2019 Mazda6 Signature - 12,000 mile review

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2019 Mazda6 & CX-5
Just passed 12,000 miles on my car, which means I have driven it about 6000 miles since I bought this demo model last February. I'm really happy with this purchase - I think I would call the latest edition 6 as one of the best values in the market for 4-door sedans.

Likes:
-Excellent transmission and drivetrain. Sport mode is surprisingly enjoyable and noticeably better than the already very well-sorted normal mode. No shift hiccups or issues. I think I know why Mazda has stuck with this 6-speed transmission - it's fantastic and they have the tuning just about perfect. And I believe it's also quite durable.

-Comfort. Everything about this car can pretty much be described as, "smooth and nice." The 6 has some of the best front seats I've sat in period. The extremely comfortable seats are wide enough and provide enough seat bottom length to support my legs and I'm over 6' tall. I would not call them sporty seats but they are excellent for cruising. Very comfortable ride overall, helped no doubt by Mazda's choice of tires (more on that later under "dislikes"), excellent seats and suspension tuning. Interior noise levels are fairly low.

-Interior and Exterior Design. Interior design and quality punches way above the price point. I love how uncluttered and clean the dashboard is. Reminds me a little of my 2011 BMW 3-series in how spartan it is only MORE stylish than my old 3 series. Lots of soft touch surfaces as well. A very pleasant place to be for a long drive. The exterior design is also excellent and many of our friends/neighbors agree. It's subjective, but I say Mazda hit the marks on the design.

-Fuel Mileage is excellent. I say this with the understanding that our 6 has the turbo 4 cylinder and it feels fantastic in normal or even slightly spirited driving around town. I got 33 mpg on one 90% highway trip and regularly get 22-24 mpg around town depending on the season. The best way to summarize my thoughts on the fuel mileage is this: The fun-to-fuel mileage ratio is way up there when I think back at my previous vehicles. Our V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee is sitting at about 13 mpg this winter with mostly local driving. Yikes!

Dislikes:
-Like our CX-5, the OEM tires are terrible. Wet traction, dry traction, handling - all sub par. The only positive things I have to say about these tires is that they do contribute to the nice, comfortable ride due to the soft non-sporting sidewalls.

-Below-Average Steering Feel. I know the 6 has electric steering-assist like every other new vehicle now, but this system isn't awesome. It's not as bad as some vehicles I've driven, but it's certainly not as good as some that I've driven. It's just "OK". The funny thing is our 2019 CX-5 Signature seems to have much better steering feel and almost seems like the ratio is tighter/quicker than the 6. I wish the 6 had the same steering feel as our CX-5. That being said, I'm also very certain the OEM tires are heavily contributing to this poor steering feel so I'm looking forward to upgrading the tires when the OEMs wear out.

-Handling is just OK. The 6 is far from a sports sedan. I really didn't expect it to perform like a proper sports sedan, but the car is so good in so many other ways I kinda wish it did! But that's just it...I think this car is probably the best example I know of as a true Grand Touring car. It's comfortable; handles well-enough and is quick-enough. I do think it handles better than other FWD 4-door sedans but it's far from a sports sedan. When I come out of a hard turn, hit the throttle and the inside front wheel spins, I'm reminded again that this is not a sports car but a very nice FWD Grand Touring car. And that's fine. But I'm still getting sportier tires when the time comes! I think it might help me get that little bit of extra sport out of the 6 that I want (including a little more steering feel.)

-Entertainment System is Glitchy. Took a long trip at the end of summer in the 6 - total of about 16 hours in the car over three days. The Mazda entertainment system crashed on me at least 5 times and you couldn't get it to reconnect to my phone unless you pulled over, stopped the car, waited a few minutes and then re-started the car. I recently took the 6 in for service though and they updated my system software. It was at least 3 updates behind. We experienced similar issues with our CX-5 which haven't returned since the last 2 updates, so I'm pretty optimistic we won't continue to have issues with our 6's entertainment system.

