The petrol engined Mazdas are extremely reliable, but the diesel engines are sourced from Ford, which accounts for the reliability problems with the last model 6.

I am not wholly sure if the latest model is still powered by Ford`s diesel or whether Mazda have developed their own engines. Perhaps someone could confirm either way.

You're not the only one.

The undertray is indeed the hardest bit. I bought a vacuum oil extractor for about 30 quid and was very impressed. It worked a treat on my Audi A4 after I couldn't get the sump nut undone. Some people say you can't get all the oil out, so when it stopped sucking I chucked in a pint or 2 of some other spare oil I had lying around and then sucked that out, thus diluting any residue. However it will not work on some engines because the dipstick passage is too narrow. Also, check that you can get to the filter from above if you intend to use an extractor, otherwise you will need to remove the tray anyway.

no you are not missing anything, fairly straight forward, just make sure that you have the correct waterpump as if my memory serves me right there are three variations of pump, take your time, be methodical, take pictures if you have to so you can refer back to them if ness, loosen pulley bolts before removing the belt and tighten the pully bolts when the belt is on

I'd certainly recommend a 306 1.9TD. Plenty around now for less than £1000 and provided they have service history, indicating that the oil, coolant and cambelt have all been changed at the recommended intervals then you shouldn't go too far wrong. A word of warning though- avoid Phase 2 306TD's with a DHY coded engine registered between April 1997 and April 1998, a number of which which were supposedly fitted with the 'wrong' conrods and resulted in a spate of wrecked engines.

Performance and economy wise, the non-turbo 1.9D gives only slightly better economy than the TD, but performance is rather leisurely with long hill climbs and overtaking a bit of a challenge. The TD gives similar performance to the 1.6 petrol and as such is much nicer to drive whilst still averaging 40-45mpg. It is true to say however that the fuel economy on the TD does suffer if booted around town or if driven on the motorway at over 80mph. Stick to 70-75 and 45-47mpg is achievable. I normally get between around 550 miles from a full tank doing mainly long, steady runs

In summary, you could do a lot worse than a 306 1.9TD. Mine is still going strong at nearly 14 years old and 221k on the clock and pretty much flew through the last MOT with only a tyre requiring replacement.

Martin