So a fellow town haller test drove the car in my drive way. Questions you should never ask,..."so did you drive it nice?" Ya right...
After we returned from our test drive, another guy and salesman asked my salesman for the keys. The guy looking was salivating as if he'd just come out of a Rally car and wanted to do the same with the 6. When the other salesman asked mine for the keys, I promptly replied, "It's sold"
By the way, any aftermarket for the home link/compass mirror?
Nope. I work for the company that makes the Homelink mirrors :-) and we don't sell them aftermarket at all. Strictly to the manufacturer/OEM. I think the only other way is if you ask the DEALER to put it in. I think they can get them. But that's it.
i started to look at the i with abs but couldnt fint it. the alternative was the accord lx. i am going to get a 6s without any options, so i will have the abs. if you try to find a6i with abs, u will pay more.
to anyone else, or is it just my computer? I keep getting "error" and "run time" and "debug" pop-ups whenever I refresh any of the pages, and all the buttons are just those white boxes with red "x"s in them. Is it just my computer, or is there a problem with the Edmunds site?
I haven't heard anyone else having those kind of problems, mazdamarla, but please go to Town Hall New Look and report what is happening for you. Try to be as specific as you can - where you were, what you did, and what you actually saw/what actually happened (as opposed to non-specific statements such as "it didn't work"). Also report your browser and version, and OS and version.
It's possible that whatever is happening to you is related to the changes that have been made in the last few days.
The manager passed out the new ordering configs this week. If you want me to email you a copy on my excel spread sheet just send me an email. I should have it redone this weekend.
By the way for the 6s manual lovers... I over heard a manager using some pretty strong language to Mazda this morning when he found out that this last allocation of cars only included 35 V6 5-speeds....for the whole country.
I took a test drive in a 6s automatic this morning. I'll post my good and bad remarks as follows:
The seats were very good. They looked too small and seemed overly firm initially, but they were actually very comfortable, no problem here.
The automatic changed gears very crisply, not lagging as some posters have mentioned. I may not be the most aggressive driver on the road, but it certainly was adequate for my driving style. I wanted to drive a manual 5-speed, but none were available.
The engine was strong and really quiet. I noticed how quiet it was even as I was driving between 4-5000 rpm's. In contrast, my 1995 Accord 4-cyl gets very loud at 2,500 rpm's.
Car was well built with the following exceptions, which is where my bad comments come in. The glove box door didn't fit right and a plastic panel left of the radio was also poorly fit. The largest problem was with the door locks. After the test drive, I'm talking to the salesman in the car and I lock and unlock the doors with the remote. The locks then, totally on their own, continue to lock and unlock for the next two minutes! This didn't sour me on the driving experience, but makes me wonder about it's reliability. Anybody know if Mazda's locks are supposed to engage on their own for whatever reason?
For all those that are wanting a stickshift V-6 Mazda 6, there is a blue one, with a sport pack at Bob Penkhus in Colorado Springs. It is unspoken for at this moment, and it is the only one in Colorado. I know this as I was supremely disappointed I had already purchased an automatic three days before when I really really ridiculously wanted a stickshift.
Cheers
P.S. Black Paint and Colorado Roads do not mix well, trust me, my 6 went from black to brown in 3 hours.
I've been told that black or dark colored cars appear to show dirt more than white or light colored ones. Doesn't seem logical, but seems to be true from my observations.
There is a link at the top left of the page (just below the "Welcome" message) that says "My Profile" -- you can go there and opt to make your email address public. I believe that when you register it defaults to private. (It hasn't always been that way, but it seems to have been that way recently.)
It's true. White shows less dirt and dust than any other color, IMO. In fact, most dark colors show dust and makes you want to wash it far more than on a light colored car. Dark paint also shows water spots, swirl marks from waxing, acid rain damage, etc... My car that is 8 years old and white still looks magnificent. I'm sure there is paint damage there, I just can't see it unless I go looking for it.
