Back to the family after a brief stint with Mazda

[cwa107]

Well guys, it's been a long time since I've stopped to say hi, but today is a red-letter day. I just traded in my Mazda 6 for a 2007 Accord EX-L V6. Took a major bath on the Mazda - found out the hard way that they don't hold their value too well.

Let me say this for any of you that might be on the fence about Mazda - I don't know about their entire line, but the 6 is a piece of junk. In one year and 12,000 miles, the car basically started to fall apart. Plastic pieces were breaking, creaking, getting loose. Random trim clips would be found laying on the floor for no apparent reason. Panels started rattling. Windows started rattling. It takes the dealer nearly a month to get any replacement parts. Tires were cupped and making horrible noises. I could go on and on.

If you are used to Honda quality, you may initially be impressed with a Mazda, but they just don't hold up the same way.

My nightmare is over, and now I'm back to the family. Sorry for the poor picture quality. I just picked it up this evening and haven't had a chance to take a picture outside (and I know Jay will be all over me without pics):

[colorider]

Congrats cwa107 and welcome back!!!!!! The new Accord looks GREAT!!!!

[cwa107]

Originally posted by colorider
Congrats cwa107 and welcome back!!!!!! The new Accord looks GREAT!!!!

Thanks, it's great to be back, even if it's not in a Pilot. This is a 3-year lease (mostly to get out of the negative equity in my Mazda). It's affordable, I've lowered the monthly payment that I had on my Mazda and I'll probably finance the next vehicle (maybe a 2010 Pilot? Who knows....)

Oh, and one more big thing! We just found out last weekend that my wife is pregnant for our second. So, fortunately, the Accord has a whole lot more car seat room in the back, since we'll need a rear-facing seat again.

I know I said it before, but I'll say it again - nothing beats a Honda. I was lured by the Mazda's sportiness, but its charm fades quickly. The Mazda was rated at 215hp (I think), but it was very peaky - meaning that you had to floor it to know it was actually a V6. Keeping up with traffic was a chore since it loved to drop the transmission into 6th gear - even to the point of lugging the engine. The Honda is the polar opposite. Its torque curve is broad and ample throughout the RPM range. Much more responsive and fun to drive.

I really don't think I'll ever stray from Honda again. I tell you, the difference is like night and day. I used to dread going to work in the morning in the Mazda. In contrast, the Honda is like a Lexus - smooth, quiet and very comfortable.

Glad to see a familiar face too, Colorider! I see you're driving a bimmer these days?

[rocky]

Welcome home.

some great deals on the 07s as they clear the stock ahead of the FMC in 08

[cwa107]

Originally posted by rocky
Welcome home.

some great deals on the 07s as they clear the stock ahead of the FMC in 08

Thanks Rocky. Yep, I couldn't believe the speed at which I got into this vehicle. I drove into the dealership over my lunch today and rolled out by 6pm. It was like a whirlwind.

It is a lease, and I'm sure N-Jay will lecture me about it, but I simply couldn't afford to finance. The lease was my best bet in getting out of the Mazda, while still being able to have the car I wanted. For now, it's less per month than I had been paying and I managed to only have to put $1500 down. I know I'll have nothing to show for it in the end, but at least I won't have a falling apart Mazda to trade in at minimum trade-in value and years of annoyances to go wth it.

[jay]

Nice looking Accord!

[cwa107]

Originally posted by jay
Nice looking Accord!

Thanks! 3 free months of XM with it too!

See, I didn't forget about the smiley patrol

[dustino8]

Don't feel so bad about the lease. I leased our 2005 Civic, and when I buy it out at the end, it will end up being less than financing it over the same period of time because of the lower financing rate. Plus, in my neck of the woods, a 4 year old civic goes for more than 10K, and my buyout is only $6600. I'd be crazy not to buy it.

Of course, if you just let the car go at the end, you will be losing out.

[Luwin1026]

Great car!! Just finished a deal for a friend on an Accord SE last night - very impressive sedan. Good choice - welcome back!

[Ferdball]

Hey man, sorry to hear about your 6. I've only had my speed3 for less than a year. So far, other than one recall, all is holding up well.

[robrecht]

I test drove a MazdaSpeed 6 and was not impressed. As for reliability, though, you can't get much more reliable than a Mazda Miata. A couple of years back, CR called it the most reliable car of the century (actually it was only in the top 5 IIRC). My daily driver is 15 years old, gets abused regularly, even with a few track days, and still has perfect compression. Not bad for a cheap little car that's lots of fun to drive.

