Mazda6 at 13,000 miles
Written: Aug 11 '05
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Pros: Nice looking, fun to drive, good power, nice handling.
Cons: Inferior quality materials all around, questionble long-term reliability, and poor gas mileage.
The Bottom Line: Consider this car, but be sure to look at other products, you will probably find a much higher quality vehicle at around the same price.
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| jeffrulz's Full Review: 2004 Mazda Mazda6 |
I own a 2004 Mazda6 Sport Wagon, with the 220-hp V6 and 5 Speed tiptronic automatic. My previous car was a 2000 Toyota Camry. In terms of driving fun, the Mazda is way ahead of the Camry, which I thought was the most boring car in the world to drive. But in overall quality, the 2004 Mazda is miles behind the 2000 Camry I traded in.
Exterior - appearance is great, I like the looks of the car, but quality is lacking in some areas. For example, the alloy wheels look like they've been painted or something, and they chip easily. Also, for whatever reason, I can see a shade of difference in color between the car's body panels and the bumpers, both front and rear. It's like the front and rear bumpers are darker than the rest of the car, and it's really noticeable, at least to me it is a glaring defect. But I really like the color, and overall appearance.
Interior - I didn't really pay attention at first when I was buying the car, but the longer I own it, the more I realize how cheap and inferior the interior materials are. Even Hyundais have better looking interiors. The car has nice, easy to read gauges, a great leather wrapped steering wheel and gear shifter knob, that's all good. But the seats are made out of some fabric that does not hold up well at all. The seats look like they are just in terrible shape already. There's pilling on the bolstered parts on the sides. Also, the dash and door materials, also the headliner material, look like they are the cheapest materials the company could find. There are lots of handy bins and storage compartments though, and that's nice. The interior design I think is great, it's just that the materials that are used are so cheap.
Engine/transmission - The engine is plenty powerful and smooth, but it sucks gas like crazy. I barely get 18 miles per gallon. On a long road trip, maybe I will get 23 miles per gallon. It's in my opinion atrocious fuel economy compared to other cars of its class. But the engine I like. The transmission shifts okay, but in manu-matic mode, it seems slow to shift when you are really stepping on it hard. So if you want to take off fast from a stop, in first gear, you have to shift the gear into 2nd way early because it takes a long time to shift into second, and if you're really putting your foot down, the RPMS will go into the red line. So you can't really enjoy the car as much because you are worried about it over-revving because the shift program isn't so great and is slow to shift. Also when driving aggressively, the transmission is a little clunky, not so smooth, so I worry about the long-term reliability.
In fact, I worry how this car will hold up if I want to keep it for say 3 or 4 years. Compared to my Toyota, which I had for 108,000 miles and had zero problems at all, and it felt like the day I bought it after 5 years of hard use, I don't think this Mazda is going to fare so well. Which is kind of sad, because overall it's a pretty fun car to drive. And I like the practicality of it as well.
Also, I appreciate the safety features like the ABS brakes, traction control, etc.
Would I recommend this car? Maybe. I would say take a look, drive it. They're sporty, fast, fun, but several steps down in quality from Toyota and Honda.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 22,000.00
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: Sport Wagon, V6
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Epinions.com ID:
jeffrulz
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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