2006 Mazda 6 MazdaSpeed6 GT review from North America

Mazda new buyers have a right to know what they are getting into, and how Mazda treats their customers.

My Mazda Speed 6 has been with dealership for more than 1.5 months of the 7 month period of my ownership. Currently, it is with dealership for more than 2 weeks with denied warranty on 11k miles on it.

All repairs were done under warranty, this time when the axle broke again, they are complaining about my driving patterns. This is my second Mazda after a Miata; I have owned 7 new cars in last nine years, I currently drive Infiniti fx-45, which is more powerful than this Mazda Mazdaspeed6. I never ran into these problems in my life in any car, I have no idea how they can claim that it is my driving. I drive car my Mazda Mazdaspeed6 within speed limits; - Yes - I accelerate to beat traffic within speed limits. That wears tire quickly, but I am willing to pay for the wear on tires; should they conclude that I am a bad driver and broke the car? – I do not agree with that!

Every time, I am told that this is not Mazda’s problem and later it turned out to be their problem. I am being told again that this is not Mazda’s problem since they do not have any such info in their database.

Probably this letter will create such database on Google for Mazda to remind them and users/customers of the problems noticed in their car. Right now, we are on their mercy, we never saw this problem, therefore it is not covered under warranty.

Here is the copy for your information when you make a buying decision or like to know how Mazda deals with their customers. Feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide you more detailed information.

Letter Sent to:

Mazda North American Operations

Consumer Compliance

7755 Irvine Center Drive

Irvine, CA 92618-2922

Dear Mazda:

I leased my 2006 Mazda Mazdaspeed6 on December 15th, 2005 after having to test drive countless automobiles, and picked the perfect one.

1. The very first day I had gotten my Mazda mazdaspeed6, I realized that the driver side window was not going down. So the day after I had leased the Speed6, I had to go back to the dealership get it fixed. At first, I did not think much of it, but now I realize how it was just a head start from day one in a snowball effect of problems which would not stop.

2. Just three weeks or 1,251 miles later, I came across a few problems which really astounded me from Mazda’s flagship vehicle. Just from one bolt which came out, the left side drive shaft, differential mount, and the LSD bolts had to be replaced. In which I was not issued a replacement car or a rental car of the same value.

3. Subsequently, at 3,580 miles, about 2,300 miles after the drive train components had to be replaced; the front lighter port underneath the system deck went bad. My service advisor later told me that the fuse had to be replaced, and so he replaced it and I still was not issued a car in return for the inconvenience.

4. Ever since 5,756 miles, the Mazda Mazdaspeed6 had been making a very infuriating and embarrassing squeaking noise. My service advisor had it checked out, and told me that it was normal brake noise, which would normally come to be noticed when the brakes are applied. The dilemma is that the noise still came regardless of if I am applying the brakes or not. First, when in a parking lot, looking for parking going 10MPH, it is a very high pitch and evident noise. Next, the noise is really evident almost every time my Mazda mazdaspeed6 is taking a minor or even a sharp turn at slow speeds of 15MPH or below. Sometimes, the noise would be apparent even at speeds of 45 to 65MPH. So everything was talked about and discussed, nothing was done to resolve my Speed6’s predicament. At the same visit to Mazda, I conversed with my advisor about a problem with my keyless entry system, and the panic button was not working properly, until very close to the vehicle, and my advisor told me that I was not pushing it right, so I just dealt with it. This problem is later fixed after about two more visits to my dealership.

5. At 7,128 miles, I had noticed that the front two tires had been wearing out horribly on the outside, and I had the advisor check the tire pressure, and the alignment out to see if everything is in check. In return, he told and showed me everything was in proper working order, and blamed the tire wearing on the driving habits. In return, I could not do much more because I already don’t drive the Mazda mazdaspeed6 aggressively. At the same time, the 7,500 mile service was due soon, so I got it done and over with, which rotated the tires, changed the oil, and so on. A few days later, I was talking to a friend of mine who is a mechanic at Jiffy Lube, and I told him exactly the conditions of the tire, and he told me that the tire pressure was the problem not the driving habits. So I put the tire pressure at 40psi cold, and ever since then, I haven’t had any problems with it. So after everything was said and done, it was the mechanics lack of knowledge of proper tire pressure which resulted in me having horrible tires at such little miles

6. Since day one, I had trouble with the turbo part of the vehicle, but never had been able to explain or show my service advisor the problem properly for him to understand. So I was on my way to the dealership for some other issues, and on the way there, I had come across the problem, where the turbo just simply shuts down after engine had been driven in or out of heavy traffic. After at least five to ten attempts at explaining the issue to a service advisor, I had finally showed him this, and he debated with Mazda corps, and they told him to first, try a fuel booster, which would later not do anything to the engine, except put foreign chemicals which is not needed in a brand new vehicle. Next, after three or four more attempts, Mazda Corps told my service advisor to re-flash the PCM, and I had gotten the Mazda mazdaspeed6 back the same day, but still was not issued a rental car or any form of transportation. This setback took Mazda 5 months and 7,656 miles to fix a mechanical problem which could have risked the life of me or my family, or even strangers because the turbo could have cut out on me when I would be merging into major traffic, and a sudden lost of power.

7. 8,315 miles down the road of frustration from Mazda’s flagship vehicle, the keyless entry didn’t work majority of the times. The moments it didn’t work, I had to manually open the door with the key tucked inside the credit card like key. So, my service advisor said that the battery was not at its best performing level, even though just 1,000 miles earlier, the battery was rated “good” with the cold cranking Amps was 441. So, they replaced the battery, and gave the Mazda mazdaspeed6 back to me. It worked fine for a few days, then it got really bad again, and the key really was never working any longer. So, my service adviser went a head and compared the current remote I was using to the spare one, and found out that it was the key all along, not the battery or any other programs. So the key got replaced and so did the whole program. It took the dealership 2 attempts at the resolution, but numerous amounts of guessing work.

8. So now, there are about 11,250 miles on the car, and the same thing is happening to the car as it when it had 1,251 miles on it, almost identical noises, and behavior and the people at the dealership are telling me that now the whole rear axle has to be replaced. Now, if the dealership would have replaced everything affected negatively by the loose bolt which came out, and damaged the drive train system, we would not be having this problem 10,000 miles later.

In the past 7 months, I have gone to the Mazda dealership over ten times, plus a car to pick me up from there, and the dealership is about 25 miles one way trip, times two for one car, and multiply the total of that by two for two cars, that’s 100 miles in total for which I have to pay for gas at $3.00 Plus a gallon. Let us not forget the frustration I get from Mazda’s flagship vehicle’s horrific performance, and reliability. I have been utterly disappointed in the work Mazda has done to this vehicle, and so in return, I would like either my money back for what I have paid Mazda, or I want a Brand New 2006 Mazda Mazdaspeed6 with 0 miles on the odometer, and a fresh start.

Do not buy this car period.