Mazda 626 - Used Car Reviews

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Home \ Used Car Reviews \ Mazda \ 626

Mazda 626 Used Car Review

Mazda 626 Turbo Photo The Mazda 626 has been many cars to many people. Mild mannered family sedan. Sporty town runabout. Generic getaway vehicle. Plain daily driver. And at times, tire-shredding rice rocket.

While the Mazda 626 in later years evolved into a very comfortable daily driver, the Mark 3 or third generation Mazda 626 was something altogether different.

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The early Mazda 626 could handle and accelerate with the best of the sporty cars on the road thanks to a peppy turbo charged 145hp 2.2 litre engine and (in Europe) a normally aspirated 2.0 litre engine that spat out 148hp. The 1986 Mark 2 (second generation) 626 also had a turbo on tap, but this was a more mild mannered 120hp 2.0 litre bolted into a far more dated chassis.

The Mark 3 Mazda 626 was also one of the first cars to experiment with four wheel steering, but fortunately Mazda had the sense to drop this after only one year. While certainly fun to drive and easy to park, the electronic four wheel steering used on the 626 was expensive to repair and needlessly complex.

If you’re looking for a used car that offers all the benefits of Mazda quality, the lower price of a used car, but also has some get-up-and-go, you could do worse than a Mark 3 (1988-1992) Mazda 626. The turbo versions are a little harder to find but are generally widely available, and prices are very reasonable even on lower mileage examples.

The Mazda 626 Mk3 wasn't a fancy car, but it was a solid performer that held up very well thanks to Mazda's knack for designing and assembling key components that outlast most drivers. Many drivers found the early turbo-charged Mazda 626 accelerates a little too abruptly when the turbo spools up, something Mazda rectified on later 626 turbos.

While the newer (1993-1997) Mazda 626 Mk4 was a giant leap forward in many ways, and came with the much loved 2.5 litre Mazda V6 engine, it was also burdened with Ford's failure-prone CD4E automatic transmission. For this reason, the newer Mazda 626 with the automatic transmission is best avoided.

While not a famed import tuning platform or a legendary out of the box street rocket, the Mark 3 Mazda 626 is something every used car should be: underrated.

Not widely regarded as being particularly quick, turbo charged Mark 3 Mazda 626's have surprised many drivers of far newer and more expensive cars. That a good used Mazda 626 turbo costs thousands less just makes the acceleration feel that much better.

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