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Comments
Doing5: You said a few posts back that your store will be getting Sepang Green in soon. If you have a digital camera could you post a couple shots so we can see what that color really is? Thank you in advance.
Stretchsje and Aromas: How does the 6 handle in crosswinds?
Black is pretty when it's clean, keeping it clean is the problem. My neighbor has as an older BMW 525i and she washes it two or three times a week.
The Steel Grey, Lapis Blue, and the Red Fire are also hard to keep clean, the latter less so probably. Clay soil shows badly on dark colors, especially from the tires along the bottom. Silver is very serviceable if you don't mind getting lost among the thousands of other silver cars. If you have a CD-changer you might want to get lost in the crowd. Safety in numbers.
Of course, because a car is light in color doesn't mean it isn't in need of a bath and owners may let it go too long and damage the finish.
Here's a funny thing, Classic Soft Trim advertises its leather seat covers as being 100% "softer" than OEM. I thought 100% of anything is the same thing? Probably, they meant 200%, or twice as soft.
The other thing that struck me as odd, there are no shops in North Carolina offering the CST seats, and this is a state with all the exotic car dealers. But there are four or five dealers in Virginia, where I moved from, and few, if any, exotic/sporty car dealers.
fowler3
I know women want minivans but around where I live all the second cars are Civics and Corolla's (easy to drive cars) The wife always wins out, it's not the worth the grief to defy them. Please no posts by guys who say they're the boss, everybody knows you're full of it. Same reason that automatics now rule the road. Again I'm talking the majority here.(albeit very strong majority)
That's pretty darn low considering these springs are supposed to be comfortable on the highway AND work with your stock shocks. I'd think you'd be into the first bump-stops by then.
For crying out loud.
It's 2003, not 1950.
I don't know about you but I don't see too many 40 year olds driving Civics with raised spoilers and side skirts just like I don't see many teenagers driving minivans. It's not sexist it's just the way it is. Young people want young looking cars and older people prefer cars with a more mature style. Since 40 year olds tend to have more money it would be in Mazda's best interest to cater to them.
http://www.alxmazda.com/frameset2.asp?LINK=NewCars&MAIN=new_v- ehicle_search
Also, I'm a 26 year old single female. I like this car because it's fairly sporty, fun to drive, but still gives me room for my niece and nephew's car seats when the need strikes. As far as GFX goes, I've seen both at the dealership, and they both look good, just slightly different. Color makes the GFX look different as well. Additionally, the only reason I'm even considering an SUV at this point is the simple utility of being able to transport larger objects without having to find a friend who owns a truck. I'm looking to buy sometime in the next few months, and I'm watching the local market prices till the price/time is right.
Well, look at history. The Mustang came out in 1964 or so; it was aimed primarily at women. It sold gadzillions--even though it was merely a re-bodied family sedan with a weak engine. Mustang sales plummeted, however, when they started becoming unforgiving "musclecars" aimed at young men. Those cars were powerful and difficult to drive........... SUVs are nothing new. Blazers and Broncos had been around since the 1970s. But SUVs really took off when automakers "feminized" them--adding softer suspensions and more luxury options............I think women prefer cars with more compliant suspensions and predictable handling. (thus "easier to drive"). And I don't blame them............and ground effects are clearly preferred only by the young. I've never seen a Buick with ground effects, nor a Caddy, nor a Lexus..........and by the way, the ladies still prefer pink cars. They just call it "champagne" nowadays. I'm joking. In fact, the most popular colors nowadays are variations of steel grey and green--hardly "feminine" colors.........I'm in love with the 6 in Speed Yellow. My brother sez that I'd look like a secretary in it. Now THAT'S sexist!!
Boy is that engine compartment tight.
The dealer was advertising a 2400 discount off MSRP for the 6 w/ leather and sport.
"The wife always wins out, it's not the worth the grief to defy them."
yeah, I'd say that's true 90% of the time although my wife lets me pick out all the cars and she always loves what i pick out. But i know soooo many friends who have to buck to the wife and pretty much go with what she's thinking. Did I also mention that those friends don't have any cool cars.
"Same reason that automatics now rule the road. Again I'm talking the majority here.(albeit very strong majority)."
