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SUVs Mazda CX-9 2008 Mazda CX-9
69 messages, Last post on Jul 12, 2009 at 10:20 AM
You are in the Mazda CX-9 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
| After looking at many different suvs for my family, I decided to get a CX-9. I originally liked the GMC Acadia, until I sat in one and gave it a once over. I have always enjoyed my Toyotas so I had to go look at the new Highlander. I liked it compared to the Acadia along with its long list of great features. When I saw the CX-9 in my car magazine, I had to go also look at that. After I test drove it, I was very surprised as to how nice a car like this could be. That same day I called my contact at Toyota and arranged a test drive in a Highlander. With my hopes high, I took it off the lot and drove it about one mile. What is Toyota doing? After owning four Toyotas in the past and one Lexus I could not believe how disappointing the Highlander is compared to the CX-9. Has Toyota lost there drive to keep trying since they are the Top Dog? I have never owned a Mazda and hope it is everything I think it will be. After 3000 miles the car is a dream with a few minor irritants. If anyone is thinking of buying one, you have to take a test drive and compare. If any other CX owners have found any great web sites or service issues I would love to hear about it. | |
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Replying to: mdhutton (Jan 20, 2008 3:53 pm) What an insightful post! Let's see... Wind noise: I just can't say whether not having the rails on my car makes it any quieter. You really told us a lot there. If you paid attention, I was replying to an earlier post by another CX-9 owner, who made some personal observations regarding several aspects of his new CX-9. One, being Wind Noise. I am acutely aware of wind noise and I feel this vehicle doesn't generate a lot of wind noise on the highway. My experience with roof rails / cross rails made me wonder if the noise he heard was in part, being caused by the rails. If others were concerned, maybe they could test drive vehicles with and without roof rails to help determine this. I guess I should have done more research on this myself, maybe rent a decibel meter and give you more definitive numbers on the differences. Sound system: I also decided against the Bose / Moonroof package Most CX-9 owners will opt for this package, so some information would be helpful. What part of "the standard sound system sounded just fine to me" and I didn't feel the extra money was warranted, didn't you understand? Again, this was in response to the previous owner commenting on how disappointed he was with the Bose system. My comment was to get people to think about the choice and decide if the $1800 was really worth it. FYI - These forums are for ALL owners, not for 'most owners'. Gee, I bought the Sport - less than 25% of all CX-9's sold. Maybe I should be banned from the forums for being in the minority. Gas mileage: I do notice a significant drop in mileage when I am 'in-town'. Yup...most cars do that. I guess I needed to spell it out for you. If you'd been following the concern a lot of CX-9 owners have over the gas mileage, you'd know there have been a lot of people writing in that their gas mileage is much lower than they expected. My 'significant' drop in mileage around town, mirrors what others have found - that we aren't even getting close to the sticker. I do however, get decent mileage on the highway. Fit / Finish: I don't think I've read any complaints about the interior door handles on the CX9, but having known about the poor job Ford did with the door handles in the '06 Explorer (which is why we got the '07) I do think the front door handles could have been designed better. Let's see...no real complaints, but Ford made a bad one at one time, so you found it necessary to offer a fix to a problem that doesn't exist. Do you own a CX-9? I can't tell. If you do, it would make me understand your reason for even commenting on my post the way you did. If you don't, then you probably don't know what I'm even refering to. With my driver's door wide open, I have a heck of stretch to reach the door/pull handle. If someone is looking at the CX-9 for their next vehicle, I think it was appropriate to point this out. Someone's 5' 1" wife, may not even be able to pull the door closed. Just as I appreciate reading someone else's comments about their vehicle, this could be a very real concern for some. I can just imagine what it would be like to have kids back there - swinging open those doors and hitting the cars parked next to them - yikes! Some type of protection for your doors (and for the cars next to you) would seem to be almost a necessity. Or you could teach your passengers to be aware of their surroundings and be careful. What planet do you live on? I don't have kids, or plan to have anyone in the 2nd row. Again, pointing out the hazards of those huge doors. Something, someone may not notice on a test drive. Driving Experience: I think the issue, therefore, is the overall suspension of this vehicle and not really related to the wheels/tires. If you want to call it a "Sport" ride, go ahead.... I will just call it simply UNCOMFORTABLE when hitting bumps, potholes, expansion joints, etc. The jolts come right through. It IS a "sport" model, just doing what it's supposed to do. OMG, I must be SO STUPID. You mean, SPORT, really means it's supposed to drive 'sporty'??? Isn't that funny..... the Touring and the Grand Touring drive the same way... The point here, Einstein, was to mention that although there have been a lot of comments on how the 20" wheels/tires ride roughly, I am not convinced the 20-inchers are to blame, since the 18"s ride can be just as harsh. I don't remember the test drives being so 'bumpy'. Should have done a better test drive. I drove 5 different CX-9's over various road conditions. Not everyone drove exactly the same. Some tires were over-inflated, some were Sports/Tourings/GTs. I guess I should have called you because you apparently know how to do it right. Acceleration is okay, but you can hear the engine when you put your foot down and I'd rather have a quiet car all the time. Most cars get noiser when they rev higher. Been going on for years. Maybe most, but not all. This is a Duratec engine and one of the more common complaints with some of their engines is the loud, unrefined sound they can emit under heavy acceleration. I'm not saying this is an unrefined engine, but it does get loud when you put your foot down. I've owned 4 other vehicles that I could barely hear the engine - at any time. Perhaps a result of more sound insulation between