Mazda 323 (1998-2002)

It is a great little car, it requires no maintenance other than normal stuff such as tyres, brake pads etc. I liked that it was zippy, responsive, with power when you need it. I bought the car in its early life about 88k and sold it at 220k due to an accident. Never replaced the timing belt, I wasn't going to do it at all. Never. Ever. Had. Any. Issues. Whatsoever. There are two things I disliked: the NVH levels were too high (Mazda, c'mon, you can do heaps better than that) and the high revs: 3k at 100km/h. Too much. It definitely needed a sixth gear back then. Low fuel consumption, reliable Japanese engineering, great little car overall.

Had it for 3 years put 75k on it bush bashed it raced it crashed it and fixed it
This car is unkillable it has to be one of the best little cars on the market for the price you pay
Wouldn't get anything else crap fifty words is hard to make up

bought my car second hand has lasted me a long time. although, i did recently have a head gasket problem, however it was an easy fix due to a good family mechanic and well manufactured motor. this car runs so smooth and will last you years. has done well over 260 000 kms and i have never regretted it. good on fuel, and can be a pocket rocket if you want it to be

It is a great car, can't fault it with anything. I changed nothing on it, never let me down. Fuel economy is OK, but it could be done heaps better. Noisy, very noisy, and high revs. Mazda should improve on NVH and fuel economy. A sixth gear would have been a must back then. I strongly recommend Mazda to copy some top European cars past models.

Bought my car in 2002, brand new and she’s still going strong. Little bit heavy on the juice, but still in really good Condition. Services don’t cost anything like the new models. Electrics still work fine, only had to replace the CD unit. Will consider only upgrading next year for safety reasons.

This car is an excellent cheap run around. I've neever had any mechanical issues with it. The stereo was really hard to get out however when I replaced it. Its super cheap to run. I'm not sure if its a common issue but mu bonnet wouldn't close properly unfortunately. Get one.

Great little car!
Amazing economy.
Performance- Build quality - quite luxurious for a 1.6 sedan. Ride comfort is really good. Appearance - solid, nice, great, eye-candy.

Great little commuter or for long travels, hasn't missed a beat the whole to me owning her.

Due for a service now, but still running strong!

Pros: Looks
Cons: Noise

The driving experience of this car is great it's not noisey and feels quiet smooth to drive, it's spacious and comfortable for long drives. It's cheap to run and fix it hasn't let me down so far and as mine is manual and I'm learning to drive manual I find it an easy car to learn to drive manual in

The car is reliable, I have a 2003 model, it's the 1.8 litre it's ok on fuel I get like 400kms to a tank, that's all city driving though, get much better mileage on the highway. It had 88,000kms when I bought it, now it's got 140,000kms. Nothing's gone wrong with it, costs me about $170 every 10,000kms to get it checked over and change filters flush engine etc. I would get Mazda again for sure

I bought 2001 model for $2400 with 170000 kms on it nd now it is 208000 kms. After a year i spent $500 on rear shockers and timing belt and now it is running great. With 17 inch tyres and exhaust it is still Very fuel efficient and easy to maintain. i am going to sell it now but i dont want to sell it.

Only purchased this car in 2016 and had less then 86,000 very reliable good value for money I only spent $4,000 from privet seller only bad problem I had with it was the transmission would make a weird sound but got that fixed and still runs till this day and doesn't cost to much to service

I bought my 2001 Protogue last year with 40 thousand on the odo which was a bargain.
Overall, it's a fantastic little car which fills up on $40 but the only issue was no AUX port, I know 2001 is a few years ago but that long ago?

Cheap to run, easy to park. Only thing that broke in 124000 km was a light bulb. Last service I got timing belt replaced (original one still looked perfect), brakes done (original pads, yes, original pads were finally near the end of their life!). At 124500km I had to replace the clutch. I had a VT Commodore for four years also and it cost three times as much to maintain as my 1.8L Astina did for 10 years plus. I will not be selling it anytime soon. It's still a great little car.
Room for tall people both front and back, reliability, economy and versatility

I bought mine brand new and never had a problem in 9 years. It was the last 323 before they brought out the Mazda 3. It was silver with standard alloy wheels and looked like a much more expensive car than it was.

Interior was classy, comfortable and roomy, and the rear seats fold flat. Performance very good for a small car, very easy to drive and park. Very fuel efficient. Serviced regularly and never had any problems.
Very reliable, comfortable, fuel efficient
No ABS