Mazda 6 vs Passat- my one week experience

[Driver_found]

Got my 2015 M6 touring with stick for $21,300 with incentives, with push button start and dual climate standard. @ 18k for the Passat in trade- w/55k miles on it. Had to travel over 100 miles to get the deal , with the stick. Had 4 dealers trying to get me to buy. 30th day of the month and a holiday can be your friend.
Getting high 30s mpg on long trips if I keep it @ 70 or under. Car is still on the break-in oil. Supposed to settle in @ 10k miles. RUG is 40 cents cheaper here than D2. Handles and brakes much better than the Passat by a wide margin. Might be the lighter stronger chassis, which is part of the SkyActiv concept. Very nimble. Engine has some decent grunt if you rev it. As it breaks in, more power seems to be there. Seems underrated.
Just a tad less interior room, but thats okay. Still got 3 people in the back with no trouble. Fit, finish, interior, materials, exterior styling go to the M6.

I really enjoyed the Passat while I had it, almost went for a 2014 Passat, but the M6 as a total package was hard to ignore. Figured I'd test the waters. I expect a low cost of ownership.

Couldn't wait for the M6 D right now, but I would wait a year or two before buying that- if I went that route anyway.

 

[passatv6af]

Been calling the Mazda dealer every now and then since January to ask for the Mazda6 Diesel. Salesman told me they don't know when it's coming or IF it's even coming. Anyone have info on this?

P.s. Mazda seems to have lost again on the Mazda6. I'm I wrong to think this?

 

[Driver_found]

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1402-mazda-explains-6-diesel-delay/

 

[passatv6af]

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/1402-mazda-explains-6-diesel-delay/

Thanks!

 

[jhinsc]

I test drove a Mazda 6 Grand Touring, along with the Fusion Hybrid and a Volvo V70 before committing to the Passat TDI SEL. I had driven the Camry Hybrid last year before I purchase a Prius v5, recently totaled. Of all the vehicles, the Fusion was the best riding, most quiet of all, but I couldn't get past the ingress/egress in/our of the back seat, plus I only got 28 mpg on the drive loop! I would have to hypermile like crazy to get it up to 40 mpg. The Camry Hybrid was an easy driving car, very boring, but easy to get great mpg, about 40 mpg. The Mazda 6 looks great, drives okay but not as solid feeling as the Fusion - the doors felt and sounded lighter, and the interior not as high quality as I expected, and because of the high belt line, felt a bit closed in. Mileage was okay, high 20's, so getting close to 40 mpg with it's I-loop technology still required hypermiling techniques. The Volvo was very disappointing. I expected a much more premium experience and the ride felt like a cheap economy car - not that I was seriously interested in it anyway with it's price tag of $45k. Looking to spend no more than $30k, the Passat fit the bill on all fronts for me!

 

[Doctor doctor]

Interesting option now

after reading the original post I am interested in checking out the Mazda 6. I am having a hard time selling a vw to my wife... She needs me to prove it is better than the accord.

 

[jhinsc]

after reading the original post I am interested in checking out the Mazda 6. I am having a hard time selling a vw to my wife... She needs me to prove it is better than the accord.

If your wife will be the primary driver, have her drive all the comparables, then let her decide. In my book, whoever is the primary driver and assuming she works and contributes financially to the family, she gets to decide what car to buy as long as you both agree on a budget of what to spend. If she is a stay-at-home mom or you're retired, then you both need to list out what you need and want; will the child car seat fit; safety ratings; is it easy to get in and out of; does it have nav and heated seats in your budget; fuel mileage; etc., anything that's important to both of you, then decide together. As far as reliability goes, The Mazda 6 and Accord are about the same, very reliable. The VW does have some reliability nits about it, and if you can't convince her 100% of why owning a VW vs Accord is better, then you'll never hear the end of it if even one little thing goes wrong.

 

[Driver_found]

Seeing 38-40 mpg @ 65mph road trip today. RUG is really cheap as well. 25k miles on engine and well worn in now. Plenty of Zoom Zoom when you want it. Razor sharp handling. No complaints.

