How reliable are Mazda cars?

[whatwhat411]

I've never bought a Mazda car before and don't know much about their reliability. How reliable are their cars?

 

[JasonH]

Very. I had an MX-3 for a number of years and never had a single problem.

 

[Grimace]

Never had a problem with my MX-6. Sold it with 180000 kms on the clock.
Last generation RX-7's were a nightmare. 2nd generation RX-7's were better. I had one until 170000 kms. It needed a sensor replaced, and the caliper was sticky, but other than that, not bad at all reliability wise.
I would put Mazda's overall reliability on par with Nissan, and perhaps slightly below Honda/Toyota.
If you want to get model specific, then I can go in-depth. I assume you are inquiring about the reliability of the Protege vs. popular alternatives (Spec V, SVT, etc.), correct?

 

[70]

Most Mazdas are pretty reliable. The Protege, ever since it was first built in 1990, has been one the best.

Consumer Reports has always been happy with them. The present generation of Protege is the best yet for a base paltform and for a performance car. The after market is growing, which shows the growing popularity of the car.

 

[whatwhat411]

Thanks for your help guys, the relibility was just something I totally over looked when checking out the MSP let alone other Mazdas. And Grimace, thanks but you dont have to go more in depth if Mazda's cars are up there with Toyotas and Hondas then I really have no more doubts about Mazda's cars. Thanks for your help.

 

[White 6s]

mazda's in general are very reliable i have a friend who has a 88 mazda mx6 non turbo. he bought it in 97 with 180,000+ miles. now it has 293,000 miles and still is ticking. about 5,000 miles ago it just started burning oil. other then clutch and routine maintenance. never been rebuilt or whatnot. i hope my mazda lasts this long!

 

[dmitrik4]

i bought my 1990 protege w/ 140,000 miles on it and kept it through 220,000 miles. driving 25,000 miles a year and not taking good care of it AT ALL (sometimes it was tough to afford oil changes in college!) it never let me down once. i sold it a few months ago to someone waiting on their SVT focus to come in. he's a mazda tech, and was really impressed with how well it ran.

IMO, my protege ran better than my sister's '91 corolla with half the mileage.

 

[Newf]

My only thought on this is that years ago.....Mazda were all made by Mazda. Now, more and more Mazda's are sharing a lot of Ford Parts.

Just something to think about.

At least this years protege is still all Mazda

 

[Allen]

In non-abusive driving, Toyota and Honda cars rule. They are more reputable than Mazdas in longevity. For N/A Mazdas, I think they have a good reputation... but the turbo or supercharged ones I have heard mixed comments.... I have met mechanics that prefer not to work on them... such as the Millenia.

Not sure if this is true, but I've once heard a mechanic in Houston say Mazda parts are more expensive than the other comparable import manufacturers.

My last Mazda 323 lasted ten years for me without much problems until the last two years of ownership. General wear and tear stuff started to show up.

 

[mts3]

Even the Mazdas built in the US (626/MX-6) are pretty good cars. I put 144K on my MX-6 before some wear items started to wear out. Those cars had some Ford sourced parts. Most were okay with the exception of the terrible automatic transmissions used on 4 cylinder cars.

However Mazda engines seem to be able to take as much abuse as any other. I drove the hell out of my MX-6 (V-6) and it ran very smoothly even when I sold it.