[jman]

I've been a Mazda fan my whole life, owned two 626 HB, one 323 coupe, a 4 cyl 6 sedan and now I have a 6 V6 HB.

I bought the current 6 to teach my kids how to drive standard, and have some fun with the vehicle in the process. I didn't need it, this was a 3rd vehicle but I love it so much that I drive it to work everyday.
My plan was to keep it for 1 - 1.5 years, my kids have learned to drive it and now a friend started asking me (harassing me) to sell it to him.

This car has become my toy, I drive it for fun and enjoy every minute of it. If I sell it, I can only think of buying another 6, I've been considering the Gen II V6-GT, 2009-2010 to keep it cheap.

So the question is, how good/reliable is the Gen II - V6? I know I cannot get a V6-Standard but I'm willing to go to an automatic and get 60 more hp (than my current 6)...

Thoughts?

 

[Byakuya]

It's MUCH more reliable than the gen1 V6, I'll say that much.

@Mz6GreyGhost absolutely loves his and has had almost no issues with it AFAIK.

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

7 years old and 116k miles, and I still crack a smile when walking to my '10 S GT. It's been very reliable and still one of the most fun-to-drive cars I've ever driven.

One word of caution: if you live in places north of Washington DC, be sure the car is inspected thoroughly before buying one. Unfortunately, I've just spent $1200 on getting a new front subframe installed (it was rusted out to the point of me being able to pull off pieces of it by hand).

I'm in the process of talking with Mazda about getting at least a partial reimbursement for it, since replacing a front subframe after 7 years is a little hard to swallow for me.

Other than that, besides regular maintenance (brakes, tires, fluid and filter changes, etc.), it's been very reliable and, minus the subframe, has been inexpensive to keep up with.

The best part is that I haven't had a car payment in 4 years, and with a little luck, I'll get a couple more out of it...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[jman]

Thanks for the tip. Tons of salt is spread during Winter in my area, the frame, rocker panels and frame in general (and brakes, tires, suspension, etc) are inspected by law every time a vehicle is sold but you never know how thorough the mechanic is going to be.

Anything else I should be looking for?

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

They can be hard to find, due to less than 10% of 2nd-gen 6s sold being V6 models.

Other than that, there's no other "problem areas" that I'm aware of.

Happy hunting, and feel free to post up with any other questions.

 

[b1lk1]

I don't know, if I sold my current 6 and really wanted another one I'd be hunting for Speed6. Prices have come way down on a good used Speed.

 

[Byakuya]

I don't know, if I sold my current 6 and really wanted another one I'd be hunting for Speed6. Prices have come way down on a good used Speed.

That's because most of them at this point are breaking, or will soon break - Don't forget that they're all at least 10 years old now and any car will start showing some signs of age at that point (especially if it was driven the way it was meant to).

Not saying there aren't plenty of good ones still out there, just saying the market for them is getting smaller and smaller as they (unfortunately) slowly fade away.

 

[jman]

Agree, I don't feel confident buying 10+ years old turbo-engine vehicles... unless it has very low mileage.
A 150-200 k km Gen II fully equipped is way cheaper than a good low mileage Mazdaspeed.

Now, a Gen II-V6 has similar hp and curb weight as the Mazdaspeed 6, you don't get the AWD but gain gadgets such as BSM, TPMS, and Bluetooth.

Haven't made up my mind yet, I love my 6 but the clutch is heavy and hate driving it during rush hour which I only do on rare occasions.

 

[b1lk1]

1. I really do not like the styling of the second gen, 3rd isn't that much better in my opinion.

2. The only benefit going to the auto 3.7 will be no clutch. I doubt there would be much, if any, gain in performance as the auto trans will eat most if not all of the gain.

3. Speeds have dropped ALOT in price. First gen V6's are near impossible to sell at any price close to what we think that are worth. Plenty of $5K 200K KM(or less) Speeds around.

