1996 Mazda Xedos 6 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing whatsoever.

As originally purchased the car was fitted with the standard 5 1/2" x 14" alloy wheels which due to their over ornate styling were at odds with the otherwise uncluttered and sleek appearance of the body, these have since been replaced with five spoke 7" x 16" items which totally transforms the cars stance.

Am I the only person to think these cars sit far too high, particularly at the rear? A lowering spring set brought mine down by approx 2" all round resulting in not only improved looks but more weighty steering and precise handling. The trade off however is a crashing ride.

The 1600 has surprising acceleration from a standstill, possibly down to very low gearing, but gets a bit out of breath as the revs rise. I've driven the V6 which I can honestly say doesn't seem at legal speeds that much quicker although the engine and exhaust note could justify the extra money alone.

I bought one used at about 150k km on the clock.

I did replace the power antenna (the plastic belt was broken in the old one, had to buy a new antenna from a Mazda dealer - sans the motor), but that was cheap and I replaced it myself.

It had a little oil leak near the pick-up coils on the cyl. head, just a faulty oil seal, which was replaced at a scheduled service interval, but didn't cure the problem. It was too minor to be bothered about really.

I did replace the spark plug leads, since it ran on 3 cyls at idle. Not as cheap as one would expect, but it's a Mazda. Still nothing that would make your children starve.

On the right rear door the power window button stopped working (only up part). It was a bad connection behind the door panel but I never bothered to fix it.

Once on a cold night the engine just died. No idea why. It started normally about 2 minutes later and it never happened again?

Replaced a front wheel bearing. A bit of a PITA for the guy in the shop doing it, but I guess he should have used a bigger hammer. It's standard size bearing and thus cheap to replace.

As stated above, the original 14" rims do look silly. Replaced by 215/45 rubber on 17" rims.

A word of caution. It is a heavy car and putting on bigger wheels will result in torque loss. A lot of it. Good thing I'm not into racing, since the car did struggle a bit with aircon on. Gas consumption was also rather high. About the same as 2.0 V6. So don't let that be a determining factor in which one you get. I would recommend the V6 version with 2 airbags (later models - 1996 onwards).

Other than that, I had no mechanical issues with the car. Most things that went wrong were due to (in my opinion) previous owners neglect or just stuff that wears out on any car. Authorized service dept. was very nice and helpful. Don't put a dent in it since body parts are expensive. With some luck you can find used ones.

With 179.000 km on the clock someone decided to run a red light and totaled my Mazda. It was a BAD accident, but I managed to walk away with only a few bruises from the seatbelt (self-tensioning belts + airbags + a bit of luck really can save your life).

I would get another one in a heartbeat, but I am so poor at the moment I can't even pay attention.

Hopefully I will get something from the insurance.

I would recommend this car to anyone, but keep in mind, it is thirsty for a 1.6. But all worth it when you look at anything else parked next to it.