The "oh hell, I may have to give up my Suburban for a car" thread...

For a Mazda Speed6...

Background (because I've been gone from here for a while): The_Jed has been trying to get me to give up my Suburban for about a year (since the transmission started acting funny, although that seems to be a rare issue, and fixing the transmission is cheaper than buying a new-er vehicle, my logic and I'm sticking to it), but I refuse, because I've gotten used to my truck, and all of it's space, and it's awesome 'I'm bigger than you, I win' factor. But, in the interest of negotiation and compromise and all that, I agreed to look at some other cars, with the understanding that the replacement would have a V8, H6 or turbo and would be roomy enough for our kids' cellos as they get bigger (1/4 size, will be moving up soon).

To add to the pressure of his constant worries about the transmission, we're looking at moving 40 miles away from where we live currently, to the middle of nowhere, where AWD ('Burban is 2WD) and fuel economy will become a bigger concern.

Enter this: http://www.samlemanmorton.com/used/Mazda/2006-Mazda-MazdaSpeed6-a283c8140a0a00025f61aea1bebc608d.htm

And an immediate 'oh hell, I'm in love' reaction from me.

We didn't PLAN to look at it, we didn't even KNOW it was there, we just pulled into a stealership and stumbled onto it. They were closed for the night, so I'll be going back Monday afternoon to drive it and look it over more.

It was unlocked, so we were able to look it over pretty well and it's definitely roomy enough for the kids and their accessories.

Talk me out of (or into) it?

Should probably change the title to 'Learn me: MazdaSpeed6".

Make sure the rear ends been serviced and had the tsbs done. Check the motor mountz , they can get sloppy. Don't drive it unless you can afford it, because you will want it.

Recall repair stickers are under the hood, so I'm assuming that's all been handled.

And Jed, I was trying to avoid another 'Learn Me' thread

Everyone who has had a suburban wants to always have one for the sheer usefulness of the enormous ugly pigs. Can you swing the new car as a DD and keep the suburban as a third (or more) beast for when something is down/needs to be towed/family vacationed/loaned to a friend/etc?

I enjoy having my suburban but am VERY glad it gets to live in the driveway 6 days out of 7.

In reply to KyAllroad:

Financially it's doable but with my Impreza, blue LSC and white LSC along with her suburban and motorcycle we are out of room to park vehicles plus it's a pain with a single lane driveway and our narrow street.

I plan to pick up a 3/4 ton Suburban or crew cab truck some time in the near future but that will be after we buy a different house with a more rural setting and more land.

KyAllroad wrote: Everyone who has had a suburban wants to always have one for the sheer usefulness of the enormous ugly pigs. Can you swing the new car as a DD and keep the suburban as a third (or more) beast for when something is down/needs to be towed/family vacationed/loaned to a friend/etc? I enjoy having my suburban but am VERY glad it gets to live in the driveway 6 days out of 7.

Hey now I think my 69 4x4 Suburban is pretty good looking.

Cotton wrote:

KyAllroad wrote: Everyone who has had a suburban wants to always have one for the sheer usefulness of the enormous ugly pigs. Can you swing the new car as a DD and keep the suburban as a third (or more) beast for when something is down/needs to be towed/family vacationed/loaned to a friend/etc? I enjoy having my suburban but am VERY glad it gets to live in the driveway 6 days out of 7.

Hey now I think my 69 4x4 Suburban is pretty good looking.

I agree!

mndsm wrote: Make sure the rear ends been serviced and had the tsbs done. Check the motor mountz , they can get sloppy. Don't drive it unless you can afford it, because you will want it.

Any specifics on the rear diff maintenance? Frequent oil changes or is it more in depth than that?

KyAllroad wrote: Everyone who has had a suburban wants to always have one for the sheer usefulness of the enormous ugly pigs. Can you swing the new car as a DD and keep the suburban as a third (or more) beast for when something is down/needs to be towed/family vacationed/loaned to a friend/etc? I enjoy having my suburban but am VERY glad it gets to live in the driveway 6 days out of 7.

Oh I love my beast and wish I could make both work, because the beast is the first vehicle I've had that I've truly LOVED (excepting the Subarus). But the current fleet is too much to add to for the space we have and the move that is definite at this point. The good thing with moving, though, is we'll be very close to my uncle, who has a couple Duramax's and will loan them to us as needed until we thin the fleet and replace the Burban.

Astro van?

In reply to Fueled by Caffeine:

No way, no how. I will never own a van again. Nope, nope, nope.

