Are these any good cars to have as a first? They're cheap and they don't look half bad. If anyone could get me any feedback that would be great thanks.

I've got a Mazda 626 wagon, its basically a Telstar with a bigger boot. Same 5speed manaul, same 2.2lt 4. Same suspension.
They go rather well, I was surprised. Its not going to drop everyone at the lights but she corners nicely, the little 2.2 has a good amount of power and torque and there is a fair amount of room in them.
Fuel economy, I filled up today from close to empty, it took 47lts and on that it did 550km (fuel light hadnt even come on yet).

They come out in Turbo, and a few rebuilt and heavily modified ones will do 11s. I have a turbo for one sitting in the garage, its pretty small but should do the job.

Mods are a bit think, not easy to find headers for them in Aus, but parts arn't too bad. All in all for a first car they're great.

Headers can be bought from the US for the I4 or V6 Tx5's (V6 are later Tx5's). My g/f has a 88 Tx5 turbo, 5spd manual from a mx6 coupe (close ratio) and it really moves, handles very well for such an old car, isn't too hard to work on, plenty of power when required & avg of 10/100 economy, and my g/f doesn't have a light right foot.

A lot of the Tx5's have ABS brakes, which is a good safety feature for a first car. It's a good choice for a 1st car provided you find a decent one to start with.

Cheers

ToranaGuy

Err wrong model

He's talking about the GE model 626/AX Telstar (1991-1996). Which came with 2.0L I4 or 2.5L V6.

You're talking about the GD model 626s, which ran from 1987-1991 (wagon model GV ran from 1988-1995)

THE ONLY PROBLEM THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS IS THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS ARE UNRELIABLE AND TO GET A RECO BOX FROM A TRANNY SPECIALIST CAN BE IN THE 000'S OTHERWISE THEY ARE PRETTY MUCH UNSTOPPABLE

Just don't get an auto one, simple solution. The manuals are pretty tough, and if you break it, there's still a few in wrecking yards to buy.

Cheers

ToranaGuy