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Wagons What Wagon Would You Like To See Offered?
95 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 1:26 PM
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The Mazdas are nice vehicles, but the 6 wagon is a gas guzzler - may as well buy a minivan. The 3 is a hatchback and not a wagon. It has half the cargo area of a wagon. A real wagon is the same length as the sedan. Vehicles like the 3 and the Vibe are shorter than the sedan.
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There seems to definately be demand....why aren't toyota and honda listening??? That is what is so preplexing! People say the 6 wagon is so nice yet you don't see many on the road. Probably because of the gas guzzling and small reliability concerns. I think if Honda or Toyo had something similar they would be all over the roads. It just seems so obvious that these guys are missing a MAJOR market opportunity. |
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the 6 wagon is a gas guzzler - may as well buy a minivan Not that bad! I am now getting around 20 mpg in-town driving and 24 highway, definitely better than minivan but not as good as I would like. you don't see many on the road Well, it's only been out a year and many people had kind of forgotten about Mazda after the late 90's. It takes time to recover from a drop like that. I do see sales are up, and apparently they're very popular overseas. So they're back on track at least. I agree that Honda and Toyota are missing the boat, but don't diss the 6! It's a great wagon and a lot of fun to drive. If they improve the gas mileage by the time Honda and Toyota finally get with it, they could have a real edge in this market. The hatch is also unusual in America and also in a good market position because of that.
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Replying to: suydam (Apr 15, 2005 6:28 am) All in all, we agree. What did you pay for your 6? It seems that they are discounting it so much that you can almost get a 6 wagon for not much more then a 3 hatch. Maybe I'm way off, but that is what I've been reading...could be wrong. That's why I'm curious what you paid. |
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| For prices you should probably head over to the "prices paid" forum. But briefly, I think all the incentives are on leftover '04s, people are not reporting much on deep discounts for '05s. | |
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My minivan gets as high as 30 hwy, and never under 22. The 4,600 lb Honda Odyssey with its huge frontal area and fairly high drag and 3.5 liter V-6 gets better mpg than the 3,400 lb sleek little Mazda 6 wagon with good aerodynamics and a smaller 3.0 liter engine. I like everything else about the 6 (well almost - hard to get over the trendy silver plastic) but the gas mileage is terrible for this day and age. Mazda 6 20/27 and 19/26 depending on tranny. A Chevy Malibu with a 3.5 liter V-6 gets 22/32. A Buick Lesabre with a 3.8 gets 20/29 The huge new Avalon with a 280 hp 3.5 liter V-6 gets 22/31 BMW 530i gets 20/30 Even a Corvette gets 18/28 with a 6.0 liter V-8 that has 400 hp.  The list is long. In fact I can't think of a v-6 car that gets worse mpg than the 6. Hopefully Mazda will work on the engine. The 3 on the other hand is very efficient - at least in 2.0 liter form. If they made the 3 as a real wagon (a little more cargo room) and offered it with the 2.0 that would probably be my top choice for vehicles right now.
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Replying to: dudleyr (Apr 15, 2005 8:41 pm) PF Flyer Host News & Views, Wagons, & Hybrid Vehicles |
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Replying to: buddhabman (Apr 14, 2005 10:18 am) One problem is, those "nice" wagons are on the small side. If you want a vehicle that seats 4 American adults comfortably, you're out of luck with most of them. Also, the best of the small wagons (the Mazda 6) is a gas-guzzler for reasons I can't fathom (OK, it's efficient compared to SUV alternatives, but a car with its low Cd and a 3.0 V6 should be capable of 20/30 EPA or better). Finally, I think people long for a Toyota or Honda designed wagon because those companies are currently at the top of the reliability heap, and (together with Nissan) seem to have the best powertrains (high performance and high efficiency). My last car was a 94 Camry wagon. It was reasonably powerful and got OK gas mileage for the day, was very versatile, was roomy without being too huge to manuever in traffic or park, and was extremely reliable. Best car I ever owned. I was saddened to see Toyota turn to the dark side (along with everyone else except the Euros) and embrace minivans and the SUV as wagon replacements. Not everyone that values versatility in a vehicle wants one that handles like a van, or worse, a truck. The wagon hits a sweet spot for people that want to get as close as possible to sedan performance and handling, but still want the flexibility to haul stuff around once in a while. When age finally caught up with it late last year, I could only really find a car in that same class by going Euro (MB E-series, BMW 5-series, Audi A6, Volvo). Unfortunately most of those marques have slipped in reliability. And they're big bucks, which would be a problem for most wagon buyers. That kinda left either downsizing to the Subaru, Mazda 6, Malibu Maxx, or downsizing even further to the Matrix, Vibe, or something similar. In a Toyota, the closest I can come is the Prius, which does have a 5th door, but is of a size comparable to the smaller wagons; unfortunately it's a bit underpowered. Actually, if they offered a true wagon body for the Prius, I'd probably have bought it despite the somewhat weak powertrain. As it stands, the sloping rear roofline means adults hit their heads against the hatch in the back seat; they should reshape it to look like a smaller version of the back end of the Lexus RX. I considered the Lexus RX400h, and am actually still on the wait list for it even though I threw in the towel last month and bought a GS sedan with comfortable seating for 4 but no cargo versatility. What I'd really like is a wagon the same size as my old 94 Camry, or the current MB E-series wagon, with FWD, a full hybrid powertrain (Toyota's or something similar), and with build quality similar to or better than the Camry of old (or, and I can dream, of quality comparable to my GS). BTW my Camry was built in Lexington, Kentucky, so it ain't like American workers can't build a good car. Where domestic manufacturers seem to be blowing it is in design of both vechicles and important components (especially powertrains). Too many years of raking in the bucks on gargantuan gas-wasting truck-platform SUVs, maybe. |
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I personally would like to see new additional choices in the small wagon segment. Other than Subaru, and the Matrix/Vibe twins, there is not much selection among the more reliable makes (guess it all depends on how you rate Ford). I can see good reasons for an Accord/Camry wagon and I think Honda should being over the Euro-Accord Estate as a TSX wagon  . -- Bill |
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