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Calling Current Owners!! Post a Review!

15K views 41 replies 16 participants last post by  dbam987 
#1 ·
To all current owners:

Post a list of pros and cons of the 2014 Mazda 6 now that you've been driving it. Make sure you post what models/packages you have, and list all the little delights/annoyances.

I will be purchasing soon since I've been offered invoice pricing, but I've never bought a vehicle so close to release and with so few reviews of the American model.

One important thing for me: road noise/ride quality. I do a lot of high speed driving as I have a long highway commute and it's important I have a car that's quiet and smooth at high speeds (67-72mph). Comment on this if you can! Thanks so much
 
#4 ·
Ok, so for the 12 days I have been driving this car here is my pros and cons.

Car: 2014 Mazda 6 Touring with Tech Package

Pros:
Excellent interior layout
Leatherette is an excellent alternative to leather
excellent feel to the steering wheel
navigation knob for the stereo in front of the cup holder
Pandora App is a nice addition
When backing up, the system warns you of cars comming in your path
Bose stereo is excellent and crystal clear almost alone worth the extra for the tech package.
Blind spot assist works excellent
Accelleration on low end is great
Acceleration on high end is also great
The 2014 Mazda 6 handles like a sports car around sharp turns
While driving this car you also feel like you are in a luxury car.
very low noise.
Passenger seat retracts all the way down (flat) so the passenger could easily sleep during long trips.
You would never believe that you are in a fuel efficient vehicle.
excellent trunk room
plenty of room in back seats even with front seats all the way back.

Cons:
They are not free
It may be difficult to find the right package with the right color at the right price at this point in time.
The review sites have not given this car the praise that it deserves.
Not looking forward to replacing the 19" tires down the road
Bluetooth feature could be better if you didn't have to go through so many steps to make a phone call (hit talk button, "phone call", response... "who whould you like to call", "john smith on mobile", response..." would you like to call john smith on mobile", "yes", response... "press pickup to call john smith on mobile", press pickup button). They really should make that process much shorter. if you just hit the phone button, you have to listen to a tutorial each time before you can say "call john smith on mobile".
 
#5 ·
Bluetooth feature could be better if you didn't have to go through so many steps to make a phone call (hit talk button, "phone call", response... "who whould you like to call", "john smith on mobile", response..." would you like to call john smith on mobile", "yes", response... "press pickup to call john smith on mobile", press pickup button). They really should make that process much shorter. if you just hit the phone button, you have to listen to a tutorial each time before you can say "call john smith on mobile".
Could have swore I read something in the manual about pressing one of the buttons when the voice starts giving tutorials that let's you skip all of it if you know what you want to say.
 
#7 ·
Awesome review Chomley, thanks! I'm really glad you like the leatherette seats cuz it was the only thing I haven't seen or tested. The blind spot assistance: I'm a little confused about what this is. Cuz it's not blind spot monitoring, that's only in the GT right?

I can't wait to get my Touring w/Tech :) definitely will post pics and a review!
 
#9 · (Edited)
Wow I didn't even see that, for some reason I thought that only the GT got it, so that's awesome! According to Mazda's website it comes stand on the Touring, so you don't even need the Tech upgrade. Loving all these nice features this car has!

I noticed the BSM on the Fusion I tested, but I didn't give it much attention, because I assumed it was the same and thought it was only for the GT model. But can you elaborate on the BSM system? It is automatically on correct? I think I noticed a switch to turn it off on left of the steering wheel when I was in the GT. Also does it just light up a LED on the side mirror when something is there or is it also an audio warning as well?

Dark - Personally I would shoot for Black interior especially if you have kids just because white is hard to keep white after awhile. Although technically the interior color is called sand.
 
#10 ·
I'm taking a 8 hr trip this weekend in my Meteor Gray Touring model (no tech pkg) so i'll be posting a review as i'm coming up on a week with the car.

To answer your question though, the BSM basically lights up a icon in the rear view mirrors when there is a vehicle in your blind spot. For example if a car is in your blind spot in the right lane, the icon will light up in the right mirror. In addition, if you put your blinker on in the direction where a vehicle is in your blind spot, you will get an audible alert and the icon in the mirror will blink.
 
#17 ·
Is the SD card pre-installed? Where is it located on the car? That's rather dumb that they don't offer lifetime maps like Garmin does. Unfortunately Tom Tom wouldn't have been my first pick for Nav, because I have had one before. They work okay, but I prefer my Garmin more so.
 
#22 ·
So here's my review.

I took my 6 on a trip over the weekend from MD to SC--about 520 mi each way. Mostly highway. I got the avg fuel economy up to about 33mpg. Not sure how accurate it is, but I will say I only used one tank of gas each way. Biiiiig improvement over my CTS. Car drove excellent. The seats, although firm, were comfortable throughout the trip. I have the black leatherette, as I purchased the touring model.