Assuming you heard that manager correctly, Mazda had better get on the ball and ramp up production at Flat Rock. And a buyer isn't gonna chase all around Colorado to find the one lone v-6 stick in the state. This is all sounding absurd........the new Honda Accord has only been out mere months longer than the 6. Yet, the new Accord is in ample supply in all configs. Heck, they're even dealing on them in my area..........I visited the biggest Mazda dealership in my state (MA). They had NO 6's on the lot and only a few in the showroom. Yeah, fat chance that they'd be dealing on those.........I can understand that Mazda is probably taking it slow at Flat Rock, working out the kinks and such on the assembly line. And demand for the 6 is probably higher than they anticipated. But meanwhile, Honda is literally flooding the market with cars, as is Nissan--and they're dealing on them too. People will only wait so long, and they'll only pay so much too.
I agree to a point, but the transformation from 626 to Mazda6 was a lot bigger change. And the Honda IS a mass market car, while the 6 is a niche player. There SHOULD be about 5 times more Accords out there, even if both cars had been out the same amount of time.
To me two biggest issues facing the 6 right now are assuring quality does not disappoint the early adopters (people forget how long they waited for a car, but they will not forget and will tell many others about bad quality) and the coming of the hatchbacks and wagons.
Anyone know how early US sales are doing compared to Mazda projections? My local dealer has gotten in exactly three, sold none, and has already marked the price down by $1000 BEFORE negotiation begins. By the way, one is an automatic s, the other two are automatic i's. NO manuals. No sport packages, either. This at a relatively large FORD dealer in a small metropolitan area. Only Mazda dealer for at least 50 miles in any direction.
You surely have a point--Honda is the master of Accord market saturation. Honda has a huge dealer network, a massive publicity machine, and hordes of devoted owners........the Mazda 6 has far fewer cheerleaders and pundits. It's an unproven family sedan entering the most cutthroat market segment. There's not much to recommend it over Accord/Altima except great handling and styling--and even then, those attributes are largely subjective........It's understandable that Mazda is mostly releasing automatic 6's right now. But I hope to see 4-cyl sticks soon.
"To me two biggest issues facing the 6 right now are assuring quality does not disappoint the early adopters (people forget how long they waited for a car, but they will not forget and will tell many others about bad quality)"
How True. I extended the lease 3 months on my 99Mill S to get the 6 and now that I have it I hope Mazda can respond quickly to the issue of the manumatic "sticking" when trying to shift. The two other issues with the plastic parts (eyeglass holder sticking and not opening, and the fuse cover won't stay on) are minor, but annoying. At this time, for my reputation, I cannot recommend a Mazda. I would not want to recommend to someone, only to have same problem. Of course that will change if I am satisfied with the fixes quickly.
The midwest region. That is 170 stores. They actually made 201 for the whole country which is 771 stores.
Ramping up quick doesn't happen so easily. They already have orders for "X" number off parts and their suppliers also have to provide. Obviously they made an ERROR when projecting the need for the V6 MT. No matter how many dealers told them to make more they stuck to their guns on sales of the 626 MT V6. OOOPS!
Ordering a car should take 60-90 days right now. The cars we are ordering so far for customers have been accepted. Mazda accepted 5 orders last week and they were specific customer orders. I know initially that doesn't leave us with many cars for people to drive but they are making changes.
You said you work for the company that makes the Homelink mirror. I am also in the auto industry and can put two and two together. So if I may ask, what dealers did you go to for the 6. I've been looking at Borgman in Grand Rapids. They seem to have great sales staff and service. My girlfriend bought an '02 Pro in July from them.
I'm sure Mazda would rather have too few manuals than too many. They figure that many people who were curious about the manual transmission would just go ahead and get the automatic if the manual was not available. The shortage of manuals could also create a "buzz" around the car that could make it more desireable. On the other hand, if they had too many manuals, they would sit unsold and be marked down since people who wanted an automatic are much less likely to consider the manual. Most people looking at 4-door family sedans really do want an automatic. At the end of the year, if they really beleive they lost sales because they made far too few V6 manuals for 2003, they will increase production for 2004. Maybe in 2004 there will be a Mazda Speed version with more power than the Accord and Altima and manual transmision.
That's right. They're going to be very conservation on the numbers of MT units produced. They can't risk having a lot or unsold stock sitting around. MT lovers (like me) are likely to have to do a factory order, or choose another model.
