Mazda6 Hatchback

mazda6s

How many 5-doors did you get in? Have you sold any yet?

My local dealer doesn't have any.

audia8q

We only have three right now...one sold. automatic with the full load of options. Once the build configs opened up a bit, we got a few factory orders but they are not scheduled to arrive for a month or so...Many People are not aware it has arrived yet. Once the ad's kick in I expect the sales to do well. We have had some MZ6 sedan owners stop by to take a look and they seem to like it.

The number of people looking for the wagon is surprising me. I think it may do better than some are expecting.

rock44x

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2004/mazda/6/index.html?tid=edmunds.n.- - mmindex.content.num2.0.mazda*

Sylvia

Long-Term Test: 2003 Mazda 6
http://www.edmunds.com/used/2003/mazda/6/100195195/roadtestarticl- e.html?articleId=100173&editorialpage=page004

audia8q

Please email me your email...I have some Flat Rock pics to send over for everyone to see but I don't know how to post them...maybe you can help.

thanks
Rich

zc1

I can host the images if you want. My email address is public (I can't see yours).

negative

Has anyone who has actually driven or sat in the hatchback checked out the rearward visibility compared with the sedan? I just came back from the dealer's lot (on a Sunday). Looking through the driver's window of the one hatchback there, it seemed to me that the hatchback probably has a much larger blind spot than the sedan. I would prefer the versatility of a hatchback, but I also like knowing where everything is around me, without having to rely on mirrors.

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likaglov

Can anyone confirm the interior color choice on the Red M6s 5-door? The picture on the Mazda site says gray or black, but the text says beige or black.

Also, how does the volcanic red compare to the surefire red of the sedan?

Finally, does the $1500 rebate apply to the 5 door and sedan, or just sedan? According to Edmunds, it's both, according to Mazda website it's only the sedan (and only 2.9% financing on the 5 door/wagon).

THANKS in advance.

mazda6s

- I think it's beige, but I could be wrong. All red sedans have beige or black, but the 5-door red is a different color, so maybe. We need to have Rich check his order sheet for this one.

- From the photos I've seen, the Volcanic Red is really RED compared to the sedan's red. Looks great on the 5-door, IMO.

- Sedan only, at least until March 31. Personally, I always try to save as much money as possible, but in this case I'm probably going to just say "screw it, give me the frickin car" and pay the extra $$$.

audia8q

H/B red is called Volcanic red and interior is black or gray.

jlasorsa

My dealer in OK. got their 1st Hatch in. A red with black interior had everything except leather and moonroof for 24k. Took it for test drive loved it very solid and responsive. Good news my wagon was built today bad news I still have to wait for it to get here 1st week april. I'm counting the days.

manavi

"My dealer in OK. got their 1st Hatch in. A red with black interior had everything except leather and moonroof for 24k."

What other options are there? You mean it had power windows and power locks? An automatic transmission? Wow! Loaded!

mazda6s

I saw my first 5-door today, in Volcanic Red. It really looks great in that color!

mazda6s

I noticed that the sport grille on the 5-door has changed for the better. The little indentations have been changed to eliminate the holes - an inprovement when it comes to cleaning the grille. The number of these little indentations has been decreased as well.
They seem to have found some more "V6" badges for the doors. They are now putting them above the protective strip on the door. Older builds had them below the strip.
The center brake light is now in the rear hatch itself so there's no light in the spoiler. And the rear hatch has a more pronounced "lip" at the top where the brake light is - looks better than the sedan IMO.

zc1

I've posted some photos from the auto show on my site.
http://www.zonecoaster.com/AutoShow/
There are photos of the hatch, wagon and sedan. I suspect that pretty much everyone has seen tonnes of photos of the orange hatch by now, but I went ahead and posted my photos anyway. I hadn't seen any red wagons until this show and, for some of you, those photos might be of more interest than the hatch photos. If any of you would like to see even larger versions of any of the photos on my site then I can post those, too.

lancerfixer

...and unfortunately, it IS kind of a disappointment. It's finally got rear headrests, which they should also put into the sedan. Sadly, though, the seats are the same...way short in the thigh support department and too short vertically. The headrest seemed insubstantial, too, but maybe that's because I'm coming from a Volvo. Rearward lane change visibility sucks, too. I was really hoping for a home run, and it's really more of a solid double. Time to look elsewhere, I guess.

mazda6s

Unfortunately it was a 4-cyl auto, but that was all they had.