Yeah, I think more guys would indeed go stick if it wasn't for their wife moaning about not being able to drive one. That and traffic....again my wife is one of the 10% who is very fluid with the stick.
"This stuff about women wanting easy to drive cars and only young people wanting ground effects is about the most ridiculous sexist and ageist nonsense I have read here. Next thing you will be telling us the little ladies want pink cars. For crying out loud. It's 2003, not 1950."
No, it is true. Women still want something soft and cushy (90% of them) and that's why the SUV thing got so huge. That and the 'perception' of safety. On the whole, men will still prefer performance attributes in a car before women do. Of course my main frame of reference here is the women over 28-30. I'm not too up on what the younger gals want.
This whole perception of SUV's being safe makes me laugh because they are less safe actually. A sure sign of people not studying the claims and not deciding based on evidence. It applies to men and women, but I actually think women shoppers don't dive into intense technical articles to actually learn about what it is that makes an SUV safe / unsafe. They just see the size thing and assume its safer. (Not all women, but as a whole). They see it as driving an armored vehicle that also holds soccer balls. Men by nature are still more insterested in the technology and engineering of the cars and read and study more about driving dynamics, handling, and perfomance/ technical issues. Women still focus on soft ride, ability to haul junk, place for the purse, etc. NOT ALL OF THEM, but still a large portion of them. No flames.
I do see the Mazda6 as having a cross gender and generational appeal though. men and women. younger and older.
I'm 6'5" tall, and the '6 has as much headroom as any car I've ever been in. Either the car you were in had a moonroof or the seat height was up all the way. In my car, I can raise the seat a good amount and still have good clearance. I dunno about all the way up- I don't like it that high.
The rear- well, depends on who is back there. I too find it snug. I can't sit behind myself very well, but upon letting my normal-sized friend drive, I had more room than I needed in the back. It seemed pretty on-par with other cars. I don't think my wife's Camry is very spacious in the rear, and that's the class leader. My parent's Avalon, now that's nice in the back.
They are suppose to get what they need tomorrow and if that is the real problem, I guess that should not be a long term issue with the car?
So far not overly impressed with what Mazda is turning out in Flat Rock.
Sounds like new-model quirks, although I believe the trannys are made in Japan and go on cars for other countries. Not sure about that.
If it is the seal, it's an easy fix and shouldn't be long term. If it happens again, it could be a bad seal design. They tend to catch those fairly quick. The leak itself isn't detrimental, just messy and inconvenient. If the fluid level gets too low because of the leak is when real problems start.
A similar thing happened on my motorcycle. The water pump leaked and they replaced the seal under warranty. No issues now.
Good luck.
Mazda will show 9 concepts! Yes, nine!
They started advertising the 6 a bit on one TV station (CTV) and the RX-8 got a full page colour ad in the Auto Show section. I think dealers don't have enough 6s, so it doesn't make sense to advertise yet.
There are 3 pics showing Mazda's area at the show from different angles. No other manufacturer has even one pic showing more than one of their cars.
I spotted the usual suspects (PRO, P5, MazdaSpeed3/PRO, Tribute, MPV, B-series), a few 626s and Millenias (guess they have plenty left for sale).
The RX-8 is on a rotating stand.
Noticed 2 6s, but they were both on rotating stands (one with the RX-8 and Miata, one by itself). Maybe they won't have any 6s open for the public to sit in? I hope not! That would be stupid. Missing Canada's largest auto show when so little people know about the car is not a smart move. Hopefully I'm wrong. I've only seen one 6 on the road so far (aromas') and Avante Toronto Mazda has one in their showroom, none on their lot.
No Mazda3 concept to be seen.
I think I'm going to the show next Wednesday as we have Reading Week at York.
Dinu
LBnova
Let's get back to the car and leave off the generalizations. They aren't necessary.
Thanks.
Boy charms work for the pontiac demographic. Please don't turn Mazda into the Japanese pontiac.
eg. the advt for 03 accord. sophisticated.
Everyone is an individual with his/her own preferences. Still it is possible to group people according to these preferences and see patterns. Some of these patterns reflect the grains of truth inherent in stereotypes. Marketing types try very hard to figure out what people want. They have all their little groupings by gender and age. If their data matches/support current stereotypes is it invalidated?
