Hey--I happened to get an up close view of the Mazda6 the other day. Very nice looking car inside and out. Comfortable...I did not drive it but I am always on the prowl for a 4 door sedan that has a manual that isnt too expensive.

G35--too expensive for a second car
TSX--better but still up there..
TL--same as G35...
Accord ex--price is right but no manual...
Altima...I dont like the looks of this car as much as the mazda 6.

Right now you can get a loaded mazda 6(all the main options) for about 20,000...
What do you guys think of the car? has anyone had any experience with mazda? Resale value, reliability?

 

Sounds like a great deal. Stock, it handles better than the Altima, and by magazine accounts has a better interior. Besides, that price for a V6 is killer. I wouldn't expect a lot in terms of resale value though..

 

IMHO, the Mazda 6 is the best looking car in that class with a price that's hard to beat. I'm still curious to findout whether or not that 2.3L I4 turbo motor will be available stateside.

Peace.

 

My buddy has a 6 and i got the chance to drive it the other day......for the price its a great car, the 5 speed had a nice throw to it. I think with the factory body kit the car looks real hot. The v6 in it definetely has some balls too.

 

I saw a new one and they look great!!

I was thinking about getting one myself!!

 

Glad to see some people agree with me...this one had the bodykit and all...it looked soooo sweet. Hell if I could mod it to perform like my stock cls I would get rid of my cls while its still worth over 15 grand. I am concerned about mazda reliability long term though...as far as resale value...shoot our cl's have no resale value....not sure if the mazda could be much worse.

 

I should caution you, Ford is building a "from-the-ground-up" 3.5L V6 that will go in everything from the Taurus to the Jaguar X-type. You can best believe that they'll put it in a future version of the '6' to make it more competive with the Altima, performance-wise. It might be next year, might be the year after, but it will happen. It probably isn't relative to your timetable, but I thought it's a point you should know in making your decision.

 

my mom has had 2 626s and both have been relatively problem free for over 100K miles.

 

I was out looking at the 6 the other day also, supposidly they are comming out with a mazdaspeed version later this yr. No details as of yet what type of pwr it will have. The dealership i went to was offering $4000 off all 2003's since 2004 are arriving. They look like a hell of a deal.

Check out this site. http://www.specr.com.sg/
click on mazda 6 atenza

 

test drove it along w/ the rx8, for a mid size sedan it handled EXTREMLY well for a fwd better than a camary/accord but it lacked the power. the guages where pretty cool but the center console looked cheap. I really like the exterior w/ the factory body kit on the electron blue.

 

That looks pretty cool.

A buddy of mine also bought one. Het let me drive it and it drives well... for 20k NOT bad at all...

 

I think it is an awesome looking car and about the best deal on a four-door, midsize sedan under $22k! There are two here at work: Silver and yellow--both with the body kits. I'm extremely partial to the yellow.
Resale isn't Acura, but it isn't Ford or Hyundai either. With 3/50 warranty, it's better peace of mind as well...

 

I think the 6 is cool. My g'f just bought a Mazda Protege5 and I had a chance to look it over pretty closely. My only criticism is that from the rear it looks tall and narrow not low and wide. It has gotten great reviews. One thing that puzzled me was the the interior looked good but the materials on the dash are the same "painted" plastic the Infiniti has taken a lot of crap about. You can get it with a manual (hard to get though) and it's priced right.

 

I drove the 6 at the Mazda Rev It Up event. Not bad. Only drove the automatic.

 

I test drove one and was quite impressed. My girlfriend was buying a new car and was going to get another Accord. I wanted her to at least look at what was out there. She like the 6 too, but getting one configured the way she wanted was a pain in the ass and jacked up the cost significantly.

So, there is a new Accord parked in the driveway. Which, by the way, is all so a an impressive car. We just went up to the White Mountains in it. Dam thing rides beautifully; smooth, quiet, nice radio, comfortable seats and did I mention quiet.

 

I know what you mean....but I really dont want to wait 2 years. I am going to test drive the car real soon and will post my impressions. I may just get rid of the cls for this...it may miss the low end torque but I can always mod it...

 

Get the 5speed V6 with the body kit. Around here they will do anything to push them out of the dealership. The 5speed 4 banger isn't to bad either. Good solid feel.

 

Ya can't beat the price and in person the car looks really good. If ya want a 4 door in that price range it would be tough to find a better car IMO.

 

The engine is based off the Duratec V6 found in everything from the Contour SVT (2.5L) to the Escape. It has proved to be a very reliable engine. The tranny is mazda, so it should be better than the manual's found in older Mazda's that were Ford unit's.

I really really like the Looks of the Mazda 6. It has a nice sporty size, nice interior, and excellent driving dynamics. I think it doesnt get enough respect because it's a mazda. It could use about 20lb ft more tq, but above 3500 rpm it pulls very nicely, and the 5 speed & clutch combo are nearly as good as the CL-6S.

If you can get a fully loaded version for $20k I owuld jump on it in a heartbeat. I also like the electron blue, but they also have a steel grey that looks mean as hell on it.

 

They will be adding Navi to the 6 real soon. I would wait for that! If it had navi I would seriously consider it. The only downside from Acura would be free loaner cars when in for service.

 

awesome car, my friend just bought one, with the factory kit in that charcoal color, looks really good. i think its one of the best values for the money

 

I think as long as you get the top of the line V6 6 with bodykit, etc, you will be fine. I think the top of the line Mazda 6 looks really hot, especially in white or yellow.

The 6 is much more sporty looking than the V6 Accord, but the Accord has more power and great reliability. It's your money, go for it!

 

I was super-impressed when looking at these...great value, sweet looking car!

 

The Mazda 6 is probably the best looking midsize sedan at it's price point. It handles pretty good for a bone stock car.

The Engine needs to make more power though. If it's got 220 hp it's the weakest 220 I have ever felt. I haven't driven the 5 speed, but the Auto sucks. It has a huge lag in up shifting, and if you hit the rev limiter in sport shift mode, look out, you have to back off the gas and let the revs fall before it will let you shift up.

The interior is done really nicely for the money, though the quality of the material is probably a bit lacking compared to Honda.

One other thing that would keep me from buying on if I was looking for a car in that price range...RUST!@!

Yup, seems like tons of owners of the new 6's are having some major issues with their brand new cars rusting...not since the days of Fiat have you had to worry about your brand new car rusting.

you can read about it for yourself here...
http://mazda6club.com/forums/read.php?TID=9924

http://mazda6club.com/forums/read.php?TID=9107

There are more posts out there too...those were just on the first page of their board.

 

why not.think it the other way..by having a little suv..
u will fall in love with it
as i just pick up my element a week ago..
and love it..really love it.

 

element???? You have got to be kidding me!?! The element is almost as ugly as the pontiac aztek....





shame on you for supporting the designers of such a hideous vehicle...

 

ita a nice looking car my friend has a maxda 626 with over 100k miles and no problem,so i think your making a good choice.