Estate car battle: Octavia vs Mazda6

As a Skoda owner (Fabia rather than Octavia), if I was planning on keeping one of them for up to 10 years, I’d go for the Mazda

I currently have a 2020 Mazda 3 and really rate it so much so I’m looking to replace it with another.
I have previously had VAG cars . Used to like them but the Mk7 Golf GTD I had did have quite a number of faults even if I did like the way it drove.
My brother had a 6 and had no issues with it, and he bought that on experience with a 323F.

They’re both good, I’d personally go for the Octavia out of those two as I prefer the drive of a turbo engine. The stereo is also a lot more modern in the face lift Octavia (can run android auto for example), though it’s a little worrying there are no interior pics on that listing.

Also I had really bad rust issues on my 3. Mazda fobbed me off, which put me off the brand.

The Mazda is a really good attempt at being a mondeo. I hated the variable steering on mine, never felt I knew what it was going to do but maybe that’s been improved (or maybe there was an off switch I never found?) Is it not bigger than the Octavia? Certainly felt bigger.

We had one the same as you’re looking at for a work car and tbh it was ace, everyone liked it. Engine felt a little weedy to me but then my 6 was the 2.5 duratec, and I’d had a 2.2 diesel mondeo so my points of comparison were probably a bit harsh

Octavias are really good, but the boot’s never been as good as it should be- no flat boot floor, not as big as rivals.

Check carefully on condition though, unless there’s been a drastic change nothing modern rusts like a mazda. I don’t just mean holes in body panels or anything, when I stripped mine everything was a total bastard, lots of fire and hammers and my mate’s excessively big impact gun got a workout. Would have been a lot worse if it had to go back together, we could just cut and break stuff. Any sort of big maintenance would have been a massive pain. That was older than you’re looking at, obviously, but it was the newest car I’d ever owned and also by far the worst condition.

But despite that it was really nice.

I’ve owned a couple of Mazdas, friend has an Octavia. Get the Mazda. The Octavia just doesn’t feel great, even with comparatively low mileage. I put 220,000 on a Mazda 3 and it was ridiculously reliable except for lightbulbs.

Neither has a big boot though.

I had a 2010 diesel Mazda 6 for nine years which I really liked with a few caveats: seating position really low (drives like a sports car so maybe that’s why), winding it up moved it forward and I’ve longish legs. It did hurt my back and my passenger’s too. The dpf cleaning setup was catastrophic, only get the diesel if you almost exclusively drive out of town. The injectors came loose needed replacing. I bought the Mazda after having had two very unreliable Passats.
With the ULEZ being enforced in Edinburgh next year I bought a 2020 1.5 petrol Octavia. The petrol 6 is very thirsty and I didn’t like the wrap round fighter jet seat and console. The Octavia has a much comfier seating position and although the cornering is a bit wallowing, poor road surfaces are dealt with much better. The Octavia is narrower than the 6 but with the lowered floor I get much more stuff under cover in the boot. I will no doubt find out about mechanical reliability in due course but the infotainment system software is a pain in the arse. There is barely a journey I make where it doesn’t display some moaning message about something not working that actually is or that it thinks I’ve crashed and wants to phone the emergency services. It was supposed to have had a software update when I picked the car up and I’m hoping another one will sort things.

Superb owner here, which is a car I much prefer over the several newer Octavias that I’ve driven. It’s basically a bigger Octavia but is also a bit nicer throughout and is a smoother cruiser. This 140TDi has only once been a problem in 91k miles; however that was an EGR valve, a complex replacement and very expensive at £900.
I’ve only driven the Mazda 6 as a rental, so short term. 2.0 petrol; dull, uninspiring, slow, stodgy, cheap interior.. need I go on..? Seemed small inside, considering its outside dimensions and footprint. The tapered rear roofline eats into boot space a lot.

Audi Q7. More space, higher driving position, more kudos.

Ha! Yeah, right. (Rolls eyes). I have driven a couple of Q7’s, and they’re nice and comfy, but Christ, they’re sodding big! So’s a Transit or a T4/5, but they have a lot more room in as well.

