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Comments
otherwise we should be hearing recall notices received by owners here...
I am convinced that my posting my address has gotten me TONS of spam. I didn't used to get any at this address when I said check my profile; it only started when I began putting my address in actual messages - the bots got me and the amount of spam one address can receive is totally mind-boggling - not to mention email-boggling.
In the Town Hall, we all have the option of making our email address public or private (defaults to private now if you've joined in the last couple years or so). It has been my experience that the bots don't get into the profiles - at least so far.
Just a thought, sorry for the interruption here.
If you sold or traded a Mazda in May toward a 6 purchase from 5/1/03 to 5/19/03 I would complain to Mazda. I am writing a letter today. There should be some type of retroactive compensation for us. Being repeat Mazda customers should be important to Mazda. I think we have some leverage.
If enough people complain, Mazda may amend their policy on this crazy 2 week incentive.
SPEEK UP!
Mark. : )
Mark. : )
How far back should they make it retro? the day you purcahsed a car or how about all the way back to the 1990 model year?
To expect Mazda or any car company to make an incentive retro seems a bit of a stretch..
Sorry occupational hazard..
May not list the percentage but it does point out it's growing...
They sell 40% of Taurus's to fleets though so they have a history of selling high volumes of lines to fleets.
http://www.forbes.com/2001/02/23/0223flint_print.html
There are other links available at dogpile.com for those interested in this well worn topic.
As far as the Civic vs. Accord size confusion I add the specs from Edmunds which show them very similar in interior measurements.
http://edmunds.com/used/1994/honda/accord/4123/specs.html?tid=edm- - unds.u.prices.leftsidenav..6.Honda*
http://edmunds.com/new/2003/honda/civic/100178491/specs.html?tid=- - edmunds.n.prices.leftsidenav..8.Honda*
It may not be near on the outside but the interior is very similar.
And the Mini is being limited to 25,000 units. Right around the number of Mazda6's they may sell by September when the model year is up.
I really don't know what Hertz used car sales has to do with the number of fleet vehicles Ford sells. To that post I say..."HUH?"
As for Hertz, you do know that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford's? Who's cars are they mostly going to offer?
As for Hertz Auto Sales, some of those locations are licensees of Hertz. I would venture to guess some cars sold there were not former rentals. Heck, I rented from Enterprise recently - they had Saabs in their Sales lot and I was told they buy them at auction - they were not former rentals.
There are successful world cars out there and I think the 6 needs some time as Mazda builds its product reputation.
Our test car had the sport package, and it seemed generally quiet, the main noise being tire noise on the highway. I understand that the 17 inch wheels that come with the sport package are a bit noisier than 16 inch wheels.
Does anyone have any idea how much difference there would be, and whether it is technically possible to change to the 16's if we want (the dealer suggested that the sport package suspension is tuned differently, and that it might not be possible, but this seems odd to me).
Would the Accord (yes, I know it's a much more boring car) be a lot more quiet? A little? The same?
Thanks for any information and suggestions.
Ken
Mark. : )
Anyway, it was pretty cool. Hope I didn't offend anyone with my age comments. They're nothing but positive!
Seriously, the MZ6 appeal covers a broad range of ages. I'm 51 and the 6 will be my next car.
Both the dealer and the manual say there's no real break in period but that you shouldn't drive at the same highway speed for an extended period OR "go full throttle".
As for the first one, I try to vary my speeds but the RPMs always seem to be between 2500 and 3500 while on the highway. Is this enough of a variance?
As for the second one, what is meant by that? When accelerating with a manual transmission car, the RPMs will always hit 4000 or so on an upshift. So does not going full throttle mean avoiding hitting RPMs of 5000 or more or not redlining it?
BTW- I love this car. Have still not seen another with GFX in Ottawa yet.
The VIN should have been assigned by now so I call the 800 Mazda Customer Service and they immediately detect a problem. They can't find my order! After a few more calls and investigation Mazda tells me that they had a May 1st deadline for all 03 orders and my dealer did not get the order in on time. They informed me the dealer ordered my car on April 29 ( 3 weeks after I put the money down) & due to Mazda's own screwed up system did not get "pulled" in time to build. .
It appears that the initial salesman dropped the ball and I am now getting more help from Mazda than my dealership. The dealership has offered to refund my money but Mazda has offered an unassigned "port car" that is very close to my order. I am so angry right now with my dealer that I don't no what I should do!
Any suggestions, feedback, similar tales of woe?
http://edmunds.com/new/2003/mazda/6/100195195/roadtestarticle.htm- l?articleId=100173&tid=edmunds.e.longterm.content..1.Mazda*
"Brian had this to say: "There is a Lexus-like quality to the ride that I can't quite put my finger on ? like the GS 300, the Mazda 6 offers plenty of sport, but with excellent open-highway manners. I know the 6 does not even attempt to compete with the GS, but there is something about it that really reminds me of the GS 300 or IS 300."
Wait till gee35 reads this. ROFLOL.
Mark. : )
As far as Honda is concerned I do like Honda's. They did botch the Accord sedan up pretty bad exterior wise and did take one of their prized buyer out of it: the 20-30 year old male buyer that Honda has relied on for so long. I think their designs are getting more bland down to compete with bland Toyota and the loyal Domestic Big 3 buyer(you know make the designs more american looking to gain market share.)
Why do people not buy Mazda's? Because of the Ford efffect. Import Car buyers do not forget about the 80's with Detroit's disasterous quality contro. Once Ford started to intefere with Mazda more Mazda started losing buyers like crazy to Honda and Toyota. The Koreans started offering 10 year warranty's which Mazda's customer got taken away even more. It has basically been a domino effect of you will why Mazda has lost tons of customers since 1994.
