Haval H6 Review (Ultra) – Just take it for a test drive

Owners Review of the Haval H6 2021

This Haval H6 Review comes courtesy of Cam who has generously let us post his review of his H6 Ultra here. Thanks Cam! (note – Cam is in Australia)

So, one week has passed since we took delivery of our H6 Ultra (currently 3rd gen), so I thought I’d put a few sentences together of my opinions and thoughts on the car so far.

Maybe it’ll help someone who is considering the H6, who knows?

I give my opinions based on my 22+ year career so far in the automotive industry. I have worked with manufacturers such as Subaru, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover/Range Rover and more.

I’m not saying I’m some kind of expert, but I’ve been around a little bit.

I first saw the new H6 in traffic a few months ago, and at first, I couldn’t see the huge HAVAL badge on the rear door, just the full width LED tail light. I caught a few glimpses before it was lost in traffic, saw that it was a Haval, and thought to myself that I wanted to check it out some more.

A few weeks passed, and on a very rare occasion, my lady and I had a few minutes to kill while we were kid-free. We dropped into the Haval dealership here in Townsville (TAG- Townsville Auto Group) and had a quick look.

At this point, I could tell that my other half, Nicole, wasn’t really that interested in the thought of a ‘cheap Chinese car’ so to speak.

We first checked out the Lux model, as they were the first H6 we came across on the yard. We did the walk around, opened and closed doors, popped the bonnet and the like, as the salesman was speaking to another customer not far from us.

I had my doubts as to the size, and therefore the comfort, of the car, as I’m 6’2″, and not a small bloke. But as I sat down behind the wheel of the H6, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was generous, the seat was comfortable and the controls are in the exact right position below my left paw.

So far so good.

I was even more surprised when I jumped in the rear seat, behind the driver’s seat, to see that my knees weren’t touching the back of the seat in front, and I had heaps of room above my head too. It’s surprisingly roomy inside.

A few minutes later the salesman approached us and we spoke a little about the car etc, and what the differences are between the different spec models.

He took us over to a grey Ultra they had as a demo unit, and went over things like the HUD, some of the controls and stereo, the panoramic sunroof, a little on the tech etc, and I’ve gotta admit, I was really impressed with what the $38k (AUD) price tag bought you. Especially when the appearance, touch and quality of the car seems to be rivalling that of Jaguar, Range Rover and Volvo etc.

On our way home, Nicole and I spoke about how impressed we were with the car.

Over the next few days we watched as many reviews as we could find, read as many articles as possible and spent a good amount of time discussing it. We booked a test drive for that Saturday, and we were both excited to see what the car drove like.

We met Allen, the sales manager, who put us in a white Lux model, because they’d sold the Ultra a few days before.

We took off up the highway, and a few things stood out to me at this point.

1) the car was very quiet on the road, well insulated. Especially in comparison to our big V8 300C Chrysler we’d just driven to the dealership.

2) the transmission was smooth, and I couldn’t help but play with the paddle shifters.

3) the somewhat loud indicator noise¹. I personally don’t mind the sound, but Nicole wasn’t a fan, at least at this point.

4) the display showing the position of the car on the road was a cool touch.

5) the camera quality when reversing etc, WOW. The best picture and display I’ve seen in any car.

6) the power delivery was impressive, the little 4-cylinder turbo was just like the Range Rover Evoque. Makes me wonder…

We switched drivers after about half an hour, Nicole took the wheel while I played with the big control screen, pushed and prodded various parts of the dash, console and seats, and was further impressed by the build quality.

LED ambient strip lights on dashbaord” class=”wp-image-16013″/>

If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was inside a high-end Euro car with a much higher price tag.

We took the car back to the dealership, and couldn’t stop talking about it. I think we both knew we wanted it at this point.

After speaking with Allen, we let him know we’d be interested in looking closer at an Ultra when he got stock in.

Monday came, and Allen called to let me know he had stock coming. I let him know there and then that we’d be after a blue or white Ultra.

A week later, we’re in the showroom picking up our blue Ultra.

The whole process was extremely easy, and I want to give a shout out to Allen and the guys at TAG for their efforts.

I couldn’t wait to get out on the road and open the roof; I’ve always wanted a car with a sunroof, and now we had one.

The noise inside the cab was minimal with the roof open, though at 85km or more, it noticeably increased. Not a big issue, just an observation.

As we drove around that afternoon and night, more and more stood out to me;

1. The car is comfy and driving it around is a good experience.
2. That little engine is no record-breaker, but it’s more than enough.
3. The transmission is great, very smooth and quick shifts.
4. The lights are really good, and the height adjustment is a great touch.
5. The red ambient light from the dash and doors is completely unnecessary, but a classy touch.
6. Keyless/buttonless locking and unlocking is great, as is the powered rear door. A few things that I think could be improved upon.
7. The cruise control issue. Enough said.
8. The controls for the seats and aircon settings would be better off being accessible with one touch.
9. Lack of memory seats and HUD settings. It’d be great to be able to open the car with a certain key and have the seat and HUD in the same position you left it in, before your other half drove it and changed the positions.
10. Personally I think the badges on the rear door are far overdone. So I removed them for a much cleaner look.

The only other thing we’ve done so far is to have the windows tinted, which is an absolute necessity here in north QLD.

Conclusion

All in all, we’re absolutely stoked with the H6. Admittedly, we were both a bit sceptical about purchasing a Chinese car. But after even a short test drive and inspection, we were sold. The fact that it has a 7-year warranty and 5-year roadside assistance just sweetens the whole deal.

If you’re on the fence about the H6, I highly recommend you take it for a drive. If you’ve got one on order, in my opinion, it’s well worth the wait.

Cheers.

Thanks to Cam for an awesome review. As an H9 Haval owner I can also recommend Haval as excellent value for money. See my Haval H9 Review.

¹ On most Haval you can alter the sound levels of the indicator and dash alerts in the settings menu of the car