I enjoyed my Octavia during the fifteen years I had it, but I’m finding such vehicles, standard saloon/estates, increasingly awkward to get in and out of, but there’s no denying they’ve got a cavernous interior.

Neither has a big boot though.

Isn’t the one thing that everyone knows about Octavias that they have a massive boot? 610 litres for estate which is bigger than anything else in its class / size.

by comparison the current volvo v60 is about 520L and a 5 series bmw about 560L

“I’ve only driven the Mazda 6 as a rental, so short term. 2.0 petrol; dull, uninspiring, slow, stodgy, cheap interior.. need I go on..? Seemed small inside, considering its outside dimensions and footprint.”

Wow. Sounds so different to my experience of the Mazda 6 🤔

Got a ’14 Mazda 6 in October. The 2l petrol one.

It’s massive. A standard car park space is 2.4×4.8 and the car is just over 4.8m long which is a bit longer than a T4 and t’s also the same width as a T4.

But I really like it. Boot is big and my PPE/work gear only takes up a corner. Handles well enough. I find the seats comfy. Kids like it and find the back comfy.

I had a 2014 Mazda 6 diesel estate. 2.2 engine.

I liked size, comfort, 60mpg and £20 Ved.

I didn’t like having to change the timing chain every 20k miles as they stretch. Mazda know about this but don’t even make an updated kit. Engine “diesels” so fuel gets pushed past the piston rings, contaminates the oil and you have to change it every 3k miles.
Folding wing mirrors have tiny plastic cogs which strip and need the door taking apart to replace. You can push the mirrors out by hand but the motors continue to run making kerchang, kerchang noises all the time.
The infotainment system is dreadful. Kept forgetting radio stations, frequently couldn’t find any stations at all and resets whenever the engine is switched off so you can’t listen to audio books from CD or USB.
Keyfob eats batteries so driving along you suddenly get warning lights that “key cannot be found” and it goes into panic mode.
Trim kept coming loose and rattling.
At only 7 years rust was starting to be a problem.
Basically it’s a big car which is made lightweight to improve fuel economy and build quality suffers. Mine might have been a rogue but all the issues I had are well reported.
I traded it for a Kia Ceed estate which feels so much more solid and has been trouble free apart from a wheel speed sensor which was cheap and easy to sort.

The Mazda was easily the worst car I’ve ever owned and I wouldn’t have another one if you paid me.

I’m in exactly the same quandary, though I’ve moved away from the Skoda and am now looking at the 6 or the Mondeo (2015 onwards).

Any reason why the Mondeo isn’t on the list OP (other than that they’re pretty much all diesels)?

Anyone got any thoughts on the Mondeo?

Can’t speak for modern mondeos but I loved my mk3. Just ridiculously massive, but still drove OK. The model after seemed like a better car in a lot of ways but it felt like they’d lost some of that use of space (it’s not just about bigness, it’s also about how usable it is- cubbys everywhere, flat low entry, pretty square rooflines, flat folding seats- you can pretty much park a whole mondeo in the back of a mondeo) Ford used to be absolutely brilliant at this stuff.

Can’t speak for modern mondeos but I loved my mk3

I still remember mine very fondly, probably my favourite car of those I’ve owned. And it was only a poverty spec 1.8 petrol. Electric windows all round but the toys pretty much stopped there and that’s the way I like it. If the newest ones weren’t 15 years old I’d happily have another.

Anyway, I’d have the Mazda, though I thought the 6 was a size up from the Octavia.

Had a newish used Mk IV Octavia estate for a few months now. I love it. Ours has the 1.5 petrol engine and it’s surprised me at how ‘nippy’, responsive and nice to drive it is, whilst still having very decent fuel economy.

It’s comfortable, has a massive boot and is just a very practical if not exactly inspiring car. I’m way past trying to impress anyone with the car I drive or salivating over performance stats though. I place much more value on comfort, safety, practicality and build quality. I suspect I am very much in Sköda’s target demographic!

We have had a few niggles with the infotainment system but the car is still in warranty so has recently been back to the dealer to sort them. Fingers crossed it’s been fine since.

Is the Mazda 6 not just a Mondeo with a different body on it?

Its not the actual turbo that goes on these little VAG petrol engines.

