2006 Mazda 6 TS 1.8 petrol from UK and Ireland
Summary:
With better rust protection, this could have been the ideal car!
Faults:
Rust, rust and more rust! This car had the usual wear and tear as any car, and servicing costs were also reasonable, but advisory after advisory about serious under chassis rust made me scrap it, failing an MOT test at 11 years old. The car was otherwise reliable enough and OK. For the naysayers - no, a car shouldn't rust this bad at only 11 years, I have had similar cars at 15 years old with no rust. The car was looked after, washed correctly on time.
General Comments:
I have had many cars in the large family / small executive range over the years - Ford Mondeo, Nissan Primera, Honda Accord, and so on, but the Mazda 6 was just as capable if not better than all of them, I really liked this car, so it's a shame the rust got the better of it.
TS model is well equipped, drives smooth and comfortable, 1.8 is fast with 37 mpg. More reliable than the diesels also!
The car handled very very sharp, fun to drive. Good looking also. Roomy stylish interior.
The car was barely 4 or 5 years old when I bought it with low mileage and already rust was appearing around the arches. Honestly put me off the brand, but I quite like Mazda. Why oh why Mazda did you not give this otherwise fine car better rust protection?
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 6th March, 2023
15th Feb 2024, 02:09
Wouldn’t underbody car washes which wash the salt away be easier than all of that?
17th Feb 2024, 17:41
I think the point is however that Mazda of this generation rust earlier than your average car. It's pretty well documented elsewhere on the internet, not just here.
13th Feb 2024, 17:49
All cars with steel underbody and chassis parts will rust on underbody and suspension components after a number of years... especially in northern climates, and dramatically so if road salt is used in winters...
... There is a simple way to slow this down... do as they do in the USA "winter salt" states, if you want to keep a car for many years...
... When everything is 100% dry before winter begins, get the car up on a garage lift stand... or get underneath (trickier and with car NOT just supported on a car-jack !!!)...
... and apply appropriate spray grease or winter-lanolin product to ALL steel components and members, including in through all the drain holes in suspension components and beams - they are not painted inside (!), and rust from inside as well... same goes for pipe clips etc under the bonnet...
... A partial repeat application after 3 months is ideal, but only possible if you can get most of the mixed winter dirt off AND get it all 100% dried out before application...
... If you do this grease application... do NOT do underbody car washes, which washes off all the protective grease layer(!)... at least not until after winter has finished.