So I'm wondering about the reliability of the RX-8. Japanese cars have a reputation of being pretty reliable. Every Honda and Toyota I've owned has lasted a long time with pretty much no complaints. Nissans on the other hand are lacking by comparison IMO. (My family owned an Altima and a Infini G20 - Nissan made -and both had bunch of problems within a couple years.)

Mazda vehicles are rated pretty highly in Consumer Reports, but besides that I don't know much about Mazdas.

 

well, i had a nissan pathfinder..no problems at all. Period..i sold it with 180K miles on it..now mazdas in general are very reliable...and i'm will probably get contradicted by saying this, but IMO, the 3rd generation RX-7 (93s especially) were not very reliable..maybe i just got a lemon...but i have been fixing **** in it ever since i got it in 98'...thats one reason i probably wont buy the first lot of rx-8s that are released...i have had a 626 and a 929(i loved this car)...and both were very reliable..had no problems on them at all

 

My family has always loved Mazdas. My parents had I believe an RX-3 wagon back before I was born. They then bought a 1990 626 brand new, which is now my car I bought from them a few years back. I had an 87 626 before that, and my parents bought a Millenia when I bought the 626. Here are my experiences and what I've read.

Consumer Reports has Mazda's listed as being very very reliable in general. Everything but the Tribute I believe receives an excellent rating for reliability (darn too much Ford in that thing ). The Miata and Protege are particularly highly rated.

I only owned my 87 626 for about a year before I bought the 1990. Bought it with 109K miles and sold with 120K. Never had a lick of trouble with anything besides a small loose connection to the rear speakers outta the head radio. The engine purred, and consumed very little oil. It was a very nice car.

Now, the 1990 626 has been in my family since we drove it brand new off the lot. WHAT A CAR! In the 12 years we've owned it, we have done nothing but normal maintenance with the exception of a replace A/C fan that total cost $75 to replace. The exhaust rusted out at 10 years. The brake pads were replaced once. I had to have the CV joints/boots replaced last year, which is a pretty good life. I have 140K miles on the car now. I am still on the original clutch. The engine is as smooth now as it ever was. Everything works just great and the car consumes just about a quart of oil every 800 miles or so, which receives no complaints from me. All in all this is the most reliable car my family has owned. We had a 91 Honda Accord EX that had more problems (albeit small) than our 626. This incredible reliability, and the advice of Consumer Reports (which gives the Mazda Millenia an excellent reliability rating) is the reason my folks bought a Millenia in 1997.

Well, the Millenia is a bit different story. We bought a 1995 model, the first year the car was available and the engine/tranny have been a real bitch. By the way, looking now at Consumer Reports, the 1995 year has a big fat black mark on engine and tranny, while from 1996 on everything is all red circles Lucky us. Anyway, the car was under warranty at the time.....we had a cracked crankshaft which resulted in a completely new engine. That engine was somehow bad, so we got another. Then, the tranny began to shift very very hard from 1-2, so we got another tranny. That tranny would shift in and out of overdrive. Going 80 uphill? In overdrive. Going 80 on a flat surface, out of overdrive. Finally this tranny is good, though 1-2 is still a little hard. Mazda was very cooperative in solving these problems, which was very good for us. However, with our family's past Mazda experience, it left us with a somewhat bitter taste in our mouths.

The 3rd gen RX-7 was indeed unreliable. It lacked adequate cooling, and the twin sequential turbo system, tho very very good, was incredibly complex and made it difficult to diagnose problems. The rotary engine took a hit with that one, especially after the 1st and 2nd gen cars still have a ton running on original engines at 200K + miles.

Our experience with the Millenia did not turn us off from Mazda. Would we buy another, most certainly (almost bought a 2001 BRG Miata SE over our RSX Type S). Every car company has bad cars, and we were just unlucky enough to get one of those. I, and my parents, will someday own more Mazdas. If not the RX-8, the new 6 sure looks like a stunning car as well. And with Mazda you get reliability, but with a sporting edge and uniqueness you'll never find in any other Japanese brand.

Mazda, all in all makes very reliable cars. Maybe not quite Honda or Toyota, but at the level just beneath. I have been quite impressed with Mazda reliability and with their cooperation in helping us make the Millenia run well again.

 

The pathfinders I've seen look pretty solid so they may be the exception in Nissan's quality. My problems with Nissan weren't really big. Small pieces like stuff in the interior pieces fell apart pretty quickly. But at the same time I never had those problems with the 6 Hondas and 2 Toyotas I've owned (including the cars my family owned while growing up).

 

Wow Jerome! Thanks for all the info. Sounds like you've had a decent run with Mazda.

 

lets see....Jerome pay special attention

81 RX-7,
83 RX-7 GX,
83 RX-7 S,
87 RX-7 GSL,
89 323GT,

and my experiences are... hummmm

83 RX-7 GX, and 323GT the GT got me more tickets but the 7 got more chicks.....

now thats telling it like it is

 

Danner, we too have a 1990 626, bought new. Four kids learned to drive with it. We used to live on a rocky, steep logging road in the Smoky Mountains. We used the 626 to pull a 4x8 trailer up the mountain carrying all the materials to build our house, except the concrete, sheet rock and septic tank. I've towed 5x8 U-hauls from NYC to NC and from NC to Miami. It has survived being hit by a drunk in a 78 Olds 98, and hitting both a dog and later a deer at night on the Interstate. After driving for 9 months with a burned valve (no money, no time) I finally replaced the engine with a used one. At the time of replacement, the original engine had 359,000 miles. When I pulled the head, three of the cylinders still showed the home marks. The fourth with the burned valve was wor out due to the unburned gas washing the oil from the cylinder walls.

At the time of engine replacement, the car still had the original clutch. We put a used engine & transmission in together. The engine had had no repairs other than the "basic-air controller" being replaced at 96,000 under extended warranty. Maintenance included oil changes, and timing belt replacement every 60-70,000 miles. Plugs were replaced every 100,000, brake pads about 35-45,000 (mountain driving), front rotors at 240,000, CV joints at 190,000, alternator at 260,000, starter at 310,000, Exhaust about 290,000. My daughter bought the car and has driven it thru Minnesota and upstate NY winters. We drove her to grad school in NY pulling a U-haul, 380,000+ miles on the car.

We've owned a 1974 RX-wagon, 1979 and 1980 GLC wagons, the 1990 626, and a 1991 626 bought as a rebuilt wreck. My sister drove a 1984 626 until last fall, 326,000 miles.

These folksbuild good cars.

 

Wow! That car went through a ton of crap!

Okay, I think my questions about mazda reliablility are answered now I don't think I should be too concerned.

 

Own an MG, than ANYTHING will seem reliable :D

I've driven a 86 RX-7 GXL for about 5 years, an 87 Turbo for 3 years, an 86 base for about 2 years, and a 90 Convertible for almost 2 years. The only major repair I've had on any of the cars was transmission work on the Vert, but I knew it was a problem when I bought the car. For the most part, all of these cars have been VERY reliable for me.