I've read some reviews speaking of the lack of power. My previous car had 304 hp. For me to feel as though im not missing much power says a lot. Passing power was always there on the highway. The downshifts, whether sport shifted or automatic, are soooo smooth. Anytime i needed to pass on the highway I was able to effortlessly. If i was in a rush I would put the car in 4th or 3rd and the power was there. Hard to believe its only around 180 hp in this car. I discovered the kickdown button at the bottom of the gas pedal's travel as well :D

I've mentioned it before, but I love hitting curves in this car. It grabs the ground and STICKS. I lose confidence and slow down way before the car starts to break. I never loved on/off ramps so much before I got this car lol.

Gripes:

The radio sucks!
Let me clarify. The sound is fine.
However the ipod/pandora connection is mediocre at best. Im hoping its just my car and that I can go get it fixed. However, these are the problems i'm having:

Pandora - Pandora takes a while to connect. Once it does, it'll work for a little before problems start. Either it'll just stop mid-song and say pandora error. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say maybe I was riding through an area with no cell service. The other issue is that if I try to skip a song, more often than not, i'll get a pandora error freezing the entire pandora app. To get music to play again, i have to close the app on my phone and restart it.

Ipod - Ipod works ok. However I have 2 issues. One, the iPod always starts at the same song (the first song on your ipod in alphabetical order)no matter what your were playing last. Two, if you cut the radio off while the ipod is playing and cut it back on, you have no ipod connection. I have to disconnect the usb and then plug it back up to access my music. This is very inconvenient.

I hope i have a faulty system and this isnt how they are designed. Please tell me if you guys are having similar problems.

On the other hand, I'll take these problems vs. mechanical issues ANYDAY.

I'm still a happy 2014 6 owner!
 
#25 ·
Can't speak to Pandora as I have yet to set it up. The Bluetooth music works fine from my IPhone. My small gripe is when you turn on Sirius radio,there is a slight delay until it turns on which I never had with XM on my Acura. It's not a big deal but figured it should be mentioned.
 
#28 · (Edited)
I've had my 2014 6 (Touring plus Tech) now for almost 800 miles, so here are my observations:

PROs
1. Styling - just the right amount of brightwork on the car. My friends think it looks like a Jag concept.
2. Drivetrain - very smooth. Surprising amount of power
3. Command knob - like the BMW iDrive, I now rarely have to touch the screen - and that was something that really irritated me when I was looking at the 13 Fusion and its terrible MyTouch interface.
4. Leatherette seats - comfortable and seems very durable
5. BLIS - Blind Spot monitoring. Much nicer system than the Fusion. If you signal a lane change, the BLIS system will alert you with a sound as well as the icon in the mirror that there's a car in your blind spot.
6. Rear-parking assist. Engages the BLIS icons and sound if there's cross traffic while you're backing up - again nicer than the Ford Fusion's version of the rear parking assist.
7. I love the sculpting of the dash. To me, it's very Germanic/BMW-like
8. Again, love the nice touches of brightwork in the dash - the automatic shift knob looks like a manual, the gauges have chrome trim.
9. LOVE the BOSE stereo - a lot cleaner and deeper sound than the Sony Premium system in the Fusion
10. I just installed Pandora on my iPhone 4S and am enjoying the sound and variety. I have unlimited data plan, but I am curious if there's a data charge since it seems to be it'd be very intensive. I have not had any problems with Pandora, but learned to start the app on the iPhone before getting into the car. Pulling the car out of the garage and then turning on Pandora on the 6's dash will 'synch' it up properly. I've also listened to Youtube via Bluetooth in the car, and it sounds great.
11. Mileage - still averaging 28 mpg in the city.
12. Chasis seems very tight and rigid. Very quiet on most road surfaces

CONS
1. Navigation - I've had to hard reset twice now. I used to have a Garmin, so I'm not used to the Tom-Tom interface
2. Rain sensing wiper mode - seems the wipe interval is unpredictable. We've had a little rain so far, and it works, but not at a speed that makes sense, so I've either pulse-wiped, or turned it on low.
3. Interior is very dark with the black leatherette and no sunroof on the Touring model. Would have liked to have had the lighter color seats.
4. Still waiting for my dealer to let me know about any factory-style or factory-recommended door moldings to provide some protection against dings.
5. The driver-side air vent's chrome trim casts a reflection on the driver door window.
6. Road-noise - while the car is quieter than my previous car (2010 Fusion), on certain rough roads, the 19" wheel/tire combo is a bit noisy. Some people have comment about extra sound insulation, but I think when I'm ready to change a set of tires, there'll be quieter tire recommendations.
7. Lack of cubby holes and storage beyond the center armrest and 2 front cup holders.
 