Its the wastegate pivot that seizes up, meaning the wastegate actuator can’t control it.

The wastegate pivot is in the same casting as the turbo housing, so you have to replace the lot.

I’ve changed two of them, one on my wife’s golf and one on my mum’s skoda.

Both times I got replacement turbos from ebay breakers by looking for the last revision part number (there are a LOT of revisions ti this part indicating trouble) with a low mileage, both times under £300 and it’s not a mega hard job to swap them.

Both times I got over £100 back on the old units on ebay for someone to fix or use as core exchange.

Is the Mazda 6 not just a Mondeo with a different body on it?

No.
Lots of shared parts, but very different.
Same as Mk3 V70.

unless there’s been a drastic change nothing modern rusts like a mazda

That was my fear, I’ll have to check around the mazda forums and see if it’s still an issue.

The Mazda was easily the worst car I’ve ever owned and I wouldn’t have another one if you paid me.

Now, why did you have to go and say that!!

I thought the 6 was a size up from the Octavia.

It is really, although the Octavia is big for a mid size car, 4667mm vs 4805 for the 6. Golf estate is a whole 10cm shorter than the Octavia but the boot just doesn’t look as useable to me.

unless there’s been a drastic change nothing modern rusts like a mazda

That was my fear, I’ll have to check around the mazda forums and see if it’s still an issue.

And incidentally this is how I ended up looking at Volvo V60’s, the previous model to the latest one. Another car built on the Mondeo platform, but shorter over all than the Mazda, and a tiny boot. However – I went to look at one and the load space is actually reasonable with the back seats down and the floor folds completely flat to the lip of the boot. Comfy seats as well… G’ah! More expensive though.

unless there’s been a drastic change nothing modern rusts like a mazda

*looks at the 18 year old Mazda2 on the drive, that gets a wash once every couple of years*

Not in my experience.

I was looking at both of these cars when it came time to replace my old one and it was a tough call. There wasn’t much between the two and the Mazda (newer model than yours) just looked so much better in and out, but in the end head won over heart and i got the Octavia as i just couldn’t see myself chucking wet gear / dogs in the Mazda without wincing every time.

Looking back i feel i made the right choice as it’s a great car for me. More than enough space throughout the car & ACC on the motorways was a revelation. The android/airplay has been no issues and the built in sat nav has been just as reliable as via my phone.

And incidentally this is how I ended up looking at Volvo V60’s

Loved my V60. Had a 63 plate D4 for 4 years and covered close to 100k. Only issue was the DMF/clutch having strop at about 80k. Fortunately it was a company car so cost me nothing. I’m not aware its a weak point and I did drive like an idiot back then. Local dealer (Derby) was rubbish otherwise I would have replaced it with another.

@db – Did you ever put a bike in the back and if so how was it for room? Wondering if the sloping roofline would make it difficult with wide bars etc.

I’ve got an Octavia with that 1.5tsi engine in it. Few minor issues from new (lease car so I don’t care) but would expect they’ve all been sorted or was fine with that mileage. Entertainment unit can be a bit glitchy. I can get 60mpg+ out of it on a careful journey, average shows as 45ish. It’s fairly frugal for a petrol and still has reasonable performance. It doesn’t handle sharply but it is always comfortable and quite. Boot is big enough for two large bikes with front wheels off, pretty roomy inside.

Not sure that I’d spend my own money on a secondhand one but its does the job of being a car pretty well.

I’ve got a ’17 CX5 with the 2.2 diesel. Previously had an X3M Comp, and if you look past the obvious power difference, the CX5 is a nicer place to be and feels better put together – it also doesn’t come with the c#nt badge that the X3 had…. So far in just a year of ownership it’s been faultless – apart from the power mirror thing someone else mentioned. They’re locked in the open position now. A mate who is a senior technician at mercedes Exeter said ‘you’ll not have any issues with it pal’ when I told him I’d got one.

Haven’t had an Octavia for some years but we did have a few pre 2010, a diesel VRs and then a Scout. Space was always very good for a ‘medium’ car, but trim and finish pretty basic. Did find that the 2.0L diesel turbo of that age got through a lot of oil.