Stereotypes are a fact of life. So is discrimination. You can't ever get rid of them because it is part of human nature.
Now to get this semi back on topic....I have seen two Mazda6 cars in Richmond. Both were driven by women. That doesn't fit the target demographic as stated by mazda. Neither car had the sport package and that does fit the stereotypes mentioned here. Of course a statistical sample of 2 is just too small.
Enough with the social commentary.
Every V6 5-speed moves off the lot within 24-36 hours. I have not even been able to test drive one. The salesguys also say that the sports package is a big seller, but Mazda doesn't send them hardly any. One dealer had 20 4 cylinder non-sport package 6's sitting there, with not one 6 cylinder or sport package cars in sight.
Mazda is making a big mistake if they are still listening to the stupid marketing "gurus" about what sells. I guarantee the average Mazda 6 buyer is looking for a v6/5-speed/sport package. Otherwise they would just go to Honda/Toyota.
seem to want the V6, sport package, auto trans and auto dimming mirror. This combo is by far the largest percentage of sales...The rest are all over the board with little or no consistancy.
The manual trans is NOT selling at all in our stores, or anyone elses...the demand and sales of handshakers are running about 5%...that's not enough...we dont care about selling one or two cars per month, we need to sell dozens per month. This is what the auto trans is doing...
I am basing this info on actual sales and not from people threating to buy.
I just purchased a bunch of spoilers and after sticking them on 4 cyls with little or no options we are seeing a jump in sales of these models....everyone seems to like the wing.
I'm not looking for the sport package and am undecided on the v6 or the i4. Yet I won't be buying from Honda/Toyota. But I never claimed to be average...
The fact that the v6 5-speed is moving off dealer lots is a great sign. It means Mazda figured out what some other brands have given up as gospel. That is, some of us crazy car nuts like to shift and want a car that is a lot of fun to drive.
It seems so simple yet there are so many cars out there are are just plain DULL.
It'll take Mazda a while to get the mix of engines and options right but at least the basics of the car are correct. It revs like mad and it is a blast to drive.
Would a bucket of buffalo wings in the passenger seat help the 6 move too?
And I quote: "Mazda executives also said that their biggest problems with the new Mazda6 is product mix. Nearly 40 percent of orders are for V-6 cars, and that's compared with less than 20 percent for Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Also, orders for the standard transmission version have far outstripped what Mazda planned for, with early orders running in excess of 30 percent."
Very interesting...you advertise the Mazda 6 as a sporty alternative and people want it to go fast and be able to shift themselves. Not rocket science people!!
Local fans will get the chance to drive their new Mazda6 and Mazdaspeeds at Brainard Raceway in MN. This event is partially sponsored by Donny Brook Racing.
It is in June and will include class room instruction before pro drivers take you out on the track in your own car.
I don't have all the specs yet as they are still being organized. This was originally being designed for Mazdaspeeds but has been opened up for the 6 too.
Email me and I will send on the info as I get it.
Are you planning on adding an amp or CD changer?
What about a K&N?
What do you wanna add to the car?
BTW, do you still have a site of your 6 running? I'd like to see the interior (dash especially). No particular reason, just killing time.
Dinu
Check out the Mazda6 Owners: modifications thread for more info. Nothing too special.
Mike
Nice car stretch. I gotta stop looking at those things or I might buy one.
Dinu
I thought I would like the Lapis Blue, but then I saw one at the GO Mazda dealer in Grand Rapids. It's a pretty color, but just didn't look right on that particular car. So that leaves Steel Gray and Redfire. Saw the Redfire at Borgman in Grand Rapids and it looks to "burgundy-ish" for me. If it were more of a "Candy Apple Red" I would get that in a heartbeat. So that leaves me with Steel Gray most likely for my color choice when I get one.
I wish they'd come out with a Dark Metallic Midnight Blue, and a Candy-Apple Red Metallic. Those would look goooooooooood.
About the 6 now, I like red and would like it with the grey interior. Beige would be ok too (from lack of other options), but grey is better. Actually black is even better but I think you have to fork over a few thousands more to get the GT model (:
Dinu
Saw it on TV more yesterday than the last two months combined.