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Comments
"She really likes it and I can't wait to get my hands on it alone."
Do what I do. Wash the car and tell her that you are taking it on a ride to air dry it. I hope she is not reading this.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of stupid people in the world.
That's a great idea. No chance that she'll read this, she's definitely not into cars.
the rest of the pics are here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290324109
enjoy!
the_big_h (Hank): Thanks for posting the pics of the meet. Too bad I missed it (had to clear out some trees), but was it exclusively for you guys in MD or can anyone like myself join (6s) in (live in MA)? If not, maybe I can attend the next one. Don't know of any here in MA or NE? Thanks, again!
Smaller, thumbnailed pictures HERE.
Hank, I think I saw you take that picture of my car! I showed up late- around 1:00- and didn't see anyone near your car when I made it over there. As I pulled up, the organizer (Domonick or something?) said you were all going for a ride down south, but I had plans to visit a buddy up north afterwards so those plans were kind of out for me. As soon as I got out of my car, the two other M6 owners already knew my name- neat! Kinda of cool to put faces to the names, sorry I didn't bump into you.
So tell me, I see the blue RX-7, but which person are you? It'd be funny if you're the guy staring at me when I took that picture.
come check it out:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/auto/car-news-car14.html
The Mazda6 group says the only issue with thier new car is the sunglass holder and the heated seat not getting that warm.
The Toyota forums is all over the place with issues.
The Accord forum will note 1 issue while somebody says it's either not true of problem has been resolved.
All I would like to know if possible is what are the main problems with the 2003 Accord and are they either fixable or livable.
BTW Im not here to slam any 1 car just want to select the best for my family.
Thanks in advance.
Happy Holiday to all.
I guess all Im trying to do is check all possible avenues before I make the plunge. I will say that for some reason I keep returning to the 6. I guess Im just not overly thrilled with the fact that Mazda does not allow you to select the feature you wont rather then what they want and the heated seats seem to be lacking. Once again thank you for your opinion.
richn2: Have you taken any of the cars you mentioned for a test drive with the family? That's one factor in determining your decision. I tested the 6, Accord & Passat and just felt (as well as it's good looks) the 6 had better handling/feel and of course fun-to-drive factor. Didn't test the Camry, though a fine car (sister-in-law works for Toyota Corp), but does nothing for me, probably too many around. There maybe few 6's around but it sure standout, you'll get a lot of "nice looking car", thumbs up and other different owners trying to get a good look on the road. I have over 4K miles on my 6s MT and do not have any problems with it, no rattles, squeaks just a solid car. You might want take a look the M6 wagon that may be available next year in the Americas. Good luck on your decision.
Working at Ford WHQ is pretty cool, I get to see some "insider info" of sorts on the corporate website. I read a very good writeup about Mazda sales in the UK and some very complimentary things about the 6 specifically. Mazda is doing great saleswise in the UK, with sales up more than 40%, giving Mazda "the highest volume increase in the UK automotive industry this year of any manufacturer."
Also, the Mazda6 won 2 awards over there: Best Upper Medium Car by Fleet News and the Auto Express Driver Power award for customer service satisfaction. The 6 even beat the Porsche Boxster, which came in second, behind the 6 by approx. 3 %age points. They also rated the 6 with Best Braking and Best Build Quality, and it was in the top 7 in each of the 10 categories for this survey.
I'm not a 6 owner (yet) but I was excited to read this. Go Mazda!! I've even seen a couple of 6's in the employee parking lot. 2 Lapis Blue w/sport and one black non-sport. I'm sure if I really looked, I'd probably see more, especially now that spring is here and summer is coming.
I'm liking the Lapis Blue more now that I've seen a couple up close, but I'm still seriously considering the Sepang Green. I'm thinking about finally taking a test drive tomorrow since I've got the day off. I think I've kept myself in suspense long enough and the weather is better now, so it's time for me to experience the 6 for myself. If I get the chance to do a test drive, I will post my impressions here.
Meanwhile, Happy Easter to everyone!! Zoom-zoom!!!
Haven't taken care of that yet, and am not in a rush to either. The car runs great- it's probably that darn gas cap again.
If anyone knows how to read the engine codes without a machine (as you can on other cars), let me know.
