1982 626 5sp white/grey...fun car...till some guy ran a light and that was that

Currently:
1998 Mazda Millenia S in black(Miller Cycle :D)...still love this car...BRING BACK THE MILLER CYCLE...amazing gas mileage (mid 30s :eek: ) and it is a supercharged heavy luxury car! :)
2004 RX-8 Sun Silver 6sp

My girlfriend has a:
2004 Mazda 3 Sun Silver 5sp

Planning on a Mazda Crossport in 2 years or so for her if they release a manual tranny

Actually, it would be interesting to know how many people were NOT already hooked on Mazda before getting an RX-8. I'm guessing that by asking your question on an RX-8 board, you already found the "hooked Mazda fans" so you can assume our replies are a little biased...!

The 8 is my first Mazda :)

32K of user friendly miles with zero problems (knocks on wood). So I would answer yes to your question, it's right up there.

RX-8 is my first Mazda.. but I was hooked on the rotory engine before buying. (Friend had a 1980 RX-7, we rebuild the engine.. awesome piece of engineering.)

5 mazdas in my driving span and none have ever had problems...

87 B2200, i think i revved that thing to 8000 rpms a few times (had no tach so dont actually know) and all it had was a sticky lifter at 130k till my brother rolled it
84 rx7 auto, no problems
84 rx7 5spd, playing the roll of ricky racer and powershifting into 3rd screwed up the synchro, it had a clunk from then on, but no problems
04 mazda 3, no problems thus far, tranny shift funny every once in a while (auto)
04 rx8, lots of little things (a/c, headlight film, broken a/c knob, etc) but nothing major.

I love the cars, both of my current mazda's are first year cars so there are bound to be more little quirks but so far so good. A+++ reliability IMO.

Third Mazda Product
 

94 - B Series 4x4 Truck Tough as nails still going and it got clobbered by Snow Plow

94 - MX-6 250,000 KM's a friend bought it and re-painted came for a visit local kids were still crowding around a 12 year old car.

05 - RX8 Brilliant Black 25,000 KM's and loving it !

this is my first Mazda but I must admit, I didn't buy it for reliability reasons. I test drove it and fell in love. I loved it so much that I had a down payyment on a Mitsubishi 3000gt VR4 (the car that I had wanted for years) and I changed my mind. I knew going in that the Mazda was quirky. Also I had read up on Mazdas over the years and no they are not as reliable or as refined as toyotas and hondas, but they are not as sporty as Mazdas. I read somewhere that Mazdas are the most Japanese of all the Japanese cars sold inthe US. This is based on the spirit of the car. With Mazda you read about such concepts as Jinba Ittai. Toyota and Honda I think just are better at making better Buicks. No passion. They tapped into what Americans wanted, and more importantly, what America hadn't been making, a good car that won't break down. Mazda puts some soul into their cars. Now if only they'd put some power into them. Mazda already has a rep of making sporty cars across the board. If they'd just up the power say 10-15% on their base (regular) models then they'd be dangerous. Imagine a Mazda 3S with 200 hp, a Mazda 6S with 250 hp and a RX8 6sp with say 265-270 hp. They would own their sectors, respectively. I'm not talking Mazdaspeed versions. They should have even more power. They also aren't as easily attainable. They aren't the ones you see on the street that give the car its rep.

^^^ Maybe they're starting with the newly redesigned MX-5 Miata, 170hp (same as current Mazdaspeed version), lighter in weight, and more interior space

Mazda has always been innovative with engine designs:

They had variable lenght intake runners and variable intake timing in the RX-7's well before any piston engine had variable anything, they've been perfecting it and the Renesis achieves at least 60 more hp than the last naturally aspirated 13B with no other changes than intake and exhaust design and timing, and intake runner lenght tuning.

Smallest V6 in a production car, 1.8L 130 hp for the MX-3

Miller Cycle engine for the Millenia and most people don't know that the gas engines used on most hybrids today by Honda and Toyota with the so called "Atkinson cycle" is nothing more than a version of the Miller Cycle (less compression stroke, more expansion stroke)

The first with twin sequential turbochargers in the 3rd gen RX-7

The Renesis

The Hydrogen powered Renesis

The upcoming turbocharged, direct gasoline injected Mazdaspeed6

etc

And I agree that Mazda builds cars with soul, great handling, light compared to similar from other makes, and still meet safety standards.

