Mazda 6 estate , any good??

Just been reading an old version of what car and came across a review about the mazda 6 estate.

seems like a nice car and a bit different to a mondeo or insignia.

Do any of you on here have/drive one and if so can you give me your opinions on please!!

cheers

steve

Dads had 2, he had Mondeos before. The 6’s are really nice for the money, well made and reliable. I think it’s the TS2 that has the Bose stereo which sounds fantastic. I have hears the dealerships can be hit and miss, but if your looking at an ‘old’ magazine perhaps your not buying new so may not be an issue. I’ve got an older MX5 myself and had no issues with the dealers. If I was after a family sized car I’d have a 6.

cheers for that catflees, we will be looking at a car around 2.5 to 3 years old and so far narrowed it down to one of the following…..

mondeo
mazda 6
octavia
passat
bmw 5 series
honda accord
volvo v70

all going to the estate models.

Can you fit a bike in the boot (with seats down) upright with the front wheel off? I want an estate which can take three people and three bikes inside.

Dad had a MK1 MPS version,, with a split back seat we got 3 adults and 3 bikes arranged inside with one rear seat folded down. He’s got a MK2 estate now, I will have a look at arranging bikes in it when I visit mid-week. You can easily get 2 bikes in with front wheel off and seats down, but that doesn’t really answer your question..

The boot is a decent size and the rear seats drop down flat with a pull of the lever in the boot.

But. Deadly boring to drive (I test drove the 2.0 diesel 170bhp version).

And I have had a horrible experience of Mazda ( reliability and shit back-up from main dealer). To be honest I don’t know why I even considered it but it was straight off my short list after a drive.

I’ve owned 3 Mazdas, the latest an 03 323F which I’ve had for 6 years but I won’t be buying another one because through the years they seem to have done nothing to address their rust issues that mean my car will need welding this year for the MOT. Can’t fault them for reliability, but if your buying one check it for rusty wheel arches/anything steel.

Boring to drive… 🙄

Had the mk1 diesel. Great to drive, soft paint and plastic. Turbo failed at about 120k, big end bearings a month later. So the leasing company wrote it off. A good end to a four year lease.

Unless they’ve improved the diesel engine I would stay clear.

Surely you failed to keep it topped up with oil, with those symptoms…

Aren’t the engines pretty much Mondeo engines?

Wife just bought a new Outback after driving passat, octy, mundaneo, and 6. Preferred AWD given where we live and where she goes for work (engineer, site visits) and the higher drive position plus price and general solid feeling. 6sp man,2.5 petrol. The diesel isn’t worth it here.

There great cars loads of room. Iv got a 2lt ts2 hatch with 120k on the clock it’s never missed a beat. Iv owned it 4 years and in that time iv done about 50k miles. On a long run from Manchester to southampton I get 40mpg+ around town it’s about 29 to 34mpg. The bose sound system is great. If you get the diesel make sure the cambelt has been done the petrol is chain drive so make sure you change the oil regular.

Its basically a Mondeo.
Driven my old boss’s 09′ plate plenty of times. Its nice. Drives nicely. Plenty of room, does 50mpg all day long & looks better than the Ford equivalent.

I just sold a 3 year old Mazda 6 2.5L Sport Estate which I had from new. Good car, would recommened. Good drive, very practical, looked good, and 100% reliable in the time I owned it. Sport version is equipped with everything you need.

angeldust… how much did you sell it for if you dont mind asking as i will be looking at cars around that age.

also how good/bad was the 2.5 on petrol in real world terms ??

i looked at one recently when we were looking to part ex our octavia. TS2 i think 170 bhp, bose stereo version. but…. seriously underwhelmed by it. possibly a crap one-off, but it felt plasticky inside, drove like a bag of sh*te and not tempting at all. shame, as they look good, and it was cheaper than the octavias we were looking at.

settled for another octavia and the difference in driving was immense. like i say, could have just been a one-off tho, tis just my experience.

A friend had a 6 diesel estate with nearly 200k on it and it was pretty reliable.Clutch (expensive) and some suspension parts were biggest expenses.
A bit of a hard ride and coarse feeling.Plenty of power though.
I have a Mondeo and think the ride is far better.In fact a mechanic friend with an Audi commented how smooth it was on rough roads.
I think the diesel engines great,plenty of mid range,and no expensive cam belt to change.Would definitely look at another but the mileage on used ones tend to be very high.

Renton – I sold it privately for £9500 (£1.5K over p/x price). Bear in mind that mine is a top spec model, low milage (30K) and was in truely excellent condition (though it did need a service and new tyres). I got 35mpg on average.

Have a TS2 estate diesel, would buy another one.

Its not been perfect(turbo went under warranty)but compared to friends & family with other cars its been a model of reliability.
The interior & trim seem to be lasting much better than the FIL’s Mondeo.
I test drove a fair few cars before settling on the 6 its very similar to the Mondeo to drive & much better than the VAG cars I drove (though the snotty attitude of the dealer probably didn’t put me in the best frame of mind)

I have an 09 Mazda 6 Sport Hatch with the 185 bhp diesel engine.

I’m very happy with it, can comfortably fit 2 fully built 20″ frame bikes in the boot with the seats down, interior is nice, seats are very comfy and supportive, drives and handles well. I’m 6’2″ and there’s still loads of legroom behind the driver’s seat.

Insurance is about £350 fully comp, car tax is £135 per year (this might have changed with the budget) and I get 47mpg (based on about the last 6 months driving).

I’ve had it just over 2 years and would have had the estate version quite happily but was offered a much better deal on the hatch.

Had a couple of minor niggles early on with it but they were sorted out quickly under warranty by the main dealer.

Based on my experience I’d happily have another one.

thanks for all the replies.

seems like a mixed bag so far though !!

I will be looking at the estate model myself, how much leg room is there for rear passengers??

does the estate have a lip at all into the boot??

cheers

steve

IIRC there’s the same amount of legroom in the rear of both the hatch and estate and I’m pretty sure there isn’t a lip on the boot of the estate. HTH

Rear leg room is good, but not as good as a mondeo. No lip on Estate boot.

Steve I can’t access my emails til Tuesday (locked out)

The only negative things I’ve heard are that the wheel arches are prone to bubbling up with rust for some reason. Check them carefully if buying second hand. Mondeo’s don’t seem to suffer from this problem.