No car is perfect, and they WILL all have problems at some point, and I would say that neither of the ones you’re looking at are on the unreliable list. Go for the one the one that fits your practical needs best. Personally I found the seats in the Octavias not particularly supportive, even in the VRs. FWIW, best seats I’ve ever encountered are in Volvos.

Did you ever put a bike in the back and if so how was it for room? Wondering if the sloping roofline would make it difficult with wide bars etc.

I had a previous shape V60 too. Easy to get two bikes in the back with seats down and a wheel off. It was a really nice car, with only a bit of Ford price-cutting to be seen. Having said that, the current V60 which I now drive is much bigger and much better in every way.

dc1988
Full Member

As a Skoda owner (Fabia rather than Octavia), if I was planning on keeping one of them for up to 10 years, I’d go for the Mazda

Me too, but I’d rustproof the absolute **** out of it as soon as possible. Do a proper full on classic car job on it.

DickBarton
Full Member

Is the Mazda 6 not just a Mondeo with a different body on it?

Nah, the genius of the Ford/Mazda relationship is that it enabled them both to spend as much as possible developing 2 different cars that would directly compete against each other.

slackboy
Full Member

Isn’t the one thing that everyone knows about Octavias that they have a massive boot? 610 litres for estate

Size isn’t everything. If you compare, say, a modern octavia with an older focus, you’ll get more in the focus’s smaller boot, more easily- it’s not as big but it’s a far better shape. If you’re transporting jelly then the litre value is really useful, if you’re transporting solids then the shape makes a huge difference, 305 coke bottles have a volume of 610 litres but you can’t fit many paving slabs in them.

You’ve missed the obvious option … a humvee. Biggerer = betterer.

I have a 65 plate Mazda 6. Had from new, done 85k miles. Zero problems except the infotainment system started playing up. EBay replacement for £100 sorted that.

It drives great (2.2 diesel). Nippy when you put your foot down. Goes round corners well.

Inside is a lovely place to be. Spacious front and back. I bought the CarPlay upgrade so nav and media is excellent. Stereo is great. Boot is enormous, though with a young family the saloon boot is not particularly useful once you’ve stuffed a pram in it.

I’d gladly have another one. Especially over a boring German option.

Size isn’t everything. If you compare, say, a modern octavia with an older focus, you’ll get more in the focus’s smaller boot, more easily- it’s not as big but it’s a far better shape. If you’re transporting jelly then the litre value is really useful, if you’re transporting solids then the shape makes a huge difference, 305 coke bottles have a volume of 610 litres but you can’t fit many paving slabs in them.

You’ll have to explain that one a bit more.

I’ve owned both the cars you’re talking about and would have said the opposite.

Also aside from the shape of the boot itself, it felt the octavia had a wider opening with less bodywork jutting in.

I’ve had both, albeit older versions (2010 Mazda and 2011 Octavia Scout) so not sure how subsequent models have changed?

They were both solidly built and trouble free. Overall, the Mazda was sportier and handled well, and the Octavia much more spacious and practical.

I got the Octavia after the Mazda was written off in a massive, final destination style, slow but near death collision with a car park barrier. I was sad to lose it, but the Scout has been a better family/bike wagon tbh.

Had one of the original 6 estates from new. Diesel. Nice to drive, big enough for the family, fragile plastics. This was their first Diesel engine and it had a design flaw. Mine died at about 90k miles and three years by oil starvation to the turbo (replaced for £5k) then big end bearings (car written off by lease company- great end to the lease 😉 ). Petrol engines had a better history. I liked it. It’s the next size up from the Octavia, so will be bigger.

As someone else has noted, I think the Mazda 6 is essentially a compete with the Mondeo and Insignia. We tried the first iteration of the Insignia and I really didn’t like it. I think they may have made significant changes to the later versions but I’m not sure I can get on with the styling. Instead, we have a Mondeo. 65 plate that we bought with 18k on the clock and is now nearly 110k. Been almost faultless. Serviced regularly and hasn’t missed a beat. The only issue we had with it was after a service where I suspect the mechanic cocked up replacing the oil sump plug and we spaffed out all the oil. Car went into limp mode and a couple of cans of oil later, when we got it replaced, it carried on as if nothing had happened. The car is huge though and I love the feeling of space you get as a driver as well as the boot space. Our is the 2.0, 180 BHP Diesel. It’s a pity they aren’t going to make them any more but I guess the sales figures forced that – people don’t seem to like buying bigger cars these days unless it’s an SUV. Love it and they are also generally pretty good value in the second hand market. Only problem these days is that there aren’t many about. I am also aware that it is a lot bigger than the Octavia but would be a similar size to the Mazda.

