Hey all,

I just bought an 08 Mazda 3 sedan. Its a stick shift with 156,000 miles on it. I was just wondering if you guys have any input on the reliability on the car and how the manual in particular performs. Is there anything I should look out for in particular or anything that I should know going into owning a Mazda? Excited to join the Mazda crew! Thanks

 

I've never seen a manual gearbox in a BK or BL Mazda fail in the 14yrs I've worked on Mazda's.

 

The gearbox is probably good to go, however, the North American version of the 2.3 liter engine is highly suspect. If, or more like when, the engine fails, the hot setup is to replace it with a Ford Duratec 2.5 liter engine from a Ford Fusion (and other Ford cars). The 2.5 is virtually identical to the 2.3 externally, however the 2.5 has MUCH improved internals, is significantly more reliable over the long run, is more powerful, and yet returns the same fuel economy. The best part is because there are so many of these engines on the road, low mileage engines are very inexpensive to buy from bone yards.