Mazda 6 Should I?

[48Valves]

I'm venturing into new territory here. So hello everyone in Jap Chat

I'm selling my E46 M3 as I need something with a decent boot and my annual mileage will be increasing soon.

As such I've been looking at estates for around the £5k mark.

The vast majority of my car history is German and the wife has an Octavia VRs so fancy something a bit different.

For a second I was tempted with the 270 BHP CX 7 but the fuel bill would be similar to the M3 so I saw sense and dismissed the idea.

Anyway. The Mazda6 Estate seems to fit my requirements nicely. They seem decent value for a 2009/10 when they get to 100k miles or so. Are well equipped and look decent.

I've seen a couple that I like the look of. The first one is cheap. I suspect due to it only having part history.
Is this too much of a gamble even at this price?
What do I need to look out for with these cars?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Or is there merit in spending a bit more and getting something like this?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Thanks

Edited by 48Valves on Monday 6th March 17:05

[texaxile]

I've got an 04 Mazda 6 and my Dad a 60 plate, both petrol.

Since owning the 04 and doing 6-8k per year since 2009 apart from service items it's needed a front spring. Sadly thought he body lets it down as the old ones were prone to rust on the rear arches, and the diesels had a terrible reputation for reliability back then.

My Dad's was purchased 3 years ago with 26k and has just turned 46k and only one issue of it needing a new battery, other than that nothing, we have started to get the servicing done at an indy, prior to that it was Mazda. Note that their service records are electronic, so the entire sevice history is printed out on one piece of paper. They should give you a copy on request though.

I've heard reports about the drivers seat frames being weak, and the diesels of that year having DPF problems, which of course are easy to "fix".

Front tyre wear is quite high, and the Bridgestone turanzas not the world's cheapest tyre but they are very very good in the dry, but not too sharp in the wet. I put Uniroyal Rainsport 3's on our 54 plate and it transformed the car.
Plenty of room inside, the seats fold down flat with the pull of one lever, good all round visibility and a comfy ride, they cruise nicely on long trips. The entry level models are still a good spec. There's no spare wheel, just a can of foam but the wheel well is still there, so just ditch the big bit of foam rubber in there and get a wheel off Ebay for £50 or so quid.

Consumeables and service items are fairly reasonable, I put a set of Ferodo discs and pads all round on our 54 plate for less than £200.

All in all a good, solid motor. They are reliable if nothing else, but Mazda build quality isn't the best wiht the odd rattle here and there. Gearboxes and drivetrains seem to be super reliable as well, you don't tend to hear of any failures. You'll definitely notice the "step down" in quality from BMW and Skoda, but that's just my honest opinion.

HTH.

Edited by texaxile on Monday 6th March 20:49

[knight]

I had a 6 hatchback from 2012 to 2016 and did about 100,000 miles in it. Mine was the 163bhp TS 2.2 diesel and it was very reliable apart from one instance when the oil warning light came on caused by a blocked filter which in turn was caused by a leaking injector. As the previous poster mentioned, the drivers seat subframe has a tendency to crack and will need rewelding. Apart from that I had no issues what so ever and the only reason I sold it was that I was no longer doing the mileage to justify having a diesel.