I’ll have had this car five years as of October 10.
It’ll hit 50,000 miles in the next week or so. Since COVID (and before that, really), it doesn’t get driven much. I’ve put 900-ish miles on it since the beginning of May. While it does spend most of its time in the garage, it’s there when I need it and it is paid off.
I’ve done a few things to it as far as modifications, but not much.
- AVS vent visors
- Tinted windows
- Chrome mirror trim
- Remote start
- Heated seats
- Trailer hitch/bike rack
- Rear Spoiler
- Mazda valve stem caps
- Factory Navigation
- Husky Liners floor mats
- OEM Mazda trunk liner
- OEM Mazda rear bumper guard
We’ve taken it from Kentucky to Florida three times, and from western Kentucky to the Smokey Mountains area in Tennessee once. There are two car seats in it now - one infant and one toddler. Plenty of room for each, but nothing else (aside from the front two passengers). Overall, a good dad car.
Repairs? Not a lot. The list is as follows:
- Reupholstered driver’s seat bottom (under warranty)
- New brakes (twice - first set was a cheap brand and second set is Raybestos)
- One new lug nut (the shop messed one up when rotating the tires)
- New chrome trim on trunk lid (under warranty)
- New rear bumper (got rear-ended in October 2018 by a Chrysler Sebring)
Literally the only letdown, to me, about the car is its brakes. They wore out way too soon. I needed new pads and rotors all the way around at 35,000 miles. It’s a common complaint with third-gen 6 owners.
I don’t find it slow or lacking in power. It does 0-60 in 7 seconds flat and tops out at 130 MPH. Honestly, if you need more than that, you shouldn’t be shopping for an affordable four-cylinder family sedan. I’ve never had a time where I had to accelerate and wished for more power. I’m clearly in the minority with that, though.
The car has a lifetime MPG average of 26.8, which is good considering all of my driving is city driving with stop-and-go traffic.
Honestly, it does what I need it to do and it does that well. I know I can depend on it, and it’s pretty fun to toss around some country backroads when I’m in the mood.
The only thing I plan to do to it in the future is the factory Apple CarPlay upgrade offered by Mazda. Their dealers aren’t exactly willing to do it, though, since they can’t charge a lot for labor. It’s a pretty easy process, but I don’t feel like taking apart the center console to do it. Also, I don’t have access to update the car’s infotainment software. There are less than reliable links to the software online, but they require a newer Windows laptop, which I don’t have.
Have some recent photos of it from last weekend. My ceramic coating is sure holding up well. Look at those water beads!
Also, the first photo I ever took of it in October 2015, when it had 6 miles on the odometer.