#30 ·
I have the touring with the option package. I've been driving it only 4 days but I love it. A little background I was using a cadillac escalade as a daily driver. I have had many fast and "real" fast cars over the years porsche, an mr2 that ran the quarter in the high 11's a supra that had over 350rwhp and weighed about 2600lbs. I also still have a cadillac srx and a custom 8 series bmw in the garage.

I would like to say that the 6 really sticks to the ground around corners sweeping on ramps etc. The downshifts and the accelleration are so smooth you don't notice it. I love the blind spot monitoring the leatherette seating I can hardly tell the difference. This car gets looks....

Pandora does take a little time to connect but if i connect through my aux cable there is no delay. the mpg is getting about 30 to a gallon based on what I can tell. overall i am very happy with this car it's going in for window tinting and debadging on saturday
 
#32 ·
I will be getting exactly the same thing Jet Black Touring with Tech Pkg. I loved the car during my test drives. I always look over my shoulder when switching lanes. But the BSM will be a nice help so I know if I should even bother looking cuz the BSM says there is someone there. I know the GTs Forward obstruction Warning is in the front badge area. I would double check before debadging. I am proud of the car I drive so badges will stay on for me :) I will tint it 20% all the way around though.
 
#35 ·
Re IPOD - connect via Bluetooth. Had no problems with it continuing from where it left off. Have noticed though if your IPOD has been powered down, (not sleep mode) then it starts from the automatic song list. If that has occurred just need to set IPOD to what you want, before connecting to Bluetooth.
 
#36 ·
I've had my M6 2014 GT for about 5 days now, and put in about 300 miles so far on it and the tank is only half way down. Not bad, not bad at all!

Drive-wise, it is impressive! The acceleration is great, and the car hugs the road very well. It does have stiff suspensions, so you will feel the bumps on the road but the noise is much less than in the previous generations. I've played with the manual shift mode a little bit only, its been rough snowy weather the past few weeks here so getting some quality (safe) zoom time has been difficult. Sadly, I ran over a nail a couple days ago, putting one tire on the disabled list (can't patch it since the nail isn't on the tread). Finding a replacement tire is impossible at this point since no one has it in stock yet (not even the dealership I bought the car from).

Moving on, the interior is impressive, nothing wrong on the inside. I actually find the commander switch very useful, but I do agree with some professional reviews that they could have done away with the switches next to the navigation screen and made the screen larger to fill the void. Everything else is well done, seats are comfy, controls on the steering wheel are easy to remember (after about 5 minutes of fiddling).

A more thorough review will be given once I get that tire replaced...
 
#37 ·
Sorry about the tire, but at least it's not worse than that. Thanks for the review, I like the extra info! I feel as though I need to take another test drive cuz I can't wait until my car arrives, lol. I do live in the NW snowbelt area and I test drove in some slush, but nothing really bad. The car did great with the stock tires in the little slush there was. I was wondering how it feels on stock tires in the snow and how much snow you got? Snow tires don't concern me immediately because spring is on its way, but I would like to know how they did so I know whether I really need snow tires or if they are decent enough.

I agree that Mazda should have dropped the buttons on the sides of the NAV, they seem redundant when you have the commander switch there. I also would have preferred a Garmin over a Tom Tom Nav, but it's better than what I had before, which was my phone.
 
#41 ·
I am having the same issues with IPod and my new Mazda 6. I tried 3 different IPod's with the same result. I took it into the dealership and they tried an IPod on a 2013 model and it worked as it should, but when they tried the same thing on a showroom Mazda 6, they had the same results. They have contacted Mazda about this problem.
 
#42 ·
After about 1200 miles now on the car, here's an update:

Pro's

  • Acceleration from the line is impressive.
  • Cornering is excellent; definitely feels sporty.
  • Fuel economy is nice; Averaging about 27.5 on 70% city / 30% highway... and that's with "fun" driving behavior. I bet I can reach 30 MPG if I tone down the rapid acceleration and drive at around 60 MPH.
  • KICK-DOWN SWITCH! I really love the kick-down the car has. It immediately downshifts to get added power for passing cop cars :D (Kidding! But not really...)
  • Tom-Tom Navigation works pretty well... but still need to get used to the voice commands to make routing easier.
  • Phone integration is awesome. I love the ability for the car to read out any text messages I get while driving, and the easy ability to reply back via voice.
Con's

  • Would like a little bit more torque feeling; will likely try various mods in the future like installing an aftermarket SRI, and various other things as the parts become available for the 2014 M6. Assuming I get the guts to mess with the engine...
  • Do not drive over nails on stock tires... no one has them in stock anywhere for replacements.
  • Some people thought it was a Jaguar. Can't determine if this is a complement or a put-down... :p
 
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