Used Mazda 6 Tourer 2012-2022 review

Understudies in musicals tend to get overlooked in the face of the show’s billed stars. In the matter of family estate cars, the Volkswagen Passat Estate has always been the one that's enjoyed the limelight, while others like the Mazda 6 Tourer have somehow fallen shy of the spotlight.

However, this third 2012-2022 incarnation of the 6 has always looked great, and, with a plush interior, a range of efficient engines and interior space galore, it's always been a very popular car and a great used buy.

Engines: Originally launched way back in 2012, it had a good and long life. There’s a choice of 2.0-litre petrol engines in 143bhp or 163bhp guises, a 191bhp 2.5-litre petrol and 2.2-litre diesels with 148bhp or 173bhp (the latter uprated to 181bhp after a 2018 facelift).

Trims & equipment: The range kicks off with SE trim, which comes with 17in alloy wheels, air-con, a 5.8in touchscreen (7.0in with DAB radio from 2015 onwards) and cruise control. SE-L comes with a bit more kit, including automatic emergency braking, front and rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control and an auto-dipping rear-view mirror, while Sport has bi-xenon headlights (LED after 2015) leather seats that are heated up front, 19in alloys, a Bose sound system and a head-up display. Any trim level with 'Nav' in the name has sat-nav fitted.

After the 2018 update, SE-L Nav became the base model but added an 8.0in infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with blindspot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance. SE-L Lux Nav has full leather, heated front seats and steering wheel, a reversing camera and electric seat adjustment with adjustable lumbar support for the driver. Sport Nav continues much the same as before but adds keyless access, while the range-topping GT Sport Nav has a sunroof, front seat ventilation, heated rear seats and a 360deg camera system.

Ride & handling: Ultimately, the 6 is a pleasant car to drive, with light but predictable steering. Push it hard and the front wheels start to run wide before rivals such as the Ford Mondeo and Skoda Superb do, particularly in tight bends.

The ride can get a bit choppy over scraggy town roads, especially with the larger wheel options, but it settles down enough at motorway speeds to be tolerable. Sticking with smaller wheels helps to make the 6 a decent cruiser with less road noise to disturb you, although there is a flutter of wind noise from the door mirrors at high speeds.

Interior & practicality: Improvements were made to the interior in 2015 and helped to make the Mazda 6 feel more upmarket than rivals such as the Mondeo and Vauxhall Insignia. While there are still some cheap and flimsy plastics around the centre console, most of the dashboard is finished in squidgy materials and all the major buttons and controls have a nicely damped action to them.

Families will appreciate all the various storage spaces dotted around the interior. The Tourer has more head room in the back than the saloon version, thanks to its higher roofline, so even tall passengers will fit comfortably. It won’t beat the likes of the Skoda Superb Estate for overall boot volume (few cars can), but you do get a generous amount of luggage space that’ll cope with a couple of large suitcases or a child’s pushchair. Standard 60/40 split rear seats fold down flat with a quick pull of two levers in the boot, so you won’t need Ikea to deliver your flat-pack furniture for you.

If you're interested in buying a used Mazda 6, or any of the other cars mentioned here, check out our used car classifieds site here.

A budget of £5000 will get you an early Mazda 6 with well over 100,000 miles on the clock, so we’d suggest you up that to around £7000 for an example with an average number of miles on it. Better yet, spend £9000-£11,000 and you’ll find plenty of refreshed 6 Tourers with the improved interior and better infotainment system. You'll be looking at cars registered between 2013 and 2018. Spend £15,000 or more to find a facelifted 2018 car, and around £18,000 to £22,000 on a 2019 model. You'll need £22,000 to £24,000 on a good 2021 or even 2022 car.

Check the value of a used Mazda 6 Tourer with What Car? Valuations

MPG

The least efficient petrol engine is the 2.5-litre unit that arrived after the 2018 facelift and achieves a combined figure of 37.2mpg under the older NEDC tests then current. You'd be better off going for either version of the 2.0-litre instead, given that the 143bhp model does 50.4mpg and the 163bhp version manages 47.9mpg.

If you'd prefer a diesel, the 148bhp engine is rated at 64.2mpg, although the more powerful 173bhp diesel drops this figure down to 61.4mpg. The revised 181bhp engine might appear to be quite thirsty at 47.1mpg, but it was rated under the latest WLTP test procedure, which is much tougher than the previous test.

CO2 emissions

Go for the 148bhp 2.2-litre diesel for the lowest emissions of 113g/km, but the more powerful diesel emits 121g/km and therefore sits in the next tax band along, which is considerably more expensive. Both 2.0-litre petrols put out 136g/km.

Road tax

Road tax for all models registered before 1 April 2017 will vary depending on the CO2 emissions the engine produces (see above for more information), while examples registered after this date will have the same flat-rate fee for cars that cost less than £40,000 when new. This currently stands at £190 a year. To find out more about the current road tax costs, click here.

Servicing

Mazda offers fixed-price maintenance; this will give you a price menu of how much common maintenance operations such as changing the brake discs or pads are, and you can then use this to compare prices with independent garages in your area. Mazda also offers extended servicing plans to cater for different ownership and usage requirements, and the 6 should be about average for the class in terms of servicing costs.

Insurance groups

Insurance costs should be similar to those of rivals such as the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat. The entry-level 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre diesel are in group 22 and 25 respectively; the most powerful 2.5-litre petrol is in group 26, with the range-topping 181bhp 2.2-litre GT Sport Nav diesel falling into group 31.

Reliability

The Mazda 6 emerges as a dependable choice in our latest 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, with real-world owner reviews highlighting its solid mechanical reliability. Owners report minor issues mostly related to electronic components and infotainment systems, which, while annoying, are generally not severe.

Feedback on dealership experiences is predominantly positive, with many owners appreciating the professionalism and efficiency of service received. Some inconsistencies and repair scheduling delays were noted but these did not broadly impact the positive views of the dealer service.

Discover more about used Mazda 6 reliability on our dedicated reliability page.

Engine

Our favourite engine is the 2.2-litre diesel with 148bhp, because it pulls strongly once you get it up to around 2000rpm, giving you plenty of oomph in the mid-range to make good progress. The more powerful 173bhp version of this engine produces more boom in the process and also has higher CO2 emissions.

Either version of the 2.0-litre petrol engine needs to be worked hard to make similar progress when compared with the diesel, and the larger 2.5 isn't much better. Stick with the lower-output 2.0-litre petrol if you can't go for a diesel.

Specification

Sport Nav was a popular choice, but we’d recommend SE-L, because you get plenty of equipment for a reasonably small outlay. Higher-spec cars are fine if you can get them for the right price, but the larger alloy wheels that come as part of the package can spoil the ride quality.

Our favourite Mazda 6 Tourer: 2.2 Skyactiv-D 150 SE-L

The Ford Mondeo Estate isn’t quite as capacious as it once was, but it still has plenty of cargo capacity and is quite nice to drive. The downsides are the rather cheap-feeling interior and complicated multimedia infotainment system.

The Skoda Superb Estate is huge inside. Luxury limousines struggle to offer more back seat space. It isn’t quite as good to drive as rivals, though, and its diesel engines sound a bit gruff when accelerating.

The Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer is a great-value used estate, even if the svelte rear end compromises the amount of stuff you can put in it. The interior is well made and features lots of gadgets to keep idle fingers busy. It won’t set your pulse racing to drive and the diesel engines aren’t that refined.

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If you're interested in buying a used Mazda 6, or any of the other cars mentioned here, check out our used car classifieds site here.