 

[NSTDI]

Toyota, Mazda, and Honda have had their issues with reliability, rust, and recalls. The worst car I ever owned was a Camry, I have lots of friends who had those Corollas with those bad 4 cylinder motors (one had 3 motors in the same car). Toyota thumbed their nose at me on the issues I had, the dealer was lying and cheating (giving me back a car that wasn't fixed and they knew it wasn't).

They make bad cars and they make good cars, just like VW. And BMW and Mercedes have had lots of reliability and expensive repair issues as well.

My point is, pick your poison, they all make a lemon once in a while, like my Camry, and its how well the dealer and manufacturer stand behind you when they make one that makes a difference. My luck with VW has been good so far.

Look at the Mazda 6 diesel, the stated reason I have read why they are not sold here is reliability of the diesel. Skyactive technology has had some growing pains in gas as well, but it looks very promising, time will tell.

Don

 

[White Passat]

Rented an M6 last week, avg MPG was mid-20's, nice. Passat seats fit my back and butt better. Thought it was a bit noisier at 70 -- 80 mph. Handled well. Would like to drive one with a 100K miles on the clock. YMMV.

 

[Driver_found]

Rented an M6 last week, avg MPG was mid-20's, nice. Passat seats fit my back and butt better. Thought it was a bit noisier at 70 -- 80 mph. Handled well. Would like to drive one with a 100K miles on the clock. YMMV.

The 2104 (first year) are noisier than the 2015. For 2015 they added more sound deadening material. (What I have). Very quiet at 70-90 considering the OEM Dunlops are mid pack for that trait. Skyactive is more than a new engine. It is a complete chassis redesign as well. It is taut, light, feels nimble, no squeaks or rattles. Price to own is also low. Fixing things doesn't require a $200 specially tool kit. I drive @4k miles a month. I am more comfy in the Mazda than I was in the Passat.

Last I heard from people who are supposed to know, is the diesel version in testing, is having a tough time with the poor stands of the American D2 supply across the country, while still operating without a costly exhaust after-treatment system, and still providing nice economy/power ratio.
I think we could all question the quality of the D2 fuel at the pumps without hestation, as some are decent and others not so much. Variations in BioD blends add other factors too. Time will tell how this pans out. They might have to redesign with a more robust setup to deal with lack of quality control.

On that vein, I give them credit for holding off until it is right.
No sense in putting something out there that 'might' fail.
Can anyone say Balance shafts, PD Camshafts, HPFP's, Blown turbos, etc?

We still have a really nice A4Q, and we live with the minor 2.0T quirks, and have also owned @ 8 Audi and/or VW's over the last 20 years.

The Mazda is fun, relatively inexpensive, looks good, 'reliable' and decent MPGs on RUG. The stick is a joy to drive. Handles and drives very German. Only recall was to reprogram the TPMS. No complaints.

 

[quattroginger]

wonder how different this is to the 3. i was given a new 2015 3 while my new passat was in for failed fuel pump. it rode like crap. i hated it. loud, couldn't break 33mpg on highway, found cluster to be cheaply made, radio was hard to use up on the dash. car was small but i know thats because it was a 3.

 

[Rsgunther]

That pretty much describes every Mazda I've ever driven (although some are larger). Not impressed at all. I rent cars a lot for business travel and have driven quite a few of them. I'm tall 6'5" and haven't been able to get comfortable in any of them.

wonder how different this is to the 3. i was given a new 2015 3 while my new passat was in for failed fuel pump. it rode like crap. i hated it. loud, couldn't break 33mpg on highway, found cluster to be cheaply made, radio was hard to use up on the dash. car was small but i know thats because it was a 3.

 

[Driver_found]

I travel a lot as well, and my experience has been most rentals are bottom tier trim versions, unless you pay higher fees for something extra. I have a friend who is 6'7", and he fits fine in his Mazdas. Two RX-7s, a MazdaSpeed 3, and an RX-8. It probably all depends on body proportions. IMO the older Mazdas could use a dose of interior designer help, but the current ones were good enough, that it ended up on my radar screen and in my garage.