Mazda6 Sedan

baggs32

Here's the long version of the story.

If you've been following along (And for some reason care. ) my wife and I own a 2002 Escape and owned a '96 Civic EX coupe until this past Saturday. We've been going back and forth on what to do about our vehicle situation ever since our first child was born four months ago. The Escape is great for a young family, but a 2-door aging Civic is not.

So we first decided to trade the Honda in on a Mazda3 or a Mazda6. What's not to like? Both have four doors and are fun to drive. Problem solved. Or so we thought.

Then the NAIAS came along and I saw pictures of the production '05 Mustang and my head started spinning (I've always wanted a Mustang but never had the opportunity due to life's little twists and turns). I had to have one.

A month and a half went by and I kept contorting my body to get the little tyke into the back of the Civic, and hated every minute of it. A week later (this was last Tuesday the 23rd) we put an ad in the paper asking $6000 for the Civic. Several calls later I had some appointments set up to show it this past weekend. All Dads wanting to buy it for their sons. Go figure.

Saturday morning a guy calls me, is close to my house so I agree to meet him right away, and his son to my surprise, in the parking lot of the local grocery store. The kid test drives it, with me in the passenger seat and Dad in the back (And with only a learning permit as I later found out), and loves it. Dad makes an offer I couldn't refuse, gets a check from the bank, transfers the title, and we're suddenly a one car family.

Now, all of a sudden, I'm the guy in the commercial saying "I need a car". Only I wasn't in a big white room and no cars started flying by me.

So yesterday I called the local Mazda dealer, told them what I wanted, and was informed that a similar model was rolling off of the truck at that moment (Coincidentally, the same thing happened to us with the Escape). The wife and I skipped out of work to go see it and ended up driving it home last night! We are now the proud leasers (I'm still gettin' that Mustang, but not for three more years. ) of a 2004 redfire Mazda6s 5-speed. Two option packages were on it. The Bose audio sys. and the sport pkg. w/ spoiler. We used our S-Plan discount and agreed to a fair deal for all. Probably could have done better, but the salesman was excellent and we were happy with the price as well as the way we were treated.

This car is absolutely AMAZING. I now understand the enthusiasm a lot of you have expressed for this car and look forward to sharing my own in the future.

Keep up the good posts! I gained a lot of knowledge from this thread and probably wouldn't have strayed from the Mustang if it hadn't been for all the positive comments from owners. After all, magazines can only tell you so much about a car.

ddelise

First, Congrats on your new car!

I too have the S-Plan. Can you give me some details on your deal? What were the numbers, especially the lease numbers (ie residual, lease rate, money factor, miles/yr, etc.)?

Also, if you used the S-plan, why do you think you could have done better?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Damon

audia8q

word is out....we had little traffic on the 5 door until this past weekend. It seems that everyone is looking for the H/B right now. We also sold our one and only wagon to a guy who purcahsed a 5 door. his wife saw it while they were taking delivery of a Copper H/B and decided to buy it the minute she saw it.

newcar31

Yesterday, I was talking with some of my co-workers that I usually don’t get to see that often and one of them is going to buy a new car soon. She was talking about the new Altima and I asked her if she had checked out the Mazda6 yet. She said she wouldn’t get a Mazda because she had a 626 before and the transmission blew out with 50,000 miles on it. I asked her if it was the 4 cyl and an automatic and she said it was. That is the 2nd person I’ve heard of that has written Mazda off completely because of the tranny issue with the older 4cyl 626 automatics. It’s a shame that the tranny issue is STILL hurting Mazda and that people are buying inferior products (Altimas) because of their past negative experiences with Mazda. I guess I can't blame her though, I'd be holding a grudge too if I had to buy a new transmission. Oh well.

Besides the rust, my Mazda6i manual is still doing good. Haven’t really had any mechanical problems and I have 8000 miles on it. Since the bus strike here in the Twin Cities, we have an extra car pooler and we’ve been using my car more because it’s bigger than the other car pool vehicles we use (a Civic coupe and a Corolla). There is plenty of power with the 6i manual, even with 4 people in rush hour traffic. I’ve been getting 23-25 mpg city driving, but I expect it to get better by a couple MPG once it gets warmer and the winter gas is gone.

baggs32

It's important to remember that even with the S-Plan, numbers can be shuffled.

