Owners' Stories

yes i bought this 1993 Mazda 626 4-cylinder about two years and i noticed a little after i purchased it i started seeing the hold light continuously blink and i was wondering what that meant and people was telling me that maybe it had something to do with my sensor or my transmission because it only shifts out in first and second gear. So whomever reviews this please let me a message at keonastanley26@yahoo.com

This is my 2nd Mazda 626, what more do I need to say? Great workhourse and long lived. More than 170K and still going...

engine light comes on and off

At 80K miles, I replaced the transmission. Ten months and 22K miles later, it was rebuilt or replaced again. At 102K miles I replaced the timing belt, gaskets and the water pump for the first time. One nuisance item is the engine light which has been on for 5 years due to some ozone filter which our mechanic said wasn't necessary to replace. Considering I've only changed the oil about every 9 months, and have never flushed anything, it has been a fantastic car!

This was easily the worst car I have ever owned!!! Bought it cheap from an in-law that I thought could be trusted, what a huge mistake that was! The car had about 80,000 miles when I bought it and had just had a new transmission installed because the original failed. The replacement transmission lasted less then 4 months, had it rebuilt and it lasted less then 2 months. I went back to my trusty Honda CRX and unloaded this piece of junk once I found another 4 door sedan I liked. Found out afterward that the transmission for this car is made by Ford and is the same trans that was in the Taurus during the mid 90s. The transmissions are notorious for premature failure. In addition to the drive train problem, the car also had a short in the headlight turn single switch that caused the headlights to fail if the switch was used for anything more then turning them on. I found this out on a dark country road one night and was lucky I didn't end up in a ditch. After that I never touched the thing for either turn singles or high beams as I didn't want the headlights to fail permanently until it could be fixed. Found out that it cost a bloody fortune to repair because of it's close proximity to the airbag. Mazda actually had a recall for this problem, but by the time I found that out the transmission had failed anyway. The car handled like a boat as well. It was comfortable to ride in but my Acura Legend has taught me that you don't have to sacrifice THAT MUCH handling to get a comfortable ride. The 4 cylinder engine option is way to weak for this car as well, and probably contributes to the early transmission failures because of the amount of strain it puts on the drive train. The car barely passed emissions the one time I had it tested in order to renew the tag. At least the heater and air conditioning worked well. If you are thinking about picking up one of these I strongly recommend you get the manual 5 speed transmission and V6 or otherwise avoid it like the plague that it is.

My 2001 mazda 626 has been a good car . The transmission shift cable bushing burst and allowed the cable to come loose thus not able to shift transmission . I called around to dealers and other sourses but the part was on back order .I found a transmission shop that made a good repair as replacing the cable was a real pain ! The transmission is a bit weak on shifting but still a good car . Would buy another .

This is a 2002 Mazda 626 LX V6 with Automatic Transmission. Bought car used (former rental). Owned it for 8 years so far, still going strong. Regular oil change and 30K, 60K maintenance... only repair bill was to recharge the freon last year - must've leaked out from lack of use through the years. Car indicates needing premium gas but have been using regular with no problems. Did not notice any gain in MPG when using premium. Plan to keep this car for another 2-5 years.

Average Car

great car has plenty of get up an go at almost 200,000. can't complain

Excellent all around

Um, that mazda had to be the worst car my family ever owned! It had every problem imaginable, and cost so much in repairs! Let me see if I can remember all the problems it had... it needed a new transmission, some electrical problems, something about a timing belt (clearly i know nothing about cars), and who knows what else.... I also hated the way the wheel felt so heavy, and it didn't like to make u-turns. yeah, that thing sucked. Screw the 626... I hope they stopped making those.