I would like to make a complaint about my 1998 Mazda 626. The automatic transmission is a peace of crap. The car is a 98 model with 132,000 miles and has had the transmission rebuilt or replaced 2 times. This is not normal.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

The first transmission failure was in July 2003. It was repaired by aamco transmissions. The transmission failed again in October 2003. Repaired again by aamco. It failed again in April 2004. Repaired again by aamco. Now the transmission has failed again in September 2004. This is 4 times within 1 year and 2 months. This is utterly ridiculous. It is obvious something is wrong with the Mazda 626 automatic transmission being that there are many complaints about this same problem. Mazda needs to step up and take responsibility for a major defect in the 626. No wonder they stopped producing the 626 in order to avoid the problem at hand.

- Kansas City, KS, USA

I purchased my 626 in June 1998. At 58,700 miles (Nov 2001), the 1st transmission went up (flashing O/D, wouldn't shift, etc). I had a rebuilt transmission installed at a local transmission shop because it was no longer covered under the warranty. It cost $1,500. At 92,000 miles (Nov 2003), the 2nd transmission also went up. I had the third transmission installed at the same shop at a cost of $1,800. The vehicle currently has a little over 100,000 miles on it and it is currently in the shop getting it's 4th transmission. This time, we were headed out of town with the car fully packed for vacation when it decided to dump all of the transmission fluid, started smoking, flashed O/D lights, etc. Four transmissions in 100,000 miles is a glaring failure on the part of Mazda and/or Ford (who built the transmission). I will never buy another Mazda and I will advise everyone I know that Mazda vehicles can't be trusted. I don't understand why there was no recall on this horrendous piece of junk.

- Dallas, GA, USA

Transmission takes about 10 sec to shift from park to drive and from park to reverse. Wont accelerate but rpms go up and wont shift.I had the car checked by sevral mechanics and they all say I need a new transmission.

- Houstron, TX, USA

Transmission failure - 82000 miles - - needed complete rebuilding which upon further checking will not solve the issu.

- Port Richey, FL, USA

Transmission began to slip. After 10 minutes of driving car became immobile and had to be towed. 100K miles. Total transmission failure. Rebuild cost at local shop: $2,550.

- Granite Bay, CA, USA

Transmission slipping, od light blinking, transmission fluid boiling out of dip stick area, covering motor which then started burning with lots of smoke. Took it to transmission repair shop they changed the filter and fluid, now it doing the same thing. I'm scared to drive it!

- Snohomish, WA, USA

Started off as a speedometer problem. Speedometer would peg from 0 to whatever speed I was traveling when taking my foot off the accelerator, then it would reverse it and only peg back and forth when my foot was on that accelerator. Overdrive light blinks on and off and overdrive fails. Transmission shifts into gears quickly, chirping tires. Also, when speedometer drops to zero, if you push the accelerator the car seems to think it needs to shift into first or second gear no matter how fast you are going. Almost caused me to have 3 accidents in one day just driving home from work.

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I was driving my 1998 Mazda 626 in normal traffic and stopped at a traffic light. After the light changed, I accelerated as normal and the automatic transmission would not shift to a higher gear and the engine began to race. I pulled into the parking lot where I flagged down my husband and told him there was a problem. He then got in and experienced the same problem, the transmission would not shift to a higher gear. He drove the car to Mazda knoxville in the first gear. The service manager looked under the hood and told us that the transmission had gone out and would have to be replaced. He also suggested that we install a "transmission cooler" to prevent this from happening again. He said that Mazda puts these type of coolers in newer models. I had no warning, nor had I had any previous problems with the transmission.

- Knoxville, TN, USA

1998 Mazda 626. 89,000 miles. Transmission began to slip. Car would not run. Aamco repairs cost me approximately $2,600. Premature failure is common. For additional information, follow this link: www.cartrackers.com/forums/live/yourlemon/189.html.

- Arroyo Grande, CA, USA

On April 15th, 2004 I was driving to work in my 1998 Mazda 626 LX and the automatic transmission began to slip then failed completely. I had to drive off the highway in first gear. I then took my 626 to a local transmission shop and they informed me Mazda transmissions had a faulty drum. He informed me the transmission would have to be replaced. I picked up my vehicle from the transmission shop on April 23rd, 2004 and on April 24th, 2004 I was driving on the freeway and the overdrive light began flashing and the the car began to decelerate and also began smoking. I had the vehicle towed to the transmission shop and they informed me the transmission had blown once again. They replaced the transmission a second time and on Sunday, May 2nd, 2004 I was driving on the freeway and the overdrive light began to flash once again. I immediately pulled off of the freeway and had the vehicle towed to the same transmission shop. I called Mazda and they informed me they were aware of the faulty transmission and stated I needed to install a transmission cooler to keep this from happening. They informed me a recall has not been done on the faulty transmission. The original transmission is not available. During this time I not only had to pay for a new transimssion and cooler I also had to pay for towing costs and car rentals for almost 3 weeks.

