2.2 TS2 Diesel Hatchback

A mixed bag!

Summer 2010 and it was time to change the company car again, another Passat? perhaps not.....
Then a colleague turned up in a Mazda 6, hmmm very nice, so after a test drive and a chat, the order was placed, TS2 hatch in pearlescent white. Very impressed when the car turned up in November, but how has the last 3 years and 75k been? Well not without its issues, the car seems to eat brake dics, new ones approx every 20k, having never had this issue before with any other car (ever) I pushed the dealer for an explanation, their reply, "We change discs for a past time on the 6s, its a problem" rather odd but I wasn't paying, but it has been a pain. Another issue has been the 6 speed gearbox, its terrible. When cold (worse in winter) selecting 1st is a mammoth effort and changing down into 2nd is impossible without crunching the gears until everything has warmed up (a problem my colleague also has with his 6) then at about 40k a slight noise could be heard in 4th (but apparently only Mazda mechanics were incapable of hearing this!!!) So I struggled on for about another 5k when the box had had enough and failed totally, the garage got a roasting for that one and thereafter seemed a little more willing to listen and investigate. The car has averaged 53mpg over the last 3 years, with approx 60% of the driving being on motorways and the rest on very rural roads, so I have been particularly impressed by this. The ride is now and has always been too harsh and yet no where near as sporting as the harshness suggests it should be, Mazda I think got this very wrong, however the actual road holding isn't bad and I would say in icy/snowy conditions is in fact excellent with the traction and stability programme being the best I have encountered, but the overall driving experience is quite good, especially on the motorway. Equipment levels on the TS2 are good, however the bluetooth system is poor when comparing with other cars, there's no contacts download and all numbers have to be individually transferred or entered, and there is no visual look-up. The worse thing about this model however there wasn't an auto gearbox option. All in all even given the negatives I have listed above the 6 has been the best car I have lived with in the past 12 years and 4 cars, and my new 2.2 Diesel 6 SEL Tourer Auto arrives in January, so I guess I am a Mazda convert.

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