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Months (literally) of dropping hints/suggestions, signing up with Mazda USA as an insider and getting constant updates/cd brochures, video files etc and recently comparing cost with that of other potential buys. Added all up, she's now almost as big a fan of the RX-8 as I am. She likes the 4-door sports car concept too! However, the real kicker is that my 1995 626 was recently totalled (I was rear-ended), so there is a real need for another car. Also, it was love at first sight with her and the Mazda 6, so she understands where I'm coming from :-)
I think I'll have to help get a larger house first. That's her thing.
Sorry 'bout your 626. Hope you're OK.
That 6 sure is nice-looking. I think it looks better from a slight distance. You can appreciate the overall car better, and it still looks good close-up as well.
I brought some music CDs with me today and I have to say the stock stereo is... unsatisfactory. I like the controls, etc. just fine. But the audio quality bites.
Hopefully Mazda will ship the MP3 player soon (supposed to be the second half of March). Once I have that in, I can look to enhancing it with an amp and decent speakers.
To those who have "aged" 6's already: how's your engine after break-in? Clutch? Brakes?
Clutch is so easy and smooth now. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world when I started driving it- it's become far more natural, and I don't think this is entirely from my "getting used to it".
The brakes, too, have been pure joy. They no longer feel grabby or sensitive- but purely an extention of my intentions. There's no playing around here- push and stop. Love it, love it, love it. I hate driving other cars now, though- everything else feels outright broken in comparison, like there's air in the brakelines.
The engine has changed for the better and the worse. The engine is quite torquey down low now- it's a joy in traffic. Problem is, it isn't as fun as it was. It's hard to say exactly what changed since the change was gradual rather than overnight. The engine pulls clear to the limiter, but it doesn't pull much harder at 6k than 4k. That is, it pulls harder down low than it used to, so while the car is probably actually faster, it's not as fun. It feels much more like a CamCord engine now, but that doesn't encourage revving!
I'd really, really like to hear other owners' experiences on this.
While I averaged 34mpg on my first two tanks of gas while conservatively breaking in the engine, I've been getting in the high twenties since. It doesn't seem to matter if it's in the city or highway. It's been consistently wet, snowy, and below freezing since I bought the car- all of which probably reduced my mileage slightly.
In auto the gears are a little short for my personal taste, but I've become accustomed to it now. Initially there was a slight delay when shifting manually, but it's much better now. Engine has lots of oomph (scientific term) in every gear, and pulls ALL the way to the rev limiter. Can't wait to let loose, as I can just "feel" all the fun thats waiting to be had.
Brakes are excellent, very linear. Handling is very good. Mazda certainly wasn't lying about zoom-zoom!
Mileage in the mid twenties, but that might be due to the recent snow/ice/cold here in NYC as well as my wife's driving :-)
Nice fit and finish to the car - no stray noises. So far the only things not up to par are the average standard stereo, and the lack of the integrated fogs (they're already wired I believe, so why not have them as an option?)
Sam
I did my first oil change this past weekend. The dealer's service department was pretty packed, and I didn't want to wait, so I purchased oil and a filter from parts and went home to do it myself. On the V6, anyway, access is TIGHT. The oil filter is on the side of the engine towards the front of the car, and there's just enough room between the front crossmember and exhaust pipe to slide the filter out. I would definitely recommend a socket-type filter wrench for anyone who's going to do this themselves on a regular basis. I haven't decided if I'll keep doing it myself or not. And, yes, I filled it with the recommended 5w-20, in spite of the raging debate in the maintenance forum. ;-)
So far, the only problem I've had with the car is that the passenger-side seat heater didn't work, but the dealer already fixed that. The car is fast, smooth, handles better than my old Prelude, and is tough to keep under the speed limit. Interestingly, the engine is so peaky that I have fun doing this: On rain-slick streets, with no traffic, I shift out of 1st early and give the car full throttle. When the engine hits around 4K rpm in 2nd gear, I can feel the front wheels trying to break loose from the sudden increase in power, and sometimes the TCS light comes on. It feels more like a turbocharged 4-cylinder than a V6. Anyway, it's a very enjoyable ride. My gas mileage is staying at around 20 mpg, but I do drive it somewhat aggressively, so that's not too bad, considering. The car is still tight and quiet, and everyone says nice things about the looks of the car and the smoothness of the ride.
I purchased the car December 18, and hadn't seen a single other 6 on the road until yesterday, and I live in Houston! This one was a Steel Grey/sport/auto, and was parked in the garage next to the Binz building downtown. Did it belong to anyone on the boards here? It needed a wash -- it was pretty dirty. :-P
Mike1770, I normally change my own oil & filter myself also, but I have several questions if you don't mind. Did you go from the top to remove your filter? The reason I ask this is because I haven't check to see where the oil filter is located. What tool did you use to remove the oil filter, just a band oil wrench? Did you also replace the oil drain plug washer, if there was one? How much was the filter? Did you record your purchase (oil & filter) to ensure that you don't void the car's warranty? Thanks!
I purchased my oil and filter from a Mazda dealer, so there wouldn't be any warranty questions. The filter was $5.20, and the Mazda-branded oil sold for about $4 a quart (you'll need 5.5 quarts with a filter change.) I know it's a ridiculous price for dino oil (doesn't say anything about synthetic on the label) but I was in a hurry and didn't want to hassle with it. I got a receipt for the oil and filter from the dealer, and wrote the mileage and date in a small notebook I keep in the car. I'm not sure I'm going to keep doing it myself, yet.