... because it helps portray the car with the image that Mazda wants. They want the public to believe that the 6 is the ultimate affordable sports sedan, and the message sounds hollow and insincere if they don't promote the manual transmission. That doesn't mean that lot and lots of potential 6 buyer necessarily want to go with the stick, but just the fact that it's offered completes the sports sedan image.
the number of MT they make. It takes 6 mos to make a major production change. Losing sales to other manufactures is not desirable either. It just takes a bit to get your suppliers up to your demands. If I remember correctly Mazda is ramping up to 30% of the V6 being MTs soon. I tink a little more down the road to catch up and then back down to 30%. BMW and Audi know that real car lovers prefer an MT when circumstances permit.
The same dealer who told me it would take 12-14 weeks to order a 6s with MT also said the plant at Flat Rock has NO manual transmissions available to even install if they wanted to crank some out. Who knows what to believe.
I too thought the leather was a little uncomfortable when I first sat on it (I thought it was just a little more comfortable than the leather in the Tiburon) but if they had had the car I wanted on the lot, I would have purchased it anyway. Fortunately for me, they DIDN'T have what I wanted, instead they had the color combination (black with beige interior) but it was cloth seats. In order to make the deal, they offered to put an after market leather in it, if I made them an offer.
My advice for anyone who is thinking about getting leather interior is to try to find a dealership that has the car you want with cloth seats, and when you're ready to make an offer, tell them you really wanted leather. Most dealerships will offer to put a much better quality leather than the one originally from Mazda. The name on the leather that was put in my car was called "Classic Soft Trim". I don't know who makes it or if it's offered by All car dealers. But I know it's 100% softer than the original. The dealer will tell you that it'll cost $1200 dollars (or more) to have them install it, but this is definetly negotiable. If they want to make the sale you can probably get it for the sticker or invoice price, depending on how desperate they are, and how good a negotiator you are.
This whole manual vs. automatic availability thing is pretty weird.
I've always preferred manuals and for most cars, this is what I am shopping for. But it doesn't seem to matter what the car is, when you show up at the dealer and ask about a manual transmisson car, the salespeople always roll their eyes and act like I'm asking for a date with Brittney Spears. "Oh, those are really, really hard to find - if you want to pay full price, we might be able to find one a few states away," is their usual response. "Any anyway, you don't want to drive a car like this in the traffic around here, do you?".
On the other side of the fence, mfgs are continually saying that manual transmissions are in such low demand, that they feel like there is no point in even offering one. How can something that is in such short supply from the customer side have such low demand from the mfg's side?
It is almost like there is some built-in bias in the dealer system to push people away from manuals. I wonder if the dealers are so oriented towards pushing for an on-the-spot sale, that they push buyers heavily into a one-size-fits-all solution (an automatic) since, as someone else noted, manual drivers can drive an automatic, but not necessarily vice-versa. If they can condition the market to on transmission, then they increase their odds that they can sell a car off the lot today.
I continue to hope that a car mfg with some guts will finally tell the dealer network to go jump in a lake and allow customers to order exactly the car we want (preferably on the net) with the dealer acting only as a delivery and service agent. I don't think Mazda can build a car in Flat Rock as quickly as Dell can build my custom computer, but there is really no reason the order/delivery cycle couldn't be shaved down to a matter of a couple weeks.
This bias to sell people into cars that are not their first choice, is, in my mind, just another example of a dealer system that lives to service its high overhead sales practices rather than serving customers. Somebody that breaks out of this wasteful system is going to be very popular and make a lot of money.
You're funny. A conspiracy? What company that plans on staying in business won't give their customer what they want? Most dealers wouldn't carry as many manuals as ATs on their lot even if they were available (In most product lines). The majority of folks out there buying cars just aren't as much of enthusiast as we are. The ATs are usually the first ones to go and the MT are what's left. Unless of course you are looking at a Miata...then it is good luck for an AT...order it.
Why don't you just order your car the way you want it?
When you are looking at a first run car, some folks are paid too much money to give an educated guess on what models you should build the most of. Apparently they got that MT/AT thing wrong.
Someone else here actually said that the Honda folks have it right for the mix. DUH. Just how long has the Accord been out to look at it's sales history? They'd better have it right by now.
