USED Mazda 6 Estate (02 - 07)

My car

Well laid out car with plenty of room. Radio system Boss excellent . Good firm seating for long trips with plenty of adjustments as required. Very good performance from the 1998 diesel engine.

My car

I bought my Mazda 6 Estate 6 months ago and can say that I am pretty pleased so far.

It has been reliable and pretty good to drive. The engine is punchy and it handles much better than any estate car has the right to.

I like the look of the car and I had the optional rear roof spoiler fitted which finished it off nicely. Sadly the dealer who fitted it damaged the car while fitting it which did not impress me very much.

We use the car mainly for short trips and average 40mpg which I am pleased with considering the sort of driving we do. I have used this car to tow our horsebox and can say it is the best car I have towed with, at the legal limit it feels very solid and unstressed.

As we are private buyers we needed a car with decent residuals and so far they seem to be among the best in the class, which is good news.

There are a few niggles that annoy me though. The trip computer only reads in litres which is daft for the UK market, the seatbelt warning beep is drives you mad when you have a long driveway to reverse out of. There is no seperate clock, it is hidden with the trip computer (just as well the computer is useless), the car is very noisy and the ride is over firm on most country roads.

Overall I like the car but it would benefit from better refinement.

My car

After 10 years of Hondas, we decided to change to Mazda we have two Mazdas.

We purchased these last October and got excellent service when buying both cars.

The 6 is one of best cars I have owened. It is a nice drive with a well laid-out, spacous cabin. I find the engine smooth and the mid-range pull is excellent. For an estate car, the handling is very good. The only gripe I have is with the road noise but some times this is no worse than my Accord.

Only problems so far have been with the alloy wheels - replaced under warranty. The dealer dealt with very quickly and the 6 was fully valeted.

We would recommend the dealer to anyone on the look out for a new car. We would recommend both our Maxdas to anyone (my wife has a 3 Sport).

My car

I road tested this car with the auto box. The first thing I noticed was the way it pulled away from a standing start. It was like driving a manual box.

Once on the move and with the seat adjusted to my liking, (I'm 6'2" and had no problems fitting in), it handled town driving with ease. I did feel the bumps a little but not to excess. On the open road it is a dream to drive, the steering is just right and my passengers thought the car was excellent.

The clever one-touch folding rear seats are a blessing and they of course have the 60/40 split. There are cup holders all over the place, so no spilt drinks on the black cloth seating. I did try the leather option but found it to be less grippy than the cloth, although with leather you do get a powered driver's seat (but why not both front seats??)

I plan to buy this car in the next couple of weeks, so my test drive lasted 24 hours and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to drive it again. I drive a C5 SX auto at the moment and the Mazda beats it on all counts. Go and buy one.