While idly wondering if the Pakmara can really do that,      Rob Mcgee
said:

; does anyone own a mazda 6 and if so what do you think?

Yes.  I got mine (6s SportAT, sport package, comfort package, Bose)
last December.  The good:

* I'm still getting "nice car" compliments on it.
* It's easy and fun to drive.
* It handles really well.
* While other cars may have more horsepower, it has plenty of
 real-world usable power, especially when you know how to use it.
* the trunk really is spacious.
* A lot of thought went into the layout of the cockpit.  There are only
 two buttons I need to look at in order to find, at the bottom of the
 center stack.  And since the car has automatic climate control, I
 don't have to use those buttons that often.

The not-so-good, which are mostly little niggly things, all cars I've
seen have little niggly things of some kind or other:

* I got an early production run unit, accessories distribution hadn't
 yet caught up, so two items I ordered weren't available for several
 months:  In-dash MP3 player (installed last Spring) and in-bumper fog
 lamps (returned).
* Oops, I got the "Sport Package" and the in-bumper fog lamps DON'T
 FIT.  Engineering never told sales or service that the fog lamps
 don't fit the sport package bumper.  Aftermarket lamps installed for
 about the same price.
* Overhead sunglass cubby door sticks
* Driver's door seal comes out of its mounting channel (my '00 Protege
 did the same thing).  It's not where I grab the door either.
* While the crumple zones (front and rear) are good for safety, they
 will make crash repairs more expensive and take longer (was
 rear-ended.  $4,000 damage and three weeks in the shop - but no
 personal injury)
* If you live where snow tires are a good idea, get them, especially if
 you have the 17" wheels.  However, they're an odd size (215/50R17)
 which will limit your tire choices and make them more expensive.
 Consider getting replacement wheels for the snow tires to broaden
 your choices.

I like this car.  My only regret has nothing to do with the car, but
rather that for medical reasons I cannot drive with a foot operated
clutch.  Otherwise I'd have gone for the standard transmission instead
of the SportAT.

I like it too. Auto , black non-sport package.
I really cant think of any other car near the price which I even
remotely like.

The bad parts with me was the dealer - salesman. Actually the warranty
work has been decent. They cheerfuly checked out several things which
turned out to be OK and handled a recall notice too for some
relatively small things. But the local dealer seemed to have hired a
lot of new young guys and they scratched the bumper which they had
fixed before they even returned it to me and told me about it and then
caused an electrical problem when they fixed the recall problem. They
fixed that but the car overheated because of the problem until they
fixed it again.

I dont live where there are lots of dealers so they really tried to
pad the price - which annoyed me. They played all sorts of games -
finally agreeing to a lower price which was slightly high by avg
national standards and then padded it with sleazy "special
treatments".

My main beef is that they didnt go far enough in the styling. When I
first saw it in the magazines like all the reviewers I was amazed that
Mazda would be that bold and it looked far ahead of everyone else
anywhere near the price range. I still cant think of anything Id like
instead except the much more expensive BMW 3 -5 series but by the time
it came out - the competitors are moving targets , so they call
updated their styles . though none of them are really that great - the
Altima is the closest competitor , it isnt startling way ahead of them
like I thought it would be.

I wish they would come out with the concept car version - which looks
much cleaner and euro looking. All they have to so is redesign the
front and rear bumper masks primarily and a few other changes.