Mazda 6 2020

Mazda 6 2020 Q&As

Check out real-world situations relating to the Mazda 6 here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• Will the Mazda 6 be discontinued in Australia?

  It certainly looks like that could be the case. Mazda HQ has announced plans to stop production of the 6 at the plant that supplies Australian 6s, so barring a switch to a new supply-factory, that would seem to be so. There's a sense that some Mazda factories will continue to build the 6, but the suggestion is that this will only be for some limited Asian markets.

  Unfortunately for those who like conventional vehicle packaging, the almighty SUV has just about killed off the traditional sedan and station-wagon.

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• Location of the starter motor in a 2003 Mazda 6?

  The starter motor on this vehicle is located down low on the front of the engine. Conventional wisdom is to remove the air-box and part of the intake trunking to access the starter motor's fasteners and wiring, and then remove the starter itself from below the engine bay after removing the plastic underbody protection panel. Don't forget to remove the negative battery terminal before starting any of this.

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• Does the 3rd generation of the Mazda 6 have unreliable in transmission?

  Mazda’s 6 has always had a pretty good reputation in the trade for its reliability and durability, but globally, there have been a few concerns with the automatic transmission. The first of those is a situation where the transmission goes into limp-home mode. At that point, it can suffer slurred shifts and a lack of acceleration. It doesn’t seem a common complaint in Australia, but it’s reckoned to be caused by the transmission fluid becoming contaminated with small iron particles (possibly swarf from the production process) becoming attracted to the magnetic sensors inside the transmission. At that point, the sensors lose the plot and the information going to the computer becomes garbled.

  The other thing seen (mostly in the US) has been a whining noise from the transmission. Inspections have shown this to be caused by a damaged bearing in the transmission, possibly the victim of misalignment of the gearbox casing. Again, it’s not a common fault showing up here.

  Overall, the Mazda 6 seems one of the better bets out there in reliability terms.

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• Mazda 4 - A bigger hatchback than the 3?

  Mazda is unlikely to increase the number of its passenger car models, given the contracting nature of such body styles in favour of crossovers and SUVs.

  Also, note that a CX-4 has existed in China for a number of years, slotting tightly between the CX-3 and CX-5 as a sleeker coupe version of the latter, so if you do see a '4' (or, more likely, a '40') on the tailgate of a Mazda in the future, it might be sat on an SUV-shaped rather than hatchback-shaped five-door.

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