-Driver's Side Mirror Vibrates. Same deal for our CX-5. The dealer replaced the driver's side mirror on our CX-5 and while it improved, it still vibrates a little making the images slightly blurry. The 6's driver's side mirror is the same. When I was in for service over the holidays, our dealer ordered a new side mirror for me but it hasn't come in yet. Slightly irritating that both of our new Mazdas had the same issue - they have to do better than this in the upscale auto world they are striving to compete in. Curious if anyone else has experienced this on their 2018+ 6? Speaking of the side mirrors, I'm still mad that Mazda has seat memory but not mirror memory. I can't think of any car that has seat memory but not side view mirror memory - that makes no sense at all to me but I knew this was the case prior to buying it. Same deal on the CX-5. I have no doubt Mazda will add this feature to CX-5 and 6 model years as a new "feature", lol.

Other than the tires, my dislikes are mild. This is a heck of a great overall car. I do tend to like the sportier spectrum of vehicles, so keep that in mind when reading my critiques. If Mazda eventually adds AWD and the new inline 6 cylinder to the next generation 6, count me as very interested in this vehicle!

Hope some of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
 
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Just passed 12,000 miles on my car, which means I have driven it about 6000 miles since I bought this demo model last February. I'm really happy with this purchase - I think I would call the latest edition 6 as one of the best values in the market for 4-door sedans.

Likes:
-Excellent transmission and drivetrain. Sport mode is surprisingly enjoyable and noticeably better than the already very well-sorted normal mode. No shift hiccups or issues. I think I know why Mazda has stuck with this 6-speed transmission - it's fantastic and they have the tuning just about perfect. And I believe it's also quite durable.

-Comfort. Everything about this car can pretty much be described as, "smooth and nice." The 6 has some of the best front seats I've sat in period. The extremely comfortable seats are wide enough and provide enough seat bottom length to support my legs and I'm over 6' tall. I would not call them sporty seats but they are excellent for cruising. Very comfortable ride overall, helped no doubt by Mazda's choice of tires (more on that later under "dislikes"), excellent seats and suspension tuning. Interior noise levels are fairly low.

-Interior and Exterior Design. Interior design and quality punches way above the price point. I love how uncluttered and clean the dashboard is. Reminds me a little of my 2011 BMW 3-series in how spartan it is only MORE stylish than my old 3 series. Lots of soft touch surfaces as well. A very pleasant place to be for a long drive. The exterior design is also excellent and many of our friends/neighbors agree. It's subjective, but I say Mazda hit the marks on the design.

-Fuel Mileage is excellent. I say this with the understanding that our 6 has the turbo 4 cylinder and it feels fantastic in normal or even slightly spirited driving around town. I got 33 mpg on one 90% highway trip and regularly get 22-24 mpg around town depending on the season. The best way to summarize my thoughts on the fuel mileage is this: The fun-to-fuel mileage ratio is way up there when I think back at my previous vehicles. Our V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee is sitting at about 13 mpg this winter with mostly local driving. Yikes!

Dislikes:
-Like our CX-5, the OEM tires are terrible. Wet traction, dry traction, handling - all sub par. The only positive things I have to say about these tires is that they do contribute to the nice, comfortable ride due to the soft non-sporting sidewalls.

-Below-Average Steering Feel. I know the 6 has electric steering-assist like every other new vehicle now, but this system isn't awesome. It's not as bad as some vehicles I've driven, but it's certainly not as good as some that I've driven. It's just "OK". The funny thing is our 2019 CX-5 Signature seems to have much better steering feel and almost seems like the ratio is tighter/quicker than the 6. I wish the 6 had the same steering feel as our CX-5. That being said, I'm also very certain the OEM tires are heavily contributing to this poor steering feel so I'm looking forward to upgrading the tires when the OEMs wear out.

