... These omissions did not cause me any problems as I am happy to open a window if I get too hot and I have no intention of using airbags! The Mazda B2500 is the same vehicle as a Ford Ranger.
Purchase cost
By the time I had bought a canopy and load liner and a decent towbar I paid about ... Read review
Advantages: Load capacity, offroad ability, towing, Disadvantages: bit thirsty at motorway speeds
...of using airbags! The Mazda B2500 is the same vehicle as a Ford Ranger.
Purchase cost
By the time I had bought a canopy and load liner and a decent towbar I paid about £13000 plus VAT. Which I thought was a pretty good price compared to the more than £16000 plus VAT for the equivalent UK dealership price. Beware that imports might not offer a full 3 year warranty!
Insurance
Insurance is ... ...reliability
The Mazda has been very reliable with the exception of both rear springs breaking after about 2 years which cost around £250 to replace. I had a long running debate with MAZDA UK about whether this was a manufacturing fault or not, I had a couple of friends that had similar problems with early years Mazda B2500 and Ford Rangers. Servicing is quite cheap as it uses Ford Parts although service intervals are at 12000 miles ... more
I bought my pickup from Mackay trading in Edinburgh as a friend had just bought a similar one and his looked great and he was full of praise for it. It was an import from Cyprus but I was told it was UK spec. In fact it was UK road legal but the specification was lacking that of the UK dealership models in that it did not have Air Conditioning or Airbags. These omissions did not cause me any problems as I am happy to open a window if I get too hot and I have no intention of using airbags! The Mazda B2500 is the same vehicle as a Ford Ranger.
Purchase cost
By the time I had bought a canopy and load liner and a decent towbar I paid about £13000 plus VAT. Which I thought was a pretty good price compared to the more than £16000 plus VAT for the equivalent UK dealership price. Beware that imports might not offer a full 3 year warranty!
Insurance
Insurance is the hidden cost with an import as there are fewer insurance companies that will touch imports even if they are made on the same production line in Thailand. No competition means higher premiums. I had zero no claims discount when I went to get insurance and the best my broker could find was £1200 ouch! now with 4 years NCD it is around £750.
Servicing and reliability
The Mazda has been very reliable with the exception of both rear springs breaking after about 2 years which cost around £250 to replace. I had a long running debate with MAZDA UK about whether this was a manufacturing fault or not, I had a couple of friends that had similar problems with early years Mazda B2500 and Ford Rangers. Servicing is quite cheap as it uses Ford Parts although service intervals are at 12000 miles or 12months whichever comes first.
Economy
I would normally manage between 320 and 380 miles on a tank with the higher figure the norm for 70MPH motorway driving with a empty to full capacity of about 60 litres with 10 litres in reserve this works out around 30MPG which is not too bad for a pickup. Using 4WD or towing reduces fuel economy quite a lot. When towing a 1.8 tonne trailer I would get 250 miles to a tank full.
Offroad
I did not have too much call for severe off road work but the Mazda handle muddy fields and tracks exceptionally well despite the handicap of road tyres. I sometimes used the truck with a trailer to run long cables through farmland and the low range 4WD capabilties were great especially with the advantage of a hand throttle by the steering wheel to set a constant speed. When you have a tow bar fitted you have to watch your approach angle as the tow hitch might snag on the deck if the angle is too great. auto free wheel hubs are great and you have a switch to disengage when required.
Driving and comfort
I am a 6ft , 15stone bloke and I find driving the mazda just great, it feels just the right size for me. sitting in the back seats is a little lacking in legroom for tall people but not bad. very good allround visibility is provided by the big crewcab windows and the electric mirrors. I regularly drove between Plymouth and Edinburgh (500 miles 8 - 12 hours) and apart from the noise it was very comfortable. It is very well behaved and can pull away at quite a rate. When it is empty the back end can loose traction when you accelerate round a corner but so do most rear wheel drive vehicles.
Would I buy another
Yes. if I was not having to do regular long distance trips. the cost of fuel now has persuaded me to get a more efficient estate car.
Advantages: powerful, easy driving Disadvantages: not so great off road
...was a task, and using Mazda B2500 diesel pickups - it did not get much easier.
These pickups were fun to drive, if you like the kick that the 2nd gear gives you when pulling off in the dirt, but other than that, its offroading capability suffered.
On the inside, this pickup was fairly standard (although there are a series of Ford pickups around, which look exactly like the Mazda, with the only exception of the chrome trim around the headlights) ... ...as opposed to handling, because Mazda engineers thought that by lowering the ride height they could increase the handling and make the passengers more comfortable.
Unfortunately, what happened was that the pickup moved better in the road, but offroad, there are a couple housings under the pickup which get beat up a lot and this affects handling, as well as the durability of the vehicle.
Suspension was not of the best, but was still fairly good ...
sting_of_the_scorpion 29.03.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this car review on average: very helpful Review of Mazda B-Series 2.5 TD
Advantages: Excellent value for money, great to drive, easily comparable to a vehicle costing £10k more Disadvantages: Very hard suspension
I bought my Mazda B2500 single cab pickup truck in January 2001. It cost just over £10K for a metallic silver, four wheel drive version.
I've done around 20,000 miles in it and the only slight fault has been that the windscreen wipers have worn out - I know it rains a lot in the north east but not THAT much. The B2500 is excellent value for money. I looked at comparable vehicles with much of the same spec from Ford and Toyota and they charged up ... ...to the gallon for diesel are just about what you would expect for a monster like this - it doesn't guzzle fuel unless you're in 4wd but it's not exactly economical - but let's face it - who buys a truck for fuel economy?
Load bearing is excellent, the suspension is a bit hard but it's designed to be like that. The only downsides are the price of accessories - every manufacturer seems to charge a fortune for load liners and trunkman tops - I'm still ...
claireq19 15.04.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this car review on average: helpful Review of Mazda B-Series 2.5 TD