There is apparently some sort of lease special going on with the Mazda6 right now through the end of March (better hurry because it ends tomorrow) but I don't know the details and couldn't find them anywhere. Maybe Rich (audia8q) can elaborate a little more.

They originally came back to me with a monthly payment of roughly $430 per month for a 36/36,000 lease. Waaaay too high I told them because I had a quote from another dealer for $369 per month on a similar model that had more options and stickered for about $2500 more than the one we leased.

He took that back to the office and came back with $355.59 per month and we settled on that. I say we could have done better because our car was less expensive than the one we were quoted $369 on and therefore we should have been able to get the payment down to the vicinity of $340 per month.

But as I said, the salesman was very accomodating, cordial, and knew his stuff so we left it alone.

For your reference, the $369 per month quote included a $2500 lease rebate that I never heard of. Apparently the dealer I leased from knew what it was because they used it too. Hidden dealer cash from the factory maybe?

Anyway, here are the juicy details:
Sticker - $23,450

S-Plan - Don't have the exact number in front of me but it was something like $21,700.

Residual value - $11,021.50

I have no idea what some of the other numbers on the sheet mean and not one of them seems to have anything to do with the rate. I do know that the payment includes 10% PA tax instead of the usual 7%. Leases are taxed at a higher rate for some reason in this crazy state.

To buy at 0.0% for 60 months would have cost us about $400 per month so I'm pretty happy with our deal (if it really was a good deal). I am going to want a new car in 3 years (Probably buy that one though) so leasing was the way to go this time.

Plus we only had to sign about 5 docs. What a difference from purchasing!

Hope that helps!

baggs32

Does anyone attach a car seat/base to the two inside latch hooks so the seat/base can be secured in the middle of the back bench?

We have the Evenflo PortAbout travel system and the stupid manual for the car seat base does not specify how many inches apart the hooks must be in order to safely secure the seat. I think it just says you can do it if the vehicle manual says you can.

The Mazda6 manual does state how far apart the hooks are, and not to attach a seat if the seat's manual says the distance is too far, so I guess that's half of the answer.

Right now the base is LATCH'ed to the hooks in the rear driver's side position and that's fine with me. However, I'd like to be able to move it to the middle if two passengers are tagging along.

meinrad

I don't have an exact answer for you, but this was my reasoning on my P5. The two inner latches were an inch wider than than using the outboard latches. For 1" I decided I'd mount it in the middle. Might be flawed logic, but I was in the same boat as you in trying to find information, so I went with my own thoughts. In the months of use I noticed no trouble. Now I didn't have an accident, maybe it would have been trouble then. But I never felt like I was endangering my kid.

BTW, which dealer did you use?

accord7

I rented a Mazda6i automatic for the past 3 days in the Phoenix area. I came away from that experience with a little less respect for this message board. For example, all I read here is that the 4 cylinder engine is underpowered when mated to the automatic. That is true only if you need to pass someone "right this second!". I found the car to have sufficient power for 90% of typical driving circumstances. Yet on this board, any reader will get the impression that it is dead slow and a waste of money.

My point is, too many comparisons are being made to BMW's, Audi's etc.. This is a nimble sedan with solid handling, great braking and separates itself well from the other common-class sedans. In my opinion, the 6i auto combination deserves more respect than it's getting. You want best speed, get the M6s. You want adequate speed, get the M6i. One has more "zoom" than the other, but they both have "zoom".

zc1

You will get the same impression from reading any of the Mazda6 boards. Several months ago we test drove a Mz6 I4 with MTX and another with ATX back-to-back and were quite happy with the performance of both of them. We also drove one MTX V6 and didn't find it to be any more suited to our purposes than the I4. We ended up buying a MTX Mz6 hatch with the I4. You really can't go wrong with any of the Mz6 engine + transmission combinations.

sweetsixteen

What do u guys think of the manual transmission for the 6, particulary the 6s. Is it pretty crisp, or is it a typical shifter for sedans?

zc1

I find the Mz6's clutch to be similar to that of the 7th gen Accord (maybe a little bit more abrupt than the Accord) and significantly more abrupt than that of the Mz3. The clutches on the MTX Mz3s that I test-drove were very progressive. For me there was more difference in feel between the shifters of the Mz6 and Accord than between their clutches. I don't know if that helps at all.

jkstew1

Does anyone have the base invoice price for the hatchback? Edmunds only has a price for the sedan.

mazda6s

Edmunds 5-door and wagon pricing will be back up later this week. In the meanwhile check kbb.

