Disclosure: The 2017 Mazda CX-9 was loaned to me by Drive Time for a review. All opinions expressed are my own.
When I was a kid in the 80s, one of our family cars was the Mazda 626. While we enjoyed it, it had its share of problems and after that, Mazdas were a brand we just didn’t consider moving forward. Kind of like the many, many problems I’ve had with my Kia Optima have guaranteed I will never own a Kia again.
However, in recent years, I’ve taken notice of Mazdas. Price, safety features and overall look, make me want to consider them once again. I mean everyone can change, right? I had a Mazda CX-9 to review the week prior to the Mazda 6 and I’ll admit, I was quite spoiled by it. It was incredibly difficult to give that car back. But at least I was swapping from it to the 2017 Mazda 6.
Interior of Mazda6
The exterior is beautiful and the interior feels more upscale than the near $30k price tag (it’s right around $33k) seems. The plush leather seating and interior components all feel closer to a luxury sedan. It has nice pickup, and safety features like blindside monitoring, bright backup camera and more.
Mazda 6 Pros
- Sleek, sexy look
- Good gas mileage (40 on the highway and 28 in the city)
- Bright lights at night in the backup camera make it easy to see
- Decent pickup
Mazda 6 Cons
- Steering wheel is almost too small
- Hard to see the projection of speed, etc in front of you
- Not as powerful as other sedans in its class that have a V6
While I mentioned the exceptional gas mileage in the Mazda 6, you are sacrificing the V6 engines that other competitors in the that range have. And while I love the technology of the projection of lane monitoring and speed in front of you, unlike the Mazda CX-9 which actually projects it out in front of the car, here it is projected onto a plastic screen on the dashboard that was difficult for me to see.
For the price and safety features, I like the Mazda 6 for a family car, especially if you have little ones. Plus, if you hang on to your cars for a years like I do, you could give it to your kid when they turn 16 and have peace of mind that they are driving a very safe car.
