So I've had my car for a 15 months now and am a couple hundred miles over 25,000. So I'm writing a 25k update on my original 3k review. It's a 2016 Soul Red Sport model:
Performance:
Still sucky at low gears when taking off from a stop. Fuel economy has dropped due to me moving out farther from work, but highway is still the same. Sport mode helps a lot taking off, but not worth driving with it on all the time. If you're at cruising speed and mash the pedal, it'll move well enough. You're not driving a fast car and don't pretend that you are. It's about styling and fuel economy.
Interior/exterior/fit/finish:
That tan, cloth interior is a dirt magnet. I've never spilled any liquids, but there are some stains that I wonder how they got where they were. For example, the A pillar has some black lines on it. From what? It's a mystery. I have two dogs and one sheds a lot more than the other and that stuff sticks to the cloth like velcro. It's not hard to vacuum out though. The interior door handle area shows some wear, mostly where my palm rests while I pull on the handle. The infotainment system sure does allow dust particles and such things to get in the screen. That's rather odd. There are some rattles on the passenger side by the glovebox or the passenger door. I can't seem to narrow down where it is. I haven't taken it to Mazda since it isn't a constant issue and will most likely not happen when I take it to them.
I've had it in for service to fix the passenger seat height lever. It would go down, but never go up and sounded like it was scratching a plastic gear when the lever was moved upwards. Of course as soon as they fixed it, the driver side now does the same thing. I'll have to take that to get fixed. The passenger side trunk latch to lower the rear set got loose and I had to set it back. No further issues. No exterior issues whatsoever. There are two mechanical issues I have noticed. The first is the driver side front suspension. When I go over water after a rain or something similar, it creaks when I go down the ramp to the office parking garage or speed bumps or anything that causes an up and down motion. Since it isn't really wet here, hard to duplicate when I take it Mazda. A weird one is a high pitched whine I am going between 40-43 mph. That's the only speed range when it happens. I take it to Jeff Haas Mazda here in Houston and I've had no issues with the service bay.
Overall, it's a good purchase, but I should have gotten the touring model for the leatherette, 19" rims and other features. It gets the job done and it's a comfortable car. I like the fact that Mazda isn't a high seller and the 6 isn't everywhere like a Camry or Accord. I like the fact that it doesn't have a crappy dual-clutch or CVT transmission. It's a sleek looking car and I love the soul red color.
Hopefully this helps you decide on the car and if there is any feedback, I'd love to hear it.
PS - Sound system sucks.
Performance:
Still sucky at low gears when taking off from a stop. Fuel economy has dropped due to me moving out farther from work, but highway is still the same. Sport mode helps a lot taking off, but not worth driving with it on all the time. If you're at cruising speed and mash the pedal, it'll move well enough. You're not driving a fast car and don't pretend that you are. It's about styling and fuel economy.
Interior/exterior/fit/finish:
That tan, cloth interior is a dirt magnet. I've never spilled any liquids, but there are some stains that I wonder how they got where they were. For example, the A pillar has some black lines on it. From what? It's a mystery. I have two dogs and one sheds a lot more than the other and that stuff sticks to the cloth like velcro. It's not hard to vacuum out though. The interior door handle area shows some wear, mostly where my palm rests while I pull on the handle. The infotainment system sure does allow dust particles and such things to get in the screen. That's rather odd. There are some rattles on the passenger side by the glovebox or the passenger door. I can't seem to narrow down where it is. I haven't taken it to Mazda since it isn't a constant issue and will most likely not happen when I take it to them.
I've had it in for service to fix the passenger seat height lever. It would go down, but never go up and sounded like it was scratching a plastic gear when the lever was moved upwards. Of course as soon as they fixed it, the driver side now does the same thing. I'll have to take that to get fixed. The passenger side trunk latch to lower the rear set got loose and I had to set it back. No further issues. No exterior issues whatsoever. There are two mechanical issues I have noticed. The first is the driver side front suspension. When I go over water after a rain or something similar, it creaks when I go down the ramp to the office parking garage or speed bumps or anything that causes an up and down motion. Since it isn't really wet here, hard to duplicate when I take it Mazda. A weird one is a high pitched whine I am going between 40-43 mph. That's the only speed range when it happens. I take it to Jeff Haas Mazda here in Houston and I've had no issues with the service bay.
Overall, it's a good purchase, but I should have gotten the touring model for the leatherette, 19" rims and other features. It gets the job done and it's a comfortable car. I like the fact that Mazda isn't a high seller and the 6 isn't everywhere like a Camry or Accord. I like the fact that it doesn't have a crappy dual-clutch or CVT transmission. It's a sleek looking car and I love the soul red color.
Hopefully this helps you decide on the car and if there is any feedback, I'd love to hear it.
PS - Sound system sucks.