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Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - Jetsam1

Hi,

Still looking at options and have never driven the Mazda 1.8 petrol before. There are a couple of decent cars locally with this engine fitted?

Any good reasons to avaoid or is it perfectly decent? I don't expect F1 style performance, just safe and predictable and enough to drop a gear and overtake comfortably at the speed limits.

Otherwise I am still looking at Astra both diesel (The 1.7 Isuzu and 2 ltr TD) around 2011 and on vintage.

Or otherwise I just do the daft thing and get that BMW 318i Tourer in fairly basic spec and reasonable miles............... Obvs that would be daft!

Or Volvo 2008 to 2010 estates. Only diesels available around here though at the moment. The reviews on here though suggest the engines are prone to go pop?

It may come down to going out and picking something essentially at random. Most of the the problem cars I have had have been extensively researched and considered......

Edited by Jetsam1 on 17/09/2021 at 13:56

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - Xileno

A petrol Mazda is about as good as it gets as long as it's a nice example, hasn't been abused etc. They went through a bad patch for rust at one time but I think this was long ago.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - badbusdriver

The 6 is a biggish car (for the time anyway) with a smallish (n/a) engine, so you will have to work that engine to make progress. If you are OK with that, not really much else to worry about.

I believe that is the same engine as used in various 1.8 Fords of the same era, not to mention the Focus based Volvo's (C30, S40 and V50).

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - SLO76

The Mazda 6 is an excellent cheap used family car. The 2.0 petrol is the better model, it performs better yet matches the 1.8’s economy but I’d buy on condition and history before spec and performance. Include the Ford Mondeo 2.0 petrol too which is essentially the same car underneath. Some 1.8’s use a bit of oil but they’ll keep on going if you top it up regularly.

Again i’d forget diesel at this money, the 1.6 petrol Astra will do 50mpg on a run with a light right foot so why risk the added complexity of a diesel? If it absolutely must be derv then avoid the Fiat 1.3/1.6 and 2.0 options and look only at the Isuzu 1.7’s.


Forget an old BMW, they’re abysmally unreliable and costly to fix. The Volvo could be worthy but again parts can be very costly and diesels can be trouble while petrols are thirsty. A tidy V70 2.4 D5 manual is a very appealing thing but expect big bills when anything goes wrong and do the timing and ancillary belts immediately if there’s no receipt to prove they’ve been done already. Factor in £400/£500 for this.

Edited by SLO76 on 18/09/2021 at 00:08

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - Jetsam1

The BMW was a little tongue in cheeck!

I have actually had a little epiphany with the Accord this week as I have been back in the office and doing the 3 hour round trip on the motorway.

Really, quite impressed by it. Comfy and easy cruising and no drama. OK, it is a high mileage diesal but I understand why for that purpose it is still nice to have.

To the point I have been looking for a lower mileage/better condition example to run for a while. The 2 ltr petrol looks on paper as a nice car anyway!

I have had the Isuzu 1.7 before and know the engine, in terms of Astras I have owned them and have driven a lot of them so they are a known quantity and I already know my way around he basic maintenance.Which is why that engine with the type of motorway commuting use seemed to be an option.

I am lucky with my office hours that I can miss the worst of the congestion and have a mainly open run until the very last turn off, but while I am quite well paid I don`t want to expose myself too much financially.

Hadn't considered the Mondeos, but they really are BIG. But I am starting to bond with the Honda :-) Finally. Just would want a better example as this one whilst good mechanically has obviously been hammered and there are some electrical problems and the air con is not working (loath to start throwing lots of money at it really at this stage).

I should say that although I am from the UK I am located in Hungary and dealing with the used market here and cars are quite a bit more expensive than the UK. But people run older cars for far longer and I do have a rather good and honest local mechanic who just saved our Subaru from some very big main dealer bills by diagnosing the problem in 5 minutes and showing the best, not at all expensive fix.

They really like VW here, there are a lot of 90s Golfs running around quite happily. But bangernomics doesn`t really apply as a Mondeo for example that in the UK would be 500 pounds here would be more like 2000 or 3000 pounds. So basically if it is 2007 or later it is almost always going to be finance territory. But the climate is dry and hot in the sumer and cold and often dry in the winter so no salty sea air to rust everything down.

I come here because of seveal knowledgable people who I know I can trust for their opinions and guidance.

Edited by Jetsam1 on 18/09/2021 at 08:34

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - kiss (keep it simple)

I have a 2 litre 2012 model. If you can drive the one you are interested in, check the steering feels OK. Mine developed a fault which made it heavy turning one way and it didn't self-centre properly at low speed. It can be a common issue and is expensive to fix. Otherwise it's been completely reliable, bought at 63k miles, now on 112k. Economy is good on motorway, only gripes are hard ride and road noise.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - badbusdriver

Hadn't considered the Mondeos, but they really are BIG

Can't see any mention of the age of Mazda 6 you are looking at. But as an example, the second gen 6 (2008ish to 2013ish) is 43mm shorter than a Mondeo of the same age. So I think its fair to say if you don't find a 6 too big, a Mondeo isn't going to problematic!.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - pd

The 2008-2013ish model is a bit smaller than the current one. Like the current Mondeo the 6 is primarily designed for the US market to be a "full size" car. It is not a small car.

the 08-13 model is a decent car and usually reliable. As the poster above said it certainly isn't luxury inside and the ride isn't great. There is a generic fault with collapsing front seats but there is a recall on it.

The 2.0 has more go, more torque and doesn't seem to use any more fuel. Go for the TS2 - the TS doesn't even have bluetooth IIRC.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - Clk GD

>> The 08-13 model is a decent car

Likewise the earlier model. But on these, do look closely at the rear wheel arches.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - daveyK_UK
I thought the 2.0 suffered from engine knocking ?
Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - Engineer Andy
I thought the 2.0 suffered from engine knocking ?

Nothing that I can see on the Good & Bad part of the review for both the gen-1 (2002-07) or 2 (2007-12) cars, or the Mazda3 (gen-1 and 2) with the same engine, but it could just as easily been mentioned on a forum thread or another forum.

I checked on the Mazda3 Forums UK (we have a [rarely used] Mazda6 section) and all I could (for both cars) find was a reference to reduced engine knock in the diesel when the gen-2 was released in Europe, so presumably it was referring to the 2L.

Perhaps that was the 2L you you may remember having some kind of knocking issue? I personally don't recall anyone on the Mazda3 forums UK having knocking issues with the 2L petrol engine on gen-1 or 2 cars, but then it was a far less popular engine to the 1.6 petrol and the two diesel engines.

Mazda 6 - Mazda 1.8 Petrol: Any good reasons why not? - SLO76
Never had any issues with any Mazda engine I’ve owned or sold. I do know a couple of cases of slightly excessive oil use on Mk II Ford Focus 1.8’s with the same Mazda L series motor but they still keep going with regular top-ups. I’ve personally owned a 3 1.6 petrol, Mk II 6 2.0 petrol, a Mk II MX5 1.8 and a Ford Mondeo 1.8 petrol all with similar basic engine designs and not had a moments bother with any of them. The Mazda 6 was an excellent big car that drove well and was surprisingly decent on fuel.