I'm shopping two of the same three cars: 9-3 and 6. BMW isn't on my shopping list, but the Audi A4 1.8T is.

The main thing I noticed with the Mazda6 I drove was the terrible build quality. It had many defects, including: poorly aligned exterior trim on passenger door, crummy stitching on the leather steering wheel, very poor fit of some parts of the dash (in particular, the passenger airbag cover), imperfect color match between dash and door plastics, wrinkling of leather on seats (due to improper tension while stitching), etc. Maybe they aren't all as bad as the one I sampled, but it really turned me off. A shame because I liked most everything else about the car.

I've looked at three different 9-3's at two different dealers. All appeared to be of excellent build quality with no obvious defects. I'm sure they each had little ones, but nothing like the Mazda6. On paper the 9-3 and Mazda6 seem like competitors, but in quality of design, materials, and workmanship they are in two different categories.

One last gripe. I want a shiftable automatic in my next car (since its primary duties will be commuting in often dense traffic). In drive mode, the 6's autobox is way too slow to downshift. Of course, using the manual mode would solve this, but I want an automatic that works well in full auto and the Mazda's doesn't.

When I'm shopping for a car, I ask myself if I'll still be happy with it 4 or more years from now -- I usually keep my cars for 8+ years. I'm pretty sure I'd dump the Mazda6 after 3 or 4 years, so it isn't the one for me. If all you care about is raw performance numbers, then you'll be very happy with the Mazda6. Mazda has a nice car on its hands and is likely to sell all they make, and quickly.

I see a 9-3 Arc in my future.

-- John
'86 Porsche 911
'96 Ford Explorer V8
'01 Volvo V70 T5 (wife's)

ps - While I like the A4, once you price it out with a decent list of features (all included on the 9-3), it doesn't compare well in terms of value.

posted by 68.98.184...

• 9-3 vs mazda6 vs 325, jerryf, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 02:11:23
  • Former 9-3SE Owner - Now Have 325i, John N., Sat, 22 Feb 2003 12:40:50
  • Re: 9-3 vs mazda6 vs 325, Lucky, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 03:51:11 <-- Viewing This Message
    • Re: 9-3 vs mazda6 vs 325, Richard, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 06:36:43
      • Re: 9-3 vs mazda6 vs 325, El Pisso Grecco, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 16:38:52
      • 9-3 vs A4, Fred, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 09:11:57
        • Re: 9-3 vs A4, Mark, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 11:29:50
          • May not be a good idea, KS, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:23:52
          • Bah! The 1.8T is nowhere near as strong, AdamB , Fri, 21 Feb 2003 15:05:14
            • Re: Bah! The 1.8T is nowhere near as strong, Mark, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 22:28:10
            • Less heavy, maybe, but not less heavy duty, Stephen Goldberger, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 20:07:49
          • Also talk to Audi mechanics about 1.8T, Anton, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:23:03
            • I've had no problems with the 1.8t, nor have any of my, Terraplanem, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:50:15
          • Re: 9-3 vs A4, jc, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 13:22:20
            • Plus,, Gary, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:22:37
              • Hirsch not in U.S. yet, right? n/m, jc, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:30:07
                • Everybody interested should write to Saab USA, No.9, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 18:24:57
                • Not yet as far as I know., Gary, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 14:47:01
          • true, but it's not only the A4 that can be chipped n/m, Gary, Fri, 21 Feb 2003 12:43:07

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