Mazda CX-9

[jemmouse]

Anyone out there have this SUV? Am considering this, and would love to have feedback...right now currently driving my second minivan a Honda Odyssey and am just plain old tired of it. I do like the Buick Enclave/GMC Acadia but they are everywhere and after having the "silver" odyssey which I think every third person owns would like to have something different.

 

[WDW*Dreamer]

In November 2009 I bought a 2010 CX-9 Grand Touring AWD. I love it! :

I've had one issue:

Within days of taking delivery of the car I began to smell burning oil whenever I drove the car more than 30-40 minutes. I took it back to the dealer where I purchased it, and they told me they couldn't smell the odor, so there wasn't anything they could do. I tried to explain that you have to drive the car for a while in order to produce the smell, but they didn't seem all that interested in helping me.

About a month later I went to a second Mazda dealership. They were much more helpful. They determined it was a known problem with the installation of the transaxle and told me the repair was a complete replacement of the transaxle. They did the repair (no cost to me of course), and everything has been fine ever since.

I now have just under 30k miles on it. It still drives and looks great. I would highly recommend getting yourself one. I'm particularly happy with the AWD. I have family that live in the NC mountains. So, I occasionally get to drive on snow, and it handles great. I think the AWD even helps on the wet roads around home here in GA.

 

[Patricia]

I just turned in my Mazda CX 9 after three great years with it. I simply loved that car. It never saw the inside of the service dept. - not one time. As opposed to the Lincoln MKX that I just replaced it with . That car has been in 3 times in two months....

The CX 9 is a great crossover . Enjoy!

 

[golfgal]

One thing that you will notice right away is that if you need the 3rd row of seats there is NO space behind for storage-vs tons of room in the Honda. If you need to use all the seats and carry stuff (strollers, golf clubs, hockey equipment, etc.) you won't be able to do that. Otherwise they are good cars, gas mileage will be worse then what you get with your Honda by a little bit.

 

[FINFAN]

here's a post I made on another thread


We bought one in '07...L-O-V-E it! So as one who has been driving it for several years, I'll help where I can.
Ours is a white ( black bottom trim) CX-9 Sport w/sunroof, Bose and roof rack. I prefer cloth and chose the camel with the piano key interior. Lovingly named "Egg-Baby"
We bought ours in August of '07, not too many out then, but by November there were 4 on our block ( guess we started a trend)
If I have to give it any negatives they would be:
For us gals, no place to set your purse/bag as the console is level with the seats...so if you have a passenger up front my purse goes on the front passenger floor or tossed in the back
Not great on gas mileage, not horrible...I get anywhere from 19-21 city...a little better hwy..just filled up and it was a notch over $50.
Lastly, blind spots...the newer models ahve the back up camera, get it!
I have just over 13,000 miles on it, looks like the day we bought it. 265 horsepower has come in handy for me when merging , am spoiled by it now.
It is a very big SUV...we have a '96 Nissan Quest minivan and the CX-9 dwarfs it. We also have a Pontiac G6 and the CX-9 could swallow it. While you cannot drop the seats into the floor like the newer minivans, you can flip them up/down in a variety of ways. You will not have the same cargo space as a mini-van, but you do have a lot of space.
Reviews on it are great, Mazda got it right with the CX-9 , reliability has been great for us.
One other thing to note, if you take it for a test drive, go to the drive-thru at a bank...not sure why, but I seem to have trouble reaching the boxes...the door are high, airbags and all that...so I have to unbuckle and sort of semi climb out to reach, and I am tall, 5'9"...could just be me.

Anyway, we love ours, and think they look sharp!
__________________
and heres the thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2609227&highlight=cx+9

 

[WDW*Dreamer]

the newer models ahve the back up camera, get it!

Mine has the backup camera, and it is WAY cool! Whenever start to back my DW's minivan out of the garage I find myself staring at the dash for several seconds before I realize I'm going to have to do it the old fashion way without a camera.

Speaking of my wife's minivan, the other posters are correct....a minivan will have a lot more space inside than a crossover SUV. If you're going to need to haul 5-7 people and a lot of cargo, then a minivan is the way to go. If you're going to haul firewood I would suggest a pickup truck. But, if you want a nice blend between the handling, performance and styling of a car and the ability to haul people and stuff like a minivan or large SUV, then a crossover is the way to go, and I believe the CX-9 is a good one.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I absolutely love mine - bought it used about a year ago. It's a 2007 Touring with every option available at the time. I've been very spoiled with it.

For our lifestyle, it's the perfect vehicle. I compared the Pilot, Highlander, and CX9. With three rows up, the back storage wasn't that big of a difference between them. Or not enough to be a decision maker. I can put cases of bottled water, grocery bags, etc in the back with the 3rd row up. Without the 3rd row, I have TONS of space.

Gas mileage is decent, lots of power, very smooth ride, and comfortable. I've had 7 adults in my car and everyone fit fine. Not enough space for a roadtrip, but was great to have for shorter stretches. I've never had any issues with blindspots.

In reality, we needed a basic 5 seater car with the option of fitting two more children/dogs and rarely adults in the 3rd row. This was the perfect fit for that. If we REALLY needed to use that 3rd row, we'd skip this entire grouping of cars and go for a full size like an Expedition or a mini-van.

My car was used but I have all the paperwork/records from the previous owner and there hasn't been any issues with it. It's got 54k on it now.

