Underrated hot saloon or pile of cr4p?

[KungFuPanda]

I give you a Mazda 6 MPS

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

4 doors, 4WD, 260 bhp, 0-62 in 6.6 seconds, full leather interior, looks like a decent amount of kit too. All for the bargain price of £3250.

So, are these any good or are they just a pile of cr4p?

[Dave Hedgehog]

Its basically a scooby for people not in their 20s, its more subtle and a nice place to be inside (unless you like driving mini cabs lol, i owned 2 STi type UKs )

its got lots of space and grunt and should be tunable

expect mid 20s mpg thou

[anonymous-user]

Very underrated IMO

[a7x88]

I've just bought one. Loads of space and the interior is definitely a step up form impreza's / evo's although it is not quite up with the Germans. Couple of faults to listen/look out for;

VVT Actuator / Timing Chain tensioner - a loud clicking coming from the left side of the engine and or chain slap. Known issue around 70-80k miles. Kits can be bought for £300-£400 with all the bits and updated parts (mazda extended warranty to cover this issue in the US but we never got it over here) a competent home mechanic or any independant can fit. Updated parts mean the issue should never happen again. Mazda charge around £1500 :s

Turbo seals - if the car hasn't been warmed up/down properly. Check for burning oil from the exhaust after extended idle. (Test drive then leave idling for 5-10mins)

Other than that they apparently are pretty solid.
I'm getting mid 20's around town and 30 on a run (taking it easy).
Run it on 98 octane or higher and it's generally accepted they put out 280ish as per the US quotes figures - they run pretty rough on 95 anyway. Car and Driver also independently tested one - 0-60 in 5.4, 0-100 in 14.5 which isn't too bad. Think an impreza would have the legs on them as the 6 is a heavy car (1600-1700kgs iirc)

[R26Andy]

The killer for me was the rear seats do not fold, there is a large brace behind them like the rx8. Might only seem like a small point to some but if I'm compromising to get a practical car, I actually want it to be practical.

[anonymous-user]

Do these suffer from the same chronic tin worm as the rest of the range?

Always really liked them, really understated and a bit of a sleeper on the roads.

[kambites]

I wouldn't say they were underrated - I thought they were very highly regarded?

[vx220]

IIRC they fall into a massive tax bracket?

But so would an equivalent Scooby...

Interested to hear of any rust issues

[HaloGen8]

vx220 said:

IIRC they fall into a massive tax bracket?

But so would an equivalent Scooby...

Interested to hear of any rust issues

Nice stealth car and that one has a nice number plate too (well for that car anyway) but yes I just spotted that in the advert:

Running costs

Urban mpg

20 mpg

CO2 emissions

245 g/km

Extra Urban mpg

35.3 mpg

Annual Tax

£485

Average mpg

27.7 mpg

[Justin Case]

vx220 said:

Interested to hear of any rust issues

I have an 07 estate, which I assume has a similar structure. Had a look underneath while it was being serviced in March and there was no rust underneath. There is a mud-trap between the rear arch and liner, but it can easily be kept clean with a toothbrush. On the other hand I did need to have three teeth out last week PH man maintenance?

[blindmaninchains]

Considering one of these as my next car, budget roughly £3500.
I think it's between this, an E46 Touring or an ST220.

[a7x88]

Touch wood mine doesn't have any rust. As stated tax is expensive but my insurance came in £200 less than an e46 330i (the other option I was considering).

Contrary to what Mazda say you can actually fold the rear seats down as the latches are all present and correct - they are hidden behind a piece of trim. However you do have the structural braces as mentioned. Still managed to get my bike in there. Would be ok for carrying bits of wood /pipe etc but sheets of board would not be possible.

ETA - there are a couple about that fall into the older VED categories which means tax is more around the £250 ish mark. They are hard to find though

Edited by a7x88 on Saturday 5th July 09:32