Good news, there is no more road noise in the 5-door than in the sedan. There is no remote hatch release, it just locks with the key fob. There's a latch on the hatch itself. No big deal, IMO. The seats fold flat like in the wagon, with the seat bottom moving forward and down. A clever idea and excellent design. There are 4 cargo tie-downs on the hatch area, and they're metal unlike the plastic ones in the Mazda3. And, there are two nice covered storage areas on the sides of the cargo area. The hatch opens WIDE! Good for gettin your bike or TV or whatever in there.

I didn't see a problem with rear visibility at all, and I drove several miles in city and freeway traffic with plenty of lane changes.

Does anyone know where they put the Bose subwoofer in the 5-door since there is no rear shelf?

Bottom line, this is a great car for those like me that want a little more utility than a sedan offers but prefer not to get a wagon. And the 5-door is way sexier-looking than the sedan. Not, if I just had the balls to get a red one, as it looks great in that color! But I don't, so I'll probably get the blue, gray, or silver.

bostongio

The attraction of the 5-door to many was that it looks pretty darned similar to the sedan. How it could look "way sexier" is beyond me, when there is so little difference between the two. I've seen and compared them side-by-side and you have to look pretty hard to distinguish them (ignoring the wiper).

And at $2500-3500 more premium than the sedan at the moment, it's a difficult purchase to justify for most. Mazda sales and marketing again shot themselves in the foot with the launch of these models -- never launch new models when your existing models carry such significant incentives!

mazda6s

I think the reason why it looks better is because the C-pillar meets the trunk a few inches further back. But, I guess like a lot of things it's in the eye of the beholder.

How do you figure the premium is $2500-3000? The customer incentive is only $1500 or 0% financing on the 04 sedan, and the 5-door has 2.9% financing. I expect these to change when the current plan runs out on March 31 anyway. And as soon as the 5-doors reach the lots in quantity and inventory comes up this will all change anyway. It won't take long, the trucks are rolling.

rock44x

i don't want to come off mean but what did you expect, the mazda6 hatch is design right from the 6 sedan, they came out together in Europe and Asia in '02 on the same platform, the mazda6 sedan, hatch/sport, and wagon and now finally made it to the states, the only different is that one has a trunk and the other a hatch thats it. for mazda to design a whole new car just to put a hatch on it wouldn't be very financially smart for mazda/ford. the hatch is good for people who want more cargo room and a sporty look than anything on the market, sport car looks, sedan 5 passages room, suv/wagon utility and cargo room.
a home run for some but not for all.

taddison

The subwoofer in the 5-door sits in the middle of the donut spare wheel. I've seen this arrangement on a few other cars also.

lancerfixer

Clearly you missed my point. I know it's not a whole new car. My point was that while it did address my gripe about the rear headrests for '04 (and in the hatchback and presumably the wagon only...why not the sedan?), it didn't address my other chief complaint, and that was the front seats. They're inadequate, plain and simple. (Again, I'm coming out of a Volvo, so maybe I've been really spoiled in the seat department.) I drove an '03 sedan when they came out; my main complaints then were the lack of rear headrests and the non-supportive front seats (not only a comfort issue, but a safety one, as well, especially from rear-end impacts.) I wanted to give the hatch another shot because I like the idea of a 5 door hatch and I'm not about to buy a Korean car or a used Saab 9-3 to get one. I could probably learn to live with and compensate for the rearward blind spot in time (that C pillar is huge,) but I drive cross country twice a year and frequently make long highway trips in state. To do so in that seat would be, to me, anyway, excruciating after about an hour or so. What I found ironic is that I sat in a 3 sedan they had in the showroom...those seats felt much better.

