I have now just over 11 months and 16,500 miles experience of my new Mazda 6. I went for a top-spec 2.2 diesel 175 with the auto gearbox, and the rear vehicle monitoring/lane departure extras. It was still good value compared to the opposition, on a spec comparison basis. I upgraded from a much enjoyed Mazda 3 185 diesel, because I do quite a lot of long trips and felt I wanted a bit more comfort.

This new 6 is a tremendously capable car. For what is quite a large car, it goes and handles tremendously well. It flows through corners with great aplomb, and is very safe and secure, and entertaining at the same time. The steering is very accurate. The driving position is very comfortable (although it took me quite a long time to find my ideal position).

The automatic gearbox deserves special mention - it works well with the car, and the manual override (with flappy paddles on the steering wheel) is very useful and useable. Its still not a manual box, and I do sometimes miss that control which only a manual box can provide.

The engine, too, is excellent for a diesel. It revs smoothly up through the ratios (particularly in manual mode) in a way which no other diesel I have owned has done, and makes a noise which is satisfying: if you didn't know, it would be very easy to think it was not a diesel (except of course at idle or low revs, when it is obvious). It has more than enough power to make it feel like a fast car.

The interior is very spacious and comfortable, and the boot is large and deep. I do wish it was a hatchback though - what a shame Mazda don't offer that option, as on the previous model.

The Tom-Tom sat nav is a fairly annoying device, although that's probably partly my fault, as an increasingly technophobe 55 year old. The live traffic feed is good when it works, but it does disappear from time to time, usually just when it might actually be useful. I wasted ages early on attempting updates etc, which was a very frustrating process.

The radio isn't great, and loses the station every now and again. Its all controlled on screen, some of which is pretty unfathomable. I'd be much happier with a few simple pushbuttons on the dashboard! There is only a single CD option, since apparently were all supposed to rely on the dismal sound of MP3's, which I just don't do. The phone is supposed to download text messages, which it did to start with, but now does not work. The dealer had no idea how to resolve the issue, which is not covered at all well in the enormous manual.

My car has had a rattle in the rear nearside from new, which the dealer has been unable to resolve. They had it back for a week while I was in hospital, but failed to solve the issue. I've now given up, and just put up with it. Does "Sky-Active" mean built down to a minimum weight with an impact on build quality? I never took any of my previous 3 Mazda's (or my wife's 2 Mazda's) back to the dealer for anything other than servicing, but this car has been back a number of times, for updates or the rattle. The dealer is good (up to a point) and makes it is as painless as possible, but it is still inconvenient.

Fuel economy is a bit disappointing, and of course nowhere near the official figures. I average about 46/47 mpg, despite a lot of easy 65/70mph cruises.

Finally, I don't think it feels like a Mazda of old. Despite being a great drive, it doesn't have that sharp steering, Mazda sports car feel which previous 3's and 6's have had. I miss that. Having been a Mazda loyalist for 10 years or so, I may look elsewhere next time.