Bikingcatastrophe
Free Member

It’s a pity they aren’t going to make them any more but I guess the sales figures forced that – people don’t seem to like buying bigger cars these days unless it’s an SUV

Actually they’re not selling the Focus, KA or Fiesta any more either. SUV or nothing.

multi21
Free Member

You’ll have to explain that one a bit more.

Not sure I can tbh, I think it’s pretty clear? I’ll give it a go though.

The octavia has great volume but not great shape. Nobody uses all of the volume of their boot, it’s not really that good a metric but it’s the best we have. But the better the shape, the more of that volume you can use. Broadly speaking the octavia has big intrusions into it, and no flat entry but compensates by carpeting all the way out and so gaining back space in all those niches and in behind the clusters and above the wheels and such. You can fit a lot of stuff in one, as long as it’s the right shape

Whereas a really good boot can be smaller, as long as it’s squarer. Even a substantially smaller boot can be real world more useful, because you can use it better.

Bikes are one thing that makes it really obvious. My legacy has a maller boot by volume- mostly because of the higher floor/lower roof- and is essentially the same size as a current Octavia, but I can roll my size large 29er enduro bike into it with both wheels on (seats down obvs). Unless you’re stacking right to the roof, the volume difference isn’t so obvious but the squareness is.

I took a load of stuff to a work event in my car, planning to transfer it into the work octavia for the way back. Schoolboy error! We had 3 big awkward box things for the event stands, and the octavia could physically only take 2 because of the shapes, while my car took all 3. I ended up having to take one home. If we’d been transporting beanbags or something then the octavia would have won, no contest.

(similar- my mazda 6 had a good sized boot but the liftback made it ridiculously usable, it was almost like being able to peel the roof off an estate car, I was pretty blown away by that)

We tried the first iteration of the Insignia and I really didn’t like it. I think they may have made significant changes to the later versions but I’m not sure I can get on with the styling

Same platform, GM Epsilon, but “updated” – whatever that actually means.

Different engines. Different shell. Different interior kit and clobber. And also now defunct just like the Mondy.

I actually like the Insignia styling better than the most recent Mondy. C’est la vie.

Northwind

Not sure I can tbh, I think it’s pretty clear? I’ll give it a go though.

The octavia has great volume but not great shape. Nobody uses all of the volume of their boot, it’s not really that good a metric but it’s the best we have. But the better the shape, the more of that volume you can use. Broadly speaking the octavia has big intrusions into it, and no flat entry but compensates by carpeting all the way out and so gaining back space in all those niches and in behind the clusters and above the wheels and such. You can fit a lot of stuff in one, as long as it’s the right shape
<snip>

lol, why do i let myself get drawn into threads 😅

So what you mean is that the narrowest point widthways is slightly (what, 2-3 inches?) smaller on the Octavia than a Focus. But, what you don’t mention is that the Octavia’s boot is longer than the Focus.

focus top, octavia bottom

older, focus top, octavia bottom

For what I use the car for the Octavia swallows up far more boxes of tools etc than the 6, the niches behind the wheel arches are really useful and with the low floor and high load cover the useful volume is much bigger. The diesel issue with the 6 is the cleaning of the dpf by squirting fuel at it (unless you’re driving out of town and the engine is hotter). The residue that drains off the dpf end up in the oil sump, thinning the oil and raising the oil level (can reach the max level on the dipstick in a few months). With my 6 the injectors came loose (no locknuts just ordinary M6 nuts) which blew engine gasses into the oil return ways. The soot crystalised in the oil and blocked the oil pump strainer. Had the sump dropped several times to clean the strainer until I found the cause being the injectors.