2.2 TS2 Diesel 5dr

Great looking estate that's practical and very good to drive

Body type:
Estate

Years owned:
7

TL;DR:
This is a very nice looking car (even in 2022) that drives well and is very economical and reliable in the main - with some major caveats. Read on for details.

Engine:
163BHP is enough for this car - it's a very responsive engine that really pulls in every gear. I think it's the sweet spot - the Sport's 180BHP isn't really needed for a family estate, IMO. The 8.9s 0-60mph is quick enough (it's not as if you ever really floor it from zero anyway!) and more importantly, back road, dual-carriageway and motorway overtaking is no problem in this car - it surges past slower traffic in 4th, 5th and 6th at relatively low RPMs thanks to 360Nm of torque, with little need to drop down a gear.

Trim:
TS2 - second from top spec (after the Sport). You get everything you would need, such as bluetooth/phone integration, DSC, front & rear parking sensors, cruise control (that works properly, unlike in some cars), hill hold (again, works properly without getting in the way), auto lights and wipers but no daytime running lights. The headlights are only halogens which are a real faff to replace. The only things I really missed from the Sport were the Xenon lights and the lovely Bose sound system (although the standard stereo and speakers are not too shabby).

Comfort:
The cabin is quite attractive in an understated way and it holds up very well over the years. Seats are comfortable and the fabric is hard wearing and valets up very nicely. Suspension is well judged - the car sits on 17 inch rims which look nice enough but don't ruin the ride. The body doesn't roll in the corners so your passengers won't be thrown out into the hedgerow ;)

Handling:
The weight of the big diesel engine makes it very front heavy (my car prior to that was the rather peachy handling Peugeot 406 1.8 petrol, so I noticed the extra weight straight away). That said, it does really cope well with bends and you can watch the Teknikens Värld moose test to see how well it handles sudden evasive manoeuvres. I did have to put that to the test twice, unfortunately, and it definitely saved me both times. The DSC really works well, and coupled with at least mid-range tyres (I settled on Uniroyal Rain Sport 3), you'll only see it kick in when it's really needed. I initially got the car with nasty Infinity brand tyres on the front, and the DSC was coming on all the time. Without it, I'm sure I'd have wrapped the car around a tree before I replaced those dodgy, cheap tyres! The steering is very precise and the handling overall really makes the car feel agile and responsive, holding on very well around corners during, shall we say, slightly more "spirited" driving.

Running Costs:
It's a 2.2l diesel engine, so it's not really suited to the mostly urban driving I do, so I averaged just over 46mpg most months. When I did a few more long drives than usual, I could hit 48-50mpg in that month. Few repairs were needed during the life of the car, so maintenance was quite cheap. If I was to keep the car, I would now be looking at a large bill for a new timing chain - this has to be factored in if you go for one of these Mazda 6 diesels with a high mileage. For what it's worth, I think the 2013-present model also suffers from this issue.

Reliability:
In the first 7 years, I mostly just had to service the car, change bulbs and replace tyres. It does chew through front tyres, partly because of that front end weight, and maybe partly because I like to chuck it around corners on back roads ;). However, the bluetooth module did fail when the car was 9 years old, and I didn't bother replacing it. I just used a cheap BT dongle instead. Rear curbside brake caliper rusted and seized up and had to be replaced (at 8 years), but that was a cheap and quick job. Bushings on front end dried out and the car sounded like it had arthritic knees whenever the weather was dry and warm. For quite a while, just a good spray of silicon oil was enough to quieten that creaking down, but a new lower control arm, ball joint and tie rod were needed to put an end to it. After 140,000 miles, the timing chain was getting close to the limits of stretch, and I used Forscan to keep an eye on the exact degree, since replacing it is a circa €2000 job if you can't find a more reasonably priced independent garage. By the time it was definitely due replacement, the car was already over 11 years old with a good 180,000 miles on the clock, so it didn't make sense to me to get it done, so it's was time to trade in and get something a lot newer. Oh, and the AC had died by the end of this long hot 2022 summer. Might just need a recharge, or it might be something expensive.
The two issues I was most wary of when I shortlisted the Mazda 6 were the oil dilution leading to premature timing chain wear, and DPF problems. Literally every single negative review mentioned DPF issues, and I never had a single problem with it. All I did was drive it at over 2000rpm for 10-20 minutes fairly regularly. Other than that, I probably did 80% urban driving, which is of course very bad for a big diesel engine and not doesn't allow the passive regeneration of the DPF to occur, or active regeneration to complete. I just kept the realtime MPG reading up on the dash and when it was clearly getting through a lot of diesel (like 25mpg instead of the usual 45-85mpg), I knew an active DPF regen cycle was running so I kept on driving in a lower gear to get the revs over 2000rpm until the mpg value went back to normal. As for the timing chain, yes, this is a real issue that is hard to avoid. Sticking to the manufacturer's maintenance schedule is probably not advisable - get oil changed as regularly as you can - and then I'm sure the chain will last a lot longer. Note that the dipstick has not only an low and full mark on it, but also an "X". When it hits that mark, the oil is very diluted with diesel and chain wear WILL occur (not to mention general engine wear). Change it - oil is cheap - timing chains are NOT! You may get as little as 80k miles, or twice that, as I did. I think if a timing chain lasts the "life of the car", that's a small miracle, and no, I don't think it lasts forever in any car.

Overall:
The Mazda 6 estate is a comfortable, practical, good handling car that's quite rewarding to drive. Day-to-day, it's economical too - I was easily able to average over 46mpg without needing to drive like I was on tranquilisers. It's a diesel, so unless you live in Ireland where you basically cannot get a larger car with a petrol engine, you need to think about whether you actually need it. If you do, the 2.2l 163bhp one strikes a good balance between power, torque and economy.
My next car will have a lot to live up to. I may well choose something more pedestrian that is as bullet proof as possible, with no ticking time-bombs like the Mazda 6 diesel has. For this reason, I'll skip the CX-5, since I think I've read too many stories of turbo failure and I'll probably go for another brand.

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