It just takes time to change production. It takes a lot more time than building a computer. So many parts on the computer can be found by many different manufacturers. The vehicle parts are so specialized and contracted out to other companies. The company Mazda orders 20,000 transmissions from (JATCO) builds them with parts and bolts etc, they get from other contractors too. When we ask for 10,000 more they have to ask for more parts to make them. It is not a simple phone call. It is contracts and bids all the way down the line and we know that bureaucracy is never fast. It just plain takes time.
Hope this helps put this in perspective and quell the conspiracy theory.
I initially went to Borgman to look at one, since I was over that way a couple weeks ago. Sat in one of the red/burgundy ones that was inside the dealer, talked to a female salesperson. At that point I just wanted to see what they looked like, etc. Then as I was over there doing other stuff, I also went to GO Mazda on the other end of 28th St. and they had a Blue one in stock. Borgman hadn't. So I got to see what that color was like, decided I didn't like it. That following week I contacted my HR and got the info for our Supplier Discount and contacted Crown, which is more local to me. That's where my neighbor now works as a salesman, so he looked up my Supplier Discount prices for me on versions I specified. Then I saw the pictures of the Hatch and had to disappoint him by telling him I'm waiting for the Hatch to be released here. hee hee.
When I DO buy it'll prolly be from Crown since they're closest to me. And with the supplier discount, no matter where I'd go the price would be the same anyway.
FWIW, I've seen several of BOTH the 4 and 6 cylinders, both MT and AT. There doesn't seem to be too much of a shortage in my area, on dealer's lots. I don't THINK I've seen any actually driving around town, tho. Hopefully it'll stay that way. I know it's cool to drive a car that not many other people have. It's still that way with my '91 MX-6. When I first got it, I'd hear people say "what's THAT car?" and point at it. Felt good.
a car it was suppose to take 30 days, it took 10 weeks. I ordered special paint, Cobalt Firemist Blue metallic, a Cadillac color, on a 1968 Riviera. They had never used paint with that much metal flake in it, they had to paint the car three times.
The first time, they didn't order enough paint. The second time, the paint on the front fenders and hood didn't match the rest of the car. The third time, they got it right. The wait was for the paint mix to be sent from Cadillac.
There were 14 stickers on the windshield, the number of times the dealer telephoned to ask about the order.
When you order a car there may be unexpected delays, allow for them.
These days, cars on the line have been programmed into a computer so the right parts arrive at the assembly line points at the right time. They do not have X-number of MTs in a wharehouse. All parts are J.I.T. delivery from suppliers preprogrammed to match up with body colors and models.
Mazda isn't Burger King -- "Have it your way!" -- and fast.
There seem to be dealers out there getting a healthy dose of manuals. Manuals are out there, although I haven't found them in the likeliest places. According to Mazda's vehicle locator Putnam Mazda - which is probably the largest Mazda Dealer in the greater bay area - has about 30 6's (how do you write Mazda6 or Mazda6s in plural form, BTW) on it's lot but only 1 6i manual which is completely stripped. Bill Lang Mazda (a much smaller dealer) on the other hand has about 10 6's on hand, 4 of which are manuals (2 each of i and s guise). Bill Lang carries more sporty models (they usually have several miatas and sell the Mazdaspeed Pro).
Anyways, one last note. Sorry if this may have been mentioned earlier, and I don't know how much weight Ann Job's authority with automotive reviews has on the Mazda6 crowd, but MSN Autos has her review on hand. She gave it a 7.5 directing criticism to "no bargain pricing," unknown reliability (compared to the Camry for the 6's price point) and the smaller size (compared to the accord, where I noticed only one measurement offered any valid criticism, if any). And, I thought she was the anti-soccer mom.
I was able to test a Lapis Blue 6i in Portland, OR. Since I can't drive stick, I had to take an automatic but I absolutely loved it. Currently I dive a Ford Focus and the 6 handles better, yet I can't say that it is a better vehicle. By far the 6 is a better "driver's" car but not a "friendly" vehicle.
The car was a joy to drive (and to anyone in Portland check out Tonkin, for they will take you on a GREAT test drive with both interstate driving and hilly curves in the residential area). It handled great, took curves with barely a notice, also took speed bumps with aplomb, yet it let you know what was going on with the road. The trunk size literally made my draw drop. I couldn't believe how large it looked, and the spring-loaded seat backs were great too. Once inside the car, problems developed.
