Used 2003 Mazda Truck Cab Plus Consumer Reviews

Very barebones, basic with so/so reliability.

Currently sitting at 180k with my 2003 Mazda B3000, Automatic transmission. I’ve replaced over $6k in parts that have broken on their own. The engine has a horrible idle and the transmission thumps into 2nd gear, sometimes doesn’t shift at all until I let off the pedal. There are quite a few well known issues that these trucks are prone to getting, such as the camshaft syncronizers breaking inside the engine, which has happened to me before. I lost all power, brakes and power steering. It was especially scary for me since it was on the highway. I was able to save the engine from that, fortunately. Second huge problem with these is the leaking timing cover gaskets that the Ford Vulcan 3.0 V6 (the engine in this truck) can get. Mine started to leak at 176k and costs around $2,000 to repair, so usually when that starts leaking it’s a dealbreaker for most. Last major problem with the engine in particular is it is very prone to collecting excessive carbon in the piston heads, causing severe “spark knock” or “pre-ignition” issues, which also has been happening to my truck as well. There’s no remedy for this besides ultimately rebuilding the engine, or using very high octane gas, which is expensive and not guaranteed to work. Otherwise, it’s a truck. It’s not actually a Mazda so don’t expect Mazda reliability from this rebadged Ford Ranger. It has four wheels, a sub-par underpowered engine and a sloppy transmission. Not the greatest vehicle I’ve ever owned, and still not the worst I’ve owned. Overall, 3.0 / 5. A very “meh” truck.