Mazda6 5-door i MT base invoice is $19699 including destination charge.

mazdamarla

I have a 6i with Auto Trans and I think it's just fine. I'm not out to race anyone or "prove" anything to anyone. It's got over 50hp more than my old car ('91 MX-6), the brakes and handling are superior, and the "zoom zoom" factor is great in my opinion. :-) And - it's more fuel-efficient than the 6-cylinder, which was a big reason I opted for the 4-cyl instead.

baggs32

meinrad,
We ended up using Don Allen Mazda. If you go there ask for Wayne. He's been there a while and knows what he's doing. If you mention my name, and buy from them, they'll send me $100!

Evenflo finally responded to my LATCH question and basically told me not to secure the base in the middle of the back seat. The distance between the two inner anchors in the Mazda6 is approx. 18 inches. Evenflo stated that our base should not be secured to anchors that are more than 11 inches apart. I guess we'll have to keep him on the sides until he moves into the bigger seat.

Thanks for your help though.

baggs32

I test drove an '03 6i 5-speed last year and thought it was more than adequate for every day driving as well as the occasional weekend drive.

The only reason I didn't get one was because it seemed a little sluggish going up large hills. We have a lot of steep winding hills here in Western PA and I like to have more power than necessary for that reason. The V6 was just plain better going up hills and worth the extra $$$ to me.

The hills are another big reason why we bought an Escape instead of a CR-V too. Not the only reason, but a big one.

robr2

It's too bad that most automakers are providing latch but only on the 2 outboard positions. As Evenflo said, using the two inners won't work.

You can always skip using latch and use the belt if you want the safety aspect of the middle position. But that defeats the purpose of latch.

baggs32

After seeing how tight and secure the LATCH setup is I don't think I want to go back to a belt. Even when done right the belt just isn't as snug. It certainly isn't as easy either!

We're fine with putting him closer to the doors so it's not a big deal that the center position is now out. It just would have been nice to have the option and I do think manufacturers should start offering it.

Seriously, how much could it possibly cost them to add two more hooks, or even move the existing hooks closer together?!!

robr2

I haven't seen a latch setup yet so I can't comment on how good it works. My youngest is now in a 5 point booster with the belt and I'll admit I have to constantly redo the install. Every once in a while I catch up with the town safety police officer who manages to put it in so it doesn't move.

I'm sure hooks in the center position wouldn't cost much more, but it's one more cost.

mazda6s

We have a lot of hills here in NM too, and add to that the altitude which saps about 5% of your power for every 1000ft. It's not real noticeable at 1000 or 2000 feet, but at 5000 feet it is. At that altitude the 2.3L 160hp is more like 120hp. That's one reason why I'll probably opt for the 3.0L.

baggs32

Finally someone who relates! I'm always telling this hill story but it falls on deaf ears when the only people reading it are "flatlanders".

I'm not sure what the elevations are around here but I want to say, locally, the highest point is around 2000 ft.. I could be way off though.

Hot and humid days sap even more of that power making the V6 even more "necessary".

mazda6s

What did it for me was on a hot summer day during a test drive of a 2003 Mazda6 i MT, going up a hill in 2nd gear, and the AC compressor kicked in. Doh!

baggs32

I drove the same model late in the summer on a hot day, A/C running, and two passengers on board. We hit a short, but steep, hill and I had to pull back from 3rd to 2nd and keep the engine speed up to climb it. That experience reminded me too much of our Civic and I couldn't get that one hill out of my head. Every time I thought of the 6i I thought of that one hill. I have to climb several longer, but just as steep, hills every day while going to and from work.

Again, it's a minor gripe as the 6i is no dog by any means. It all comes down to personal preference.

newcar31

"At that altitude the 2.3L 160hp is more like 120hp. That's one reason why I'll probably opt for the 3.0L"

Maybe you should look for something with a turbo.

jkstew1

You gave me an invoice price for the mazda 5dr hatchback i. What about the s? I didn't even realize there was a hatchback i.

mazda6s

I don't like turbos.

mazda6s

Edmunds pricing for the 5-door and wagon is back up.

