Mazda6 Hatchback

carguy58

I don't see a difference really. The Mazda 3 is assembled in Japan, BTW. If you want to talk yourself out of cars you just talked yourself out of the whole Toyota, Nissan, Honda, line-ups basically. Mazda 6 and Mazda Tribute were made in the US and they are rated good except for the 01 Tribute.

r2s2

You might want to talk yourself back into it. I've had my Mazda6s MT since July 15 and love it. Not a single problem so far. I did take it in for the 2 routine recalls a couple weeks ago -- nearly every brand has them these days. Everything was taken care of efficiently; the Mazda dealer provided a free loaner. No hassle.

This Monday I drove an RX-8 for the third time and decided that I like the 6 so much I'm going to keep it instead of going for the 8. BTW, they had several Hatchbacks, which looked great. And the 3 is very nice too.

Good luck.

redc0ugar

I checked on Google...Frank D'anna has issues. Check this http://homepage.mac.com/fdanna/iblog/

r2s2

Yikes. Thanks for the heads-up. BTW, I really did like the hatch, but love my sedan too.

sweetsixteen

I have been looking into getting a MZ6-s but now I am starting to worry. I always knew that ford had input into mazda, and quite frankly I dont trust american built. These posts that I keep seeing about the fordization of mazda is scaring me that this car wont be reliable. I need to drive this car for a long time (7 years), and I hope that it will last me this long with minor problems. My other choice is an acura tsx, and since its 100% japanese built, it looks like a better alternative for a couple grand more. Can someone point me in the right direction please? Thanks.

audia8q

you say..."I dont trust american built"

Does that mean you don't trust Toyota's, Honda's, Nissan's, Mercedes and BMW's?
they all build cars here.

where it's built means nothing.

sweetsixteen

I meant to clarify american products, not location. AKA ford, chevrolet, etc.

jeffm2

I have a Mazda 6 Hatch on order..the Dealer says the build date is April 6, but that they dont have any additional information available.At what point should the dealer have an invoice, or preliminary invoice, or specifications sheet available. Im just curious, and Im sure i didnt use the right wording in my question here, Thanks for any help.

audia8q

the invoice comes in close to the time the car is built...because of delays the dealer problably does not want to give you an exact eta because any delays are out of the dealers control...but consumers like to hold the dealer to the fire if its a week or two late.

mazda6s

Make that "hold their feet to the fire".

jeffm2

I am realistic and know that if it is built Apr 5 I wont be seeing that car until sometime in May.

mazda6s

I like blue, gray, and silver (in that order). But, this car looks really great in red. My dealer is getting in a unit with exactly the options I want, in silver.

The Mazda Lapis Blue isn't really my favorite blue, but it's OK. I find silver easy to keep looking good, easier than the darker colors like the gray. The gray looks expensive but a little drab.

Any thoughts?

mazda6s

I got an e-mail from Edmunds saying that the pricing for the 5-door and wagon will be back up late next week.

mazda6s

And you can search inventory for the 5-door too.

fozzybear

Hi,
I'm seriously thinking of getting the 6 hatchback, as I think it's the coolest looking midsize hatchback around. I talked to a dealer yesterday and he is ready to make a deal as soon as I am.

Was wondering if I should be concerned about buying it this year, as it's such a new release. Would there be similar new release issues like the first year 6 sedan? like rusting etc?

stickguy

mostly the same car from the same factory, so I wouldn't worry about new model bugs. If the staining issue was cured, you should be fine.

markjenn

I agree, the hatch is only a minor variation from the sedan, so you should be well into the sweet spot of the production run when the folks know what they're doing and the design has been reasonably de-bugged.

- Mark

backy

Some photos from the 2004 Greater Twin Cities Auto Show of a 6s 5-door. Very sharp looking I thought (so did my son). Unfortunately, even the 6i is a little more than I want to spend for this type of car right now--about the same as a Prius (but without the gas savings), and much more than a Matrix or Elantra GT without much more room. Great looking, though, and the trick back seat is very clever (seat bottom recesses as the seat back folds).

http://www.tcinternet.net/users/backman5/p1010048.jpg
http://www.tcinternet.net/users/backman5/p1010049.jpg

mazda6s

I can see some potential first-year problems unique to the 5-door, as the hatch door hardware is new, and the back seat is totally different. Other than that I'd say it's fairly safe as everything else is in the second year of production. Personally I'm willing to take the risk.

Life is too short to worry that much.

wolfhouse

It has been on sale for a while now on the other side of the pond. So it is not really a first-year model per se.

villa

big_guy

I find it interesting that there is less rear seat headroom in the 5-door than there is in the 4-door sedan. Typically, you gain a bit of rear seat headroom when you move from the sedan model to the hatch model of vehicles.

The Mazda3 Hatchback has more front and rear headroom and only slightly less front and rear legroom than the Mazda6 5-door. I used the Mazda website pricing worksheets; To get a Mazda3 S Hatchback is about $4000 less than a Mazda6 i 5-door when they are similarly equipped. I may have to drop by the local dealership and take a test drive in each of these vehicles.

mazda6s

You should do that. Drive them back-to-back on the same roads if possible. Turn off the radio and get the salesperson to stop talking. You will probably find the difference is that the Mazda6 feels more solid and substantial, and the Mazda3 feels lighter on it's feet but has more road noise. IMO the Mazda3 S hatch is a terrific value. I'm still having trouble with the decision, though I'm leaning towards the Mazda6 after several test drives.

backy

Take a good look at both. There's a significant difference in rear leg room, but the biggest difference is in the cargo area. The 6 has way more room back there than the 3, with the rear seat up. So if you need to haul passengers in the rear and their stuff, the 6 is the way to go.

zc1

I've posted photos of our Mz6 Sport Hatch at the following URL: http://www.zonecoaster.com/Mz6Hatch/

mazda6s

Nice, but what's with the two-tone grey interior? I haven't seen it before. Is that a Canadian thing? Or is it just the lighting that makes it look different?

rock44x

i saw a hatch today in black on the road in Jersey, nice.

zc1

Thanks. Believe it or not, that's actually the black interior, and it looks *a lot* darker in person. From photos that I've seen online, I think it's similar to (if not the same as) what you have in the USA.

rock44x

saw a hatch at a dealer today, everyone on the lot was loaded going for 27k+.

