Honda Pilot vs Mazda CX-9 vs Toyota Highlander

478 messages, Last post on Nov 27, 2009 at 7:13 AM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda CX-9, Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, Car Comparisons, SUV

2009 Honda Pilot vs. 2008 Mazda CX-9 vs. 2008 Toyota Highlander - Although we've been hearing about a mad dash to get out of sport-utility vehicles and into fuel-efficient compacts, the reality is that seven- and eight-passenger crossover SUVs like the 2008 Mazda CX-9, 2008 Toyota Highlander and 2009 Honda Pilot aren't going away anytime soon. (more)

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#340 of 478 Re: Anyone look at the Buick? [nxs138] by 4kids3dogs2cat Dec 11, 2008 (4:58 pm)
Replying to: nxs138 (Dec 11, 2008 3:10 pm) That's the great thing about the Sienna, it has the "storage well" behind the third seat which increases your storage space quite a bit because it is deep down and you can pile stuff up. I can't see why these crossovers can't have the same kind of setup. Advantage to the minivan in this regard.. Replies to this message: nxs138 (Dec 11, 2008 7:09 pm) citivas (Jan 08, 2009 10:36 am) lithnights (Feb 05, 2009 5:35 pm)
#341 of 478 Re: Anyone look at the Buick? [4kids3dogs2cat] by nxs138 Dec 11, 2008 (7:09 pm)
Replying to: 4kids3dogs2cat (Dec 11, 2008 4:58 pm) My dad bought a Sienna last year, and to tell the truth, it's very nice. Tons of space behind the 3rd row, much more than the Lambdas. It has a lot of pickup, might be just as fast or faster than all these crossovers. And ease of entry with the sliding doors is nice with the kids. Crossovers have nothing on the interior space of minivans, I can see why larger families should flock to minivans as compared to SUVs, if not only for all that space behind the 3rd row. Since we only have 2 kids, the CX-9 was more than enough. If crossovers had that well, they would lose their "stylish" back end look (i.e. I guess you would really have bring the rear bumper down more to accomodate the longer door, and I guess the rear wheels would have to come forward a bit). But then again, there's no reason why they couldn't tweak a minivan to make it look more cross-overish, i.e. lose the sliding doors, and angle the back end a little more..... Replies to this message: citivas (Jan 08, 2009 10:36 am) lithnights (Feb 05, 2009 5:35 pm)
#342 of 478 Dec, 2009 sales by ceric Jan 05, 2009 (3:02 pm)
Highlander: 7761 (or 7781 - not sure) - including hybrids Pilot: 6735 CX9: 2103
#343 of 478 Re: Anyone look at the Buick? [nxs138] by citivas Jan 08, 2009 (10:36 am)
Replying to: nxs138 (Dec 11, 2008 7:09 pm) We own a Sienna, just a few years old (still current model) and still in great shape with low mileage, and now an '09 Pilot. The entire family now prefers the Pilot and the Sienna is only getting used when when both cars in in use at the same time. Don't get me wrong, we love our Sienna too. Overall, you definitely can fit more storage in the Sienna and definitely more if you have the full third row up for seating. And it is easier to access the third row and the rolling doors are very convenient. The downsides: You can't get an 8 seat version like our Pilot with the high end features and finishes (the second row bench is only available on the base model). As a related issue, the lack of a second row bench is also very limiting in terms of seating options for larger families. One of our three kids still has to be strapped into a 5-point harness in a child seat, requiring him to pragmatically be in the second row. In the Sienna this left only one seat available for an adult, requiring both grandparents to climb into the rear and be squished. In the Pilot they can both sit in the second row with more room than the Sienna third row. It has no factor-installed towing package and even the expensive after-market ones are limited by how low the back sits to the ground; The seating comfort for adults in the third row is much better in our Pilot than our Sienna. This surprised us, but my in-laws spend a lot of time there and said it was no contest. The AWD is not as good in the Sienna as the Pilot and it has no option to force it on as the Pilot does. The Sienna (no Toyotas yet) also doesn't offer iPod intergration, a critical feature for us. There are some other things we prefer about our Pilot over our Sienna but that's the top of mind. They get very similar gas mileage -- the Pilot does about 1 MPG better than the Sienna. Replies to this message: lithnights (Feb 05, 2009 5:35 pm)
#344 of 478 How would one fit two car seats in the 2nd row AND get in the 3rd row? by lithnights Feb 05, 2009 (5:35 pm)
Replying to: citivas (Jan 08, 2009 10:36 am) Citivas, Still hanging around this board? I've read all your posts about the Pilot..very helpful. I wanted to ask how you manage to fit two car seats in the 2nd row AND manage to get someone in the 3rd row. We test drove the Pilot the other day and were wondering how this would be done assuming you have a car seat on the left end and one on the right end of the 2nd row. OR would one put the car seats right next to each other (taking up an end seat and the middle seat)? I noticed only the CX9 would allow one to even move the 2nd row all the way up to touching the back of the front seats, without moving car seats. Thanks!
