1993 Mazda MX6 LS from North America - Comments

Minor squeaks and rattles in the cabin.

Electrical short-out prevented starting once (probably unusual).

Replaced left-front tie-rod end.

Cracked catalytic converter replaced.

Left rear brake leak at hand brake linkage (not yet fixed).

Inexplicable hesitation, causes jittery acceleration.

Airbag warning beeps 25 times every 32 minutes, I imagine it is telling me "You will not survive" five times.

This has been a fun car overall; one of my favorite activities is embarrassing Mustang/Camaro/Anything-American drivers in front of their girlfriends/buddies at the stoplights.

I went to Colorado recently, and I am pleased to report this car handles mountain roads with gusto.

This car is very reliable, other than the problems reported above, which I believe were caused by the previous owner's neglect and abuse.

It is a beautiful car, with immortal styling. Wonderfully bolstered seats want to marry you, and the shifter is smooth and precise, with a gratifying 'thuck' at every change. I love revving the six at all the little CRX's while they fake it with voluminous exhaust modifications. Its Porsche-like wail just sounds so genuine, and it is! While the tuned four-bangers are still climbing out of the low-rpm doldrums, I'm walking away without a care in the world.

I must say I disagree in all points of the MX-6. I find the vehicle to be a total waste of money. I have owned one and have had nothing but trouble. The air conditioning is always going out (which that's a bad thing when you live in Florida). Also there is the total lack of power. The car though quoted to have around 170 horsepower in fact only has about 150 at the wheels. The car is a cow in the fact that it weighs too much. The acceleration stinks. Now is there anything good about the MX-6 LS? Yes, it does have a leather interior which is totally luxurious.

My sister wanted the car when I bought my Mercury Capri so I sold it to her. She likes it even though it is slow. One thing is for certain my little "4 banger" would and has blown the doors off of plenty of MX-6 LS', but then again it also blows the doors off of CRX's.

I love my MX-6 have had no problems with it at all and it has 130,000 miles now and believe me mine is fast! I don't know what your talking about slow? are you talking about the right car? or maybe something is wrong with yours, but my can get up and go.

I totally agree with the second comment. This car is super fast and luxurious. The guy with the Mercury Capri must be kidding, this car can blow the Capri out of the water (probably in third gear)

Well, I think that he might be talking about a 4 cylinder automatic transmission mx6, I am not saying that they are bad, but just a little slowish cause of the atx transmission, mine is a v6 manual and I would take him anytime I want, btw I am getting turbocharged soon, then i'll be hanging with the bmw m3. laters.

I'm from South Africa, bought my Mazda MX6 6cyc. V6 a year ago and it does the walk! I think it's a 96', with no previous engine mods.

It tested 0 - 100 km/h on 7.2seconds flat.

The performance from this machine is amazing, yes parts are expensive, but you must take into consideration that every vehicle has its flaws!

Thanks for reading.

T.S. - 21/07/2005

To the 30 July poster,

You may have forgotten that 170 hp is at the engine, so taking transmission losses into account, if you get 150 hp at the wheels, that is about right.

The only way your little car could beat a car like a Camaro/Trans-Am is if the other guys car was parked and the owner inside his house fast asleep. lmao.

I've beaten a few mustangs with my 92' Scoupe and even I can't believe it. Either those guys didn't want to fight or the performance of some older American muscle cars is way over rated. By the way I'm looking to buy a MX-6 V6. Lots of clean ones here in BC.

A.

I went from a 425 hp Chevy small block in a 67 truck. To say that my mx6 is slow is not the case. I've had more v-8's try the poor little v-6, than the v-8 truck (maybe it's the sound). maybe their afraid to pick on someone their own size. but the "little" v-6 has taken everything thrown at it all, but one. With gas around $3.00 pay at the pump premium same juice the truck runs. The difference is the small block gets around 10 mpg, it is a fun 10 mpg! However the mx6 gets get 23 mpg in the city 27 on the highway and that is almost 3x the bang for the buck. So my $500 Japanese car is my new best friend, and a hell of a sleeper to boot. zoom zoom zoom.

I'm from SA. Just bought my dad's MX6 2.5 that he's owned since new. It got kinda run down the last few years, so I have just fixed it up completely. Body is rust-free - always been up on the Highveld here, and of course, the entire body is galvanised.

Hint for this thread's originator: poor idling / missing: replace the throttle position sensor - it solves this problem.