1)the trunk is huge, really huge.
2)the back head room was not that bad i'm 5'11" and had plenty of room.
3)what happen to the fog light are they an option or what?

kphunk23

Monday night, I picked up my 2004 Lapis Blue Mazda6s Hatchback AT Black interior, fully loaded: Luxury Package, Bose Package, Moonroof, Front & Rear side airbags. Got it all for less than 25,400 and I am loving it. It such a smooth ride, interior is great, i'm gettin some stares every now and then, great handling. So far no regrets in buying this car, granted i have only had for 3 days now.

Rock44X - Fog lights are standard. they just not below the headlights, they are next to them.

mazda6s

Where is the subwoofer located in the 5-door with Bose?

kphunk23

under the spare tire

mazda6s

Cool. That means I'll get better sound if I put the seats down to get my bike in the back, right?

mazda6s

What's the LATCH anchor set up on the 5-door, since there is no rear shelf?

rock44x

can you get the other Fog lights as an option, the Japanese and European model got them.

audia8q

its actually sits in the spare tire, not under it.

mazda6s

I looked at the spare and didn't see it. If it was under the spare that would explain it, but if it's on top then I don't get it.

Anybody know what the LATCH setup is, since there's no rear shelf?

wongpres

The sub-woofer on the hatchback sits on top of the spare tire's steel rim. So in the case of a flat, one would need to remove the sub before taking out the spare (the sub is easy to remove though).

The lower valance fog-lights are not available on the Flat Rock assembled vehicles (regardless of body-style).

mazda6s

Still looking for that LATCH info!!!

mazda6s

Since there is no rear shelf for the LATCH hooks, where are they? The same question would apply to the wagon. Maybe hatches and wagons are exempt from the law?

drivermama

Hi there:

Not sure about the Mazda6 specifically (never been inside one, just browsing here), but on my VW Passat wagon and my husband's Saab 9-3 hatchback, the carseat tethers are on the back on the seat (about midway down on the Passat, near the top on the Saab)--very easy to attach and tighten, holds the carseat secure. I'd assume that the 6 wagon and hatch probably has something similar, although I can't confirm...

Hope that helps...

mazda6s

Thanks for the info. I'll look there.

jlasorsa

I hope this answers some of your questions.
I've had my 6wagon for a week now and love it. Fog lights when you get the sport pkg they come in the headlight cluster not underneath. The sport pkg comes standard on the hatch so fog lights underneath is not an option. The subwoofer does sit on the spare tire with the amp under passenger seat. Latches if your talking about to hook up car seat there's 2 on the back of the back seats. This wagon turns some heads it drives as sweet as it looks, 100mph at 3500 rpm. My friend who drives a BMW 540i wagon saw it and said thats a sweet looking car. Price wise very reasonable a standard wagon with manual trans is 22k mine came with all the optional pkg's came to 27,700. The hatches will be about the same. Zoom Zoom.

hokiedog

Are the cloth seats in the hatchback different from those in the sedan? From a couple of pictures that were posted, they appear to be different.

sweetsixteen

Y does the hatch get one less mpg then the sedan. Has its aerodynamics changed that much?

mazda6s

mazdafun

However, the 2004 specs PDF lists the economy as being the same for all 3 body styles for each trim/transmission combination (s is 19/26 for M/T and A/T [oddly enough...perhaps due to gear ratios?] and i is 24/32 with M/T and 22/28 with A/T).

They list curb weights too. The sedan is lightest. The hatch weighs at least 100lbs more and the wagon weighs another 50-60lbs more than the hatch (depending on transmission choice, compared to the 6cyl hatch).

zc1

Hi. We just moved and I didn't have internet access until now.

The cloth seats in our hatch are different from the regular cloth seats because our car has the GFX package (Canadian-spec), which includes "sporty seat upholstery". I don't remember how the seats are in non-GFX-equipped cars, though (been a long time since I was in one).

As for mileage, we're averaging 25.5 mpg so far with 90% city driving. Our vehicle is a Canadian-spec MTX Mz6 GSI4 hatch (basically the same as the American-spec MTX 6i hatch).

carguy04

I found the cargo capacity for the Hatch while reseaching the Wagon. Hatch is listed at 58.7 with the seat folded, and 22.0 with the seat up. I am very surprised that the Hatch is almost the same as the Wagon with the seat folded, as the Wagon is listed at 60.4, and w/seat folded at 33.7. I would have thought the Wagon would have more cargo capacity due to its' squared off roof line.

toneetouch

I could be wrong, but I think I remember reading that the cargo capacity is measured from the tops of the seats to the cargo floor. So, although the wagon has more, usable, ceiling room, it wouldn't be counted in cargo measurement.

mazda6s

I just noticed that the 5-door financing incentives are better than before-
0.0% for 36mo
1.9% for 48mo
2.9% for 60mo

I wonder if there is still a $1500 dealer incentive in place. If so, I'm sure it's mutually exclusive with the finance offer.