-Handling is just OK. The 6 is far from a sports sedan. I really didn't expect it to perform like a proper sports sedan, but the car is so good in so many other ways I kinda wish it did! But that's just it...I think this car is probably the best example I know of as a true Grand Touring car. It's comfortable; handles well-enough and is quick-enough. I do think it handles better than other FWD 4-door sedans but it's far from a sports sedan. When I come out of a hard turn, hit the throttle and the inside front wheel spins, I'm reminded again that this is not a sports car but a very nice FWD Grand Touring car. And that's fine. But I'm still getting sportier tires when the time comes! I think it might help me get that little bit of extra sport out of the 6 that I want (including a little more steering feel.)

-Entertainment System is Glitchy. Took a long trip at the end of summer in the 6 - total of about 16 hours in the car over three days. The Mazda entertainment system crashed on me at least 5 times and you couldn't get it to reconnect to my phone unless you pulled over, stopped the car, waited a few minutes and then re-started the car. I recently took the 6 in for service though and they updated my system software. It was at least 3 updates behind. We experienced similar issues with our CX-5 which haven't returned since the last 2 updates, so I'm pretty optimistic we won't continue to have issues with our 6's entertainment system.

-Driver's Side Mirror Vibrates. Same deal for our CX-5. The dealer replaced the driver's side mirror on our CX-5 and while it improved, it still vibrates a little making the images slightly blurry. The 6's driver's side mirror is the same. When I was in for service over the holidays, our dealer ordered a new side mirror for me but it hasn't come in yet. Slightly irritating that both of our new Mazdas had the same issue - they have to do better than this in the upscale auto world they are striving to compete in. Curious if anyone else has experienced this on their 2018+ 6? Speaking of the side mirrors, I'm still mad that Mazda has seat memory but not mirror memory. I can't think of any car that has seat memory but not side view mirror memory - that makes no sense at all to me but I knew this was the case prior to buying it. Same deal on the CX-5. I have no doubt Mazda will add this feature to CX-5 and 6 model years as a new "feature", lol.

Other than the tires, my dislikes are mild. This is a heck of a great overall car. I do tend to like the sportier spectrum of vehicles, so keep that in mind when reading my critiques. If Mazda eventually adds AWD and the new inline 6 cylinder to the next generation 6, count me as very interested in this vehicle!

Hope some of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Totally agree it’s a great touring car and I enjoyed driving mine when I had it even though mine was only the GS trim or Sport in the U.S. - mine was a 2019 MY and didn’t have vibrations on the driver side mirror unlike my CX-9 (mirror was replaced under warranty but the new mirror still vibrates slightly on highway). Yes, on infotainment side wish it had the 2nd gen Mazda Connect as it was very slow to boot up and I used to stream music via Bluetooth and it was slow to connect (though it never crashed during my time). I now have a Mazda 3 and the 2nd gen Mazda Connect is way faster to operate and boots up instantly especially when I stream my music. The only downside to the newer system is it no longer has touchscreen and inputting addresses in the navigation is a pain when using rotary knob (simpler to use voice command).

I agree with you on the side mirror adjusting to memory seat settings...my CX-9 is the same, only seats and HUD level adjusts! The 2019 Mazda 3 GT w/ prem pkg (w/c is the topmost trim) has memory seats with side mirrors tied in to the seat adjustment and HUD and it even has the side mirrors tilting down when you put gear in reverse as well as auto dimming driver side mirror!
 
Just passed 12,000 miles on my car, which means I have driven it about 6000 miles since I bought this demo model last February. I'm really happy with this purchase - I think I would call the latest edition 6 as one of the best values in the market for 4-door sedans.

Likes:
-Excellent transmission and drivetrain. Sport mode is surprisingly enjoyable and noticeably better than the already very well-sorted normal mode. No shift hiccups or issues. I think I know why Mazda has stuck with this 6-speed transmission - it's fantastic and they have the tuning just about perfect. And I believe it's also quite durable.