My Focus seems to have better interior features. The interior matertials were fine (soft plastic above the midway point of the dash, hard below) and the "plastic-anium" was attractive enough. The air vents will take some getting use to for they have 270 degrees of movement. Also I wished that the trunk release was somewhere more convenient than in the glove compartment (which happened to be a bit small). Since it was a sport packaged car, the electoluminescent gauges were great, but the black interior was a bit of a downer. Also the car was more noisy during acceleration than my Focus but not as noisy during cruising speed.
Overall, I loved the car. The sales-people were great and the car was more than I expected. I DEFINITELY plan on buying one though I need to decide if I should wait for the hatchback. Though it does not have some of the features of my Focus it will make a great upgrade and it is a blast to drive. Also the Lapis Blue is GORGEOUS!
Take a second look for the trunk release. It's located in front of your left knee on the lower side of the dash. The switch in the glove box is the valet lockout.
The most useless auto-review service on the net IMO.
I like C+D (to see how well the car drives/handles), CR (for troublespots, although their ranking of the "best" cars is troublsome) and Canadian Driver (a good mix of enthusiasm and practicality).
Is called something else and looks VERY different here in Canada. Saw the 6 brochure and our blue resembles the MP3 blue or WRX rally blue, not the dark navy you guys get in the US.
does anyone know what the 0-60 mph speed is for the automatic 6s if using the manual shifting mode versus automatic mode? Is there a difference in speeds?
it's probably not significant at all. The manumatic is no different than shifting a standard automatic from L-2-3-D, but at least Mazda lets you go past the redline.
Comments
After we returned from our test drive, another guy and salesman asked my salesman for the keys. The guy looking was salivating as if he'd just come out of a Rally car and wanted to do the same with the 6. When the other salesman asked mine for the keys, I promptly replied, "It's sold"
By the way, any aftermarket for the home link/compass mirror?
'Always checkin my 6 in C. Springs'
I grew up in NJ and sarcasm is built into our DNA...it comes from the refineries in Newark.
But the sedan looks trashy.
Looks like the designers made the coupe first and then adapted the design for the sedan.
They finally had the pricing for all models w/all option packages. They ALL come w/ABD w/EBD.
If anyone wants more info, I will post more.
Dinu
Doesn't happen elsewhere when I surf, etc. ????
It's possible that whatever is happening to you is related to the changes that have been made in the last few days.
By the way for the 6s manual lovers... I over heard a manager using some pretty strong language to Mazda this morning when he found out that this last allocation of cars only included 35 V6 5-speeds....for the whole country.
The seats were very good. They looked too small and seemed overly firm initially, but they were actually very comfortable, no problem here.
The automatic changed gears very crisply, not lagging as some posters have mentioned. I may not be the most aggressive driver on the road, but it certainly was adequate for my driving style. I wanted to drive a manual 5-speed, but none were available.
The engine was strong and really quiet. I noticed how quiet it was even as I was driving between 4-5000 rpm's. In contrast, my 1995 Accord 4-cyl gets very loud at 2,500 rpm's.
Car was well built with the following exceptions, which is where my bad comments come in. The glove box door didn't fit right and a plastic panel left of the radio was also poorly fit. The largest problem was with the door locks. After the test drive, I'm talking to the salesman in the car and I lock and unlock the doors with the remote. The locks then, totally on their own, continue to lock and unlock for the next two minutes! This didn't sour me on the driving experience, but makes me wonder about it's reliability. Anybody know if Mazda's locks are supposed to engage on their own for whatever reason?
Cheers
P.S. Black Paint and Colorado Roads do not mix well, trust me, my 6 went from black to brown in 3 hours.
Dinu
Email to: a1s2l31@yahoo.com
Thanks
To me two biggest issues facing the 6 right now are assuring quality does not disappoint the early adopters (people forget how long they waited for a car, but they will not forget and will tell many others about bad quality) and the coming of the hatchbacks and wagons.
Anyone know how early US sales are doing compared to Mazda projections? My local dealer has gotten in exactly three, sold none, and has already marked the price down by $1000 BEFORE negotiation begins. By the way, one is an automatic s, the other two are automatic i's. NO manuals. No sport packages, either. This at a relatively large FORD dealer in a small metropolitan area. Only Mazda dealer for at least 50 miles in any direction.