the engine and passenger compartments, but nonetheless, the CX-9 is not a quiet experience when accelerating. Miscellaneous: I brought my own Mobil-1 0W20 full synthetic oil to be used. Wow! You paid for an oil change AND brought the oil. With the help you're giving the dealer's profit margin, seems they should have tried harder on your programming issues. Keep doing this and you'll erase the $1800 you saved on the Bose/Moonroof package. Not that it's even relevent, but I bought both the oil and filters on sale. The total cost at the dealership (labor and oil disposal) was less than $15. Taking all into consideration, getting this oil change with an oil filter that cost me less than the dealer's - which is rated better at filtering, and changing to full synthetic, which will be better for the engine over the long term, and might give me better mileage, cost me about $15 over the standard dealer oil change. It would take me 120 oil changes to "erase the $1800" and I don't plan to keep the vehicle for 600,000 miles. As I look out at my side mirror, I can always see the reflection of my interior side vent in the mirror. If this area was black, I probably wouldn't even notice it in the mirror. (The reflection is actually off the window) - minor, but annoying. Again, a b |
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...part 2; As I look out at my side mirror, I can always see the reflection of my interior side vent in the mirror. If this area was black, I probably wouldn't even notice it in the mirror. (The reflection is actually off the window) - minor, but annoying. Again, a better test drive would have identified this. As mentioned before, I test drove several different models, most were with the black interior, although I didn't opt for this color. But you're absolutely right, I guess I should have test drove 'my' vehicle better; under all weather conditions, during the day, during the night, on sunny days, on cloudy days, during Solar and Lunar Eclipses, on every road within 100 miles of home, in the Summer, in the Winter, in the snow, and in the rain, ...... What's it like being so perfect? Do you have trouble finding a vehicle with adequate HEADroom? Just remember, I didn't write the post for you. If you didn't get anything out of it, GOD I'm so sorry, I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'm not sure who assigned you as the Edmunds Forum Police, but I will contact them and suggest that from here on out, all posts should be approved by you, first.
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Replying to: aviboy97 (Jan 21, 2008 8:53 am) It's not the exterior door handles, it's the interior door handle - or more specifically, the door 'pull'. The front doors open so wide that I have to really stretch to reach that handle/pull, to pull the door closed. My reference to the Ford was because they had a similar issue with the '06 Explorer - the handle is in a low, ackward spot and a lot of people were opening the doors and finding that there wasn't anything to grab onto, to prevent the door from opening all the way (and perhaps whacking the car next to them) and then it is an awkward reach to pull the door closed. They remedied the situation for the '07 models with a recessed area in the arm rest to pull the door closed. Because I was aware of the Explorer issue, is probably the reason I picked up on door design of the CX-9. And don't forget, Ford has a stake in Mazda....10 or 15%, I think. The 3.5L Duratec engines were designed by Ford, built in the USA - Lima, Ohio to be exact, and then shipped to Japan to be installed into the CX-9. It wasn't until the 2008 model, that the Japanese started building the engine in Japan, where they (or in conjunction with Ford) 'tweaked' it a bit there, and it became the 3.7L Duratec. Your salesman / service manager should have told you Mazda does not recommend full synthetic. I think you will be wasting your hard earned money on oil that only benefits Exxon/Mobils bottom line. I don't know where you got that info. The Dealers use 5W20 Semi-Synthetic. They don't "recommend" synthetic because then they would have to supply it for the oil changes....and they are probably afraid of the fallout from having to charge people $50 for an oil change. Discussions about oil (dino vs synthetic) will go on until the Earth freezes over. Personally, I feel there has been enough testing to justify the extra cost, but then, I stock up during really good sales and I don't really spend that much more than a standard oil change....about $15 per oil change. Plus, I don't work THAT hard for my money... 
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Replying to: msuvet (Jan 21, 2008 4:40 pm) |
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Replying to: pulleydog (Jan 21, 2008 10:22 pm) Ford's stake is 33.4%. That's neither here nor there. Yes, 2007 CX-9's used the US build 3.5L Duratec and now Mazda builds the 3.7L, and a different computer MAP for power delivery. It is actually a good design. Issues in the past have been from the computer system side of the Duratec engine, and other issues like the throttle body or sensors. Mazda uses their own for this application. |
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Replying to: rocco9 (Jan 21, 2008 3:57 pm) When I go for a car wash, I keep a small towel in the car. When they hand over the keys I grab the towel and push the bottom of the mirror in to get that nasty bit of water. Once in the car, re-adjust the mirrors and it's a spot-free ride home. |
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Replying to: pulleydog (Jan 21, 2008 9:33 pm) |
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Replying to: kbedwards (Nov 06, 2007 7:22 pm) I test drove the GT recently and noticed that the rear camera was angled at an awkward position. The camera displayed more right bumper than left, thereby presenting a distorted view. Also, there were no parking guides on the camera view (to measure proximity to objects). I drive an FX 35 and the rear camera is excellent, i.e., the camera view is centered thereby providing perfect orientation while backing in and the color-coded guide to measure proximity to objects works like a charm. As I backed into a parking space with a CX-9, the distorted view had me feeling less than confident that I was parking correctly. I resulted to the side view mirror to check my orientation. While I assume the visible parking guides are not an option on the CX-9, is the distorted view a common experience or was the camera installed improperly. If this is common, this is a major design flaw for such an expensive option. |
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