Please don't get me wrong...I really wanted to like this car. I love the handling. The ergonomics aren't bad. Steering feel is about as good as it gets in a front drive car (especially at this price point.) It's a couple year old design, though, and it shows. I'd say that if you weren't stuck on getting a 6 cylinder engine, the 3 sitting on the lot right next to the 6 is a superior car.

rock44x

black for me but that red is hot.
pic of 23z form japan in red with 18 in. rims

http://special.atenza.mazda.co.jp/img/atenza_5_800.jpg

mazda6s

I looked at the spare and didn't see a subwoofer there, just a tray for the jack and stuff.

orangelebaron

I finally saw the 6 hatch today. A loaded 5 speed 6cyl. I sat in the back and my head touched the roof (I'm almost 5'11"). In order to make the rear seatbacks fold flat...mazda made the rear seat cushion too low and flat. I found the stuffing in the driver's bottom cushion to be almost overkill right behind the knees.

Most dissapointing, the roof liner was not tucked into the rear pillar trim properly and was popped out. That makes you wonder what else may not have been tucked in properly.

I could not drive it because it had not been prepped.... but that cargo area sure is huge!

It's a beautiful car... but for now I will stick to my 3 order.

rock44x

i get your point but the truth is that mazda/ford lowered the grade of seat for the mazda6 in the US, but no car is perfect.
pic of Atenza 23s/mazda6 interior in Japan.

http://www.bedformazda.com/Mazda/Car_Pictures/Mazda6/Mazda6_Sedan- _Dash.jpg

http://www.bedformazda.com/Mazda/Car_Pictures/Mazda6/Mazda6_Hatch- _Back-Seats.jpg

lancerfixer

See, now why couldn't we get those seats? Cost cutting, or the traditional dumbing down of the product for the North American market (something Mazda's not alone in being guilty of, to be sure.) I can tell already those are superior just by looking at them...as orangelebaron said, the knee bolsters are too large and (for me anyway) actually hit more toward mid-thigh, which is very distracting and uncomfortable. I've only got a 29" inseam, so I know I'm not the only one to notice that the front seat cushions are too short. If there were a Recaro dealer near me, I'd check into aftermarket long-distance touring seats and call it good, I think. The rear seat's not a huge issue for me as most of the time it'll be occupied by two child seats (but I like the rear head restraints for those occasions where I have to remove the child seats and carry adults.)

taddison

Well, one of the 5-doors I saw at the Dallas Autoshow had a big plastic frame sitting in the spare tire that said Bose on it, though the subwoofer itself appeared to be missing - I assumed they stripped it for the show to prevent theft. I haven't seen one at a dealer yet so perhaps the one I saw was pre-production, not the real thing.

orangelebaron

If anyone wants to see a bad case of dumbing down... look at the Opel website, go to the Signum model and then look how much less the Chevy Malibu has!

The Opel has headlights that move!!! and side airbags with curtains...not JUST curtains as in the Malibu.

—G

lancerfixer

Like I said, Mazda isn't by any means the only guilty party here...

fdanna

You mean automakers take away features that they feel Americans won't notice are missing in the Euro/Japan conversion so they can save a buck? "I'm shocked and amazed," he said, dripping with sarcasm.

Ford did this with the Focus. All the neat-o whizbang european model features were stripped. We're now seeing the Fordization of Mazda. It's a slow painful process but when it's complete, we'll have substandard vehicles to go along with the rest of the Ford family line-up.

carguy58

The industry is going through a heavy cost cutting period in the North American Car Market. If you want to talk about cost-cutting look at Nissan's interiors. I wish people wouldn't victimize Mazda so much because of Ford when Nissan is guilty of the some of the same stuff that Mazda does. The current interior in the Toyota Camry isn't a thing of beauty either. Thats what I don't like Toyota and Nissan cut costs and nobody acts like they notice. When Mazda does it oohh its Ford. You have to call it both ways when it comes to cost cutting not just one way. As far as Mazda becoming Ford I wish people would stop saying that. The interior in the Infinti G35 is not very good and its a Nissan product.

mazda6s

Maybe they're updating it with the 5-door info!

r2s2

I don't think there's much sign of "Fordization," as you put it. Clearly you're an angry Ford Focus owner who wants to denigrate Ford here through unfounded statements about Mazda. Ford seems to be "letting" (Ford only owns 34 percent of Mazda) Mazda develop good new products, including the 3, 6, and RX-8, and has returned much corporate leadership to the Japanese. In fact, Mazda seems to be serving sort of as Ford's platform R&D group: at least 10 future Fords will be based on the Mazda6 platform, according to the auto journalists. There is nothing wrong with the 6's quality, beyond a few first-year issues which have been limited in scope and have been largely eliminated. And according to some posts here and elsewhere, the Mazda3's quality and content may even surpass the 6's in some respects. Things are looking up, not down, since Mazda's nose-dive of the '90's.

fdanna

CLEARLY you're not aware that 34% ownership is controlling interest in a company. Ford owns Mazda. It's not JUST 34%. The platform is Ford and the engine is a Ford block. If that's not cause for alarm, I guess I'm overreacting. It's at least cause for suspicion.

