What is the least value of the function $y= (x-2) (x-4)^2 (x-6) + 6$? What is the least value of function:
$$y= (x-2)  (x-4)^2  (x-6) + 6$$
For real values of $x$ ?
Does $\frac{dy}{dx} = 0$, give the value of $x$ which will give least value of $y$?
Thanks in advance.

Note that $(x-2)(x-6)=x^2-8x+12$ and $(x-4)^2=x^2-8x+16$. This suggests the symmetrizing substitution $w=x^2-8x+14$. Thus 
$$y=(w-2)(w+2)+6=w^2+2.$$ 
We want to minimize the absolute value of $w$. But $w=(x-4)^2-2$. So $w$ has minimum absolute value $0$, reached when $(x-4)^2=2$, that is, when $x=4\pm\sqrt{2}$.  The minimum value of $y$ is $2$.  
Remark: The curve $y=(x-2)(x-4)^2(x-6)+6$ is very special, with a beautiful double symmetry. It seems likely that the method used above was the intended one. The same idea works for $(x-a)(x-b)(x-c)(x-d)+k$, where $a+d=b+c$. 
