Mazda 6 review: the sedan Mazda still builds for buyers who want one
3.9/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The Mazda6 is a genuinely good car being sold to a shrinking audience, which is exactly why it is worth a look used: depreciation has been unkind to a sedan nobody is chasing, and the car underneath the discount is better finished than a Camry or Sonata of the same age. Buy it for the cabin and the ride, not for rear-seat space, and budget for tyres — the standard 19-inch wheels on upper grades are not cheap to replace in Bahrain.
Pros
- Cabin materials and quietness feel a segment above the price
- Steering and ride tuning among the best in the mid-size class
- Shares Skyactiv-G parts and workshop knowledge with the Mazda3 and CX-5
- Still sold new in Bahrain with full dealer support long after other markets dropped it
Cons
- Rear legroom trails a Camry or Sonata
- Fast depreciation versus segment leaders — a buyer's gain, a seller's loss
- Only one engine and transmission combination offered
- Upper-grade 19-inch tyres are pricier to replace than the segment norm
Mazda stopped selling the 6 in North America in 2021 and never stopped building it — the GJ generation, facelifted for 2019, is still on sale new in Bahrain, and it remains one of the more convincing arguments that a sedan can still be the right car. Where most of the class has retreated into rear-seat space and screen size, the Mazda6 spends its effort on materials, isolation and the quality of the drive.
What it feels like to drive
The 2.5-litre four is the only engine offered here — GCC dealers have never had access to the turbocharged unit sold in the US — and it is tuned for smoothness rather than urgency. It is not a quick car in a straight line, but the cabin at 120 km/h on the causeway is genuinely hushed, helped by thick door glass and a chassis that Mazda tuned specifically to filter out expansion-joint thump rather than just soften the springs.
The steering carries the same weighting philosophy as the Mazda3 and CX-5 — heavier than the segment norm, with real self-centring feel — and the six-speed automatic is a conventional torque converter that never hunts for a ratio the way a CVT rival does at a roundabout.
Living with it in Bahrain
Rear legroom is adequate rather than generous, which is the one place a Camry or Sonata still beats it outright; if you regularly carry adults in the back seat, drive both before deciding. The boot at 474 litres is competitive, and the cabin — leather, real stitching, a rotary infotainment controller instead of a touchscreen you have to reach for — feels like it belongs one segment up.
Because it sells in smaller numbers than a Camry, used values have fallen faster than the car's actual condition would suggest, which is good news for a buyer and a real consideration for anyone planning to sell in three years. Servicing shares parts with the Mazda3 and CX-5, so independent workshop familiarity is not a concern.