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High cost of maintenece/repair for Mazda 6?

17K views 38 replies 19 participants last post by  Cdn17Sport6MT 
#1 ·
Hello everyone I am interested in buying a pre-own 2016 or newer mazda6 as commuter car. I read online that mazda6 has high 10 years cost of maintenance of $12,700. That's close to what my Mercedes E350 cost to maintain. Why does it cost this much to maintain the car? thanks in advance for your inputs
 
#2 ·
I read that too. This story, right? https://clark.com/cars/most-and-least-expensive-cars-maintain-repair/

The info seems a bit dubious since the story also lists the Mazda brand overall as being very reliable in another graphic.

When I had a 2010 6 (bought used in 2013, traded it 3 years later for a 3-row Mazda 5), it reached over 100k miles with literally no mechanical problems. ZERO. And I didn't even keep up with oil changes or other maintenance that great. So my experience has been there exact opposite of the story's findings...
 
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#4 · (Edited)
My 2015 Mazda 6 has 140,000 miles on it now. It has required one set of brakes, a couple of sets of tires, a battery, and regular oil and filter changes.

I have also replaced the plugs (twice, preventative; both times they looked ok when removed and were within spec on gap) and both serpentine and water pump drive belts (at 100k, they were arguably serviceable but starting to show signs of cracking -- and they take 15 minutes to change on ramps, but would be a BEAR to do on the side of the road!) I also (on ALL my vehicles, whether on the schedule or not) flush and replace the brake fluid every 2 years irrespective of mileage.

I have had zero unscheduled maintenance issues with the car since new and the required maintenance, compared against other brands and models I've owned, has been light. There is no (very time consuming) timing belt, for example, on the scheduled maintenance list.

Nobody has turned a wrench on it other than myself, other than for recall service (twice, one for the door seals and the second for the rear caliper E-brake recall) since new. It's one of the easiest cars to work on I've owned. While I'm sure I will eventually find the "swear box fix" -- all cars have one or more -- I've yet to find it on THIS car. Contrast that with my Jetta and Suburban, both of which long ago managed to cause me to hit the swear box for at least *something.*
 
#10 ·
My 2009 6 iGT reaches 95,000 miles in 7 years and had no major issues. The driver seat lumbar support dial broke and the stereo volume switch went glitchy for a few weeks and then worked again for no reason. Was still on the original pads and rotors. Regular oil changes, tires, fluid changes a couple times... that was it. Despite FoMoCo being stamped on quite a few parts, I had no issues with it.

Likewise my 2016 had no issues tho I only had it a fraction of the time I did the ‘09.
 
#17 ·
I say it's too early to tell weather or not this current gen of Mazda will be durable. It's also hard to tell who writes these articles for all we know. Corporate sponsorship?

Mazda says we don't ever have to service the transmission for the life of the car. I wonder how long they expect us to keep these cars for?

I did a flush/drain and changed the tranny filter. These tranny are probably durable but there are moving parts. There is a lot of metal particles the collect in the magnetic washer. the fluid does not last a life time. A corporate gimmick if you ask me.

I know one thing for sure if you bring your car to the mechanic for any type of work it's going to cost you an arm + leg.





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#33 ·
I say it's too early to tell weather or not this current gen of Mazda will be durable. It's also hard to tell who writes these articles for all we know. Corporate sponsorship?

Mazda says we don't ever have to service the transmission for the life of the car. I wonder how long they expect us to keep these cars for?

I did a flush/drain and changed the tranny filter. These tranny are probably durable but there are moving parts. There is a lot of metal particles the collect in the magnetic washer. the fluid does not last a life time. A corporate gimmick if you ask me.

I know one thing for sure if you bring your car to the mechanic for any type of work it's going to cost you an arm + leg.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I have never touch my tranny on my 05 Audi A6 in fact it has no dipstick. Shifts like new. Today's transmissions for the most part are leaps and bounds better than ever. And for God's sake dont EVER flush your tranny. It will leak like a 70s Harley if you do
 
#18 ·
I don't think they ever think about life past 100k miles, which is right around the point you should change the transmission fluid. When I was shopping for cheap early 2000's cars last year it was really common for otherwise reliable cars to have automatic transmission issues. Honda, Mazda, didn't matter. I wonder if it's because the transmissions themselves are bad it if nobody bothered to service them since it's not supposed to need service "for life."
 
#19 ·
This is a fantastic argument to only buy older cards with manual transmissions :)
 
#20 ·
That is exactly what I told my wife. She wanted me to get an auto since she can't drive stick, I'm looking at all these used listings with tranny problems. I did test drive an automatic 2006 V6 Mazda 6 and the engine seemed great but the transmission had all kinds of shifting problems. It seemed to be a common theme with the 10-15 year old used cars, so I started looking at manual transmissions only.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I don’t know about the 2nd gen but the 1st gen didn’t necessarily say it was lifetime but the owners manual and even the fsm as far as I know don’t have a listed service interval


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#24 ·
2015....with 96K.
I haven't even changed the plugs yet.
The Dunlops made it to 35K and the Continentals are still going strong.
I have had to replace the rotors and pads twice.
I wished Mazda had gone with at least a 2 piston caliper.
Other than that just gas and oil.

I have an inquire to Akebono to see if they have any multi piston calipers that will just bolt on.

Next car is probably going to be a CX-5. This is my 3rd Mazda....had a B2600 4x4 too.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Oh, the other consideration is that ideally you would plumb the aux. ATF cooler in a manner where you have 2 isolation valves and a cooler bypass valve, so that in cold weather the fluid does NOT go through the aux. cooler. Once a season you would, in this manner, eliminate the aux. ATF cooler, and then once per season you would switch it back in.

Note: you plumb the auxiliary cooler AFTER / Downstream of the in-radiator-tank ATF cooler.

Yes, this switching-in and out of the aux. cooler is a minor PITA -- but that would prevent the ATF from becoming too viscous...
 
#34 ·
The admonition against flushing relates to i) introducing impurities into the trans from dirty equipment; and ii) introducing fluid residues from another (and sub-optimal or downright incorrect) ATF into your transmission. Truly, it's not flushing per se - but rather fluid exchange. Regardless - Not Recommended. Rather, drop fluid, drop and clean pan / change trans "strainer" / filter - and carefully fill to closely measured / checked ATF level in scupulously clean manner is what is recommended.
 
#35 ·
I'm curious, since you know way more than I do on the matter, how you feel about what I've been told by Mazda dealerships out of curiosity what they do for trans maintenance. According to one dealer, they simply don't do any work on "sealed" transmissions from Mazda since they're "lifetime" - but there's a reason I don't go to them for service.

The other said, and pardon me if I get some things wrong since this was a little while ago, that they completely drain, run a cleaning solution through everything that is supposed to clean out some of the metal, then refill. I'm skeptical of a cleaning solution pulling metal from a strong magnet, or being fully drained before refilling the trans, but maybe you know more about this.
 
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