kvndoom

So... this isn't about the RX-8. But it is why I'll probably not get another Mazda again.

I love my Mazda6. But god damn, do I hate my Mazda6. It's less than 2 grand from being paid off, and I can't decide if I want to keep it or get rid of it. Guess some details would help.

I love my Mazda6.

It's beautiful!
It rides pretty smooth and handles alright
It's decent on gas (I generally get 23-25 MPG in city, 30 on highway)
I love having a moonroof.
The Bose head unit has a great sound, strongly accentuated with a dual 12" sub, Alpine amp, and Polk db speakers up front. I don't ever foresee getting a new deck.
It's a hatchback (even though it looks like a sedan), so I get the versatility and space


I hate my Mazda6.

Cheap ******* plastic interior.
Cheap ******* plastic interior.
Cheap ******* plastic interior.
The Bose amp, speakers, and sub were absolute garbage. I would not have gotten that in the first place, but it was packaged with the moonroof.
If my windows are cracked (usually 2" or less) they rattle horribly. Why? Cheap ******* plastic interior.
Any appreciable amount of bass (and I don't play music bass-heavy or super loud) causes many of my interior panels to rattle. Why? Cheap ******* plastic interior.
From almost the beginning I have had horrible squeaks and rattles. I have had to remove parts and panels out of the car and store them in a closet, just to have some silence when I drive. Why? Cheap ******* plastic interior.
The A/C doesn't work for **** once it gets above 90 degrees outside. This must be a Mazda thing, because the RX8 is the same way. Very anemic.
It's a hatchback. Apparently Mazda6 hatchbacks are notorious for squeaks coming from the spacers that meet the metal when you shut the hatch. They have to be regularly greased or sprayed with silicone.
No Mazda6 forum on the internet even reaches 1% of the greatness of rx8club.com. And I mean that wholeheartedly.
Oh and if I hadn't mentioned it already, cheap ******* plastic interior.

I have OCD pretty bad. And one of the worst things I have it on is squeaks and rattles in my vehicles. Not any car or truck, just the ones in my name. I can drive the beat-up trucks here at work and not care. Drive somebody else's car, and not notice anything. But if MY car has a noise above and beyond normal, acceptable road noise, my ears will lock onto it and I cannot hear ANYTHING else but that noise, unless I crank the music up loud. But in between songs, my ears will find that noise. And even while the music drowns it out, my mind knows it's there.

OCD is a bitch.

Mazda's cheap ******* plastic interior doesn't help any. I mean, whoever footed the bill of materials on this car must have gone out of their way to find the sorriest, flimsiest third-world **** they could get their hands on. Once I started to google some of my problems, I realized that it's not me, it's the workmanship of the gen1 Mazda6. The front door panels are literally so loosely spaced that the glass rattles when I crack down the windows. That is no exaggeration. And I'm not sure there is a way to fix it. Taking it to the dealer is pointless. I already know they will try to blame it on me having aftermarket speakers installed. But the problem was always there. It's good that I have a moonroof. Keeps me from having to crack the windows open.

I cannot count the number of times I have pulled off the road and tried to isolate a noise. Almost wrecked because I would turn my head trying to pinpoint it while I'm driving. I did at least finally find the worst offender. The partition/shelf right behind the rear seats, that cover part of the trunk space. I took that out and the worst of the noises are gone. Unfortunately, I was using that to hide the sub from plain sight. Solution: I threw a black towel over the sub and mounted it all the way in the back. Very hard to see now from the outside. If that sounds pathetic, it's because it is.

Ugh, I don't know what to do. I had planned to wait till at least 2011 to get a new daily driver, but I really want to be rid of this car. Part of me wants to just sell it and drive the 8 for a DD until I have saved up enough to get another practical car. My boss will be needing a new family car in the next couple of years, and I told him to get with me instead of a stealership and I would hook him up. He already knows my frustrations with the car, but he doesn't have the mental issues that I have. The car doesn't have any defects; it's just built poorly in some aspects. So I may just hold on to it, keep the miles low, and sell it to him fairly, then get something else.

