2009 Mazda 6 TS2 2.2 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland
Summary:
On the whole a good car, but there's better out there
Faults:
Rattle from near side rear door, not sure what.
Slight metallic rattle from behind dash.
Suffers from misting up problems, to the point where water runs down the rear and even front window - the A/C is pretty much running the whole time.
Radio de-tunes itself for no reason - sounds like a common fault.
General Comments:
The above problems are more of an annoyance, rather than failures, although the rattle in the door will need to be sorted when it goes for its service, as it's getting quite annoying.
I'm surprised that a car of this size doesn't have reverse sensors fitted as standard on the spec, but it does have folding mirrors, climate, auto lights and auto wipers, plus the RVM, although I've always found using mirrors does the same job, but without the beeping.
It does have a nice layout, everything seems to fit together nicely, but some of the plastics do feel cheap and a little on the hard side.
At the moment the gearbox is a little too stiff, and doesn't really like being rushed along, to the point where it has refused to go into gear on occasion. Maybe this will loosen up as some more mileage goes on it.
The handling is good for such a big car, and not too harsh on the rough stuff; it does give some confidence on the twisty stuff.
The engine is OK, sounds like any other diesel that I've ever driven, so nothing really special about it - although I was expecting a greater feel of power from the 2.2, but on a positive side, it does seem to be returning good economy, especially on long trips.
But I wish the computer for the range, avg MPG, etc was easier to obtain, rather than having to keep scrolling across the display all the time, to find the required info.
A very positive thing is the space inside the car, and the way the rear seats fold with just an easy touch on the release mechanism, nice one!
Also not really sure what the ECO mode on the climate is for, there doesn't seem to be much about it in the manual - on my old car you could switch the ECO mode on and off, nice and easy.
On the whole it's a good car, but I do think that Mazda need to go back to the drawing board to improve on a few things, to make it a better car - as there's a lot of good competition out there.
By the way, it's rubbish in the snow, even with a diesel hanging over the front wheels, but I would put that down to the run flat tyres that are fitted to it, on the account of no spare.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 8th February, 2010
10th Aug 2013, 08:34
This car has finally been returned after 4 years of running it. On the whole it's not been too bad, apart from some rust coming through on the inside of the boot (underneath the paint, no chips or scratches), which would be a concern if I had been keeping the car any longer. After 60k miles, there were a few rattles coming from behind the dash, which seemed dependent on the ambient temperature, and the car still suffered an intermittent lag problem when accelerating, but the dealer was insistent there were no problems.
Basically, I would recommend a Mazda 6 Estate as a good load carrier and motorway cruiser; it's not bad round country lanes either.
Have been given another, slightly newer 6 estate (not latest model), this does have parking sensors, plus slightly improved interior and on a recent trip to Germany and back, it returned almost 60 MPG. Did the same trip in my old one and it didn't do so well. Just a shame paint seems to be a problem for this Mazda also, as the paint is already flaking off in several areas; not good for car which is less than 3 years old.
5th Apr 2011, 15:52
OK, 1.5 years into running this vehicle, and I'm still getting what seems like fuel starvation (intermittently) when accelerating, dealer can't find any problems.
It sometimes won't go into gear; if I push any harder on the clutch pedal, my foot would have to go through the firewall.
It's still got a few rattles.
The front disc's are warped, after just 25K miles, causing a horrible shudder when braking.
There's a smell of burning rubber when the A/C is on, dealer can't seem to find any problems - guess it goes away after a while, but is a bit off putting.
It's still not a bad car though, comfortable to drive, and considering it's a 2.2 diesel, it can be quite frugal.
I would consider one again, but only with reverse sensors; those things are bumper savers.