Oh you've found out my evil plan to subvert the hopes of Mazda owners by injecting my hatred of all things Ford. You are far to clever for me.

r2s2

You sound very familiar . . .

rock44x

so how much of mazda does ford own?

and i thought the mazde6 platform is mazda made just based on the Euro-market Ford Mondeo?

mazda6s

We all know Ford owns 33% (or is it 34%) of Mazda, and we all know that constitutes control of the company. If your opinion is that this means all Mazdas will be crap, so be it. If you think the Mazda6 and Mazda3 specifically are crap because Ford controls Mazda, back it up with some facts we don't already know.

Meanwhile, you should probably so buy a Honda so you don't lose any sleep.;)

kenoka

Quite the contrary. The NEW Mazda6 platform will be used to underpin the next generation Ford Mondeo, along with several other products.

redc0ugar

Oh Gawd I have a headache! Mazda? Ford? How about Americans? Please read this article...I'm hoping the hostie doesn't find a problem with it. The diversity of cultures @ AAI would send most of you into a tail spin. If you're so afraid of buying a vehicle influenced by Ford...maybe you don't deserve our craftsmanship, skill and dedication we workers inject into the SIX. Please quit the arguing and enjoy the vehicle, it's rare that a car is born in the price range with the handling and satisfaction the SIX exudes. http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/stang15_20040315.htm

jeffm2

Very Interesting Article...Thanks alot.
You guy's built my Oldest Daughter a 99 Cougar (ash gold) and on April 5 you are scheduled to build the younger daughter a Lapis Blue Mazda 6 Hatchback...If this one is as good as the Couger shell be very happy.

fdanna

I've not said (or typed) that any Mazda product is crap. The Mazda6, while not flawless, is a good car, despite Ford's hands touching it. I will point out, however, that the rust problem on the 6 was not encouraging. Mazda handled it better than Ford would have and the press really didn't bother reporting it.

I *do* need to go buy a new car. No more American cars for me... EVER. And unfortunately I'd be a hipocrit if I went and bought a Mazda after all the nasty letters I sent to ford telling them that I would never buy one of their cars again, subsidiaries included.

God if they buy Toyota and Honda I'm screwed! :-)

zor

I see here that the 6 has a rust issue. Mazda Corporate has taken 2 months "researching" answers to a few questions I have before deciding whether to buy one. Perhaps someone here can help.

1) What type of corrosion prevention, if any, is used on the 6?

2) Does the traction control work by reducing engine power alone, or does it also brake the wheel that is losing traction?

3) Would installing Eibach springs intended for the 6 void the drivetrain warranty?

Respectfully,

-Zor

mazda6s

So you're implying that the Mazda6 rust problem was a result of "Ford's hands touching it"?

kenoka

Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you have no intention of buying the 6 (or by your admission any Mazda car) then why are you on this discussion?

mazda6s

Good question. I was wondering that myself.

carguy58

"I do need to go buy a new car. No more American Cars for me...EVER."

Than I guess you are screwed. The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord are mostly built in the US. The Corolla and Civic are built in Canada.

As for Ford influence on Mazda its just haters. All the bad Mazda's reliability have been rebadged Ford's. The 6 is not a rebadged Ford. As far as Mazda using a Ford block or a Ford platform who cares. Mazda has finsihing touches on the Block and the Ford platform Mazda adds their own twist on.

mazda6s

Are there any "pure" Japanese cars anyomre? I mean, can you find one with NO US content on the label? How about a Lexus ot Infiniti?

No wait, didn't an American (Deming) go to Japan to teach the Japanese about quality? Oh no, that means there are NO Japanese cars untouched by Americans!

fdanna

I guess I *was* considering a mazda (3 or 6). I've talked myself out of it.
C'est la vie.