How reliable is the 2009-2013 Mazda 6 with the 3.7L V6? Transmission problems or anything? Now I am just going through cars that I have mild interest in.
Those were decent cars, if you can get it for a good price then go for it. One thing to keep in mind is back then Mazda didn't make their own six cylinder engines, all of their six cylinder engines were supplied by Ford. As already mentioned that engine had a timing chain driven water pump so you want to make sure that you maintain it properly because if either the timing chain or water pump fail it could be catastrophic.
The engines were made by Ford and the transmission were either a Ford design or the 6 speed Toyota AISIN design depending on how the model was equipped. I can't recommend to go for the Toyota design as this specific one was catastrophically horrible in Ford vehicles. The best would be a manual. Have a mechanic check out the engine and transmission and make sure it is in good shape either way.
I would try to find the last year they were somewhat better made then the really newer Mazdas are excellent because they have teamed up with Toyota
The BIG issue with those as far as I am concerned is the internal water pump. Many thousands of dollars if you need it changed. Search Ford Duratec 3.5 and 3.7 engine water pump issues.
thank you all!