I also wanted to note that the family we bought from sold it and went for a minivan. Minivans are lower to the ground, have more storage, sliding doors for easier access, etc. With two small kids, they felt the need to go with a more practical minivan and sell the crossover that they loved. So, just in case you wanted to hear from someone that loved the vehicle but decided it wasn't the best fit.

 

[deegack]

We looked at them, but they use premium gas only and that was just too much for our wallet.

We ended up with a Checy traverse. LOVE IT! Has all the features we wanted and runs great. Its very roomy (DH is 6'7" so that is a huge factor for us) and even with all three rows up we can fit quite a bit in the trunk.

 

[Aimeedyan]

We looked at them, but they use premium gas only and that was just too much for our wallet.

Unless something has changed since my model (2007), it does not take premium.

 

[tvguy]

We looked at them, but they use premium gas only and that was just too much for our wallet.
.

They use regular gas*. Although, EVERY car built in the last 10 years that the maker recommends premium for, will run just fine on regular, the computer compensates. The EPA requires all cars be designed to run on regular, but some makers recommend premium to give the cars a bit more performance.

As for the Mazda CX9, my cousin has one, and loves it. Only issue he has had is the hubcaps won't stay on, so spend a little extra for the alloy wheels, and you won't that problem.

*http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/28771.shtml

 

[Davids-Coco]

I traded in my 2007 CX-7 for a 2010 CX-9 this year and love it just as much as we did the 7. I'm a bells and whistles girl, so I love the features on it. The back up camera is great, keyless entry is wonderful, having no key is awesome with kids in arms... it just goes on. We have not had any issues with it in the 8-ish months.

Before buying, we almost got a Buick Enclave. What it came down to was a couple small features: the key/keylessness, driver cockpit, feel of the drive. But I would have taken the enclave too... which is essentially a high end GMC Acadia. We also looked at the pilot, but the only thing that I REALLY liked about it was the 6 positions of latch connectors. What I'm saying is that it is a wonderful car, but def explore the others too and make sure that you get the options that really matter for you.

 

[deegack]

We asked the salesman and he said premium only. I had been given a loaner CX-7 a few years ago and they were adamant that it only takes premium, so we made sure to ask.

It also didn't have latch system in the third row which was important to us.

 

[FINFAN]

We asked the salesman and he said premium only. I had been given a loaner CX-7 a few years ago and they were adamant that it only takes premium, so we made sure to ask.

It also didn't have latch system in the third row which was important to us.

the CX-7 does require premium. the CX-9 does not.

 

[WDW*Dreamer]

The fuel requirements are listed in the Owner's Manuals which are available in PDF form on the website. The following is a cut/paste from the manual for my 2010 CX-9. I don't know if this applies to any other years or models, but you can go to the Mazda website to see.

"Your Mazda will perform best with fuel listed in the table.
Fuel Octane Rating*(Anti-knock index)
Regular unleaded fuel 87 [ (R+M)/2 method] or above (91 RON or above)
* U.S. federal law requires that octane ratings be posted on gasoline station pumps.
Fuel with a rating lower than 87 octane (91 RON) could cause the emission control system
to lose effectiveness. It could also cause engine knocking and serious engine damage."

 

[marcyinPA]

I posted in another thread a while back...my best friend has a 2010 CX-9 and while she loves it, I found that it did not have a lot of room inside. In fact, my DS15, who is 5'10" but a 34" inseam (looooonnnnggg legs) had a very difficult time sitting in the back two rows of seats. He got stuck! Plus, he knees were up to his chin back there. Not comfortable at all!

About a month ago, my friend used her back hatch door, which has the automatic open/close. Well, it got stuck open. I guess it was a computer glitch...Well, not good, since it was supposed to snow that night. They could not get it closed for anything, and could not get it into the garage with it up. They took it to the dealer the next day, and got it fixed.

 

[tvguy]

We asked the salesman and he said premium only. I had been given a loaner CX-7 a few years ago and they were adamant that it only takes premium, so we made sure to ask.

It also didn't have latch system in the third row which was important to us.

Did you check my link? That's not what Mazda is telling the U.S. government. Mazda says it runs on regular. Your salesman was misinformed, but like I said, all cars are required to run without damage on regular, even if the manufacturer says premium is the prefered fuel.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/28771.shtml

 

[SpecialK]

We asked the salesman and he said premium only. I had been given a loaner CX-7 a few years ago and they were adamant that it only takes premium, so we made sure to ask.

It also didn't have latch system in the third row which was important to us.

We received the same bit of mis-information when we were looking at them in 2007. I think we both had bad sales people.

The reviews on the CX-9 say the back doors can be difficult in tight spaces. Any real world experience with this?

 

[Aimeedyan]

The reviews on the CX-9 say the back doors can be difficult in tight spaces. Any real world experience with this?

I think they are wide opening, similar to a large sedan door (we had a Mercury Grand Marquis for awhile and it was similar) but I'm one of those weirdos that park waaaaaaaaaaaaay out so no one dings my car so it rarely affects me. The mom I bought my car from said that she got into the habit of just opening the door for her small kids, instead of letting them open them, since they often banged into cars parked next to them.

I open my door in our garage, which is a standard size and my DH parks his truck in there as well, and I don't have any issues getting in and out.

You can play around with them when you test drive one and see what you think. My MIL has a Buick Enclave and I think her doors are similar.