Mazda 626: Opinions please

Hello everyone,

My Escort has gone to the big scrapyard in the sky and I'm now looking to replace it. I'm looking for a cheapish second car that my brother and parents will also use to run around in.

I have found a 1999 Mazda 626 Pheonix 2 litre saloon with 75,000 miles on it for =A31295 at a local-ish independent garage. It's had the cambelt changed at 52,000 miles and has a full service history from a local Mazda dealer up to date.

I'm in the Highlands so choice and price for second hand cars is strictly limited.

Any opinions on these vehicles? I've never driven one before but the reviews that I've read indicate very good reliability.

Are there many things to watch out for on this model of Mazda? I'm very tempted by it to be honest.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Reply to
EvB
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I have had a 98 model from new. About the same milage.

Only replacement apart from the usual brake pads, wiper blades tyres, etc has been one rear caliper when the hand brake part of it siezed a couple of years ago.

Very reliable.

Only downsides I would say are that road noise is a little louder than some cars and fuel economy is not great at about 30 to 32 mpg if you are careful.

Bill

Reply to
bill

Thanks, Bill. That's pretty much what I thought.

I've decided to get an AA inspection on it anyway, as I'm 114 miles away. No point in going all that way to find out that the headgasket is blown or something. Their doing it tomorrow and I'll go down on Wednesday (all being well) to pick it up.

Reply to
EvB

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