Well after 4 repairs the transmission is gone. 3 weeks ago the O/D Off light started coming and transmission began to have shifting problems again. I took it to Mr Transmission. It is 4 months after warranty expired and they won't fix without me paying for it. It will cost to much to fix. Car is history. I had it towed to the junk yard.
Continued to have problems with Transmission. Loud whirring noise and vibration. I took it to a Mazda dealership and they said the engine/transmission mount was bent. I bought the mounts and took it back to Mr Transmission and they fixed it -kinda.
One day the car didn't go in reverse, I turned shut off the engine, start up again after a while, worked fine. A few weeks later I was driving to a town about 80 miles away, it started jerking in the middle of the highway, but it was fine. After the weekend when I was coming back, the car literally stopped in the middle of the highway. BAD Transmission, cost $2500 to fix from AAMCO, who said the transmission has lifetime warranty. AAMCO called back after a year to ask me if I'd like to renew the warranty, I said I thought I had a lifetime warranty, they said "Oh, let me check and call you back", no call back. Anyway, I had the car SOLD by then. Once the transmission is gone that's it, the car was a lemon to begin with, you should sell it right after getting it fixed. I don't trust those warranties, because they always find a way to charge you more when you go back the next time.
OMG I HAVE HAD THE MOST PROBLEMS WITH MY 626...CURRENTLY MY TRANSMISSION IS THE PROBLEM, IT IS IN THE SHOP NOW DUE TO AFTER NUMEROUS PROBLEMS OF IT SHIFTING REALLY HARD AND THE RPM'S NOT CORRESPONDING TO MY MPH'S...AFTER A WHILE OF THIS (TRANSMISSION SLIPPING @ LEAST WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS) EVENTUALLY MY CAR JUST STOPPED MOVING WHILE I WAS DRIVING!!! DIDN'T REVERSE EITHER... SO NOW IM WAITING TO SEE IF ITS REALLY WORTH ME INVESTING ABOUT 1800.00 TO GET MY TRANSMISSION FIXED OR JUST GET ANOTHER CAR.... MY FRIEND HAS THE SAME MAKE N MODEL AND HAS HAD HIS TRANSMISSION REPLACED TWICE...I WONT BE DOING THAT...OTHER PROBLEMS THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE 2YEARS IVE HAD MY CAR ARE REPLACING THE CATALYTIC CONVERTERS (EXPENSIVE) THE 02 SENSOR (THIS MODEL ALSO HAS A PROBLEM WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CONSTANTLY COMING ON WHEN NO PROBLEM IS PRESENT!! ANNOYING), AND THE MANIFOLD GASKETS REPLACED...TOO MUCH, I KNOW! SO NOW I AM WITHOUT A CAR AND NOT SURE IF IMA GET IT FIXED OR START LOOKING FOR ANOTHER RIDE! IM SOOOO OVER THE MAZDA 626...IMA MISS MY CAR THO :(
Every transmission mechanic stated that these were some of the worst transmissions produced. Ended up getting it replaced because the rest of the car is immaculate. It has been babied and still runs to this day. It doesn't get a lot of miles on it though...
- Brian P.,
Locust, FL, US
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I am on my THIRD transmission in my 1998 626. The first failure occurred at 90K, the second at 143K. My driving is a mix of highway and city, so I have my transmission (and all engine, etc) maintained on schedule. I can't get rid of this car as I have so much invested. I don't know where you all found a repair cost of $2000.00. The lowest I found was $2300.00 at a local transmission shop. The Mazda dealer quoted $3400.00.
Believe me, it is better to pay the extra 6 - 10 grand and but the Toyota or Honda.
My cars transmission failed while on the highway. I looked this up on the internet and found plenty of people with the same problem with Mazda 626 transmissions. There was even a litigation or some sort of call for legal action against Mazda. Anyways. I've read that the problem was due to over heating of the transmission and and external cooling kit should solve the problem. I ended up paying around $2250 including towing charges. I still loved the car, I just wish they had made a better transmission.
The transmission went out on my 1998 626 at 100,000 miles. I had regularly had the transmission fluid changed. However, based on a review of some other websites, this appears to be a problem with the 626's. The probable reason my transmission failed after 100,000 miles and not much earlier as the others have is that my driving is all freeway and I am not hard on the car. Nevertheless, it was a real pain in the behind.
The original transmission repair shop to whom I took the car to (the transmission man in Valencia, Santa Clarita, CA) originally told me that it would take about $600 to take the transmission out of the car and inspect it but that this charge would be included in the total estimated repair costs of $1,600 - $ 2,400 which seemed reasonable.
However, after he took the transmission out, he gave me an estimate of $3,850 and if I did not accept, I would still have to pay the $600 (and this guy was recommended by the AAA believe it or not).
I did some research that I should have done before and found out that two Mazda dealerships would have installed a factory refurbished transmission for $2,350 and they would sell this refurbished transmission (uninstalled) for $1,950. I also found another repairshop in Los Angeles who would do the job for $1,200.
The "transmission man" finally lowered his price to $3,000 (still a rip-off) but at that time I had no trust in him at all. I had AAA tow it (thank god for + membership and 100 free miles) to the new dealership and settled with the original guy for $400 which was still too much but I did sign a tear down estimate so my case was not strong.
the other guy ended up charging me $1,900 since some of the parts were missing from the original guy. I also paid $490 in car rental costs for the three weeks of this ordeal.
Sorry for this long narrative, but it shows how there are plenty of people out there who will try to take advantage while there are also many people out there who charge a fair price for their work.
By the way, the new transmission shop while they did a good job on the transmission rebuilt, they forgot to put the nuts on the tie rods. My local mechanic and his crew commented in amazement that had I gone over any bumps hard enough, both wheels would have fallen off and that they have never seen anything like this before.
Since I had driven the car in this condition for the weekend with my girlfriend's 5 little grandkids in the car on the freeway my initial anger at this whole situation was immediately replaced with a thankfullness that the wheels stayed on because the car could have flipped and I can't even think about what could have happened tio the kids.
For any new readers in this position, make sure that when you replace the transmission, the shop installs an outside transmission fluid cooling radiator which will cost about $100-$150. The factory one was plugged up and might not have been adequate.
Other than this experience, it has been a trouble free car for four years. I'm pretty sure that Mazde will probably not give me any financial consideration since the car did have 100,000 miles on it.
My next car will not be a Mazda but rather a Toyota, Honda or other proven reliable car. But, you live and learn, right? Good luck to all.
at 53,000 miles, the transmission went out on my mazda 626 lx. when old transmission removed, mechanic informed me that it had already been replaced. this had to have been done prior to the 23,000 miles that were on the car when i bought it. seems like a lemon to me.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Well after 4 repairs the transmission is gone. 3 weeks ago the O/D Off light started coming and transmission began to have shifting problems again. I took it to Mr Transmission. It is 4 months after warranty expired and they won't fix without me paying for it. It will cost to much to fix. Car is history. I had it towed to the junk yard.
- Paul E., E, K, US