Replacing a Mazda6.... with another Mazda6?

Hey GRMers-

Two years ago I bought an automatic 2006 V6 Mazda6. Loved the car, with one exception: the automatic transmission. Around town it was fine, but it struggled with hills and highway passing. Originally, I planned to modify it, but I figured there was no point if I was going to sell it soon. Well, I'm at that point, albeit quite a few months later than planned.

I took my car to Carmax last Friday to get it appraised. I know I could get more on Craigslist, but I'm just wary of going that route. I'm willing to sacrifice a few hundred bucks to sell it back to a dealer. Carmax offered $6,000, which I thought was a bit low given that my car only had 70,000 miles, but that goes with the territory. I also don't know if carmax can do a second appraisal if the one week time period runs out. I could sell to a regular dealer, but I think carmax is offering the most I will get. Oh well.

Now to the fun stuff- I'm searching for a manual v6 replacement. Today, I took a short test drive of a red 2004 5 speed v6, fully loaded: bose, cool gauges, heated seats, etc. Drove well ( I want to test it more) but the headliner was sagging, and it had 100k miles. That dealer wanted a bit less than 8,000 grand (again-wary of craigslist). Hopefully I could negotiate that down, but I'm paying cash so that remains to be seen. I'm also looking at a 2005 gray 5-speed v6 with only 66 thousand miles, but it has less options and the cloth interior. Doesn't look as good, but it costs $700 less and has 2/3 the mileage of the other 6. I still need to give it a thorough test drive, but for now the only issue is that it's located at a sleazy used-car dealership, so I definitely want to run both cars by my local Mazda dealer.

The one benefit of my car is that it's an '06 so I don't have to worry about the PCV issues with the revised headers. What do you all think? Should I trade my current mazda6 to the dealer that I will buy from, or should I sell to carmax? I was considering G35s, IS300s, and TSX's too, but most of them with reasonable mileage fall outside my price range. Thanks for all the help- I know there are a few people here who have owned the V6 Mazda6, so I would love their opinions too.

I'm about to buy an 04 manual mazderp6, so... iono.

I recently moved on from my mx6 turbo to a 2004 mazda6. Same as what you described, manual leather, bose, sagging headliner, 78k. It had a CEL's, bad tires, bad bearings, so I paid 5500 but have 6500 into it so far. I love the car. The manual transmission is the nicest shifting ive ever experienced. The motor sounds fantastic. But. These cars aren't without issues.

The headliner is not fun to replace, and I have to do it again because I didn't use the right glue. The digital displays go out quite frequently. ebay its 150 to replace. The bose cd player sounds awesome, but poor build quality. mine is like the other 80% that occasionally uses only the left side of the speakers when playing a cd. the gas mileage is kinda poor. normal driving i get around 22. Oh, and the wheel bearings are complete garbage. they go out around 80k consistently, and the replacement is kind of a horrible experience.

I love my car, and I think once I spend the extra money and get everything fixed I'll be even more happy with it. Part of me regrets not going with the IS300. I don't know if I would have been happy driving an auto, but if the auto/manual doesn't matter to you, check out an is300. If you are like me and prefer manuals, the mazda6 manual is a fun car. I'd stick with the leather. Its a really nice interior when it works.

These comments are helpful as I've often admired a 6 wagon and one with unusually low mileage has turned up in my area...and at CarMax. Unfortunately, it's an automatic and the research I've done so far on Edmund's falls into line with the comments here. I once owned an Integra with automatic so am acquainted with "sleepy" Japanese automatic transmissions. Don't need the wagon capabilities all that much, I quess, so my other choices include a Milan (so far, only found nice low mileage 4 cylinder automatics) and a Montego as well as the 6 sedan.

Carmax always lowballs. You would likely get more from a dealer as a trade. Personally I'd sell and buy on Craigslist. If you're going to have the car looked at by Mazda anyway, why pay the extra premium to buy from a lot? Unless buying from a lot gets you a warranty or some other protection, all you're doing is throwing money away buying from a dealer.

In reply to lnlogauge:

Thanks for all the info. I definitely want my next car to be a manual, and the IS300 manual is apparently a bit funky. The two clean 5-speed IS300s in my area are out of my price range, too. What do you think is a fair price to offer the respective dealers?