I'm very polarized about vehicles in that I only like sporty sedans (or the occasional coupe), trucks/truck-like SUVs and motorcycles. There is no middle ground.

The_Jed wrote:

mndsm wrote: Make sure the rear ends been serviced and had the tsbs done. Check the motor mountz , they can get sloppy. Don't drive it unless you can afford it, because you will want it.

Any specifics on the rear diff maintenance? Frequent oil changes or is it more in depth than that?

nah just frequent changes. Its a Volvo diff and wasnt really made to hold much beyond what the ms6 can do- so if its been ridden hard and put away at its liable to pop. This looks like a creampuff as long as it's not been hit.

In reply to mndsm:

Cool. I've been researching a bit and found a cx7 t-case retrofit how to (I'll keep that in mind), a spin-on oil filter swap (I'll stick with the o.e. cartridge set up), plus a lot of oil recommendations.

The plan so far (assuming we buy it):

engine oil = Rotella T6

gearbox oil = Motorcraft manual trans fluid XT-M5-QS

t-case and rear diff oil = Redline (or similar) 75/90

fuel = 91 octane and up

I may look into a fmic, if I can find a non-ricey, high quality set up. I also think heat tape/wrap may be well worth the trouble. I need to look over the GRM project MS3 again.

The good: they offered $4000 for the Burban, which is more than we've been offered off the top previously and puts the MS6 at just under 10k before fees.

The bad: it has a lot of blowby, needs a timing chain tensioner and has a 'wobble' under hard acceleration (I didn't notice the wobble, Jed did). The synchros into second seem to be a little crunchy, too.

Walk away or keep negotiating? I am absolutely in love with it, but Jed is worried about the issues being potential money pits. Jed is ready to walk, me not so much.

Save our marriage, GRM!! (Kidding, kind of)

I'm not sure if the blowby is just a turbo car thing, I've never owned a turbo, but while it was idling I removed the oil fill cap and oil sprayed out on my hand and face. Yep.

It had the same force as when you put your hand over the tail pipe of a car that has a solid exhaust system (no leaks), it blew out that hard. Like a vacuum cleaner in reverse... she's gone from suck to blow!

The MS6 'hive' seems to think the blowby issue is a variation of normal, even with the pressure Jed described: http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/forum/f505/excessive-crankcase-pressure-blow-157396/

(I'm not walking away from this car easily, I even offered to change the timing chain tensioner myself...like I said, it's love)

If you need to carry kids and cellos, sounds like you need a Subaru Legacy GTB wagon IMO.

HiTempguy wrote: If you need to carry kids and cellos, sounds like you need a Subaru Legacy GTB wagon IMO.

I wish (see siggy), but there are a few problems with that finding one (locally) and making it fit the budget are the top two that come to mind.

Don't know enough about the Speed6, but I like my wife's normal Mazda6.

Have you considered an older Subaru Forester XT?

Forester XTs are amazing, too, but are too small for hauling two half-size cellos, unfortunately.

Cellos take away a lot of our car options, unfortunately.

The_Jed wrote: I'm not sure if the blowby is just a turbo car thing, I've never owned a turbo, but while it was idling I removed the oil fill cap and oil sprayed out on my hand and face. Yep. It had the same force as when you put your hand over the tail pipe of a car that has a solid exhaust system (no leaks), it blew out that hard. Like a vacuum cleaner in reverse... she's gone from suck to blow!

Without boost a turbo motor is just like any other motor. excessive crankcase pressure is bad and it shouldn't be there, especially at idle. I suspect this car has been ragged and should be given a miss as that sounds like it might be something simple like a plugged or broken crankcase ventilation system (PCV, etc.) or worse a cracked piston or piston ring or several.

Morbid wrote: In reply to Fueled by Caffeine: No way, no how. I will never own a van again. Nope, nope, nope. I'm very polarized about vehicles in that I only like sporty sedans (or the occasional coupe), trucks/truck-like SUVs and motorcycles. There is no middle ground.

I will never understand this thinking. You have children and they have large and ungainly things to move, they can't do it themselves (yet) and you may even want or need to haul some of their friends as well.

So instead of using something with low floors, large doors and more seating options with better handling and easier parking, you'd rather cram it all into a jacked up station wagon that rides worse and gets even worse mileage?

Just me, but I don't understand ignoring a segment of vehicles that are perfect for your needs because of an irrational issue. Of course my wife shares the same view and we have many a "discussion" about it whenever it is brought up.

I'd pass on a $14k MazdaSpeed6 that needs a timing chain tensioner and has crunchy synchros.