I'm definitely going upscale with my next car. VW is putting the TDI in the Rabbit again (FINALLY) for the 2010 models, and an option-packed TDI Rabbit would be my dream car. I know most wouldn't think of a Golf/Rabbit as upscale, but my 2004 Golf was and is still the most well-put together vehicle I've ever had. Ever. Truthfully, I hope VW puts a TDI in the CC over here, because I would be all over that. Why does the rest of the world get all the good cars? My other choice would be a Volvo C30 fully decked out, but some have said they didn't really care for the clutch. But I still want to drive one for myself before judging. I've considered Acura, but the new generation models are FUGLY. Ugh! So I don't know. I seriously need to get out of this market segment if I am ever to get some long-term peace of mind. OF course it has to be a manual, since I won't drive anything else. That somewhat limits my options, but there are good cars in my (new) range that have the requisite 3 pedals. I drool at the Cadillac CTS-V, but that's way over my head at this point and time.

Anyway, for the time being I've decided to drive the RX8 more, once the weather begins to break. I need to upgrade the stock speakers though. They really do sound awful. But the car is much more enjoyable to drive- music is optional (to enjoy), not mandatory (to mask noise). I'm not always listening out for new noises. I hope it holds up better than the damn 6. I don't care if the gas mileage is awful and it uses premium, at least in it I only get stressed by traffic and not the car itself. Need some softer tires though, but that's no priority. Speakers are more important to me at this point.

Damn this was a long rant. Would've been longer but I forgot a chunk of what I was gonna say while driving home. Oh well.

Akisan2

Sounds like 6 needs to go

shazy

That's why I got the 3litre version

Surprisingly, my car doesn't even make half those noises... In fact, I really don't hear any rattles in the car.

But then Again I have the 5speed AT.

risky business

i could be wrong, but i think im seeing a problem with the plastic interior? i feel like im going out on a limb with this one tho....

1. sell the 6 and buy many many mods for the 8
2. sell the 6 and buy a g35- ehh nvm, i dont know why i said that
3. sell the 6 and buy a lexus is250-- yes that is more like it
4. sell the 6 and buy a bmw 3 series-- but you shouldnt do this, you should get the is250
5. sell the 6 and buy the dub you were talking about


hmm, in conclusion. either mod the 8 with the money, or get an is250/ dub

dont know if you have sat in the 250's but they are very nice......... bottom line, sell the 6!

delhi

The g35 has loads of plastic too.... for a supposedly luxury brand, the interior isn't that great. The steering wheel is a rip-off from the Altima. Wait I think the Altima is less gaudy.
3-series is nice. Not overstated like the G. No comment on the IS.
We have a V6 Mazda6 GT wagon and it doesn't squeek at all. No problems whatsoever. Maybe the V6 GT is better insulated? Even the auto climate control is better than the 8... but not as good as our old 92x Aero though. Cutting down debt is not a bad idea. I know it is novel thing to Americans and no, it is not an Obama invention.

shazy

I think it is better insulated. I remember I drove a 2007 rental with the 4 cyl and the 5 speed auto and me and my family thought it was a pos. The interior was terrible and everything raddled. Plus the car was godly @ being slow.And surprisingly the handling was worse

If I ever drove that version of the 6 I wouldve never gotten the one I have right now.

End of slight thread jack...

kvndoom

I'm gonna just try to wing it. Pay the thing off and sit on it until the boss wants to buy it. If he changes his mind, I'll sell it elsewhere. I'm really looking forward to not having 2 car payments, so I'd best not jump into another one. I just need to put some good speakers in the 8 and one day get some softer tires. Car kicks my *** at high speed on Virginia's shitty roads.

bulletproof21

what kind of speakers are you gonna replace the stockers with? I want to do that also but dont know enough about car audio.

alfy28

Sell the 6 and buy the MS3 2010 . case close

XlYesterdaYlX

Mazdaspeed3.

kvndoom

If I had a Speed3 I'd probably never drive the 8. I want my DD to be practical, (reasonably) fuel efficient, and not really fast. And I'm not sure I want to trust Mazda again anytime soon. A car is an expensive, long-term purchase, and you don't really find out what you have until you've had it a while and are stuck with it.

kvndoom

Test drove a C30 yesterday- it's pretty, it's built like a tank, it's comfy as hell, but the feel isn't quite right. The pedals are indeed very soft and I was never sure just how hard I needed to hit the clutch to shift. It must be quite forgiving though, because I never came close to stalling it.

I could get used to driving it, but its biggest downside is the audio/climate control center. It literally looks like a huge universal remote control. It's not intuitive in the least.



