2001 Mazda 626

DT: THE CONTACT'S CHILD WAS TRAPPED IN THE LEFT REAR SEAT BELT. THE BUCKLE ASSEMBLY UNLATCHED AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS. HOWEVER, THE STRAP TIGHTENED AROUND THE CHILD, LIMITING MOVEMENT AND RESULTING IN AN INJURY. IN AN EFFORT TO FREE THE CHILD THE STRAP WAS CUT BY THE CONTACT. THE DEALER HAS BEEN CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROBLEM, BUT NO REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE. *AK UPDATED 01/11/06. *JB

DT: THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN TWO REAR END COLLISIONS . UPON IMPACT, THE AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. THE SPEED OF THE FIRST COLLISION WAS NOT AVAILABLE, BUT IT WAS AT A LOW SPEED. THE SECOND COLLISION OCCURRED AT 30 MPH. BOTH TIMES THE CONTACT SUSTAINED INJURIES. THERE WAS DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE. A POLICE REPORT WAS TAKEN. THERE HAS BEEN NO INSPECTION OR REPAIRS MADE TO THE AIRBAGS. *AK

DRIVING ON INTERSTATE 95 SOUTH FROM RICHMOND, VA. AT APPROX. 70 MPH WHEN AUTO TRANSMISSION JUMPED OUT OF GEAR, CAUSING SUDDEN DECELERATION. WAS ABLE TO EXIT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY BY PULLING TO MY RIGHT AND DRIVING SLOWLY UNTIL EXIT RAMP WAS REACHED. CAR WAS ABLE TO LIMP HOME TO RALEIGH, NC BY TAKING SECONDARY ROADS AND NOT TOTALLY STOPPING FOR STOP SIGNS AS TRANSMISSION DID NOT WANT TO PULL CAR AWAY FROM A TOTAL STOP. THIS CAR ONLY HAS 73K MILES ON IT AND IT NOT DRIVEN HARSHLY NOR HAS IT EVER PULLED A TRAILER. TRANSMISSION NEEDS TO BE REPLACED ACCORDING TO MECHANICS. THEY ALSO SAY THIS MODEL TRANSMISSION HAS BAD REPUTATION WITHIN THE REPAIR INDUSTRY. APPEARS THAT I WILL NEED TO PURCHASE A "REBUILT" TRANSMISSION AND HAVE IT INSTALLED. *NM

DUE TO A LOW QUALITY OF MY VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION, IT STOPPED ON THE ROAD WHILE I WAS DRIVING. TO ILLUSTRATE, TWO DAYS AFTER PURCHASING A USED 2001 MAZDA 626, I NOTICED THE TRANSMISSION'S WEAKNESS [NO POWER, SLUGGISH AND UNRESPONSIVE]. TO CLAIM, IMMEDIATELY I CALLED TO THE MAZDA-DEALERSHIP SALES DEPARTMENT AND EXPLAIN THE ISSUES AND I REQUESTED A REPAIR OR SERVICE. AFTER A SHORT CONVERSATION WITH THE SALES DEPARTMENT FOR RETURNING THE CAR, MR. DAVE WILSON AGREED TO FIX THE PROBLEMS, SO HE TRANSFERRED MY CALL TO THE DEALERSHIPS SERVICE CENTER MANAGER, MR. STEVE POLLARD. BASED ON MY PHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE MANAGER, I WENT TO THE CENTER TO GET THE PROBLEMS FIXED. HOWEVER, MR. STEVE POLLARD BY REJECTING MY REQUEST FOR A TRANSMISSION-REPLACEMENT, AFTER A MINOR CHECK, HE FIXED THE AUDIO-SET AND THE STEERING WHEEL NOISE ONLY. AFTER PICKING UP THE CAR, I FOUND THE SAME WEAK TRANSMISSION PROBLEM. I CALLED BACK TO THE SERVICE CENTER, AND REMINDED THE PROBLEM BUT THE MANAGER GAVE THE SAME REPLY AS BEFORE (THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE TRANSMISSION). THEN HE ASKED: DO YOU HAVE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY? YES, I SAID. THEN HE ADDED: DON'T WORRY AND ADVISED ME TO USE IT FOR ANY FUTURE MAJOR PROBLEMS! AS A RESULT, I STARTED TO USE AND DRIVE THE POWERLESS CAR WITH ITS WEAK TRANSMISSION, NOT ONLY CAREFULLY AND STRESSFULLY FOR 2 YEARS, BUT ALSO FULL OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION, UNTIL IT STOPPED ON THE ROAD COMPLETELY. UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER TOWING THE CAR TO THE CENTER FOR THE SAME ISSUE, TRANSMISSION REPAIR/REPLACEMENT, LATER, I WAS REMINDED THAT THE CAR IS NOT UNDER WARRANTY ANY MORE, AND I MUST PAY A TOTAL COST OF $3148.46 FROM MY POCKET!!

