Reliability

squeaks and rattles, weak V-6, tires, wants premium fuel

I have a love / hate relationship with this car. I've come to like it more and more as the miles pile up (approaching 80K now). I see a lot of complaints here about reliability, especially the tranny, but my automatic has been fine. My only major repair has been to replace the radiator last year -- went to a local garage and the repair was about $300, not too bad.
On the negative side, the V-6 is not well mated to the automatic tranny. That little engine doesn't develop any power until you are over 3000 rpm but the auto wants to shift before then unless you're really standing on it. Also, premium fuel is 'recommended'. I won't buy another vehicle that takes premium -- it's getting too damn expensive. And the interior is kinda cheap and quickly developed some rattles. And the Michelin's that came with the car were junk, although they lasted a long time. I replaced them a few months ago with some Goodyear's which handle the rain and snow much better.
So, it's been a mixed bag. I don't love it, but I respect its reliability. Never left me stranded, never needed a major repair. I would actually consider buying another as I think the current model is rather handsome, but I might opt for a 5-speed. The world doesn't need another Taurus, Accord or Camry on the road!

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moon roof, power windows, air conditioning...

design

overall, i love this car, i just got my license, and picked this car up from a friend, it totally rocks, when i got it, it needed 200$ worth of repair since it didn't idle right, now there are no problems with this car, it is great for a first driver, nice model for an older vehicle...

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older oldsmobile cars in look

relatively roomy and comfortable
excellent gas milage
upscale interior and dash
great handling

automatic transmission
maintenance costs
automatic transmission
abyssmal power to weight ratio
automatic transmission
weak A/C
automatic transmission
died at only 91K miles

Note, this review is based on a four cylinder model and may or may not apply to six cylinder models.
Purchased it used in 2000 with 60K miles on it. Bought the car because of its aesthetics and amenities, especially the interior, which was very comfortable and stylish. My wife simply loved it, although it was a little slow even for her. From day one the engine light was on and it didn’t run quite right. I do not count this against the car since we knew about it when we bought it. What I do count is the difficulty in ascertaining the nature of the fault and getting it fixed. Had it diagnosed three times at three different dealers at $70 apiece. The first diagnosis had us replace the mass airflow sensor for $160 resulting in only a mild improvement. The second dealer’s diagnosis was an inconclusive waste of $70. The third diagnosis had us replace a burnt up O2 sensor for a whopping $200 and also replace the entire exhaust system, including the cat, which, thankfully, was done under the separate emissions warranty. The cat had broken down, clogged the exhaust, and overheated the O2 sensor. The first two dealers apparently didn’t want an $800 warranty claim, so we spent $570 to fix a $270 problem. Other “normal” repairs and parts also seemed to cost more than they should. The automatic transmission was the biggest problem with the car. It never wanted to shift when I wanted it to and the lockup torque converter meant that the engine was usually at least 300 rpm behind. So if you were cruising at a steady speed and tried to accelerate you had to wait for the engine revs to catch up, then wait for the tranny to decide to shift, then wait while the shift executed, then finally experience what minuscule accerelation the car could offer. Around town I usually shifted it manually. But to be fair it was set up for maximum fuel economy, not performance, and it did deliver: we experienced 20mpg city and 28 hwy, which I think is pretty good for a 2800 lb sedan with an automatic. But it was the automatic that killed the car. At 91k miles it died suddenly and catastrophically. The “O/D” light on the dash started flashing and a little while later there was a shudder and then complete motionlessness. The cost of automatic transmission work on this car is mindboggling. To install a remanufactured tranny is well over $3K and a new one is over $4K. To just fix what actually went wrong with ours was going to be right around $3K. That was much more than we were willing to put into it so we ditched it and got a new Prizm. In conlusion, it was a pretty cool car and I can see getting one with a standard 5 speed if you don’t mind the maintenance costs, but DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUY ONE WITH A 4 CYL AND AN AUTOMATIC or you will be sorry.

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nice looking godd stereo system

rough transmission

good car

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LOOKS, SHARP, Handling, AND GOOD RIDE

NONE SO FAR

Very Sharp, Sporty , Fancy wheels, moonroof, leather seats, quality paint, good handling, cd player, pleasure to drive, Comfortable seating for four or five people!

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TOYOTA CAMRY, Close but Mazda Stole my Heart

LOOKS, SHARP, Handling, AND GOOD RIDE

NONE SO FAR

Very Sharp, Sporty , Fancy wheels, moonroof, leather seats, quality paint, good handling, cd player, pleasure to drive, Comfortable seating for four or five people!

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TOYOTA CAMRY, Close but Mazda Stole my Heart

Love the way it handles! Plenty of power at the 3-4 K rpm range. With the 15" yokohama's it gives it a fairly wide stance and a LOT more stability than the dealer tires. The interior is very roomy for the class, and the stock speakers were pretty darn good! Very comfortable for the driver and four passengers on long road trips. Good visibility and oh, yeah.. can't forget the Swing feature! Love that thing! The 60/40 split seat with the arm rest. Gas mileage has been right around 23-25 for city and higher for highway.

