Mazda Xedos 6 2.0

93K.  I bought this car to replace the Peugeot 605. I had been looking at Mazda MX-6 Coupes, but they were just too expensive!   Looking through the Mazda adverts I found that the Xedos satisfied my requirement of being unusual, and there were also a number of cars around at good prices. I bought this car for £8995 from Convent Motors near Sunbury - it had covered 50,000 miles, but had a full service history.  I had an AA inspection done, because one of my friends had just bought a dodgy car.  The AA inspection didn't find much wrong with the car. It had had quite a lot of re-spraying done, but had all the original panels, so it was probably just repairing minor dings.  The car was superbly prepared by Convent Motors, and I never had cause to take the car back to them.

I had a few problems with the car.  On two occasions I had to replace HT leads as the spark eroded through the rubber.  I had to replace the centre section of the exhaust which was expensive because I had to use a Mazda original part.  The car had to visit the body shop twice.  Someone backed into the wheel arch and drove off which was a £100 repair.  In August 97 I caught a stone wall while reversing and scratched the front bumper.  The cost of the repair was massive. Front Bumper outer £195, Front Bumper inner £340, Front Fog light £195.  Pretty good going for a 5mph accident.  This could explain why the car is in Insurance Group 16.

I traded the car in in August 1998 against the Subaru Impreza.  I only got £4500 for it , which was a weak price, but the Subaru dealer had us over a barrel.   It had 72,000 miles on the clock.  This car definitely comes recommended as long as you buy at the right price.  If you are a sporty driver it is definitely worth going for the more recent 'Sport' version.  The car is every bit a match for the BMW 3-series in terms of refinement.  The Mazda has much better build quality, but does not have the BM's sporty handling.