About power, I don't really think they're underpowered, I think they try and match the power to the chassis and the average driver ability to control it. The 3rd gen RX-7 for example(255hp) , put 220 hp to the wheels and still there is people that don't know how to drive it without breaking the rear loose. Same can happen to the Miata or the RX-8 when you turn your DSC/TC off.

With my FD at 315 hp to the wheels which was relatively easy to attain (intake, intercooler, exhaust and ecu reprogram), I had to change my suspension and go take a high performance driving school because it gets very scary to drive.

They make more fun cars to drive then most car companies for your $$ too!

My first mazda is my current rx8 and it is by far the most enjoyable car I have ever had.

Well in my half a century I have privately owed and driven demonstrators of just about every Mazda made, including my parents and brother we are a long term Mazda family dating back to 1969, that was a blue Mazda 1500 4 door sedan.
Only one could I consider a bit of a Dud that was a Capella 1600, it had a noisy diff which could never be silenced.
Apart from the odd rust spot (corrosion resistance vastly improved since the late 80's), they have been almost bulletproof.
My elderly father has owned everything from 1940-60 Fords, 1965 Mercedes, BMW's, Holden's, a heap of Toyota's and a Honda and he rates Mazda's as the best value cars made by Any maker.
IMO it is Mazda and Honda on equals (the Japanese made ones) that are the best for reliability and longevity.
Subaru are also very good.
Look at their range today and Mazda have some of the most exciting and balanced cars bar none.

You mean 04 ...

This is my first Mazda, I love it, its a car that when you drive it, you can feel that its communicating with you. It gives you feedback and stuff. I dont know. I probably watch too much Zoom Zoom commericals.

My father hate Mazda quite a lot back then, when he first knew that I was gonna get a Mazda, he was like *wtf are you thinking, they're pos, get a Camry*.

Well, I didnt listen to him of course, here I am.

and After his 95 Quest gave up the ghost (actually, sold, good luck to that dude :)), he wants to get Rx350, after I spent like I dont even know how many hours, I walked in and got him a 08 CX-7 for 29K, GT, AWD, Fully Loaded. He wasnt that happy in the beginning, but now, he said the car is actually pretty good. :) the Lexus does feel more comfortable, and has more feature. but for 19K less (with taxes and everything), CX-7 gives him almost 85% of what he can find in the Lexus. so there you go.

Sorry to come back at you late, but these arse issues are what IS Rotary, they will never be addressed.
They are required to use oil, mileage and torque are also typically rotary.
Yes a NA rotary will not give you the HP you may want (so why buy it in the first place?).
What would you rather drive at high RPM/MPH a Rotary or a Banger?, one is smooth as silk the other is about to jump out of it's engine mounts!.

Rotaries have never meant to be the same as other engines ;)

Have you seen the amount of TSBs and recalls on the Accord? It makes you cry for mommy.

RX-8 Still going..
 

I have an 2004 RX-8 I bought brand new in April 2005 with 14 miles on it, just test driven. I have 126,000 miles on it now. It still looks good. The only big problem I've had was that my catalytic converter died at 89K miles. The first shop put an aftermarket one on and it didn't work so I had towed to the nearest Mazda dealership and they had to put a Mazda catalytic converter, 02 sensor, new coils and plugs. The repair at two shops and car rental for weeks was a little over $3500.00.

From my youth till now, I'm familiar with the driving dynamics of a VW (coupe), a Benz (sedan), a Mitsu (hatch), a Nissan (sedan), and Mazdas (Astina, Protege, and now RX-8)

Except for perhaps the VW, none of the other cars came even close to matching the driving dynamics of even the lowly Mazda Protege.

When I first drove the Astina (Eunos 100 - http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/マツダ・ユーノス100), I got me hooked on Mazda. The communication, agility, and lightness was an epiphany.