Invoice for base 5-door s is $21631 including destination charge.

cutemorganite

I have an automatic (can't drive manual) and I think it is just great. People always look at the car as if it is really fast. I love my 6 with the 4 cylinder, because to me, it is fast enough. I wanted the V6, but my dad said I had too many tickets already in a 2000 Kia Sephia. People who don't know much about the car thinks it's a V6 because of the double pipes anyway. My only problem with the car in general is that Cavalier drivers are always trying to race me. I hate to see their faces all broken up when the finally reach me, because they can't beat me. Has anyone else had that same problem with Cavalier drivers?

cop414

You should hook up with sweetsixteen. I hope that I'm not scraping you off a guiderail someday :-(

rock44x

nissan is coming out with an altima SE-R in 2005,

were is the mazdaspeed 6, come on mazda stop play catch up.

audia8q

At the MazdaSpeed Miata meeting they told us the next MazdaSpeed would be an even number car....that was the only hint we could get out of them.

carguy58

I don't think Mazda is playing catch-up. To me if another automaker does one thing Mazda doesn't have to come back with the same thing. I'm surprised Nissan even came out with a SE-R version of the Altima. I could understand the SE-R version for the Sentra because the Sentra is a compact car. The Altima is a family car. I wonder how good the Camry sells in its SE trim. Toyota did put out an SE version of the Camry in the mid 90's to compete with the Maxima at that time but there was no SE version of the Camry for the 1997-2001 model. I wonder why that was.

rock44x

"audia8q" i wish it was the 6 but i think its the RX-8 , i know both the 6 and RX-8 mazdaspeed models are out in Japan.

"carguy58" welcome to the fast and furious generation the 6 and the altima are 2 of the most modified midsize family cars in the states (6 is worldwide). if fact in Japan they have a model the 23z, the 23z is based on the 23S(the 6i hatch in the state) the 23Z employs 18-inch aluminum wheels and 215/45R18 tires, large brake rotors (front: 16-inch, rear: 15-inch), low road noise and superior ride, large muffler cutter and red brake calipers for a sportier appearance. that sound nice, through a turbo on the 2.3l 4cyl out put around 200-240hps for around the price of the wrx and mazda got another hit (well at less for me).

? if for ford had no say in mazda products would the 6s have a v6 and not a turbo4 or even a rotary?

rotarykid

pre-release photos of the hatch and wagon made me want to consider waiting before purchasing a 6 in february. The hatch isnt bad but the wagon is just too plain. mazda's website(over a year ago) had photos that made the car look better than it actuallu is IMO.

carguy58

The Mazda 6 sold 6,428 units in March which was a 60.1 percent increase over March 2003 sales figures for the 6. Overall a great month for Mazda that resulted in a 36.6% increase in March sales. It was Mazda's best selling March since 1996.

baggs32

"It was Mazda's best selling March since 1996."

I believe it! But waiting in line for a salesman, not once but twice, was no fun at all.

darmc96

Remember folks the Mazda 6 was out the year AFTER the Altima was, so Nissan is a year ahead of the 6 in its model cycle. I would wager the 2006 6 will be freshened a bit like the Altima and we may see our performance model at that point.

r2s2

I'm hoping for something like the Mazda MPS concept which debuted at (I think) the Paris Auto Show in 2002 (see top two rows -- I think it's OK to link a site like this):
http://www.freefoto.co.uk/browse.jsp?id=29-22-0

buggywhip

Well, the Mazda6 deserves its new sales success. I just hope it can sell more with fewer rebates and fewer fleet sales. That's the true measure of a successful car.......I priced the 6 at a dealer last wk, via internet. He left little room to haggle. I expressed some interest in a 6i stick but he never bothered to pursue the sale, even when I said I was cross-shopping the Altima and Accord. I may just end up buying a Focus 2.3L--it's massively discounted and same basic engine as 6. I suppose it's a poor-man's 6.

pat

We have this new feature called "Rules of the Road" which is linked at the top of the page. IMHO, it is an excellent presentation of what can be posted and what can't without getting bogged down by all the legalese that seems to be required in the overall governing authority, the Membership Agreement (linked on the left).

If you ever have any question about what may or may not be posted, check the documents at either or both of those two links. If they don't answer your question, feel free to email the host - we'll be glad to respond.

But let me say this - you can link to any relevant article that you find. You may not link directly to another automotive message board. And that's really the bottom line. :-)

If anyone has questions or comments, feel free to either email me or to go over to the Ask the Town Hall Hosts discussion rather than sidetracking this Mazda6 conversation.

newcar31

"I may just end up buying a Focus 2.3L--it's massively discounted and same basic engine as 6. I suppose it's a poor-man's 6."

