Mazda 6s Hatchback
Written: Jul 14 '05
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Pros: -Looks great
-Very roomy
-Comfortable (front and back)
-Drives great
Cons: -Noise issues (hatch rattle, speaker rattle, squeaky chair)
-Poor gas mileage
-Poor interior quality
The Bottom Line: Love the car. hate the rattles. 5 star car if there were no rattles.
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| tfoltz's Full Review: 2004 Mazda Mazda6 |
Bought this car 9 months ago and I have a love/hate relationship with it. Overall I am happy with my purchase, although I might have shopped around a bit more if I had seen the future.
Once I saw the commercial for the Mazda 6 hatchback I knew I wanted one. The looks of this car are amazing and you still won't find a better looking hatchback out there. The hatchback is very roomy (I've fit complete dressers, snowboards, etc.) while the seats are up or down. It drives like a champ, and hold corners like no other. Unfortunately, I've had some very negative experiences with this car as well.
First and foremost, I have taken my car into the shop upwards of 10 times within these last 9 months for rattle issues. If there is something I CANNOT stand, it is rattles. There is no excuse for rattles on a new car with almost 0 mileage. In addtion to the rattles, my speaker would rattle with any bass (I have the prime stereo option...which isn't that great), and my seat began creaking with any and all movements.
Rattle
It took about 5 trips to the dealer before they found out that the hatch window was not sealed appropriately. Once they sealed it again, the problem left for about a month, upon which it began rattling again. After a couple more trips they tightened the latch mechanism, which fixed it for a couple months. But of course, the rattle came back a couple weeks ago (the car is in the shop again as I type; I will be picking it up momentarily).
Seat Creak
They replaced the seat back to fix the creak... which did not work. Then they replaced the seat bottom, which miraculously fixed it...so I was very happy about that; the problem has not returned (it's been a few months now).
Speaker Rattle
They could not fix all of the rattles (both driver and passenger side) on the speakers the first 3 times I went to the dealer. They found out that one of the speakers was malfunctioning, so they replaced it. Eventually they got all of the rattles out (with about 10 pounds of styrofoam inside the door panels. A couple weeks ago the passenger side began to rattle again, they are currently fixing it.
These noise issues have tormented me for the last 9 months. I have rarely driven it (except the 1st couple weeks) without any noise problems. I am not sure about any of you, but I cannot enjoy a drive if there is a constant squeak or rattle. I have long contemplated selling/trading this car in, and getting a different car...unfortunately, it would not be cost effective to do that at this time.
The interior or the car is poor. The door liners get scratched up extremely bad. I have cloth seats, so they would look extremely dirty after anyone sat on them. I got some seat covers to solve this issue.
Other than these audio/visual issues, I really do love my car. It looks so amazing, especially with tinted windows. I have not had any real mechanical problems whatsoever (currently at 13,500 miles). The only problem I had was when my brakes would feel as though they were thumping; this was fixed by changing the brake pads (covered by warranty). It has decent get-up, but not as much as I would like. The car switches to the higher gears too fast, which can be very frustrating. The auto-manual gear changer works great, and allows you to have more control of your driving.
If you don't mind rattles and creaks, or if you have the patience to iron out these problems, then you will love this car. The dealership I go to is great, and are willing to tackle any issues I bring to them.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 21,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Mazda 6s 5-Door (Prime stereo, Sport Shift)
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Epinions.com ID:
tfoltz
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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