Used car guide · 1985–2002

Mazda 626 common problems and MOT failures

What goes wrong on a used Mazda 626, year by year: known faults from UK buying guides, the parts flagged at MOT more than on other cars (from 708 MOTs done during 2023–2025), and what to check before you buy one.

708MOTs done in 2023–2025, all years of this model

1,237on the UK register

Pick the year

Most years have their own guide. The year is when the car was first registered (it’s on the logbook, or check the reg below).

2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985

What usually goes wrong with a Mazda 626?

We haven’t found widely reported faults for the Mazda 626 in the UK buying guides we use yet. That doesn’t mean it has none, so check the car carefully and look at the MOT weak spots below.

Mazda 626 MOT pass rate by year

Older cars fail more, so compare each year with all cars registered the same year.

Year	Pass first time	All cars that year	MOT tests
2002	58%	58% +0	120 (small sample)
2001	60%	60% +0	165 (small sample)
2000	59%	61% -2	160 (small sample)
1999	61%	63% -2	140 (small sample)
1998	51%	65% -14	123 (small sample)

Looking at a Mazda 626?

Check the actual car: its own MOT history and what to ask the seller. Free, no sign-up.

Where this comes from: MOT figures are the DVSA’s anonymised results for every MOT test done in Great Britain during 2023–2025, grouped by the year each car was first registered. How many are on the road is from the Department for Transport’s vehicle licensing statistics. Known faults are from UK buying guides, in our own words, with links. How we score