Buying a Car as a Single Woman, sets out to empower women with knowledge of their consumer power in purchasing a car. Car marketing very rarely is marketed towards women even though women make up over 52% of the new car buyers in the USA. So here’s to walking into the dealership prepared and ready to negotiate the best deal!
Bless the hearts of DriveSTI who about a week ago rolled up to my driveway with a Soul Red 2015 Mazda6 Grand Touring. Girl, I’m too grown and pay Sallie Mae too damn much to keep up with this young rappers who mumble their way rapping about something that even when I do understand their English still don’t know what they’re talking about. So you know it was real serious when I spent my precious time trying to figure out which ugly dude sing/raps that song about walking thru with Gucci shoes on….cause I felt like the (wo)man when I walked thru and was handed the keys to this Grand Touring. Beat drop and all. I think the clouds parted and sang “DJ Mustard on the beat” but that’s the wrong song….but you get the feeling.
The 2015 Mazda6 Grand Touring is a mid-size sedan that starts at about $29k MRSP. The model that I drove came with every single bell and whistle possible bringing it’s total to $33,345 MRSP. Clearly there is a lot of room to play with adding on features to the car. XM/Sirius radio, GPS with touch screen, interior trims, leather seating, cargo mat, heated side mirrors, power moonroof, GT Technology (cruise control, regenerative engine, high beam control, etc.) are some of the pickings you have to choose from when deciding on the car you want.
The first compliment the car got from others and myself included was how nice the color and design are. It’s sleek and sporty enough for you to stunt with the big boys while still feeling like a lady. It’s just a gorgeous car through and through. The interior was obviously very nice, and even though my budget conscious (read: cheap) self would do with out most of the bells and whistles, as in I didn’t even notice the trim on the interior doors until I read the fact sheet, still thinks this would be a gorgeous car if you kept it within the standard model.
The car is great on gas at an average of 32MPG, I might have added a whole $20 worth of gas the whole time I had it. The ride is smooth and though the GT Technology is extra the alerts that go off when a car, object or person is in your blind spot on either side or rear was a blessing and a half, especially when backing up. I was pulling out of a shopping center and someone on roller blades (yes, in 2014) came rolling up into my blind spot and the car sensors went off. I had turn my body all the way around to see her in the left hand corner of my bumper, she was totally outside of my peripheral view so the censors are great!
There’s tons of cargo space in the trunk, the back sets are super roomy with enough space in the car for four 6ft+ people to sit comfortably in driver and passengers seats. The trunk is big enough you could pop it and let 3 folks sit back there as well, but I wouldn’t recommend that LOL.
The only thing I didn’t like about the car was the GPS, whose network was about as reliable as my Sprint iPhone. The GPS did not read well if you missed a turn, it would take more than 10 minutes to realize that it needed to recalculate. On several drives the GPS couldn’t even render my location, as if the network had gone out. It served little more use then my Sprint iPhone, which is forever and day trying to find service, whether I am sitting in a Sprint store or not. And I live in the major city of Houston, Texas….not in some rural area. Also to note Mazda is a Japanese car company with 95% of the Mazda6 parts being manufactured, and the car itself assembled, in Japan. Since I do want to utilize my power as a consumer to interject back into the American economy that it something I take note of. There are other foreign car companies that have more American (assembled) parts then some American car companies. Also consider with the parts being fully manufactured in Japan, the cost of maintenance in replacing parts and notably the tires (in my area, for this model they are around $245/tire).
Overall this was great ride that I definitely did not want to give back. A great sleek look and overall design, comfortable drive, great on gas and superb safety features make the Mazda6 Grand Touring a car worth looking at.
The Mazda6, also features a Sport ($22k MSRP) and Touring ($23K MSRP) models.
