I have just had a lift in one these as my friends dads Mazda 6 is being repaired due to accident damage.
I have always thought of the Mazda 6 as a bit of a boring car in the sense that it is reliable, well built, smooth and comfortable, e.g it does nothing wrong but also has a design which would not excite people. It is the kind of car I would love to have as a company car (which his is).
However this driver now has a hire Sebring and its awful. The second I got in the car I notice all this plastic wood all over the place, fake plastic rings round the gear lever, fake plastic door handles, leather seats which feel like plastic and door cars made of cheap grade plastic I have list seen on my dads old Lada Riva 1200L from 1987.
Although I have not driven it, the car kept stalling and then would take around 30 seconds to start again (it was a diesel and the glow plugs didn't seem to work well).
Everytime we went over the a bump at even 20mph it seems to travel accross the entire chassis like it would in a Fiesta MK3.
He is not a kean driver but does a lot of milleage and I asked him what it was lke to drive expecting him to say it ok his answer was "it leaves a lot to be desiered". The brakes also made a racked as if the pads were worn even though it had done less than 15k and was on a 58 reg though that might be due to the fact it was a hire car.
My impressions are: If you can get these as cheap as HJ adverts suggest e.g less than £10k they are a massively large car for Fiesta money which will made a lot of people very happy but for my money I would rather have a year old low milleage Mondeo or Passat.
Sadly I have not driven it, and if I did I might be pleasently surprised but as a passanger it felt like it had been made out of recyceled Lada plastics.
As a passanger I was not impressed at all I just feel so sorry for the driver.
At least the Cruiser has an interesting design.
Edited by Pugugly on 06/09/2009 at 09:05
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I am now having nightmares. I am seeing images of that plastic dashboard and the clock which backlight flashed a lot when the engine was ideling as if the alternator could not provide enough power to power it.
I have also just looked back at my posts and once asked why these cares were £7k new, I now know why.
Brilliant for £7k but my mates £7k Panda feels a lot more solid inside but then Sebring is a much bigger car. As passanger in the Mazda 6 and this Sebring I wouild say the 6 feels like a car worth at least twice the price.
Rattle edited up for you
Edited by Pugugly on 06/09/2009 at 09:08
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My car has fake wood, but that is genuine plastic, real quality. :-)
Edited by Old Navy on 06/09/2009 at 09:43
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The latest Mazda 6 has some rather nasty looking plastic in it aswell, so its not exclusive to cheaper cars.
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