But Mazda make thousands of cars with diesel engines and just like every other manufacturer a very small number go wrong I bet the percentage is no different to that of VW or DB.

I'm a bit surprised at the concerns expressed about the reliability of Mazda diesel engines,I have worked in the truck service industry for nearly fifty years and appreciate problems can occurr with any engine. My son in law has owned 3 Mazda 6 diesels doing about 30000 miles a year without any problems whatsoever, I own a Mazda 6 2.0 petrol which is a fantastic car and returns up to 45 mpg on a run,I have also owned an MX5 for the last 8 years and this has been completely reliable. Servicing and good quality oil is a must with modern engines, this may be the reason we have had few if any problems.

I could be wrong about this, but weren't the problems with "Mazda" diesels actually those sourced from a Ford-PSA joint ventue whilst Mazda was (mostly at least) owned by Ford. Not sure now about their current crop of diesel engines (especially the 1.6 - 2.0 ltr ones, likely to be newer variants of the original "bad" ones) though.

Glad I chose a 1.6 petrol for my Mazda3 instead of a diesel (I was tempted at the time) back in 2006 - many horror stories which will make Mazda's reputation for reliable cars suffer.