Gear downshifted from 60 mph to 5 mph while driving. The O/D light started blinking with huge vibration. A similar incident happened on 2002 Feb.

- Schenectady, NY, USA

Less than a year ago, I purchased a 1995 Mazda 626 LX from a friend. My friend had informed me that the car had a new transmission, etc.. so I decided to purchase the car since it did not seem that much else could go wrong with it besides maintenance. Shortly after I bought the car, the O/D off light began to flash. Nothing seemed to be wrong with the car, though so I continued to drive it. My friend said that he had taken it back to the place that had repaired the transmission and they could find no reason why that light occassionaly came on. The last time the light came on, the car began to shift repeatedly from 3rd to 4th gear and would remain in neither gear. It has now been a month and I am still trying to figure out what is wrong with the car. Everyone I have consulted has either refused to work on that car or have run me around to the point that I now have a long list of possible problems but no clear answers. I began to research on my own recently over the internet and found that I am not the only one that has had problems with the transmission of this year and make of car. It was suggested that I issue a complaint and so here I am. The transmission is less than two years old and yet, something has gone wrong again. Of course, there is no longer a warranty on it and I find it rather odd that so many mechanics, even the dealtership itself, does not want to help out with the repairs to this transmission.

- Troy, MI, USA

Transmission on 1995 Mazda 626 acting very strange. Overdrive light was flashing and car shifted very rapidly and hard jarring the whole car. I replaced transmission twice having the same result after short periods of time.

- Portland, OR, USA

Doing research on this type of vehicle I found an enormous number of other people with this type of vehicle transmission failures. And the car manufacturer needs to recall these vehicles and repair at no cost to the owners of this problem. ****dims 11 IVOQ entry posted after 12/12/02 cut-over to artemis****761121.

- Lacy Lakeview, TX, USA

1995 Mazda 626 LX around 35 days after I bought this car I knew I was in trouble, after two hours of driving my brother and I were on the side of the road with a smoking car. We ended up having to put in two containers of transmission fluid every 30 minutes. The cars behind us had transmission fluid all over their windshields. I had this car for around a year and a half and have already had the transmission fixed once, and now it's due for another fix. I think this is horrible with the amount of complaints on this particular vehicle and transmission. There needs to be something done about this.

- El Dorado, KS, USA

I owned a 1995 Mazda 626 that had repeated transmission problems. Started at 70,000 miles. Mazda has been informed but has done nothing.

- Chicago, IL, USA

While driving at high speeds and without warning, the vehicle switched to a lower gear. The dealer was notified. The transmission had been changed twice before by the previous owners per mechanic.

- Oakland, CA, USA

I own a 1995 Mazda 626. I recently bought it used off of one private owner at around 57K miles. At around 62,700K miles the O/D light started flashing and apparent problems could be seen in the shifting. I took the car to Mazda and they told me I needed to replace the transmission. I then went to aamco and they said they would rebuild it for a more reasonable price than Mazda had offered. It has been 8 months since I got the transmission rebuilt and last night the car started smoking from the transmission and transmission fluid was leaking everywhere. The car today wont even stay into one gear it constantly shifts into neutral. My complaint is that the transmission part on Mazda from not only 1995 but from 1994 to 1997 should all be recalled. I have been on a site (www.cartrackers.com/forums/live/your lemon/189.html) where there are so many cases of the similar type. For example, calbearone writes: "purchased a used 97 Mazda 626 LX 4-cyl auto trans with 37K on it. I just hit 59K on it this month. Guess what. Transmission failed. Got it replaced at a cost of $2300. These aren't isolated incidents. I have yet to read about a 626 owner that's had no problems with their transmission." There are at least 150 complaints of the same problem on that site alone! Mazda continues to ignore the continual press by the consumer for a recall by making a ridiculous statement that there are not enough complaints! something has to be done about this I, myself fear that I am about to be on my 3rd transmission. Please investigate into a recall on this part. The part for the transmission is cd4E. Thank you. Tim R.

- Cary, NC, USA

The automatic transmission in my 1995 Mazda 626 went out.

- Helena, MT, USA

1995 Mazda 626 LX 2.0 liter - premature transmission failure. Entire transmission needs to be re-built at a cost of $2300. Many, many people have this same problem.

- Cranston, RI, USA

Automatic transmission failure in the 1995 Mazda 626.

- Huntington, AR, USA

Overdrive light started to flash at around 70K miles, then stopped. Then started and stopped for the next 20K miles after which my transmission is leaking oil and my mechanic told me the overdrive is burnt. I looked on the web and found out that the Mazda 626 '95 transmission is poorly designed because it does not properly cool the transmission oil.

- Fair Lawn, NJ, USA

The transmission failed.

- Rahway, NJ, USA

Transmission failed, and it looks as though this is a big problem with this year/make of vehicle.

- Chicago, IL, USA

The planetary gear has shredded and caused copper shavings to go into the casing and strip the transmission gears. Totally undrivable.

- Clarksville, TN, USA

The O/D on light keeps blinking. The car changes out very hard. I am afraid to drive it.

- Ripley, MS, USA

Numerous problems with 1995 Mazda 626, have problems with the transmission, valves knocking, will not stay in alignment, fan belt breakage. The last problem was the automatic transmission problem, the O/D light is flashing and seems not to want to shift.

- Easley, SC, USA

While driving down the interstate, the transmission began to jerk and the cars RPM's would shoot up without the car accelerating. I had to slow the car to 20 mph to be able to safely get it off the interstate but the car still jerked violently.

- Longwood, FL, USA

Transmission failed at 83000 miles on 95 maxda 626. Internal problems.

- St. Louis, MO, USA

Transmission just went out on my daughter two hundred miles from home. Wife is disabled and our medical bills are high. What do I do. The car was a Mazda 626 1995. We already had transmission replaced once and now it needs another one.

- Stonewall, MS, USA