My 2011 Mazda6i with 2.5L 4 cylinder is sitting at just over 81k miles. I thought maybe some would be interested to see my ownership experience so far. I bought this car new in March of 2011 and it is a poverty/base spec manual transmission with A/C and power windows. Those are its luxuries. I maintain my car but am not a believer in over-maintaining a car and throwing money away. Perhaps this is evident in my work/maintenance records below - i.e. I'm still on mostly original fluids.
Below is what I have done to the car so far (excluding a synthetic oil change every 8-10k miles and tire rotations). All maintenance was performed by myself (except the new tires, alignments and exhaust work).
21k miles: Air Filter, Cabin Filter and half a can of 3M car undercoating to repair a scrape to the frame.
24k miles: New headlight bulb
30k miles: New tires and alignment
32k miles: New grommet which fell out and caused underbody shield rattle ($3.99 dealer part)
40k miles: Cabin Filter
48k miles: New rear brake pads and rotors
51k miles: New headlight bulb
54k miles: New Air Filter and Cabin Filter
57k miles: Alignment
58k miles: Replaced manual trans-axle gear oil and refilled with Redline MT-90 75W90.
60k miles: New headlight bulb (see a trend?)
70k miles: Cabin Air Filter and (4) new Motorcraft spark plugs
72k miles: Multiple recalls addressed by dealer (including one for spider webs!)
73k miles: Exhaust leak - repaired exhaust gasket and weld job (Meineke did a great job for ~$95)
75k miles: Replaced OEM battery (pre-emptive replacement as battery was 5yrs old).
That is all I have done so far. Front brake pads and rotors are original as well as serpentine belt, coolant and all other fluids.
The car does not burn oil and returns 28-33mpg depending on driving conditions.
Present issues:
Passenger side front window rattles in its track when not fully rolled up or down. Pretty irritating unless the radio is up. Driver side window rattles too sometimes but not as badly. I've heard the windows are one of Ford's contributions.
Brakes squeal. I had the dealer check it out when I had the recalls done and they said all pads had 50% left. Since the front pads and rotors are original I may go ahead and have them replaced. It's probably time.
The General tires I have on now have 52k miles on them but are refusing to die. They have about 4/32 tread left but they are very loud. For some reason it seems like they've almost stopped wearing in the past 15k miles. They're in wear like iron mode maybe. It almost sounds like I have a bad wheel bearing when I steer left but I'm not sure if this is the tires or not. They're also showing the beginning signs of dry rot in the tread. I'll likely replace them sooner than later. I also can tell I need an alignment - probably will get one when I get new shoes.
A couple of dents and dings - typical. Some medium sized dents on the roof from parking under a crab apple tree during a storm - don't feel like paying a deductible to get that addressed.
The interior and the car in general has worn pretty well. Nothing bad to speak of. The front driver seat is only starting to show beginning stages of seat wear on the edges but nothing significant.
I'll admit that I sometimes feel the car is a bit underpowered and I pine for a V6 or maybe even a V8 since gas is cheap now but the idea of a car payment usually sobers me up.
Would I buy this car again? Yes. Would I have sprung for some upgrades like a sunroof, premium stereo and a couple of more creature comforts. Yes. But at the time of purchase and my career situation I did not want to overextend myself. When it comes time for a new car I'll likely avoid a poverty spec model and get some upgrades - but only if I can still get a manual transmission! The transmission is one my favorite aspects of this car - I've driven lots of manuals and Mazda makes one of the best.
Oh yeah - any recommendations on maintenance items I should address? I have a Gates serpentine belt on hand I could throw in - the original one has some cracks but I'm also cheap and want to get my money out of it. I'm thinking of getting front brakes addressed and maybe tires. The owners manual says coolant is good for 120k miles or 10 years. What say the BITOGers?
Anyways - maybe I'll provide another review at 160k or 200k miles assuming it continues to be an overall decent vehicle and I hold onto it - which I intend to. Thanks for reading.
Below is what I have done to the car so far (excluding a synthetic oil change every 8-10k miles and tire rotations). All maintenance was performed by myself (except the new tires, alignments and exhaust work).
21k miles: Air Filter, Cabin Filter and half a can of 3M car undercoating to repair a scrape to the frame.
24k miles: New headlight bulb
30k miles: New tires and alignment
32k miles: New grommet which fell out and caused underbody shield rattle ($3.99 dealer part)
40k miles: Cabin Filter
48k miles: New rear brake pads and rotors
51k miles: New headlight bulb
54k miles: New Air Filter and Cabin Filter
57k miles: Alignment
58k miles: Replaced manual trans-axle gear oil and refilled with Redline MT-90 75W90.
60k miles: New headlight bulb (see a trend?)
70k miles: Cabin Air Filter and (4) new Motorcraft spark plugs
72k miles: Multiple recalls addressed by dealer (including one for spider webs!)
73k miles: Exhaust leak - repaired exhaust gasket and weld job (Meineke did a great job for ~$95)
75k miles: Replaced OEM battery (pre-emptive replacement as battery was 5yrs old).
That is all I have done so far. Front brake pads and rotors are original as well as serpentine belt, coolant and all other fluids.
The car does not burn oil and returns 28-33mpg depending on driving conditions.
Present issues:
Passenger side front window rattles in its track when not fully rolled up or down. Pretty irritating unless the radio is up. Driver side window rattles too sometimes but not as badly. I've heard the windows are one of Ford's contributions.
Brakes squeal. I had the dealer check it out when I had the recalls done and they said all pads had 50% left. Since the front pads and rotors are original I may go ahead and have them replaced. It's probably time.
The General tires I have on now have 52k miles on them but are refusing to die. They have about 4/32 tread left but they are very loud. For some reason it seems like they've almost stopped wearing in the past 15k miles. They're in wear like iron mode maybe. It almost sounds like I have a bad wheel bearing when I steer left but I'm not sure if this is the tires or not. They're also showing the beginning signs of dry rot in the tread. I'll likely replace them sooner than later. I also can tell I need an alignment - probably will get one when I get new shoes.
A couple of dents and dings - typical. Some medium sized dents on the roof from parking under a crab apple tree during a storm - don't feel like paying a deductible to get that addressed.
The interior and the car in general has worn pretty well. Nothing bad to speak of. The front driver seat is only starting to show beginning stages of seat wear on the edges but nothing significant.
I'll admit that I sometimes feel the car is a bit underpowered and I pine for a V6 or maybe even a V8 since gas is cheap now but the idea of a car payment usually sobers me up.
Would I buy this car again? Yes. Would I have sprung for some upgrades like a sunroof, premium stereo and a couple of more creature comforts. Yes. But at the time of purchase and my career situation I did not want to overextend myself. When it comes time for a new car I'll likely avoid a poverty spec model and get some upgrades - but only if I can still get a manual transmission! The transmission is one my favorite aspects of this car - I've driven lots of manuals and Mazda makes one of the best.
Oh yeah - any recommendations on maintenance items I should address? I have a Gates serpentine belt on hand I could throw in - the original one has some cracks but I'm also cheap and want to get my money out of it. I'm thinking of getting front brakes addressed and maybe tires. The owners manual says coolant is good for 120k miles or 10 years. What say the BITOGers?
Anyways - maybe I'll provide another review at 160k or 200k miles assuming it continues to be an overall decent vehicle and I hold onto it - which I intend to. Thanks for reading.
Last edited:
