Two problems related to transmission not engage have been reported for the 1999 Mazda 626. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My wife was enroute from work to home when the 626 started losing speed. It wouldn't pull-off from stop light. Uneventfully it would move for the distance of a football field and quit in high speed traffic. I took it out for a drive and barely made it back home. The transmission will disengage and engage from time to time.
1999 Mazda 626 lx 4 cyl. 2. 0, 90k; the transmission will not engage forward drive gears, the transmission will only engage in reverse. I have taken my car to have transmission pulled and diagnosed and I am awaiting result and price to rebuild. After reading other complaints here I am concluding that the transmission is no good, expensive to replace, and I will never purchase a Mazda again.