So, I'm not sold on it yet for a new daily driver. Hopefully soon I'll have a chance to test a Volkswagen CC. I need to work on a list of cars to look at anyway.

shazy

LOL! I hate the fake wooden trim and the unit looks like a big dollarama calculator! But I really do like the styling of the car and thought to say the least it would handle well. Looks like you proved me wrong.

kvndoom

Bad as I hate to say it, if I were to get that car, it would be an automatic. And for me, that says a lot. The pedals are TINY. It drives nice though, and the turbo is quiet but peppy. But you can tell that at its heart it's a hot hatch carved out of a granny-car.

ILoveFI

You should take a ride in my Miata, you'd want to kill yourself with all the squeaks and rattles. :P

XlYesterdaYlX

a Volvo C30? You don't happen to be a fan of Twilight? huhu.....

Razz1

C30 was rmarkable at the car show.

Expensive but fantastic.

But for 30k you can buy the new Pontiac G8 GT

kvndoom

Dunno the year / mileage of your Miata, but I hope it's better than 3 years and 32000 miles. This car hasn't seen enough driving to be in this shape.

Oh, you just hurt my very soul in ways I can't explain with words.

Zephyrzone

OP- I loved your post. I am in the OCD club as well and my RX8 has many of the same problems as your 6. Not specifically the same rattles, but the entire interior has rattles EVERYWHERE. I love the car and thought have selling it numerous times just because of the rattles. The dash rattles unmercifully. It comes from the head unit when it's warm and the back of the dash (near the windshield) when it's cold. The door panels rattle. The center console plastic "creaks" when it gets above 70. Also the breaks squeak. The car has been like this since day 2. I think they were there on day 1 but I was too happy to notice. I've done SO MUCH to get rid of the rattles. As soon as I fix one- another one pops up. Mazda fit and finish is horrible. I would expect this from a US car, not one built in Japanese. It also has me questioning buying another mazda, which sucks, because I love their cars.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

if you want excellent fit and finish, you buy audi. and you should definitely look at the pontiac g8, you could pick one up used in the 20s. let me tell you, they are LOADS of fun.

what are you thinking about selling the mazda6 for?

kvndoom

(******* insomnia 2nd night in a row) I was gonna offer it to my boss for 10k, which is a hell of a deal for the low mileage and one owner. He's been talking about a used Volvo S60 a lot lately, which leads me to believe he's not interested anymore. There was a used Mazda3 he saw on a dealer lot that he had been eyeing, it was an 05 or 06 sedan with 55k miles, and he kept saying "if I could get him down to 9000, I'd buy that car." So 10k for a bigger car, 20,000 fewer miles, one owner that he knows personally, should be a hell of a deal. I guess he's set his sights higher all of a sudden.

Regardless of whom I sell it to, it won't be for more than that. I have to do 2 things to it before I sell it... the rear head-rests have to be replaced, because I was cleaning my closet, saw them and threw them out since I mistakenly thought they were the old Volkswagen's. And I have to get the wiring to the amp cleaned up. I did it myself after I got rid of the Bose crap, and even though it works, it looks really sloppy. I'm gonna (eventually) take it to an audio shop and pay them to clean up the wiring.

Once I get those two things done, I'll have to get around to selling it. I refinanced it through a local credit union to get the title close to home. I'll probably finish getting it paid off late summer; I haven't felt much of a hurry to get off the money to do so lately.

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

thats not bad. but you really should never buy/sell cars to friends and family. no good can come of it.

kvndoom

Yeah, that might be what he's thinking too. Be my luck, something bad would happen as soon as he got it (mechanically, the car has been problem free from day 1, thankfully) and the last thing I need is friction at work.

So, I've been looking at Carmax a good bit lately and I've been seeing some nice late-model Acura TSX and Infiniti G35's for reasonable prices. I'm feeling tempted to get me some luxury and get rid of the 6 all in one fell swoop. There's a SUPER sweet low-mileage 6MT TL Type S for 30k, but even with trade-in those payments will be more than I can bear (since I have one car payment already).

I've never bought used before, and I've heard mixed stories about Carmax. Not sure what to do...

I guess first step is that I'll take the rattle monster there and get an appraisal. **** the headrests and wiring; let them figure it out. I'll decide from there.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

sell the 6

get a 3 series.

Im ok with plastic interior. but my 8, they "did" fuxking rattle. it annoyed the crap outa me. I spent "quite" amount of time to "find them". most came from the door. so I took it out, and make sure everything is tight, if not, I MAKE IT tight.

put it back

Its ok for now.

blah, my 8 isnt here right now

ASH8

Mate, if you think Mazda's have "horrible" fit and finish?, dare I say you have not had that many cars?

I have and they are far from horrible, own a BMW and you will see rubbish i n a few years.