The cup holder! ARGHH! right in front of the stereo and car adaptor. other than that i haven't really found any. I put 16K on it in the last 6 months. Road trips, city driving, taught people how to drive stick in it, no glaring flaws. The transmission and clutch are perfect together, very mannered.

I love this car! It took me a year of car shopping to find this one, and Wow! Part of the reason it took so long is that I was looking for V6 with 5 speed, under retail value. I bought it used and expected to find at least some problems with it, but so far haven't found any beyond the exhaust going in the first week. In Rochester, they use a LOT of salt on the roads, so for a 3 year old car, this wasn't entirely unexpected. And the dealer I got it from paid for three-quarters of replacing the exhaust. I made some changes, put on an electric slide sunroof, new brakes (looking at the greenstuff ones now as I really dislike the brakes my mechanic (Dave) put on them), spoiler, yokohama 15" tires, threw a CD player in, car alarm. I will be putting new speakers in as one of them is going.

Everything I've done i've tried to keep low profile, so as not to reduce the resale. This is a fairly versatile car, good for young people who want something that handles well, but still need the space. Good for families and responsible type people. Good for a first car. Wouldn't recommend it to .. hermm... someone looking for a '99 cougar.

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1990 Nissan Maxima (v6)- Much better than
1990 Ford Escort (v4 but it handles like a 3 for pete's sake)- God! I hate that car
1991 Olds Cutlass Sierra (v6)- similar v6 and pickup but the 626 wins on handling
1999 Mercury Cougar (v?)- different classes..it's an apples and oranges thing
2000 Dodge Intrepid (v6)- take the 626 anyday.
1990 Hyundai Sonata (v4)- I drove it until i donated it. Would consider owning another Hyundai in a 6, but only if i couldn't get a 626

V6 makes it tons of fun to drive, and the clutch is super easy. It's an attracive design, and everything is pretty well laid out. I've had the car for about a year, and for 12,000 miles not a thing has gone wrong!

I've not made friends with the cupholders yet (stupid location), and could definately go for an auxilary power outlet, as well as lumbar adjustment in the seat. Also the hood release is really hard to get to.

I have no regrets about buying this car. It's been totally reliable, and a lot of fun to drive. I spent a lot of time looking for the V6-5 speed combonation, and it was worth it. The car has a lot of pick-up, and still gets reasonable gas mileage. Also, the air vents osolate, what more could you want? If you're looking for something in the "boring sedan" genre, this car is downright exciting, and yet amazingly practical.

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1997 Camry: rented one for a weekend, made my mazda feel like a sports car
1998 Contour: a little too cramped and cheap feeling on the inside, and hard to find a V6

Looks

Underpowered engine, bad gas mileage and a poorly designed transmission that everyone should stay far away from unless they enjoy bi-yearly transmission problems at a cost of $2K-$3K a whack!

The car if very nice looking and relatively roomy. Prices are competitive compared to other manufacturer's similar models. But the transmission is flawed. At 45000 miles the transmission began shifting hard into all gears, especially second. Shortly afterward, it was unbearable. After changing the fluid, it worked better, but is still on it's way out. After reading articles here, and, after talking with more than one mechanic (and the Mazda dealer), I'm dumping it. I can see the writing on the wall, and I don't want to end up replacing a flawed transmission every couple of years (or faster?). I've always had tremendous luck with Hondas and Nissans, with those cars always being given away after I've simply gotten sick of looking at them for 15 years and a quarter of a million miles (not kidding). No major problems with those cars, just routine maitenance.

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Doesn't compare at all Nissans and Hondas (yea, I'm getting another Honda).

A very small V6.
Fuel efficient for a V6.
Handling is very good
Soundless when idle at Park.
Good responce from the engine as well as transaxle.
Comfortable front bucket seats.
Effortless Semi-automatic climate controls.
Aerodynamicly desined.
Dashboard doesn't block the front view.
Swing finction really moves the air around the cockpit.
Stylish rear lights.
A very good center of gravity.
Dependable automobile.
Rear independent suspension.
ABS performs well on wet, snowy roads.
Dual stabilizer bars do the job very well.
Vehicle gets warmed up very fast for a Canadian cold climate.

Automatic transaxle could use another gear.
Picks up road noise at 35 to 60 kph.
Rear seats could use a little more legroom.
An automatic transaxle could use a separate additional radiator even for a Canadian weather.
A spare tire could be a standard size.

First of all, a very nice automobile. Style as well as comfort is exceptional. A 2.5 liter V6 goes hand in hand with acceleration and turbine like sound at 2500+ rpm. Front seats are comfortable with more than enough headroom for a 6'3" individual.(equiped with sunroof)
A 15' rims and a 205/55/r15 tires are adequate for a vehicle of this size.
An automatic transaxle is very smooth and responsive to acceleration.
A sterio system is O.K. but could be better for a mid size.
Overall I give it an A+

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Toyota Camry V6
Honda Accord V6
Huyndai Sonata V6
All these cars listed above do not compare in any way with Mazda 626 V6.
That includes price, style, handling, comfort.