MY NAME IS [XXX]. I HAVE A 2001 MAZDA 626 LX. 4 CYL. WITH ONLY 97,000 MILES ON IT THE TRANSMISSION HAS GONE BAD. WHEN I PUT MY CAR INTO DRIVE GEAR THE CAR WOULD NOT MOVE ONLY THE RPMS WOULD REV UP. THE CAR DRIVES IN 1ST AND 2ND GEAR AND REVERSE BUT NOT IN DRIVE. AFTER TAKING TO THE TRANSMISSION SHOP IT IS COSTING ME $2000 TO HAVE THE TRANSMISSION REBUILT. THIS IS RIDICULOUS THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE FILED A COMPLIANT AGAINST THIS CAR FOR TRANSMISSION PROBLEM AND THE CAR MANUFACTURER IS NOT DOING ANYTHING FOR THEIR CONSUMERS. WHY DON'T THEY HAVE A RECALL FOR THIS CAR?? DOESN'T MAZDA WANT TO SELL MORE CARS IN THE FUTURE? I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MAZDA AND WILL DISCOURAGE ANYONE I KNOW FROM BUYING IT. IS THIS TRANSMISSION EVEN WORTH REBUILDING? I AM SCARED THAT THIS ISSUE WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. IS MAZDA EVEN REIMBURSING ANY COST FOR THIS REPAIR? DOES ANYONE KNOW? *NM INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

DT: THE CONTACT STATES HE EXPERIENCED A DOWN SHIFTING OF THE TRANSMISSION WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. THE TRANSMISSION RAPIDLY DOWN SHIFTED TO A VERY LOW SPEED IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. THIS WAS THE FIRST INCIDENT OF THIS TYPE HOWEVER HE PREVIOUSLY DISCOVERED THERE WAS SOME LEAKAGE OF TRANSMISSION FLUID. HE HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO HIS HOME. NO REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE AT THIS TIME DUE TO THE EXPENSE. *JB

I HAVE A 2001 MAZDA 626 THAT HAD A TRANSMISSION FAILURE AT LESS THAN 60K MILES. MY PROBLEMS BEGAN WHEN I STARTED NOTICING A JERKING MOTION WHEN I ACCELERATED OUT OF A FULL STOP. THEN, THE TRANSMISSION WOULD SOMETIMES DELAY ENGAGING IN REVERSE OR DRIVE. I HAD MULTIPLE MECHANICS LOOK AT THE CAR, ALL OF WHOM RECOMMENDED A REPLACEMENT TRANSMISSION. I SPOKE WITH EVEN MORE MECHANICS ABOUT THE SITUATION, INCLUDING THREE AT MAZDA DEALERSHIPS, AND ALL FULLY AND OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGED WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS WITH MAZDA TRANSMISSIONS. ONE SERVICE MANAGER AT A MAZDA DEALERSHIP RECOMMENDED I GET RID OF THE CAR ALTOGETHER. ANOTHER INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, A TRANSMISSION SPECIALIST, REFUSED TO WORK ON MAZDAS AT ALL. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, MAZDA IS ALSO CHARGING EXORBITANT PRICES FOR REPLACEMENT TRANSMISSIONS (PERHAPS BECAUSE THEY'RE IN SUCH DEMAND?): JUST UNDER $3000 FOR THE PART ITSELF, NOT TO MENTION LABOR. I PAID OVER $3700 FOR THE TRANSMISSION TO BE REPLACED AT A MAZDA DEALERSHIP. EVEN THEN, I HAD TO RETURN THE CAR TWICE TO THE MECHANIC BECAUSE THE TRANSMISSION WASN'T ENGAGING PROPERLY WHEN I SHIFTED GEARS FROM PARK TO DRIVE, FOR EXAMPLE. FINALLY, THE DEALERSHIP DETERMINED THAT THE TRANSMISSION RANGE SENSOR ON MY BRAND-NEW TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I STRONGLY URGE NHTSA TO TAKE ACTION TO BEGIN A RECALL OF MAZDA TRANSMISSIONS. ON THIS SITE, THE 2001 MAZDA 626 HAS 10 TIMES THE TRANSMISSION COMPLAINTS THAN 2001 HONDA AND NEARLY 12 TIMES MORE THAN THE 2001 CAMRY. *NM

I WAS ALONE IN THE CAR WITH MY 9 YR OLD AUTISTIC SON WHEN THE TRANSMISSION FAILED ON MY 2001 MAZDA 626. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET OFF THE ROAD WITH OUT BEING REAR ENDED HOWEVER WE WERE FORCED TO PULL OVER IN A VERY DANGEROUS PART OF AUSTIN. I AM BEING TOLD THAT MY TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED AND NEEDS TO BE REBUILT OR REPLACED. I AM LEARNING THAT THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM WITH ALL MAZDA 626 MODELS 94-2002. APPARENTLY THE TRANSMISSION IS A FORD AND TOO SMALL TO SUPPORT THE 626 MODEL THEREFORE THE COOLING SYSTEM IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO COOL THE TRANSMISSION HENCE THE SYSTEM OVERHEATS. HOW MANY COMPLAINTS HAVE TO BE FILED FOR MAZDA TO BE FORCED TO RECALL THIS VEHICLE. MY RESEARCH IS DISCOVERING THAT TONS OF ACCIDENTS HAVE HAPPENED BECAUSE OF THIS DEFECT AND NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO HOLD MAZDA ACCOUNTABLE. *NM