2004 Mazda 6 SportWagon

I bought my Mazda 6 SportWagon new in October of 2004 and I absolutely love it. I have had 8 different cars since I got my license 20 years ago (gosh, I feel so old writing that!) and this is the first car I've ever owned that I cannot find a single thing I don't like about it. Many other cars that I've owned I have liked well enough, but could always find some flaw, no matter how minor. This car to me is just perfect, and there is nothing about it I would change. If I were to wreck this car today I would head straight to the nearest Mazda dealer tomorrow and buy another one just like it - I'd even get the same color!

First off, you would be amazed at how much stuff you can easily haul around in this car. I can fit more gear in my Sportwagon than my boyfriend can fit into his Jeep Grand Cherokee. The cargo area is well-designed and has a pull-out cover that hides the contents of the rear cargo area when the back seat is upright. When you fold the seats down, the cover can be easily removed and then reattached to special clips on the folded rear seats right behind the driver/passenger seats. There's a cargo net that pulls out and hooks to the ceiling to make sure everything stays in the back; it looks similar to those grids that people have installed when they want to transport their pets, but it's removable. Other cars that I've owned with cargo covers didn't have a space to store the cover when you aren't using it. Invariably I would end up throwing the cover in the garage. This design eliminates that problem. Another great thing about the folding seats are the dual release buttons. You can either fold the seats using a small button on the top of each seat (similar to every other car that has fold-down seats) or use the handles that are easily accessible through the tailgate. Small things like this show me that the Mazda designers really thought about how people are going to use the car when they were designing it. If you need to haul even more stuff than what will fit inside, an optional roof-rack is available. I don't have one, but I have seen this model car with the optional rack and it looks nice and at least as sturdy as what you'd see for a typical SUV rack. (If you need a specialty rack for a bike or kayak you'd probably be better off getting one from Thule or one of the other big rack manufacturers).

Now that the practical stuff is out of the way, I want to tell you what a blast this car is to drive. It has plenty of power, great handling, and excellent brakes. The low-profile tires really grip the road and it's nearly as much fun to drive as the Mazda Miata I used to own oh-so-long ago when the only thing I needed to haul around was myself. The interior is great-looking and laid out well. The car has tons of storage cubbies/pockets/etc., including a dual-compartment center console, large glove box, door pockets, sunglass pocket in the ceiling, giant cupholders that close and could also be used for storage, and a cool storage bin in the top of the dash above the radio that's the perfect size for holding about 15 cds. Oh, and a tiny change bin on the underside of the dash near the driver door which actually lets you use the ashtray as an ashtray, if you so desire. (I don't smoke, so I use the ashtray for my cell phone, but still that's a nice thing for the smokers out there). Seats are very comfortable, and the guages and controls are easy to read and well-designed. The radio controls on the steering wheel are convenient, and the red dash lights look cool at night and don't hurt your eyes. The A/C controls are different from any other car I've seen, but once you figure out how to use them (quite easy) you realize that they are pretty logical and intuitively designed. Another design element that I think is great are the vent flaps for the A/C that actually snap shut with an audible click; when they are closed NO air is coming out at all. I know that seems like a little thing, but I am quite sensitive to moving air, and of course my boyfriend is warm natured and wants the A/C blasting. I just shut the vents on my side and it's not a problem. In most other cars, even with the vents in the closed position you can still feel some air coming through.

I would also highly recommend the Bose audio system with the 6-disk CD player. It's a fairly expensive option that I would not have normally purchased, but the car that I picked off the lot already had it, so I took it. Now that I've used it I would definitely buy this upgrade in the future. It is one of the clearest, best-sounding car audio systems I've ever heard, and just like the rest of the car, the controls are logical and easy to use. One great feature is the speed-sensitive volume, which gradually increases and decreases the volume depending on the speed of the car to compensate for additional wind/road noise from the exterior.

Finally, I think the styling of this car is one of the best-looking available regardless of price, though it's a definite plus to get such a great looking vehicle at this price point. I personally like the look of my wagon better than the sedan version of the car, not least of all because there are far fewer of them on the road so they stand out. I can't tell you how many times people have approached me in a parking lot asking what kind of a car it is and wanting to check it out - they always say that it looks cool. It's definitely not a "grocery-getter" kind of wagon - to me it's more along the lines of the Audi or BMW sleek/sporty looking wagons - at a fraction of the cost.

I would highly recommend this car to anyone who needs space for hauling stuff and also appreciates the great handling that you get from a car (vs. a high center-of-gravity SUV). I think you can fit as much stuff in this car as most of the popular SUV's on the market, and you get better gas mileage as well. What's not to like?