[epdenk]

I too went from a Mazda 6 to an Accord. Mine was an 03 that had 60K on the clock went I sold it to Carmax. I didn't trust the auto trans. It had 1-2 and 2-3 "shift shock" under certain loading conditions. It felt like you had just been rear ended. Mazda would not acknowledge the problem but funny how they went to a different transmission for model year 2005. That and numerous trips to the dealer for evaporative system repairs, faulty seat padding under the leather as well as faulty brake roters after 6K miles, turned me off on Mazda corp for a very long time to come. My 06 Accord has 33K on it and all I've done is oil changes (Synthetic) and a trans fluid drain and fill. No repair visits at all!

[eluwak]

I think we'll have an Accord EX-L Sedan soon. The Pilot runs me about $400/mo over what I used to do with my Jetta and it's killing me. I'm hoping a low price will help absorb some negative equity and lower payments about $200/mo and get much better economy to boot.

[cwa107]

Originally posted by eluwak
I think we'll have an Accord EX-L Sedan soon. The Pilot runs me about $400/mo over what I used to do with my Jetta and it's killing me. I'm hoping a low price will help absorb some negative equity and lower payments about $200/mo and get much better economy to boot.

You might want to jump on an '07 now for a good deal - the redesigned '08s should be at dealers soon.

Car and Driver's blurb about the '08 indicates that the EPA now classifies it as a "large" car instead of a mid-size. I'm sure Honda has packaged it well, but I'd be afraid that the added weight and size might have a significant impact on performance and fuel economy (obviously, the jury's still out). I'm also not impressed with the interior layout (JMO).

The '08s also have cylinder cut-off, which is something that sort of scares based on some of the comments I've read about it.

Anyway, I am absolutely in LOVE with this car, as much as I was with my Pilot. At this point, I'm planning on buying it out at the end of the lease.

It's amazing how much influence the color of a car can have on you. I always thought color wasn't that important until now - I just keep seeing it and thinking how sharp it is - especially with all the chrome accents.

[cwa107]

Originally posted by epdenk
I too went from a Mazda 6 to an Accord. Mine was an 03 that had 60K on the clock went I sold it to Carmax. I didn't trust the auto trans. It had 1-2 and 2-3 "shift shock" under certain loading conditions. It felt like you had just been rear ended. Mazda would not acknowledge the problem but funny how they went to a different transmission for model year 2005. That and numerous trips to the dealer for evaporative system repairs, faulty seat padding under the leather as well as faulty brake roters after 6K miles, turned me off on Mazda corp for a very long time to come. My 06 Accord has 33K on it and all I've done is oil changes (Synthetic) and a trans fluid drain and fill. No repair visits at all!

Well, let's see what happened to my '06 in the course of a year:

1. Broken Lumbar Support in the first few days. Took two attempts and a total of 3 months to correct.

2. Odd transmission shifting patterns (engine would lug because the thing would shift into 6th gear at 35 MPH). Shift shock when accelerating from a rolling stop. Occasional slippage - and yes, this was on the "improved" Aisin-Warner 6-speed. Dealer dismissed this as "normal"

3. Dashboard squeaks, creaks and rattles.

4. Driver's side window rattles loudly when driving with window half way down. Took almost 2.5 months to correct, with wrong part ordered at first.

5. Tires were 215/45 R18 which is a very rare size. The cheapest tires ran around $200/piece. This was very disappointing as they became "cupped" and made loud thrumming noises at speeds less than 50 MPH. This became so bad that passengers would ask me if I had a flat.

6. Leather tore on the backside of the passenger's seat at 1 month old. I don't believe this was caused by my 2-year-old who was the only occupant of the back seat.

7. Engine lacks power at non-highway speeds. It would go if you floored it, but the rest of the time you couldn't keep up with traffic. Much of this has to do with a poor intake design, where a solenoid kept part of the intake duct closed at moderate throttle. This is mostly to keep noise down, but in effect, it starved the engine.

8. Factory moonroof leaks in car washes and occasionally in heavy rain.

9. Headliner nicked at delivery (I made the dealer note this in case I ever wanted it repaired - I just couldn't see having a brand new car ripped apart over a nick).

...and that's just off the top of my head. Am I crazy for thinking a new car just shouldn't have these kinds of problems? And is it unreasonable to expect a dealer to get replacement parts in less than a month or two? Remember this is a car that stickered for $28,900 (of course after rebates it was about $$26K).

But the worst thing of all is that after only 1 year and 12,000 miles, my car was worth about $17K KBB trade-in. That's $10K in a single year.

Anyway, I'm done with Mazda - and Ford for that matter. Getting out of that car and into the Accord was like going from a seat in Coach to First Class. I'm all Honda from here on out...