Has been a grewt cat after nine years and 57,000 miles
This car has been pretty much problem free the past nine years. The only problem I had with it was the OEM battery (Panasonic) which was flaky at times. This caused the cruise control to act sporadically. Of course, it never had the problem when I brought it back to the dealer. I did some tests and found the battery voltage would drop down to 8 volts intermittently. After a new AGM battery, I haven't had the problem in over seven years. The car gets very good milage. It averages 35 mpg for my type of driving which is mixed city/highway. I have gotten 42 mpg on straight highway driving at the speed limit. Most of the time I get 38 on the high when I go a little faster. The interior is very nice, and the screen is built into the dash which I like instead of having a screen stuck on top of the dash. Handling is very good and responsive, and the ride is very comfortable. The front seats are comfortable but not as good as in some Subarus and Nissans, Chevys. Overall, they are good for trips, and they hold you in the seat while cornering fast. The engine is a 2.5 liter GDI engine with 185 hp and 185 ft.lb torque. It has plenty power for this car and accelerates very good. The six speed transmission shifts smoothly but has a little lag in first gear if you are light on the accelerator. If you give it a little more gas this lag disappears. The front drivetrain Axles CV joints etc. is made by Ford. It even has the Ford logo on it. Not sure if the six-speed transmission is made by Ford or Mazda but it looks like a Ford. It does have a dipstick for the transmission, but it is a very small one you have to get under the car and remove a cover to get to it. It has a Bose sound system which is very good. I had one problem with the right door speaker. It had a rattle in it after 8 years. It is a Bose speaker with an odd design made in Mexico. The cone suspension was glued to the paint on the magnet. When the paint failed the rattle started. I was able to fix it fairly easily. The trunk is a good size and can hold three to four luggage plus other stuff. The engine is very good and has never stalled or had any drivability problems. Depending on the brand of oil, it does not use any oil between oil changes which I do at 4000 miles. Castrol, Penzoil, Valvoline have been very good. Kendal, Pen Grade Select have had some oil usage but not terrible. The view around the car is good with blind spot monitoring which is a good thing to have. When I bought this car I tried out Toyota Camry,Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Subaru Legacy. They are all very nice, but I liked the interior in the Mazda and the Mazda handled better and drove better.
Parts in the aftermarket are plentiful and affordable. Most maintenance, brakes, coolant, belts, plugs are fairly easy to do. The paint and bright work on the body have held up very well. I have had minor fogging of the headlamp covers . It was easy to buff this out and bring it back to new. Overall, a very good car for the money. I think 2023 was the last year for the current Mazda 6. There is supposed to be a new Mazda 6 in 2025 with a straight six-cylinder two door coupe. Not sure if this will ever happen since most people want SUV's of some sort.
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