If I were to get rid of my first gen V6 5spd because I hated the clutch then I would likely go straight to the 3 series BMW. Again, this is my opinion/choice so I don't expect anyone to agree, but the second generation 6 is nowhere near as much of a sports car as the 1st gen.

 

[jman]

One word of caution: if you live in places north of Washington DC, be sure the car is inspected thoroughly before buying one. Unfortunately, I've just spent $1200 on getting a new front subframe installed (it was rusted out to the point of me being able to pull off pieces of it by hand).

@Mz6GreyGhost found this add... Mazda 6 with rotten frame
you are not alone.

 

[DrFeelGood]

@Mz6GreyGhost found this add... Mazda 6 with rotten frame
you are not alone.

Holy Frame Rot Batman!!!

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

Yeah, that unfortunately looks way too familiar...

 

[jman]

Well, after 3+ months of searching, I finally bought my next daily driver.
My 6 will be parked on my driveway until my son gets his learners license. My daughter already masters the manual transmission so it was time to buy something a bit more comfortable for daily use.

I ended buying a Ford Taurus SHO, tuned to +400 hp... yikes.

I test drove the thing and it blew me away, never seen an AWD vehicle trigger the traction control. It has a Borla exhaust and it is fully equipped with every single option. Previous owner's family owns a Ford dealership and he recently replaced both turbos, timing chain and water pump. This gives me some confidence on buying a used turbocharged vehicle.

This will become my new toy until it blows :grin2:... most likely will run the 87 octane tune on a daily basis and reserve the 94 tune for special occasions.

First Ford ever, hope it doesn't give me trouble and if it does, my beloved 6 will be there to take over.

 

[waughoo]

Congrats man! I grew up in the era of the first gen Taurus SHO. That machine you explain sounds like quite the beast! When do we get to see pics?

 

[jman]

When do we get to see pics?

Here you go...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/24UrDDj]20180306_103810 lr by JP M, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GQojwf]20180306_214643 lr by JP M, on Flickr[/URL]

and yes, it's black.... :frown2:.... Two years ago I bought a black Pathfinder and swore I would never buy a black car again.... they I bought my black 6.... and now.... black is nice, when it's clean !

 

[waughoo]

@jman1200 for some reason the images are showing as btoken.

 

[jman]

Weird... I was able to see them...
I posted them using another method, hope it works now.

 

[waughoo]

Weird... I was able to see them...
I posted them using another method, hope it works now.

They showed up that time. She looks sharp man!!

 

[Mz6GreyGhost]

Looks good!

I'm personally not a fan of the current SHO, because it doesn't drive like the 1st and 2nd-gen SHO did (it's much bigger and heavier than the '93 that a college friend of mine had, plus he had a MTX).

I think the Fusion Sport is a more suitable descendant, but I'm sure heads would've rolled at Ford HQ if they released a Fusion SHO...

But I digress... Enjoy your new ride! I'm looking into the new 6 with the turbo-4 myself...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[jman]

I hated it the first couple of days while I got used to the weird controls, headlights are on the dash, wipers are on the left, steering wheel controls are backwards (cruise on left and radio/nav on right), now that I got used to it I'm loving it more and more every day.
It is a heavy vehicle, 4600 lbs, and it's longer and wider than my Pathfinder, had to take one garbage can out of the garage... but I like big cars.
Not sure how the previous generations of the SHO drove but I'm pretty happy with this one, I removed the 93 octane tune and loaded an 87 octane one (preloaded on the tuner) to save on fuel and I still got a 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and the road was wet, so it is still pretty darn fast.
I see this car as a toy although I use it to go to work every day. I sometimes drive it as if it was stolen (same I did with my 6) and since I didn't spend a crazy amount of cash on them, I expect to get a few years out of it hopefully with minimum repairs... my son is already asking to have it when I'm done with it... not going to happen, too fast for a teen.

I plan to start the 6 and drive it around the block at least once per month, I hope nothing goes bad while stored. Luckily we do not have too many mice around here, just a bunch of rabbits.