Maxda 323F

ballybranach

Anybody got any bad experiences with this car please

David09

Very nice car on the outside, a truly horrid one on the inside. (lots of low grade hard plastic)
Mechanically very reliable, but you should check for worn C.V. joints and suspension bushes.

doOh

god ... stay away ... but if you are in love go for test to your mechanic or some dealer ... engines in those cars tend to SMOKE and burn oil, suspension dies quickly oh what year lol im talking about 94-99 ;p

Satanta

I had a 98 one from 00 to 05. I couldnt really fault the car. I did have to keep an eye on the oil levels in the later years. Aside from regular servicing, I never had any trouble with the car. It's 6 years later now however, so who know's

pdmc

My dad bought a 1996 Mazda 323F 1.5 GLX in 1999. After a few years of trouble free motoring, I bought the car from my father. I had the car from November 2002 until April 2006. In that time I needed to replace tyres, brake pads, wiper blades, rear silencer and bulbs only apart from one or two mishaps. My sister now owns the car and it is still in daily use.

I replaced the timing belt in 2003 because it was due. It should've been changed at 60,000 but wasn't. So I changed it at 89,000 and my mechanic told me the only reason it hadn't snapped was because it wasn't taking the pressure at all. These cars have a timing chain within the engine so even if the timing belt does snap the engine is protected from complete destruction by the presence of the chain. Excellent, revvy, fizzy engine btw.

I failed the NCT on lights once but that was because someone had reversed into the front of my car in a car park and damaged the inside of the headlamps - even though the car showed no signs of damage outwardly. A new headlamp was almost €500 with fitting from MSL Park Motors. Pricey!

In 2005 I hit a pothole in Co. Meath that broke the passenger side rear shock absorber at the point where it was attached to the top of the wheel arch. This was a failure of a component rather than the car itself though. It turned out the problem was that a mechanic had fitted a gas filled shock absorber on the drivers side and an oil filled shock absorber on the other and this caused a problem with the balance of the suspension over bad bumps leading to the failure when an extreme bump caught it out.

The frameless windows can be problematic as the cars age because the window lift within the door can become worn and damaged and the glass goes up and down at a weird angle and/or the glass can sometimes start to stick out and not seal properly against the rubber seals. This is easily fixed by anyone handy with a screwdriver but it means removing the entire interior door (card) panel and realigning the glass.

The one final failing of these cars is the security. The door locks are dismally bad. Mine was successfully stolen once, but a second attempt was also made. It was recovered the following morning after the first theft. It needed 4 new tyres (they were cooked), a new ignition, a new stereo, a new exhaust pipe (flattened by speed bumps) a new steering column shroud and new indicator and wiper switch/stalks, the steering wheel had to be repositioned (they damaged the angle of the steering column by kicking the wheel to break the steering lock). Following this I had a mechanic fit a flick switch hidden under the dash to cut power to the ignition and a back up button on the floor that had to be pushed with your foot as you turned the key before the car would start. When the same vermin tried to steal it a second time they were unable to even hot wire it and so they failed to get away with it. But the steering column was destroyed again. If you live in an area prone to car theft I would avoid the headache and buy something else - with deadlocks in the doors (Ford, Nissan, Opel of similar age).

Overall, despite my experiences these cars are extremely well built and ultra reliable. Between mishaps the 323F was incredibly dependable. It always started first time. I was just unfortunate on a few occasions, but the car itself couldn't be blamed for those things.

One or two last things to note are: although the body is still sleek swoopy and with the right wheels still looks modern, as someone else mentions the interior has dated quite badly compared to most modern cars. The materials are extremely low rent and the dashboard does reflect very badly in the windscreen. (If you want to see where you're going DO NOT USE SON OF A GUN or similar plastic shining sprays). Also, the front seats sag and become very unsupportive and baggy with age. When this car was nearly new the seats felt a little deck-chair like, but now they are extremely poor. I believe the seats were changed for a new design around 1997 when the cars also gained driver and passenger airbags.

Pros: *Super* reliable (if you're not an unfortunate like me), economical, fast (over 3,000 rpm the engine takes one a sporty character), well built and still looks quite modern, timing chain gives peace of mind, reasonably nimble - even if the steering is a bit inert, superb paint finish on original cars if kept clean and polished regularly.

Cons: Fragile headlamp internals and poor lighting from the headlamps, sensitive 'tracking' due to the complex multilink rear suspension, uncomfortable seats on very long journeys (e.g. Dublin to Cork), speed variable power assisted steering can feel a bit weird and isn't very communicative, narrow and small tyres on the standard fit 15 inch wheels looked weedy, shiny cheap looking dashboard, engine - wind and road noise are a bit intrusive at speed, reflections in the windscreen, frameless windows can be troublesome (& you could lose an eye on those too), some people (my mum) find this a difficult car to park doe to the shape, the body panels can dent easily (thanks mum).

bazz26

Which model is the OP talking about, there were 3 generations of 323f?

1989 - 1994:


1994 to 1998:


1998 to 2003:


The 1994 to 1998 model is the pick of the bunch but the newest ones are now 13 years old so well minded ones are rare.