In reply to honda_acuras:

Yeah, the wagon is pretty cool, but finding one with a manual is next to impossible. I would recommend the hatch if you need more space, especially since you can find more manual hatches if that's what you're after.

In reply to Junkyard_Dog:

Thanks. Part of the issue with craigslist is that there aren't too many manual Mazda6s in my area. I could wait it out, but over the past few months I haven't seen too many. I would expect to be sufficiently low-balled if I sold on Craigslist, but there is something to be said for trusting regular people instead of car salesman

have any details on this PCV issue? I hear about it but I dunno the actual details people usually say it blows up motors but I feel thats more rumor mill.

however I have started to notice oil weeping in this location:

[URL=http://img207.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=156123814_Capture_122_108lo.JPG][/URL]

I think I should check this out when I go home today (if it stops berkeleying raining), its time to do an oil change anyways. mine is an 04 v6.

no CEL but I feel like its has a small hesitation down low...

Other than that, fantastic car! problem free and drives excellent, I do love the way the manual shifts.

In reply to Wizard_Of_Maz:

I completely understand what you mean with the lack of manual 6's. I drove to dallas (900miles away) to pick up mine. I think 8k is too high for a 2004, especially when you throw in all the fees you are going to be paying. Search some other areas around you, and wait for the right car. I wouldnt pay over 7, and you can find them under that.

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/4461430007.html

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/4462517519.html

You can find auto is300's for around 6k. You are going to find riced out manual is300's for 9k. If a manual is what you want, the 6 is a great car.

Wizard_Of_Maz wrote: Thanks. Part of the issue with craigslist is that there aren't too many manual Mazda6s in my area.

Expand your area. Where are you located? I bet for the price from a local dealer you could fly and drive for a private seller car from a salt-free state.

In reply to fidelity101:

Yeah, the PCV issue was actually pretty limited; I'm just using it as an excuse to buy the MSDS headers for the car. And I had more fun driving the Mazda6 than the Mazda3, so I agree with you on the shifter

In reply to Inlogauge:

Yeah, I might expand the search radius. I just like the convenience factor, especially because I have a trusted, local service department, and test driving the car is easier when I'm local.

So by getting the headers it eliminates the PCV system? I'm confused.

I dont see why 6k is a bad offer. I wouldnt personally be willing to pay more than like 7200 for an 06 mazda6 v6/auto sedan with low miles. When you're selling your car directly to another reseller, you can expect them to take what they think they can sell it for, subtract what they expect to make off the deal, and offer whats left to you to buy it. Granted, Carmax will probably want more than 7200 to sell that car, but that's because they sell to 'normals' and can expect to consistently rip off their customer demographic.

If you want more than 6k for it i would give up selling it to resellers and try selling it to an individual.

Although, given that 'normals' value automatic transmissions, newer year models, and lower miles, have you considered offering to straight up trade for the manual 6s you're looking at? Those dealers may view that as a free marketability upgrade.

I would look up the fair market value on Kelley Blue Book and sell and buy on Craigslist personally. Usually, a fair price to sell is around 1100-1300 dollars more if you sell it yourself and maybe 1300-2000 less when you buy from a private party for most modern vehicles. Dealers need at least a grand (I would estimate) more than they paid on each car just to maintain the business.

In reply to fidelity101:

Some pre-cats had issues, and getting aftermarket headers can eliminate those issues

6 months ago I went from a '05 Mazda6 4 cyl 5-speed to a '06 Speed6.
The Fornetti14 family does not regret the decision! Even the kids ask to "make it go fast" and "wwweeeeeee" as the turbo spools up!

"I want a manual, you hate manuals because they are hard to sell, mine is newer with fewer miles, trade straight up, you make $1500 more on the backside."

fornetti14 wrote: 6 months ago I went from a '05 Mazda6 4 cyl 5-speed to a '06 Speed6. The Fornetti14 family does not regret the decision! Even the kids ask to "make it go fast" and "wwweeeeeee" as the turbo spools up!

Lol-if the Speed6 were in my price range, it would be a primary consideration.