- Roswell, GA, USA

I purchased my 1998 Mazda 626lx in December 2000 with 65,000 miles on it. In July 2002 the transmission went out completely while driving up a hill at 65 mph with the cruise control on and the air conditioning turned on. The car suddenly shifted into second gear and proceeded to strip all the gears in the transmission (as I was told by the transmission repair shop) rendering my car useless for three months while I saved the money to have it repaired. I put a remanufactured one in from phoenix hard parts (never got my rebate, so don't go to them for help!). it cost me $1300 for the transmission and $1200 in labor to have it installed. Now this transmission overheats (flashing O/D light) after only an hour on the interstate! please someone look into this issue. It may not be child seats, but this is costing lots of people thousands of dollars!

- Lexington, KY, USA

I purchased my Mazda 626 in 1999. This a 1998 model. So far I have put a brand new transmission in the car (3 months after I purchased the car) and I was just told I need a brand new transmission!!!! the car can not go in reverse, and can't drive right!

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

I purchased a 1998 Mazda 626 LX sedan in November 1998. At some point in the year 2002 the vehicle began to hesitate when shifting from first to second gear and then the overdrive off light began to flash. Ocean Mazda in miami, Florida told me there was an incorrect gear ratio between first and second gear. When I told them to fix the problem they stated that they did not repair transmissions, they only replaced them. I was told the cost of that with parts and labor would be $4,000 which I did not have at that time. I continued to drive my Mazda until the transmission went out on me on March 28, 2003 while I was traveling from tallahassee, Florida back to miami. I had to leave the car in orlando, Florida at a friend's house for two months and then could not afford to have it repaired until March 4, 2004. At the time of my transmission failure the car had approximately 65,000 miles on it. It cost me $2,400 to have a rebuilt transmission installed at a local shop and now I am on pins and needles hoping that it won't fail again for at least another 3 - 5 years. The gentleman who installed the rebuilt transmission stated that the transmission simply got to hot and burned up the components inside. Reading other complaints I am not that optimistic that it won't fail again and I'm just hoping it will last long enough for me to save and get another car (not a Mazda though).

- Miami, FL, USA

While driving 40 mph, the transmission failed without warning. As a result the vehicle stalled out in traffic. The cause has yet to be determined. Please provide additional information. The vehicles transmission failed twice. It was determined that the transmission was properly repaired by lee myles mechanic but failed due to car manufacture.

- Succasunna, NJ, USA

I have a 1998 Mazda 626, automatic transmission with overdrive. July 2003 the overdrive light began to flash and the transmission started to slip while I was on the freeway and almost was hit. The car would not move. I could barely pull over to the side to obtain towing service. I paid aamco in renton, wa $4000 to repair the car. Well, guess what... it happened again. On July 3rd 2004, I was driving out of town for the 4th of July, and made it only 30 miles out of town and the overdrive light was flashing again and began to pour transmission fluid on the engine. There was so much smoke I could barely pull the car off I-5 in order to seek a safe place to pull over. I had to have my car towed back to seattle, and again it needs a new transmission. The Ford CD4 transmission is in the car, and it is a piece of garbage. Where is the recall and all the money I dumped into this car going? I still owe on the car and cannot trade it in with it's current shape. The first time this happened was 85,000 miles and it now has 100,000 miles. Out of warranty but out of pocket. Thanks Mazda.

- Seattle, WA, USA

(1) events leading to failure: The transmission in my Mazda 626 failed while riding down the street with no warnings. The car was only 4 years old and only had approximately 65000 miles on it at the time. This car has been well taken care of and the transmission should have lasted longer than 65K000miles. 2) failure and its consequences: Pparently several parts in the transmission were bad. In the end, I ended up paying over 2500 to have the transmission rebuilt with a year warranty. (3) after the problem was fixed, I've had nothing but trouble with my transmission leaking/smoking. The Mazda dealership is fully aware of this problem and I have invested over 4000 total in the car as of today. In my honest opinion, Mazda should not be in business if something like this happens after the car is four years old.

- Chicago, IL, USA

Transmission failure on 1998 Mazda 626 4cyl 2.0L.

- Wickliffe, OH, USA

Transmission failure.

- Slidell, LA, USA

Transmission prematurely failed at 110K miles on my 1998 Mazda 626. The transmission costs over $3K new or $1.5K rebuilt, both of which are higher than the vehicle is worth.

- Romeoville, IL, USA