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As you probably can take it from my username, I'm a big fan of Mazda cars. Now I'm planning to buy a diesel one which I've never done before (not Mazda or Japanese diesel). I don't know much about their diesels but I've read reviews on parkers but it doesn't tell a lot about diesels either. So I would like to know how do you rate Mazda's diesel cars? I've checked on autotrader and I can pick up a 323 TD on T/V plate for around £2k with just over 100k miles on it. All your comments and suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks
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Hi
We've got one of these.
I bought it at auction a couple of years ago. 100k on the clock, W(2000) for £2500.
Great car, interior isn't the nicest but its spacious enough and looks ok, diesel is a bt unrefined and noisy, but economical. My wife likes it.
Get the cambelt changed if required, otherwise no problems to report.
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Thanks Jonathan. I've had a V plate 1.5 petrol 323 before. An idiot hit it hard on the motorway from the back so it was a right off. I really liked it and so did my wife so we're looking at another one with a budget of £2k. I need a diesel as I'll be doing 80 miles round trip on motorway for work. What sorts of MPG are you getting from it? I guess it'll be almost impossible to find parts for it except Mazda dealers? What in particular I would look for when I go to view the ones I like?
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I'd check the basics, like do the electrics work, mirrors, windows central locking, aircon etc.
What is the service history like.
mechanically these seem solid cars and as long as they are serviced fairly regularly certainly we haven't had any problems with it.
Get a tame mechanic to come with you to check it out.
we're getting around 50mpg on mixed runs, so a tank goes about 500 miles
the engine is noisy when cold, but always starts. needs some revs to get the turbo spooling at first too. If booted it does smoke a little (brown smoke not blue). When cresting the boost, it is a fairly quick car.
The previous owner must have either liked big rings or had sandpaper palms, as the gear knob is knackered, as is a part of the steering wheel which can be twisted. Minor points as far as I'm concerned, I could replace these for a few quid.
In the interior of ours, the door cards are not the best fit, there are finger sized gaps betwen the dashboard and b pillar, but i've checked the car out and no sign of accident damage, so may be just badly fitting. Certainly no mention of this at MOT time.
I personally find the drivers seat a little small, but for my wife its perfect.
My wife regulary drives from cheshire up to edinburgh in it with no problems.
Parts can either be sourced from breakers or mazda, although I've not needed anything from mazda except oil filters on this car. - oh sorry, forgot, had a broken wing mirror, sourced from a scrappy for £20.
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Hi
I've owned a 2002 Mazda 323 TD GXI (1998cc) since new and it has clocked up 64,000 trouble-free miles. Seems to be quite a rare model. Still got original exhaust and all orgiinal light bulbs! Agree with everything said so far - the 'sports' suspension makes it rather a rough ride (compared to my 11 year-old Astra)and the seats are thin and uncomfortable but lots of rear seat room at the expense of a shallow boot. Bit too much road and engine noise for my liking and the interior is a bit plasticky but the car is quick when floored. Have never come to terms with the steering which drags to the near side and is distracting - heavy diesel engine causes greater trye wear than I would have expected. Biggest disappointment though is servicing costs through main dealer, because it's a diesel; £100 for first service at 9k, then £200 for second at 18k almost entirely labour charges. The sting in the tail was a whacking £600 for 54k main service including cam belt change. Even the guy at the (Ford) service desk (they had just acquired Mazda franchise) was surprised when the computer spat out the quote. Oddly, the Mazda 6 diesel is actually cheaper to service according to servicing menu in local Mazda dealer. Fairly economical on fuel although my sister's Golf TDi is definitely much cheaper to run. Otherwise, a good buy at just £10.5k OTR (c£2k off for cash sale) from a franchised Mazda dealer.
That said, I will certainly revert to petrol again especially having read some of the posts on HJ about expensive clutch replacement costs on some modern diesels.
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HI All
I have an Almera and my wife a 323, both diesel. The 323 is superb, by far and away better than the Nissan. Wiuld throughly recommend the 323 diesel, the only issue I have is that I find the seats very uncomfortable on long journeys, as mine is the LX model I would wager that the Glx or sports version would have much better seats. However the car is very quick and responsive, great car, enjoy.
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Guys thanks for all the priceless info so far. I'm going to see one tomorrow. I've had a petrol Mazda 323 before. Me and my wife we both really liked it so we're planning to buy another but this time a diesel as I'll be commuting 80 miles round trip a day. I just want to know does the LXi model have computer trip fitted in it, I mean does it show MPG and other useful info because on the 323 manual it mentioned that info so there must be some cars which have got this fitted in them.
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The GXI doesn't have a trip computer so the LXI won't have one
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Our LXi doesn't have the trip (ie mpg etc) computer, just the normal trip
I'd be very interested if anyone else who owns one at this age (2000) could tell me what the remote fob id is, similarly whether the front door cards fit well or not
Thanks
Jonathan
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