How True. I extended the lease 3 months on my 99Mill S to get the 6 and now that I have it I hope Mazda can respond quickly to the issue of the manumatic "sticking" when trying to shift. The two other issues with the plastic parts (eyeglass holder sticking and not opening, and the fuse cover won't stay on) are minor, but annoying. At this time, for my reputation, I cannot recommend a Mazda. I would not want to recommend to someone, only to have same problem. Of course that will change if I am satisfied with the fixes quickly.
Ramping up quick doesn't happen so easily. They already have orders for "X" number off parts and their suppliers also have to provide.
Obviously they made an ERROR when projecting the need for the V6 MT. No matter how many dealers told them to make more they stuck to their guns on sales of the 626 MT V6. OOOPS!
Ordering a car should take 60-90 days right now. The cars we are ordering so far for customers have been accepted. Mazda accepted 5 orders last week and they were specific customer orders. I know initially that doesn't leave us with many cars for people to drive but they are making changes.
http://auto.point.sk/obrazky/3/3900.jpg
That is one sharp looking car. I love it.
On the other hand, if they had too many manuals, they would sit unsold and be marked down since people who wanted an automatic are much less likely to consider the manual. Most people looking at 4-door family sedans really do want an automatic.
At the end of the year, if they really beleive they lost sales because they made far too few V6 manuals for 2003, they will increase production for 2004.
Maybe in 2004 there will be a Mazda Speed version with more power than the Accord and Altima and manual transmision.
Bait and switch on a national scale?
If they are this stingy on making MT sedans, then I guess the odds of finding a MT wagon next year will be slightly better than winning the powerball.
When I'm ready to buy, I really don't want to order and wait. I guess I'll have to get a P5.
Jason.
There other has a little less and I don't know about the MT 6s. I've seen 3 or 4 on the road so far.
There's definitely no shortage here.
If I remember correctly Mazda is ramping up to 30% of the V6 being MTs soon. I tink a little more down the road to catch up and then back down to 30%. BMW and Audi know that real car lovers prefer an MT when circumstances permit.
My advice for anyone who is thinking about getting leather interior is to try to find a dealership that has the car you want with cloth seats, and when you're ready to make an offer, tell them you really wanted leather. Most dealerships will offer to put a much better quality leather than the one originally from Mazda. The name on the leather that was put in my car was called "Classic Soft Trim". I don't know who makes it or if it's offered by All car dealers. But I know it's 100% softer than the original. The dealer will tell you that it'll cost $1200 dollars (or more) to have them install it, but this is definetly negotiable. If they want to make the sale you can probably get it for the sticker or invoice price, depending on how desperate they are, and how good a negotiator you are.
I've always preferred manuals and for most cars, this is what I am shopping for. But it doesn't seem to matter what the car is, when you show up at the dealer and ask about a manual transmisson car, the salespeople always roll their eyes and act like I'm asking for a date with Brittney Spears. "Oh, those are really, really hard to find - if you want to pay full price, we might be able to find one a few states away," is their usual response. "Any anyway, you don't want to drive a car like this in the traffic around here, do you?".
On the other side of the fence, mfgs are continually saying that manual transmissions are in such low demand, that they feel like there is no point in even offering one. How can something that is in such short supply from the customer side have such low demand from the mfg's side?
It is almost like there is some built-in bias in the dealer system to push people away from manuals. I wonder if the dealers are so oriented towards pushing for an on-the-spot sale, that they push buyers heavily into a one-size-fits-all solution (an automatic) since, as someone else noted, manual drivers can drive an automatic, but not necessarily vice-versa. If they can condition the market to on transmission, then they increase their odds that they can sell a car off the lot today.
I continue to hope that a car mfg with some guts will finally tell the dealer network to go jump in a lake and allow customers to order exactly the car we want (preferably on the net) with the dealer acting only as a delivery and service agent. I don't think Mazda can build a car in Flat Rock as quickly as Dell can build my custom computer, but there is really no reason the order/delivery cycle couldn't be shaved down to a matter of a couple weeks.