-Comfort. Everything about this car can pretty much be described as, "smooth and nice." The 6 has some of the best front seats I've sat in period. The extremely comfortable seats are wide enough and provide enough seat bottom length to support my legs and I'm over 6' tall. I would not call them sporty seats but they are excellent for cruising. Very comfortable ride overall, helped no doubt by Mazda's choice of tires (more on that later under "dislikes"), excellent seats and suspension tuning. Interior noise levels are fairly low.

-Interior and Exterior Design. Interior design and quality punches way above the price point. I love how uncluttered and clean the dashboard is. Reminds me a little of my 2011 BMW 3-series in how spartan it is only MORE stylish than my old 3 series. Lots of soft touch surfaces as well. A very pleasant place to be for a long drive. The exterior design is also excellent and many of our friends/neighbors agree. It's subjective, but I say Mazda hit the marks on the design.

-Fuel Mileage is excellent. I say this with the understanding that our 6 has the turbo 4 cylinder and it feels fantastic in normal or even slightly spirited driving around town. I got 33 mpg on one 90% highway trip and regularly get 22-24 mpg around town depending on the season. The best way to summarize my thoughts on the fuel mileage is this: The fun-to-fuel mileage ratio is way up there when I think back at my previous vehicles. Our V8-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee is sitting at about 13 mpg this winter with mostly local driving. Yikes!

Dislikes:
-Like our CX-5, the OEM tires are terrible. Wet traction, dry traction, handling - all sub par. The only positive things I have to say about these tires is that they do contribute to the nice, comfortable ride due to the soft non-sporting sidewalls.

-Below-Average Steering Feel. I know the 6 has electric steering-assist like every other new vehicle now, but this system isn't awesome. It's not as bad as some vehicles I've driven, but it's certainly not as good as some that I've driven. It's just "OK". The funny thing is our 2019 CX-5 Signature seems to have much better steering feel and almost seems like the ratio is tighter/quicker than the 6. I wish the 6 had the same steering feel as our CX-5. That being said, I'm also very certain the OEM tires are heavily contributing to this poor steering feel so I'm looking forward to upgrading the tires when the OEMs wear out.

-Handling is just OK. The 6 is far from a sports sedan. I really didn't expect it to perform like a proper sports sedan, but the car is so good in so many other ways I kinda wish it did! But that's just it...I think this car is probably the best example I know of as a true Grand Touring car. It's comfortable; handles well-enough and is quick-enough. I do think it handles better than other FWD 4-door sedans but it's far from a sports sedan. When I come out of a hard turn, hit the throttle and the inside front wheel spins, I'm reminded again that this is not a sports car but a very nice FWD Grand Touring car. And that's fine. But I'm still getting sportier tires when the time comes! I think it might help me get that little bit of extra sport out of the 6 that I want (including a little more steering feel.)

-Entertainment System is Glitchy. Took a long trip at the end of summer in the 6 - total of about 16 hours in the car over three days. The Mazda entertainment system crashed on me at least 5 times and you couldn't get it to reconnect to my phone unless you pulled over, stopped the car, waited a few minutes and then re-started the car. I recently took the 6 in for service though and they updated my system software. It was at least 3 updates behind. We experienced similar issues with our CX-5 which haven't returned since the last 2 updates, so I'm pretty optimistic we won't continue to have issues with our 6's entertainment system.

-Driver's Side Mirror Vibrates. Same deal for our CX-5. The dealer replaced the driver's side mirror on our CX-5 and while it improved, it still vibrates a little making the images slightly blurry. The 6's driver's side mirror is the same. When I was in for service over the holidays, our dealer ordered a new side mirror for me but it hasn't come in yet. Slightly irritating that both of our new Mazdas had the same issue - they have to do better than this in the upscale auto world they are striving to compete in. Curious if anyone else has experienced this on their 2018+ 6? Speaking of the side mirrors, I'm still mad that Mazda has seat memory but not mirror memory. I can't think of any car that has seat memory but not side view mirror memory - that makes no sense at all to me but I knew this was the case prior to buying it. Same deal on the CX-5. I have no doubt Mazda will add this feature to CX-5 and 6 model years as a new "feature", lol.