My assessment is that an Accord, Camry/Solara, 6, and Avalon are all going to be VERY reliable, in fact, all so reliable that you can essentially not use this as a factor in your decision. I'm a little unclear why you are shopping a larger family sedan (Avalaon) and a 2-seat coupe along (Solara) along with the other three, but I'm sure you have your reasons. This sounds like you tend to like the Camry-based Toyota products, so perhaps one of these three Toyotas is highest on your list. If there is any long-term reliability difference between Toyota, Mazda, and Honda in, for example, Consumer Reports data, it mostly shows that Toyotas are just about the most reliable car out there.
If you haven't done any test drives yet, I'd suggest you schedule a day when you can drive all the cars back-to-back. Call or email the dealer and make sure they have the basic model you want to buy (i.e., transmission/engine). The option packages aren't as important to have for the test drive, but try and get as close as possible. If possible, go to dealers close to one another so you can drive the same roads. Don't try to select your favorite car in one fell swoop - instead concentrate on eliminating one or two with each pass until there is just a couple left. Then take a little longer test drive to make your final decision. Or let the deal make the final decision.
Of the "big three" sedans (6, Accord, and Camry), the 6 will be the sportiest, the Accord the fastest and best all-around, and the Camry will be the most luxurious and have the best fit/finish. The Avalaon will obiviously have more interior room but will be the least sporty. The Solara will feel like the Camry with two doors, so unless you have some reason not to want the rear doors, I'd tend towards the Camry. Keep in mind that a new Solara is expected very soon, so you'll suffer more early depreciation with this model.
Sorry to write so much - the only really important information I wanted to convey is that in this group, you can just about ignore reliabilty, especially the anecdotal stuff you'll see in these forums. If you had a Passat on your list, I wouldn't be saying this.
Good luck,
- Mark
My 10-day old 6i has received its first injury. My wife was cleaning out the car to show my parents and the vacuum hose scratched the plastic around the gear shift. Ouch!!! It is disappointing that it scratched so easily. Does anyone have any ideas on what to use to make the scratches less visible/disappear?
Just beware, the interior plastic (silver color) scratches easily.
Shawn
Anyway cant wait untill the hatchback and wagon to hit the streets!
Rich, your choices sure are varried. My parents have an Avalon- it's ok. Wife has a Camry, it's ok too. The Camry is definately the better value, no contest, and has a great 4cyl engine. Drove a Solara for a while and really liked it, but you know what car I ended up with, and what car I'd of course recommend. It all depends on your driving style- the Camry, Solara, and '6 are very, very different cars.
This engine is torquey, as I've said before, from about 1800rpm up after break-in. Power builds quickly to about 4000rpm and begins to level off until its 6000rpm peak. Power never drops until the rev limiter at 7000rpm.
As a testament to the engines newfound torque, I just drove my wife and in-laws to a restaurant. Including myself, that's 600-700lbs in the car total. Even in 4th gear, I was able to climb up relatively steep hills with ease at 2500rpm. I would never call the 4cyl engine powerful, really, but it certainly wasn't struggling with the extra weight. I found it to be plenty. I even whisked the car around a turn before getting a little back-seat driving to slow me down, and even with the added passenger weight the body still didn't roll much. The ride does seem to get stiffer with a full load, but not problematically so.
No new sqeaks, no new rattles. My check engine light came on again- last time it was the gas cap, and I suspect the same again. I just wish I could reset it myself. Mileage seems to range from 23-24mpg DC metro traffic to over 30mpg highway. At the end of this month, oil companies will stop oxygenating the gas and mileage should improve. My speedometer reads a few percent lower than it should.
I definately recommend the 17" tires for everything except noise. I painted the chrome mustache of the car and really like the look. I added rear mud guards, and that fills out the rear tire wells better. I had a chance to compare my aftermarket installation (total cost via eBay: ~$250) to the Bose stereo, and I thought mine was better in virtually every respect (even though I'm still not happy wit hit). All of these modifications are relatively inexpensive, and if you're willing to put a little time into doing them, you'll probably be really happy with the results. I am.
For pictures of everything or my 1000 mile report, visit my CarDomain page.