Interestingly, the drain plug seems to have a black nylon "washer" molded just under the head of the bolt. It took very little torque to remove it, and I was careful not to overtorque it when I put it back in. It would probably be a good idea to find out exactly how much torque is specified by Mazda. It looks like overtightening would ruin that nylon washer.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
http://users.adelphia.net/%7Edennya/Mazda6/index.htm
Congrats on your excellent taste in colors.
Honda Accord EX: The new Accord is just flat out ugly! Didn't really consider it after driving it. Apparently lots of reliability gripes in the Accord boards here, but I haven't read them myself.
Impreza WRX: I'll take the Mazda 6's V6 over the WRX's Turbo any day. No power till the turbo kicks in. Far less room inside than the other two.
Mazda has their own planners.
I wouldn't say I had trouble, but I certainly had to do some looking. In the end, my car came from Philly, about 150 miles away from Washington DC where I live.
If you can't, you can try alarms (with stickers proclaiming its presence...and flashing LEDs to show it's active), keeping portable items and cash out of sight (a little loose change is enough to tempt some), wheel locks etc. A "Club" may discourage theft of the driver-side airbag module. Not much you can do to protect the passenger-side module.
You can also try a car cover with a locking cable. They may not want to waste the extra seconds to remove or get under the cover. Then again, they may steal the cover, but it's a bulky item that is relatively custom-fit.
None of these will stop a determined thief. Probably the best is to use wheel locks (or a cheap set of wheel covers), an alarm, keeping items out of sight and always making sure the doors are locked (unlocked doors and windows are the #1 items burglars look for...having grown up in NYC, I'm used to locking everything, but many people here don't do that, yet).
The 6 is already wired for an alarm system (thus, the "panic" button on your remote, which will set off the lights flashing and the horn honking). It just needs the sensors and central control box which trips off the lights and horn. You can get the price of this option off mazdausa.com. Aftermarket systems start mid-$100 and go up to several hundred, depending on the features you get.
I just bought a loaded (sport/comfort/Bose packages, moonroof, leather, side airbags/curtains [wheel locks & mats thrown in later]) black on black MT 6s. I wanted the glacier silver, but the market wasn't cooperating. This car was driven by the sales manager and came with a deal I couldn't refuse...$500 below invoice on a car with only 3,600 miles. I would prefer zero miles, but those 3,600 miles aren't worth the $2,615 I ended up saving off the MSRP. Not that it matters much, and for purely academic thrills, what kind of deal do y'all think I got? Regardless, it is a seller's market out there when it comes to the MT 6s. I don't have the luxury of shopping forever or waiting for the market to calm down because I'm coming back to the states after being stationed in Turkey for the past 2 years...had to have a car ASAP.
Now, to the Mazda 6s compared to the Accord and the gang. First, I didn't even consider putting this car up against the obvious opponents (Accord, Altima, Camry) because they are not in the same league. The Camry and Accord are innocuous and soul-less cars...not for enthusiasts. Second, even while some stats show the Accord with a slight edge it is a lifeless car. My BMW wasn't the fastest car out there, but the way it did its thing...primarliy handling and overall feel...is what made the difference. The Mazda comes with many more options than the Accord; I do understand some complaints about how folks are unable to pick and choose specific options...Mazda is addressing this one. If you use Edmunds' comparison of 6s competitors, you'll notice that the Honda doesn't even offer numerous options or standard features that the 6s does. The Accord is a great car, but passionless and cookie-cutter. The Altima is decent looking, powerful, but with too much torque steer and the cheapest, ugliest interior in the group. The Camry may be built solid and reliable as hell, but come on, that's one UGLY car with zero personality and the most boring interior of the lot. The 6s is a driver's car, so I put it against the other like vehicles.
As I stated, I'm actually a BMW guy, owning one right before moving overseas, but after putting the BMW 330Ci and the Lexus IS300 MT against the Mazda 6s MT my world changed. The BMW, as well as the other wonderful but expensive German sports sedans, is no longer recommended by Consumer Reports, primarily because of the drop off in reliability..this led me to look elsewhere before I threw down some serious dollars ($43K on the BMW coupe that I would have bought).
The 6s compares as follows to the BMW and Lexus: the materials in the 6s are on par with both, different, but on par. The stereo was second only to the Lexus. The transmission was second only to the BMW. The roominess blew both of the other two out of the water. The handling was VERY respectable, particularly being a FWD, and I preferred it over the Lexus...Man did I wear those cars out. It is better looking than the Lexus and will be more reliable than the BMW. The cockpit is superb and comparable to the BMW (the 6s has an obviously German-Japanese hybrid interior) and much more appealing than the absurd chronograph, boy racer looking Lexus. And finally, the ultimate selling point...as a married man and a father of two I just could not justify spending $18K more for the BMW and $10-12K more for the Lexus when the Mazda 6s held it's own with both of these cars.
While I love the car, there are a few nit-picky areas I would like to see Mazda change if they were possible: one-touch up/down function for windows (at least the driver's), one-touch function for moonroof, folding mirrors, full size spare (may not fit though), 18" wheels like the ones on the world's Atenza and power passenger seating. They're all minor, but they would put it in a league with the bigs boys of performers, and will remain MUCH cheaper.
On another note...does anyone know how I can get my hands on teh Atenza (world's Mazda 6) taillights? The clear ones?
Currently on back order from Mazda, but when available (Part Number 0000-8Z-H15) they will be about $300 for the set of 4 lamps.
Cost about $220. Going to order mines next week (payday and after mortgage payment) should be easy to put on according to others read (can't mention where per our host) that have already switched theirs.
Either way, thanks for the site hook up.
http://www.mazdaformance.com/mazda6.htm
Jeff