This bias to sell people into cars that are not their first choice, is, in my mind, just another example of a dealer system that lives to service its high overhead sales practices rather than serving customers. Somebody that breaks out of this wasteful system is going to be very popular and make a lot of money.
- Mark
Most dealers wouldn't carry as many manuals as ATs on their lot even if they were available (In most product lines). The majority of folks out there buying cars just aren't as much of enthusiast as we are. The ATs are usually the first ones to go and the MT are what's left. Unless of course you are looking at a Miata...then it is good luck for an AT...order it.
Why don't you just order your car the way you want it?
When you are looking at a first run car, some folks are paid too much money to give an educated guess on what models you should build the most of. Apparently they got that MT/AT thing wrong.
Someone else here actually said that the Honda folks have it right for the mix. DUH. Just how long has the Accord been out to look at it's sales history? They'd better have it right by now.
It just takes time to change production. It takes a lot more time than building a computer. So many parts on the computer can be found by many different manufacturers. The vehicle parts are so specialized and contracted out to other companies. The company Mazda orders 20,000 transmissions from (JATCO) builds them with parts and bolts etc, they get from other contractors too. When we ask for 10,000 more they have to ask for more parts to make them. It is not a simple phone call. It is contracts and bids all the way down the line and we know that bureaucracy is never fast.
It just plain takes time.
Hope this helps put this in perspective and quell the conspiracy theory.
When I DO buy it'll prolly be from Crown since they're closest to me. And with the supplier discount, no matter where I'd go the price would be the same anyway.
FWIW, I've seen several of BOTH the 4 and 6 cylinders, both MT and AT. There doesn't seem to be too much of a shortage in my area, on dealer's lots. I don't THINK I've seen any actually driving around town, tho. Hopefully it'll stay that way. I know it's cool to drive a car that not many other people have.
The first time, they didn't order enough paint. The second time, the paint on the front fenders and hood didn't match the rest of the car. The third time, they got it right. The wait was for the paint mix to be sent from Cadillac.
There were 14 stickers on the windshield, the number of times the dealer telephoned to ask about the order.
When you order a car there may be unexpected delays, allow for them.
These days, cars on the line have been programmed into a computer so the right parts arrive at the assembly line points at the right time. They do not have X-number of MTs in a wharehouse. All parts are J.I.T. delivery from suppliers preprogrammed to match up with body colors and models.
Mazda isn't Burger King -- "Have it your way!" -- and fast.
fowler3
Anyways, one last note. Sorry if this may have been mentioned earlier, and I don't know how much weight Ann Job's authority with automotive reviews has on the Mazda6 crowd, but MSN Autos has her review on hand. She gave it a 7.5 directing criticism to "no bargain pricing," unknown reliability (compared to the Camry for the 6's price point) and the smaller size (compared to the accord, where I noticed only one measurement offered any valid criticism, if any). And, I thought she was the anti-soccer mom.
You can see Ann Job's review here.
The car was a joy to drive (and to anyone in Portland check out Tonkin, for they will take you on a GREAT test drive with both interstate driving and hilly curves in the residential area). It handled great, took curves with barely a notice, also took speed bumps with aplomb, yet it let you know what was going on with the road. The trunk size literally made my draw drop. I couldn't believe how large it looked, and the spring-loaded seat backs were great too. Once inside the car, problems developed.
My Focus seems to have better interior features. The interior matertials were fine (soft plastic above the midway point of the dash, hard below) and the "plastic-anium" was attractive enough. The air vents will take some getting use to for they have 270 degrees of movement. Also I wished that the trunk release was somewhere more convenient than in the glove compartment (which happened to be a bit small). Since it was a sport packaged car, the electoluminescent gauges were great, but the black interior was a bit of a downer. Also the car was more noisy during acceleration than my Focus but not as noisy during cruising speed.
Overall, I loved the car. The sales-people were great and the car was more than I expected. I DEFINITELY plan on buying one though I need to decide if I should wait for the hatchback. Though it does not have some of the features of my Focus it will make a great upgrade and it is a blast to drive. Also the Lapis Blue is GORGEOUS!
I like C+D (to see how well the car drives/handles), CR (for troublespots, although their ranking of the "best" cars is troublsome) and Canadian Driver (a good mix of enthusiasm and practicality).
Dinu
Dinu