Gen4, is it worth it?

Toyota is a much bigger company. I found out the other day that Toyota had been making embriodery machines during the 1990's, Toyota - Embroidery Machine Encylopedia. Mazda is a small car company, that didn't do their own hybrid because they simply don't have the means(money) to do so.

While the first Rangers were rebadged Mazdas, your B2000 was a rebadged Ford.

It will likely be awhile before Mazda feels the need to offer a hybrid in the North American market. They needed one for Japan, and entered a partnership to use Toyota's technology there. Toyota got the Mazda2 as a Scion for the US market, and maybe some of the SkyActiv tech.

Audi had a rotary range extender in their A1 E-tron prototypes. Only 250cc and the entire genset sat between the rear wheels. Cost for a production model made the rotary iffy even before the Great Recession. Their future E-tron line up has changed since then.

 

We love Mazda and were loyal customers for a long time. We have owned a Protege, a 2003 Protege 5, and a 2004 MPV. Still have the MPV as a 'winter beater' vehicle.

We love everything about the brand. However, the one thing that caused us to leave Mazda is that they rust like no other brand I have ever seen. Around here in Minnesota, you don't want any vehicle that is even remotely prone to rusting! I hope they fixed the rust issue because it was very, very disappointing.

We then switched to Hyundai ( a 2012 Sonata Limited and a 2013 Elantra GT ). Great cars overall...

We then found the Prius when vehicle shopping for our daughter...and 'fell in love' with it! Seriously considering trading the Sonata for a 2016 Prius at some point.

 

Toyota could give them a run for their money; I found a dismaying amount of rust on our Prius bolts and various suspension components. Our winters are mostly just wet, the roads get salted some.

 

I'm not talking about rust on bolts, etc...I'm talking about panel rust-through, etc...nasty stuff!

I did a bunch of poking around before we switched brands and there really does appear to be a 'rust problem' with Mazda. I didn't see nearly the volume of complaints with Toyota. Disclaimer though..this is my own research...nothing 'scientific' of course!

 

Well suspension components too. Rear trailing arms looked very rusty on ours. Some of the fastener rust may be due to legislation outlawing certain coatings, someone told me here.

 

Toyota likely learned their lesson about rust with earlier('90's ?) Tacoma frames.

 

I do not know, the trailing arm joint, and bolt, looked pretty knackered on ours, about 4 years in, on the temperate west coast:

 

That's normal on any car.
This is what some Tacoma's had.

 

Sorry but the Mazda B2000 and B2600 were an all Mazda truck, it was after Mazda stopped making the B2000 and B2600 that Mazda used the Ford Ranger as their truck. Do you remember the Ford Courier, this was a Mazda Truck.

 

i don't think a prius has ever rusted out...

 

Toyota's have always been better then any other Japanese brand when it comes to not rusting.

 

surface rust, needs to good wash every now and then. Back when I worked with Toyota's, we would have customers panicky coming in about the rust that would hose down pretty easily. Oxidization will occur easily but it does not lead to actual rust.

 

Even in our deplorable winters, I do undercarriage washes. The liquid sale brine they use now is worse, and it gets into places the regular salt couldn't. It's not about clean cars as I tell people, it's about corrosion.

 

I should be clear that the Mazdas I have dealt with tend to rust from the inside..which is obviously a whole lot worse than surface rust.

For example :

Protege5 - Show us your rust! - Page 2


Like I mentioned above..I really hope that Mazda has fixed this issue. However, it turned me off to the brand, probably 'forever'.

 

Rear wheel wells are problematic on a lotta makes. Vigilance helps: spray inside that edge, every time you wash the car. Periodically take out any plastic liners* and wheel spats too. Look at older cars and you can see where the problems are, at least on the older model.

* This can prove very difficult to do with some of the *&%%*# fasteners used now.

 

Yes, it is. However, that was just an example of where the Protege models tend to rust. Around here, door bottoms, etc...are also an issue with all Mazda models. The fact of the matter is that Mazdas do/did rust out far earlier than just about any other brand. I have also been hearing reports of newer cars starting to rust prematurely...so I'm afraid we may have not heard the last of this issue.

 

I had a 2001 Mazda 626 that started life as a rental here, we bought it and ran it up past 100,000 miles over six years. Not a spot of rust on that baby really, and we got to see everything very close up after it was totaled. I've seen lots of vehicles rust, and can almost always identify the owners that won't really wash their cars unless it's pretty day weather. (meaning, not that often)

I use a local indoor wash if it's really cold, I use a wand-style if it's not heinous out, so I can do the wheels and wheel wells. I also spray under the hood when I get a chance.

Hmmmm, is that recommended in a Prius?

 

Well, my 1988 Mazda MX6 GT doesn't have any rust on it.