1996 MAZDA 626 Complaints

VEHICLE WAS IN AN ACCIDENT GOING 40MPH. BOTH FRONT AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. DEALER NOTIFIED.*AK

WHILE DRIVING AND WITHOUT WARNING THE TRANSMISSION SHIFTED OUT OF GEAR BUT STILL INDICATED THAT IT WAS STILL IN DRIVE ON THE GEAR PANEL. *TT

I HAVE A 96 626 THAT HAS 125,000 MILES. I PURCHASED MY CAR IN 98 WITH 60,000 MILES. IN MAY OF 2000 I HAD TO REPLACE THE OXYGEN SENSOR. I HAVE ALSO HAD TO REPLACE THE LEFT FRONT AXEL AND THE RIGHT CV JOINT BOOT IN FEB. 2003. NOW I HAVE REPLACE MY ENTIRE TRANSMISSION WHICH IS GOING TO COST AROUND 2300. I HAD NO INDICATIONS THAT I HAD TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS UNTIL IT JUST QUIT. ON MY WAY TO WORK MY CAR JUST STOPPED MOVING ON THE INTERSTATE. WHEN I PRESSED THE ACCELERATOR IT WOULDN'T PULL. SO I GOT OFF THE ROAD SAFELY AND ATTEMPTED TO SEE WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS. THE CAR WAS NOT MOVING FORWARD OR BACKWARDS. I HAD TO HAVE IT TOWED TO THE TRANSMISSION SHOP TO BE TOLD THE WONDERFUL NEWS. I HAVE BEEN DOING RESEARCH AND I'M FINDING THIS CAR HAS LOTS OF PROBLEMS. I AM ALSO HAVING PROBLEMS WITH OIL LEAKING AND OCCASIONALLY THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL APPEARS TO BE HARD TO PRESS AS IF IT'S STUCK FOR A FEW MINUTES OR IT'S REAL TIGHT. I WOULD NOT ADVISE ANYONE TO PURCHASE A MAZDA. DON'T EVEN TAKE IT IF IT'S FREE BECAUSE IT WOULD BE CHEAPER TO PURCHASE A CAR. I REALIZE MY CAR HAS 125,000 MILES BUT I HAD A NISSAN THAT I DROVE 180,000 MILES FOR BEFORE MAJOR PROBLEMS OCCURRED. I'M FILING THIS COMPLAINT IN HOPES SOMETHING CAN BE DONE BECAUSE THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM. *JB

I AM SENDING THIS E-MAIL IN REGARDS TO MY 1996 MAZDA 626 THAT HAS BEEN HAVING CONSTANT TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS. MAZDA WON'T DO JACK. I WILL NEVER BY ANOTHER AGAIN, BUT THEY SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THESE TRANSMISSIONS. PLAIN AND SIMPLE THEY ARE DEFECTIVE AND MAZDA SHOULD STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITIES. *JB

MY 1996 MAZDA 626 TRANSMISSION BURNED UP APPROXIMATELY 100 MILES INTO A ROAD TRIP TO HOUSTON. THE TRANSMISSION HAD BEEN REBUILT IN DEC 2001 AND ONLY HAD 11,000 MILES PUT ON SINCE THE REPAIR. I BROUGHT THE CAR TO A MECHANIC IN HOUSTON WHO SAID THE TRANSMISSION WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED, AT AROUND $2200. I CALLED MY DEALER IN AUSTIN AND WAS TOLD TO BRING THE CAR BACK TO THEM AND IF THE TRANSMISSION WAS FAILING WE WOULD CONTACT MAZDA AND MAYBE THEY WOULD WORK WITH ME ON THE COST. I HAD THE CAR TOWED BACK TO AUSTIN AND LEFT IT AT THE DEALER. THE NEXT MORNING THE SERVICE WRITER CALLS TO TELL ME ALL MY TRANSMISSION NEEDED WAS A "COOLER" INSTALLED AND I WOULD BE GOOD TO GO. ALTHOUGH I FELT THIS COULD NOT BE ANYTHING BUT A BAND-AID, I PAID FOR THE REPAIR AND WENT ON MY WAY. I DECIDED TO DO SOME RESEARCH AND FOUND COUNTLESS STORIES SIMILAR TO MINE ON THE INTERNET. MAZDA WAS AWARE OF THIS TRANSMISSION PROBLEM WHEN THE TRANSMISSION WAS REBUILT AND SHOULD HAVE OFFERED ME THE COOLER THEN. I DID COMPLAIN TO THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE DEALER AND HE REIMBURSED ME FOR THE COOLER. MY PURPOSE IN FILING THIS COMPLAINT IS JUST TO GET THE WORD OUT THERE ABOUT THESE CRUMMY TRANSMISSIONS. I USED TO BELIEVE MAZDAS WERE RELIABLE, SAFE CARS BUT MY CONFIDENCE HAS BEEN SHAKEN. I PLAN TO SELL THE CAR AND BUY ANOTHER KIND OF VEHICLE JUST FOR PEACE OF MIND.*JB

HAVE ATTEMPTED NUMEROUS REPAIRS OF OVER $2,000, BECAUSE MECHANICS COULD NOT IDENTIFY THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM DUE TO CAR SPEEDOMETER FREQUENTLY CHANGING INTO OVER DRIVE, AND THE CAR'S MPH NEVER REACHES 60 MPH WITH OUT GOING INTO OVER DRIVE.*JB

WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING MAKING THE VEHICLE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. THE DEALER WAS NOTIFIED. *NLM

MAZDA 1996 626 AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION HORROR STORY HERE! WHY IS THE NHTSA.DOT NOT FORCING MAZDA TO RECALL OR PAY DAMAGES TO THE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF FOLKS LIKE ME WHO ARE OUT THOUSANDS FOR REPEATED TRANSMISSION FAILURES? BOUGHT USED CAR FROM TRANSMISSION SHOP OWNER 2 YEARS AGO NOW. HE WARRANTED TRANSMISSION (CLAIMED "NEW") ONE YEAR. THIS ITSELF SHOWS TRANSMISSION WAS FAILED AND REPLACED ONCE ALREADY. BROUGHT IT IN TWICE UNDER WARRANTY, TOLD ME "HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WORK WAS DONE BECAUSE MECHANIC WAS NOT IN THAT DAY". FOR ALL I KNOW, HE DID NOTHING AND WAITED UNTIL WARRANTY LAPSED ON PURPOSE. NOW AFTER WARRANTY ON TRANSMISSION COMPLETELY FAILED. FLUID WAS BLACK SIGN OF BURNING. ONLY 2ND YEAR FROM PURCHASE NOW, EXPENSIVE PRICE. UNMATCHING FORD TRANSMISSION HAS DIFFERENT LIQUID/PRESSURE SPECS WHICH DO NOT MATCH MAZDA ENGINE SPECS. THIS IS HOW MAZDA IS SELLING IT, THE TWO PARTS DON'T WORK TOGETHER. THIS IS WHY EVEN THE "REBUILDS" AND "REPLACEMENTS" STILL FAIL 1-2 YEARS.(RIDICULOUS!!!!) THE WEBSITE WWW.CARREVIEWS.COM CONTAINS HUNDREDS OF SIMILAR HORROR STORIES ABOUT THIS TRANSMISSION ON THIS MODEL, ALL AUTOMATIC. EXPLODING TRANSMISSION FLUID ON MY WAY HOME FROM REPAIR/REPLACE, FAILING AT ONLY 100 MILES ON BRAND NEW MAZDA FOR ANOTHER NEW BUYER!!!!, 3-4-5 REPLACEMENTS PER CONSUMER IN 2-3 YEARS IS THE MOST TYPICAL COMPLAINT!!! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS THAT YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING TO PUNISH THEM< THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT IT!!!!! WHY IS THERE NO INVESTIGATION IN YOUR INVESTIGATIONS PAGE?

WHILE DRIVING THE CAR ON THE EXPRESSWAY OR ANYWHERE FOR THAT MATTER THE CAR ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND THE "OVER DRIVE OFF" LIGHT BEGINS TO BLINK AND MY OVERDRIVE TURN OFF. I USUALLY HAVE TO PULL OVER TO THE SHOULDER OR AT A RED LIGHT AND TURN THE CAR OFF AND BACK ON TO FIX IT. THIS IS VERY UNSAFE AND ANNOYING BECAUSE IT HAPPENS ALMOST EVERYDAY. I HAVE TO DO THIS DURING RUSH HOUR ON I-294 IN CHICAGO. I AM RELUCTANT TO TAKE IT TO MAZDA REPAIR BECAUSE THEY CHARGE $100 JUST TO TAKE THE CAR IN THE SHOP AND THEY TRY TO FIND LITTLE WAYS TO SLAP ON A BIGGER BILL. I HAD THEM CHANGE MY TRANSMISSION FLUID AND A WEEK LATER IT LEAKED AND THEY TOLD ME THERE WAS A HOLE IN THE TRANSMISSION. APPARENTLY IT WAS NOT THERE BEFORE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID CHANGE AND THEY DID NOT NOTICE IT DURING. SO I HAD THEM JUST REFILL IT AND I ADDED SEALANT FROM AUTO ZONE. I CHECKED MY TRANSMISSION FLUID WEEKLY AND ITS JUST FINE. ENGINE LIGHT COMES AND GOES AT WILL. THERE SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM WITH THE COMPUTER CHIP OR SOMETHING WHICH IS MAZDA'S FAULT AND I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY TO REPLACE OR FIX. EVERYTHING ON THE CAR IS STOCKED AND I MAINTAIN THE CAR BETTER THAN MAZDA SUGGESTS. I CHECK ALL FLUIDS, OIL CHANGE EVERY 2000 MILES, ETC... I KNOW THAT MANY PEOPLE (THOUSANDS OF THEM) THAT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE LIGHTS AND THE "OVER DRIVE OFF" LIGHT BLINKING. *JB

TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS WITH 1996 MAZDA 626: MAZDA HAS A VERY HIGH FAILURE RATE ON THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS IN THE MAZDA 626 VEHICLES. MY CAR IS ON THE SECOND TRANSMISSION AND PROBABLY NEEDS A THIRD. I BELEIVE THAT MAZDA SHOULD FIX THE PROBLEM WITHOUT COST TO THE OWNER. THANKS FOR LISTENING GARY