626 GEA - made in America??

[Kiwi]

Hallo, bitte mein Englisch entschuldigen - ich hoffe jemand kann mich hilfen...

I live in Germany, and two months ago I bought a 1996 Mazda 626 IV GEA from a private seller. I'm trying to figure out where this car was manufactured. The seller told me that it was made in the USA. But I'm not totally sure. (The seller was not an American though). Can anybody on this forum tell me where the 626 GEA cars were made? (Eg. Japan, USA or elsewhere)? Where they all made in the same country?

The car which I purchased has European headlight bulbs (H1 & H3), and the Benutzerhandbuch is in German, not English. However, I suppose it is possible that it was made in the USA and then imported to Germany and converted to German specifications?? For example, maybe it was originally an American-spec car, made for the American market, and then brought to Germany by an American soldier, who later had it converted to German-spec and sold it on the German system?? Or maybe it is even possible, that all 626 GEA cars are made in the USA, including the European-spec cars which were sold directly in Germany?? I have no idea.

The reason I want to know where the 626 GEA cars were made, is to learn whether it's possible or wise to buy used parts from America (eg. from eBay.com) - or is there a risk that the specifications of the American 626 GEA cars (made for the American market) are different to the European 626 GEA cars (made for the German market)?

If anybody can throw some light onto this topic for me, I would appreciate it!

Thanks!

[commander_keen]

Hallo!
My guess is, that no GEA models where manufactured in Japan, although I'm not sure about that at all.
Please refer to the information given here: Link and check by comparing your FIN to the pattern there to find out which factory/plant manufactured your car.

Most GEA cars in Germany were sold as "GE Special" afaik. Whoever and whyever they were brought here, I guess there were too many of them at some place. I don't think they were produced for Germany on purpose initially. And there can't have been so many soldiers driving 626GE in Germany. ;-)
So they're just converted ones.
We have one or two GEA drivers here who have a lot of "fun" seeking parts for the engine for example as they seem to differ in some ways although it's basically the same as a whole.

[Kiwi]

Thanks! My VIN starts with 1YZGE and has the number 5 at the 11th position, which means it was made in Michigan, USA, according to that other post. Good to know!

I hope it is okay if I occasionally post questions on this forum in English...!

[commander_keen]

No big problem for me, but please keep in mind that not everyone is capable of speaking English here. So your questions might get less answers than possible. As you live in Germany I guess you will automatically have some understandable German in about 3 months of living. Ich konnte deinen ersten Satz im Posting auch verstehen, also trau dich ruhig. ;-) Durch das Benutzen der Sprache wird dein Können ja auch stetig verbessert. :-)

[Kiwi]

Okay, gut zu wissen. Ich kann ein bissle deutsch sprechen, aber oft ist eine Frage über dem Thema "cars" schwer zu erklären, besonders wenn sie technische Wörter braucht. Aber ich kann probiere.....