– By Marc Sibbald –
As a long term Camry driver I was excited at the prospect of driving a Mazda6 after many years of style envy. Like most people that don’t own a Mazda I wondered what made them so popular with retail buyers. And I was also starting to see the Mazda6 in council fleets so the whole of life (WOL or TCO) numbers must stack up.
The Camry has a reputation of being a good, solid and reliable vehicle that maintains a stable resale and is cheap to maintain. It also does everything you need a fleet vehicle to do. It’s comfortable to drive around town or on long trips. As a global car built locally the features are always being upgraded as technology changes and you can’t complain about the space for the driver or rear seat passengers.
So getting into the Mazda6 my expectations were high and first impressions didn’t disappoint. The dash layout and styling looks great. I feel like it’s casual Friday; relaxed and confident in my own clothes rather than the work uniform. It was like being been transferred from my normal conservative workplace into the offices of Google or Apple.
But I did notice the reduced amount of space. It’s smaller than the Camry – like a hot desk rather than a corner office.
Driving the Mazda6 it feels solid and comfortable. The Camry Hybrid feels more powerful with the electric motor providing the torque on take off and when accelerating. Comparing the two is hard because they both have strong points. The Mazda6 ride is firmer and steering feels more responsive (maybe the Zoom-Zoom factor) while the Camry is a very comfortable touring vehicle.
To measure the boot size I load up the the soccer kit and 15 training balls. The non-Hybrid Camry always passes with flying colours and seems to swallow anything you put in it like the Tardis. Though the Hybrid struggles because of the space taken up by the battery (which has been improved significantly since the first model). The Mazda6 sedan didn’t pass with flying colours but performed slightly better than the Hybrid Camry. The Mazda6 wagon had no problem.
Having a wagon does offer fleets an alternative with the Mazda6 although I found visibility an issue. It came with a lane change warning system which was useful but I like to turn my head and so I had to adjust my driving style and rely on the warning systems more.
Doing a fuel usage comparison was hard I because didn’t travel the same route in the two vehicles. The manufacturers have adopted different approaches to economy; Toyota with the Hybrid and Mazda with Skyactiv using a stop/start system.
I found both presented issues for pedestrians when they were confronted with a silent vehicle at the lights or a zebra crossing. As a driver the stop/start takes longer to get used to and required a slight adjustment (again) to my driving style before I was comfortable with it.
I think the decision on style and driveability will come down to personal preference. But what about the WOL? The big thing between Mazda6 versus Camry is the potential resale value. The theory is that the Mazda may cost more to buy and service but the resale is better because retail buyers like it. But what about compared to the Camry Hybrid?
I asked Pickles Auctions for some sale prices to make a comparison. And while I won’t publish the figures because you should rely on your own data and calculations – it was amazing how close the numbers were for the vehicles with same age and kilometres.