Motorweek review of the Mazda6s MT
Said it was good but too refined, I agree!
and I actually spent more time hanging with the Protege people than w/ the RX-7 guys, so you probably didn't see me hanging around my FC too much.
http://members.cardomain.com/purpleroc
The new Accord is comfortable, but I dislike the styling, and despite the annoying option packages on the 6, it was still easier to outfit the car the way I wanted without bumping it up to $27 grand.
Having tried the Solara, Eclipse Spyder, Accord, Altima, and TSX now, the only other car I'd have considered was the TSX. But while it has the nav system available and a somewhat nicer interior than the 6 if you go leather on both, the fact that it's more expensive, yet smaller and less powerful, kills that as a choice for me.
As for the question about a 6 coupe, I doubt you'll see it. More likely they'll do an MX-6 sequel on the same platform. But I don't know why you'd want to take a perfectly well-designed 6, add barn doors to it, and make the back seat inaccessible. IMHO the number of doors on a car should match the number of seats.
I have a coupon for a $75 Amazon GC if I go test drive a Mercedes C Class. So that's next.
http://www.tornadofuelsaver.com/TornadoFuelSaver.asp
Probably not an issue if you like to lease.
Thanks
Drumm
Jeez.
Since we can't access the site - I'll ask the two questions I posed to you Stretch:
1. In my car, the stereo will sometimes 'buzz' the front doors with the right bass frequency. I see you've had your door panels off. Do you have the same issue? Any idea on how to fix it?
2. Did you every get that ding taken care of?
I put the new mask on my M6 this weekend and it really looked great... but I don't have any web space... so I can't post my photos...
sigh...
If you loved us, you'd host our photos!
Half the time I can't find the info I'm looking for, and the other half are people repeating the same questions because they weren't here 500 posts ago (which is like a few days).
You can also use the "Search This Discussion" box that appears on the paging bar at the beginning and end of the post listing to find links to posts with whatever keyword(s) you specify.
That search is a relatively new feature that a lot of folks have overlooked - check it out when you have a chance.
As for Mazda6club.com, it's certainly frustrating. Wish they'd just transfer to PhpBB, which works better for reading new messages, and doesn't rely on SQL so it should be more reliable.
In the meantime, the desert wasteland that is www.mazda6forum.com could certainly use an influx of posters!
I basically ignore the other topics except this one. If they were using phpBB software, it'd be MUCH more useful.
Stretchsje?
Let us know how we can make the Town Hall helpful for you. The Mazda6 Owners Club is there for that exact purpose. We want to make your visits here fun, informative and complete. We need you to tell us the best way to accomplish that.
But it's not really fair to use the Town Hall to figure out better places to be, you know what I mean?
Ask Karen to establish what you need in your Owners Club. She will be more than happy to do whatever she can.
(And regarding a recent post, don't bother asking for the Town Hall to change its software. It ain't gonna happen for a large number of reasons. The folks who make that decision are far above me, so please don't argue with me about it here. Thanks.)
T minus 21 days 'til I get my Speed Yellow! (not that I'm counting or anything) ;-)
Sorry... Wasn't trying to refer anyone away. It's just that that "other place" has been the primary Mazda 6 hangout for most folks, and given that this is the other popular Mazda 6 discussion group, this is where people come to whine. :-)
I wasn't trying to draw people away from here. We appreciate Edmunds being around! And while the Edmunds forum software is, er... uh... "not state of the art," it at least is always running!
I think the main reason people even look to other sites is that the other sites I mentioned are more segmented, with topics for stereo upgrades, interior and exterior mods, etc.--plus you can easily find all the Mazda 6 topics listed on one page. A lot of that is available here, but it's not as easy to find all the Mazda 6 topics here, or to figure out how to read them all. (I hung out here for months before I figured out the "subscription" feature.)
Anyway, sorry for any protocol violations. Edmunds does rock, and hopefully those "way higher up" folks will go for a bulletin board upgrade someday and discussions of other sites will be moot!
fowler3
I was at a dealership and both both the sport pkg. and appearance pkg. side sills are installed exactly the same.. or so they seem, because both seem to jiggle in the same way if you apply pressure with your foot against it. I don't see any difference whatsoever.
tell me I'm wrong. I dare ya.
The side sills - no, you can't tell a difference. But you CAN see a seam on the front and rear bumper skirts where they are added to the non-sport base bumper.