting to read the comments above about repair bills etc. I've just bought a '97 MX6 having had one as a company car when they first came out ('92?) and really liked it. Clearly a new car will have far less problems than a 10 year old one, but I would have thought that if it was prone to excessive mechanical problems they would show up even on a new car. Mine never had any problems other than a few annoying build-quality things - e.g. things working loose, strange whistling apparently from the windscreen that turned out to be a loose rear spoiler (!). I have since discovered that they are manufactured in the US, not Japan, which obviously accounts for it.