I have a 6i manual, and I had a 2.3L Focus for a rental car in LA a couple weeks ago.

It was an automatic, but that thing was quick. Best driving rental car I've ever had, easily. It was even decent in the mountains. It rides and handles well too. My car had 20,000 miles on it and no rattles. It felt like it was put together pretty well.

Compared to the 6, it seems a little smaller, and there is definately more road noise. The 2.3L in the 6 seems more refined. Overall, I'd just say the 6 feels bigger and more refined, but I still really like the Focus. I'd personally wait for the 2005 Focus because I think they look better.

mazda6s

Is the current 2.3L engine in the focus the same as in the Mazda6? I thought it wasn't.

newcar31

I don't think the Focus PZEV motor has variable valve timing though. The valve covers look the same.

carguy58

Why not just try another dealer?

On another topic are all Mazda dealers like not in sync with the customer? If Mazda wants to compete wants to compete with Honda and Nissan the dealers must get better.

audia8q

when consumers are asked about their dealerships...Toyota and Honda dealerships have consistently been at the bottom of the list. They have been working very hard to try and correct this problem....overall the domestics and Europeans are the tops when dealership satisfaction is rated.....

carguy58

From my prior experience the Mazda dealer was not like that back in 1998 when I purchsed my Mazda. I'm not saying all Mazda dealers are bad but from what I have seen on these boards Mazda dealers aren't the best with dealing with customers.

I know Honda and Toyota are at the bottom of the list but in customer satisfaction. I think Mazda has to get better with dealing with customers if they want to steal customers from Honda and Nissan.

Yes Honda has to try to correct their problem in terms of dealing with customers. From the last customer service satisfaction survey I saw which was from a year ago on Consumer Reports Honda did move up a little bit. I also read in the Wall Street Journal a month ago Toyota wants to get better at dealing with customers too. I hope Mazda follows Honda and Toyota's lead and gets better with customer satisfaction. Mazda has more customers now then they did 5 years ago so I think Mazda dealers have to be more customer freindly(I think buggywhip pointed that out well in his last last post.)

I haven't seen recent numbers in terms of customer satisfaction by brand.

buggywhip

The Mazda6 2.3L 4cyl. is more sophisticated than the Focus's 2.3L. As newcar31 pointed out, the 6 has VVT; I'm pretty sure the Focus lacks that outstanding feature. And the Focus has 145hp, the 6 has 160hp or so. The Focus is clearly not as nice a car as the 6. But maybe if I close my eyes, I won't notice. The trouble with waiting for the 2005 Focus is that it's dropping the Mazda6 4cyl engine for 2005, except for the high-end performance model. And why get that when you can get a 6??.......I've tried 2 Mazda dealers already. The first dealer advertised itself as having over 100 Mazda6's in stock. It was a fib. I only saw 25, tops, all over $21k. The 2d dealer wouldn't deal, as noted above........the 6 is clearly catching on. I'm very happy for Mazda!!

cutemorganite

Everyday now, I see about 5 Mazda6. Everyone time I see one, I'm like "Beep beep mister", because I get really excited. In a way I am happy because that means Mazda is making more money, I guess the car will be worth more. On the other hand, I don't like it because I like for my car to be a "rare" car, that's why I got the car in the first place. I absolutely love my car. Right now, I am waiting for my passenger side shock to come in because it is leaking, but besides that, I am very happy. The dealer where I got my car here in Baltimore, Md was very efficient. I was greeted when I got out of the car, I was treated as family and not just a random stranger, there was a new owners dinner where we could ask all the questions we wanted and eat good food. I don't know how busy the dealers are now, but in October when I got my car, it was good. My only problem with it was as mentioned before, it was a Mazda/Subaru dealer, so my 6 didn't get the attention it needed. The dealer where I got my car, had 3 lots of Mazdas, Suburas, Volkswagens, and BMWs. I was very satisfied, and I wish I could give the name of the dealer, but I can't. Good luck to everyone on there search.

lmp180psu

I think you can give the names of dealerships, but not salespeople or phone numbers to the dealerships.

Congrats on your Mazda6, and I find myself looking around for other Mazdas to wave to since I got my Mazda3 also

pat

Yes, sharing the name of the dealership is okay -- disclosing names of salespersons and/or specific contact information is not okay. Check our new feature, Rules of the Road, at the top of the page for the details.