Other than the tires, my dislikes are mild. This is a heck of a great overall car. I do tend to like the sportier spectrum of vehicles, so keep that in mind when reading my critiques. If Mazda eventually adds AWD and the new inline 6 cylinder to the next generation 6, count me as very interested in this vehicle!

Hope some of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Also interested in the in-line 6 for 2023. AWD is neither a deal or deal breaker with me. But I can see the appeal. At last product release, the authors stated that real wheel drive was the proposed method of getting that horsepower to the surface. We shall see, I suppose. In a perfect world, Mazda would release their concept car onto the masses. (Pic below) I would be beating my way to the head of the line to ink my signature on the buyer’s contract. LOL
 

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I searched high and low for a good used 6. There just aren't any to be had. Got a CX-5 instead. It's nice, but I did really want a car instead, so I'm kinda jealous.
 
I searched high and low for a good used 6. There just aren't any to be had. Got a CX-5 instead. It's nice, but I did really want a car instead, so I'm kinda jealous.
In the FWIW Department, Mazda6 inventories around this Okc metro are found between “Impossible” and “You’re joking, yes?” Someone or multiple individuals have snatched them up. I did find one Signature available if that gray/charcoal color. Price, as previously discussed, would leave you unconscious.
 
The driver side mirror rattle has plagued all Mazda's for way too long. They need to fix it. I do hope they bring that car back to the states with an update drivetrain.
 
The driver side mirror rattle has plagued all Mazda's for way too long. They need to fix it. I do hope they bring that car back to the states with an update drivetrain.
I stuffed a piece of packing foam behind the side mirror. It helped but I think it just needs a bigger piece of foam to better dampen the vibration. I’ve got more foam and will try a bigger piece shortly.
 
I am curious what your baseline for handling and steering feel is? from the perspective of how you like to drive, and what sort of cars you've driven in the past.

- RWD cars will have different (Better...?) Steering feel than a similarly tuned FWD car.
- I personally find the steering on my 15' 6 to be incredibly precise and direct, with lots of feel.
- The handling is supremely balanced for a FWD chassis and incredibly responsive for a wheelbase length like this.

FWD cars do not like to suddenly put down power mid turn... Especially not with 300ft/lb of torque, like in your 2.5T, through an open diff. If we're talking FWD, not much else out there other than a Type r with its LSD would be considered "good handling."

I am very mindful with weight transfer and inputs when navigating bends. I find that my nearly 300,000KM mostly original suspension still never fails to disappoint. I can get the rear end to rotate quite easily in snow or wet pavement. I've even gotten the thing to slide on dry pavement. I feel in control through every last bit of it, even if it happens going 80km/h. If you randomly stab the throttle mid turn with an open diff, I can quite well understand why you claim that the handling response wasn't the greatest. It is still a big sedan, and should be driven as such to enjoy.
 
If we're talking FWD, not much else out there other than a Type r with its LSD would be considered "good handling."
The old 3rd Gen Prelude Si 4WS had the highest slalom trap speeds in the world when it was released back in 1988. Faster than a Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari, and even Lamborghini! Those things were SWEET. I had an 89, and woah. That thing was on rails.
 
The old 3rd Gen Prelude Si 4WS had the highest slalom trap speeds in the world when it was released back in 1988. Faster than a Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari, and even Lamborghini! Those things were SWEET. I had an 89, and woah. That thing was on rails.
Honda in general has their version of that FWD chassis pretty damn well dialed in. It's the same story with the Porsche 911 though. Take a chassis with inherently less than ideal chassis balance and tune it for decades until it works pretty damn well.

I appreciate the awesome efficiency of a FWD chassis. I get more than 40mpg cruising on a flat highway. There's also good torque. It puts down power and scoots very well at low speeds even with an open diff. It works brilliantly as a daily driver through and through.

Once it's time for me to own two cars though, the former will be RWD.
 
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