I noticed the 2011 and earlier Mazda3's have the 5 speed Ford transmission and in 2012 they switched to the Aisin 6 speed transmissions. Do the Ford trannys have problems like they did in earlier (late 90s/early 2000s) Mazda models? I had a 1996 626 that needs 2 transmission rebuilds.

On Consumer Reports the 2008-2010 have the poorest rating for reliability and then the 2011s jump all the way up to the best rating. Then in 2012 it goes back down to the lowest rating. That makes suspect that the 2011 rating was a fluke as Ford transmissions are known to be failure prone.

Any help is much appreciated.