Americans have their heads up their behinds. Biff and Buffy at their best.
Mark. : )
"The only thing exciting they have had is the Celica." Which is such a terrible selling vehicle.
The other reason is that they can't get the car they want. I drove a 6s the week after Christmas. I was told that Mazda had trouble accepting orders unless the car fell within the dealer's allocation, something which seemed to be borne out here. I heard from the dealer in April that they'd finally gotten my car allocated, and it was scheduled to be built in mid-May. Well, in mid-May, Mazda shut down its lines for a week to counter an oversupply of 6's, and I just read an article that the 6s MT will be built no more in the 2003 year. The dealer can get no information on the car.
I guess I'm not going to get my 6. Well, I like my Passat better anyhow (I keep telling myself).
Hope you guys continue to enjoy your cars. Looks like I'm going to stay with the German side of the WWII Axis.
Shawn
Mazda really needs to simplify option packages OR build configurations allegedly available.
It seems there are tons of cars on lots that customers would rather have some other way. I trust this can be traced to the ousted president of Mazda, and this problem will not recur in 2004. I trust he was also responsible for the decision not to have the hatch and wagon available at the sedan's introduction. I imagine this, too, has cost Mazda some delayed sales, and some sales to competitors as well.
I love the 6. I want one. But I want a hatch or wagon, with SIRIUS (been a long time since I said that, eh?)
A 6 will be my next car, hopefully, and I am 72.
Now, that IS a broad range don't you think?
fowler3
It's also a good idea to avoid idling and high temps. So country driving (particularly ones with up/downs where you're giving the engine brief periods of full throttle and then off the throttle) is better than city.
Just be a little careful in the break-in. There is no need to be anal about it. Have fun,
- Mark
On the other hand, I think the base 6i would make a great car for an 18-year-old person on a limited budget.
New colors inside and out? Light gray would be a nice option for the interior seats (like the Audi A4, Acura TSX and BMW 3 series).
These few enhancements would put this on par feature for feature with the TSX which is probably the best car to compare this to.
I have always taken Autoweek as a driving enthusiasts, not anymore if comparing Mazda6 vs. it's class competition (Camry, Accord, Passat) anyone can say that braking on a 6 is not as good as on "sofa on wheels" Camry and slalom speeds on M6 were barely better than Camry, Altima or Passat there must be something wrong with the driver driving the 6 or maybe the Autoweek was simply nicely bribed by jealous Honda/Toyota and VW marketing teams.
Sure MazdaSpeed6 will blow away the competition with performance price and warranty, even that much more expensive and sometimes overrated 3series and Audi4 class that many reviewers treat as simply untouchable.
glideslopes - Maybe the test driver was having a "bad clutch day" day.
I'm going to test a 6cyl AT, to try and decide if I really want or need a 6cyl. I thinking that the 4cyl-5sp may be plenty fun enough.
Can anyone chime in here on their thoughts.
BMW is a leader at high end mass build cars where price is almost no object what is relatively easier task than building a car like 6 much cheaper that still offers great performance with great $$$ value.
What I'm saying is that BMW has a lot easier job to do with 3 knowing the final price of their car than Mazda with a base well equipped 6 starting at $19K.
Although I agree that when not considering price 3series is still a benchmark in it's size class.
A4 quatro wagon with 6 cylinder engine is a benchmark in mid-size performance wagon.
Mazda6 with all wheel drive and 260+ hp modern 6 cylinder or turbo charged 4 cylider and very few suspension tweeks for $30K (very well equipped;17" wheels, ABS/traction control, bose audio, slightly higher spec. interior finish and materials quality,navigation system, satelite radio, Xenon lights, etc.) would be my choice over similiar but $40K+ Audi A4 quatro.
http://www.cars.com/carsapp/national/?srv=parser&act=display&- amp;tf=/features/mvp/mazda/mazda6/mazda6_overview.tmpl
budget.*
How about a retiree on a limited budget? Maybe in his or her second childhood, but we like to grin as much as anybody.
Going out to dinner tonight, I headed for my Mazda dealer's lot to check out inventory before dining. At the first traffic light a white MZ6i pulled up beside me, then a silver MZ6s with the Sport Package pulled up on my left side. Looking left, right, left, right before the light changed I got a stiff neck. The silver one really showed like a jewel.
At the dealer's lot, there was a Redfire 6i with "dealer installed" leather trim and moonroof, both priced at $1,547.50 each. But that leather was something else! It was two-tone Beige/Taupe with the seat and backrest areas in Taupe matching the color of the steering wheel and dash top. Just below the headrests the Mazda6 logo was stitched in a rich dark brown.
The leather looked much nicer, extremely soft, and well-padded compared to the factory leather. With beautifully stitched seams that looked hand-finished. Especially around the backseat edges and the pulldown armrest there was considerable padding giving it a very luxurious appearance. It made the factory installed leather look like leatherette. I could almost "feel" how it would be sitting in the car.
If I was buying leather I wouldn't hesitate a minute paying the $687 difference (factory is $860), it looks $3000 better and gave that 6i (with wheel covers) an appearance boost not available from the factory. It definately needed the Premium Package for the alloys. Then it would be an outstanding 6!
The moonroof doesn't have the finish of a factory roof and looks aftermarket (on the outside), inside the car, they did a very nice job with the ceiling. No difference.
fowler3
Mark.