And for everyone who's trashing the MX6 for reliability: the car isn't a Toyota Corolla which only needs a wash every 100 000km. It has weaknesses (ie cooling system) which require preventative maintenance. It's not unreliable per se, but it's not tolerant of bad maintenance in the way other cars are. And if you let the agents repair it, you're gonna go bankrupt.

Having said that, I did all of the following on the car for a total cost of about R12 000 ($1800). I did the work myself. If I'd had it done by the agents, it would probably have cost closer to R40k.

Replaced front suspension bushes (front and rear)

New tie-rod ends

New ball joints

New CV shafts left and right (they were utterly rotten)

New in-tank fuel pump (Dropping the tank is easy on the MX6)

New tappet cover gaskets

New water pump

New water hoses throughout

Cooling system flush & renew coolant.

New engine mounts all round (except left, which was OK) Rear engine mount is a horror to replace - this is a 12-beer job!

New drive belts (cambelt was still fine)

Changed gearbox oil

New inlet manifold gaskets

New vacuum hoses where rotten

Engine de-coke & engine oil flush (Had to change oil & filter three times in 400km afterwards to finally flush all the junk out!) Engine now runs beautifully and smoke-free after 325 000km

New brake discs

New brake pads

Aircon re-gas: compressor still works like a bomb. Apparently they have to sound like a baseball card in bicycle spokes before they die.

Renewed throttle position sensor to cure lumpy idle

Replaced all trim clips to cure interior rattles

Greased electric window guides (makes a HUGE difference to electric window operation!)

Minor dent repair

Serviced ventilation system to cure vibration.

Fitted new aerial and radio. (With built-in bluetooth car kit: woo-hoo!)

And of course, the usual service items, fuel filter, air filter, etc, etc.

For considerably less than book value, I have myself a fun-to-drive musclecar which will run with a GTI. It has a towbar too, so I can tow my race car trailer with it, which is really why I bought it in the first place :) And I'm sure I'd have no problem selling it for double what it's cost me in total. So yeah - great car.

I have a 1995 Mazda mx6 and I put a 1993 motor in it is a manuel transmission they say that the 93 motor will not work on a 95 but they do and the 93 motor has 25 more hp because in 93 the first year that the 2 generation mazda mx6 was made and it weighed 3,000 pounds and in the following years the weight was 2,445 and an addition it lost 25 hp and if you are going to put a 93 motor in any of those following years you will need to change the distributor and cap and roter the egr valve on the exhaust are different so then you have more power and less weight and right now my 0to60 time is 6.4 and getting ram air in a few days with ram air and a few more mods I have my 0to 60 time down even lower so I am happy with my mx6 it is plenty fast build mud trucks so I mess with big blocks have a 500 8.2liter in my truck at this time so if some one has a slow mx6 it must have a problem.

Almost exactly 2 years ago I posted a comment on this thread about besting Mustangs with my '92 Scoupe and my desire to own a MX6.

Well, a few day after writing I bought one- a silver '93 LS V6 5 speed with only 125KM. I got it for quite a low price, but with a few issues and I immediately spent $2000 putting them right. New struts/bearings, CFC free air conditioning conversion, v rated tires, new brakes, airbag computer (to stop the warning light flashing), sway bar end links, bodywork/leather work/paint, and a tune up and fuel filter.

After two years of ownership I must say that this is one hell of a car. It is quick off the line, has amazing mid range power and effortlessly accelerates up to 180KM per hour. I'm sure that it will do 230KM+ stock, but I have yet had an opportunity to try. I've embarrassed BMW's with this car.

Highway cruising is serene and the V6 makes nice noises when you put your foot into it. I have no intention of exchanging the muffler with a noisy

after market one, as I've been told it won't make much difference in performance unless larger headers and 2.5"pipes are installed.

Steering has decent feedback, brakes work well enough and the car handles the twisty county roads in my neighborhood with aplomb.

The interior is sheer luxury compared to what I had before and the leather seats are so comfy. You can drive for hours without feeling sore.

So far it has been extremely reliable and I have few complaints with the car.

However, it should be said that these vehicles are not inexpensive to maintain. Parts are expensive and the complexity of the engines (V6) means lots of shop labour time to get anything done. And, as others have noted, this car should not be ignored maintenance wise. Coolant and power steering fluid should be changed bi-annually. Tranny oil should only be changed only with 0% sulphur oil such as Red Line, otherwise you are asking for trouble. For best performance only use 92 octane gas.

Get a MX6 that has been well looked after, maintain it, and you will have one hell of a fun, fast, and sophisticated ride. I know of few other cars 15 years old that still turn heads.