1989 Mazda 323 SE from North America - Comments

My clutch went out around 135,000 miles.

The button for the defroster doesn't function properly anymore.

The car is lightweight, but I find mine quite underpowered. It is difficult to accelerate quickly as you approach speeds of 50 miles. per hour.

However, the car will accelerate well at lower speeds (0-35 mph.).

I get great gas mileage, Averaging about 30 mpg. on the highway.

The car will begin to shake around 70 mph. This can cause a CD player to skip. At higher speeds (75+) the car made a mysterious clicking or scratching noise. I was never able to figure out what it was.

I bought the car for $500. It was cheaper because it leaks a little oil from burning and dripping. however it is an excellent starter car.

I owned a manual version of the car, I find the car fun to drive, but I wouldn't say the same for an automatic.

One thing I found suprising was that the space where the clock would go, was a piece of plastic. The clock was optional!

Overall I liked this car, It has good gas mileage and it is fun to drive.

The 1989 Mazda 323 is a nice student car. Very affordable and cheap to drive. The gas mileage is excellent 33-37 Miles per gallon. I think this car deserves some appreciation. I still drive this car in 2003 year and have put about 200,000 two hundred thousand miles on it. The engine is still strong and do burn-out. The engine required no major maintenance other than gasket leak at about 156000 miles. The suspension was needed to be replaced at 180000 miles. After that the car is still running upto this day with 200000 miles on it and I am pretty sure will be running, and will go over 250,000 easily.

If you want to save money and hassle of repair buy this Japanese car. Buy the turbo version if you could find one.

My car is a 89 mazda 323 hatch back. it has a 1.6 l engine, but I have recently added a summit supercharger kit and a 94 626 turbo for this car. it greatly increased my hp and torque, but as I recently learned the tranny could not keep up with this newly added power. my clutch has gone out and 2 and 3rd gears are completly gone. otherwise a solid car.. but if you know wear I can get a 5 speed tranny for this car email me at charliespinler@hotmail.com thanks.

I bought my '89 Mazda 323 (non-turbo) at 84,000 miles and 2000 dollars. It's been a gem! It currently sits at 156,000 miles, and I am very happy with the 5 years I got out of it. I noticed about 10,000 miles prior the defroster light didn't work, but didn't mind. Then the big problem, it was stalling and hesitating after shifting in-between gears. Upon inspection, I found out that the cylinder head was shot, and the valve stems and covers were done as well, it blue-smoked a lot. They recommended to replace the engine for 1500, but it's time to move on! Good car, reliable, great transportation and nice drive-ability, even though I changed out the wheels, and the driver seat needs changed too. GOOD BUY AND GOOD FIRST CAR!!