#345 of 478 by citivas Feb 05, 2009 (6:26 pm)
In my experience you can have up-to three car seats side-by-side in the second row, but you can't have more than one that requires tethering if your goal is still to access the third row by pushing the second row seat forward. Others have allegedly tethered two seats in the second row, side-by-side on the drivers side and middle seat but it would have to be a couple of untypically narrow seats to do this and still allow adequate clearance for the 40 percent passenger side to slide forward without interfering with the middle seat. This hasn't been a problem for us for two reasons: 1) We rarely need to move the second row seat to access the third row. By default our third row is used for our 7-year old who LOVES to access it from the tailgate. Same with her friends when we carpool them. With our setup we could easily move the second row but they neither find this as fun nor have the patience to wait for our help. 2) Our oldest now just uses an booster which is small enough to still slide the 40 percent side forward or if he’s sitting on the passenger side it is easy to temporarily move since its light and not tethered… Good luck with your decision and negotiation. Replies to this message: lithnights (Feb 05, 2009 7:11 pm) golic (Feb 06, 2009 7:03 am) lithnights (Feb 06, 2009 7:58 pm) and 2 more... gks1969 (Aug 27, 2009 6:29 pm)
#346 of 478 Re: [citivas] by lithnights Feb 05, 2009 (7:11 pm)
Replying to: citivas (Feb 05, 2009 6:26 pm) So for my situation (a 16 month old and a newborn) where I am going to need two carseats for the next 3-4 years, is it reasonable/practical to even get a car with a 3rd row? If I can't easily acccess the 3rd row without accessing from the tailgate, I'm wondering if it's worth having. If I had older kids, I could see them crawling from the back, but I guess I envision my parents (in their 60s) to use the 3rd row (trips to church etc.) and they sure aren't climbing in from the back. So is a 3rd row vehicle really necessary/useful for my situation? I guess I'm trying to figure out how much importance to put on the 3rd row (vs. other aspects) of the cars I'm looking at. Thanks! Replies to this message: golic (Feb 06, 2009 7:03 am) lithnights (Feb 06, 2009 7:58 pm) golic (Feb 07, 2009 6:57 am) nxs138 (Feb 10, 2009 7:21 pm) gks1969 (Aug 27, 2009 6:29 pm)
#347 of 478 by citivas Feb 06, 2009 (5:59 am)
Your call. My best advise is to take your actual car seats and go try it out at a dealership. When we were shopping I took all three of our car seats/boosters for every test drive, even when I didn’t have all the kids with me, and made them wait for me to try installing them in the car and trying them out. Whenever possible I took the kids too to get their opinion of the cars. Of course they sometimes got caught up in the bells-and-whistles features but they surprisingly were opinionated about practical things like the comfort of the seats and visibility. That’s one of the factors (among others) that ruled out the Highlander for us – even my 7 year old felt crammed in the third row. In terms of your specific situation, how often will your parents be driving with you? If almost daily, yeah, I would say that will be a challenge and maybe a mini-van is the right call for you right now. As I posted previously, in terms of easy of access to the third row, that is still advantage mini-vans. But you should try out your seats and see. This a newborn, you’re definitely looking at a rear facing seat for the next year and possibly one that clicks in/out of a smaller base that is tethered. That changes the dynamic because the wider point of the seat is facing forward instead of competing with other seats against the back of the second row. You may find it is possible to place the rear-facing newborn seat in the middle of the second row (the safest place for it anyway), with the forward-facing seat on the drivers side (the second safest place, statistically due to drivers instinctive tendency to turn away from an on-coming crash) and still have room to slide the passenger side second row forward. The other question is how long do you plan to own? Your kids are pretty young. If you see this as a 3-4 year lease or tenure of ownership you may want to do mini-van now, CUV next (unless you find a CUV that works perfectly for you now). But if you plan to own it a while, consider the long term. Certainly in 3.5 years your older child will be downright excited to be crawling into the third row without moving the seats. My 3 year old is jealous of my 7 year old on that front even now and constantly asking to be seated back there. Good luck. p.s. For what it is worth, we're almost 6 months into ownership now and I will say I have been entirely pleased. We may have been pleased in the CX-9 as well, or at least the '09 that supposedly fixes the iPod and Sat radio problems, too but if we're happy there's no point in speculating on that. We all like our Pilot way more than our Sienna. Replies to this message: lithnights (Feb 06, 2009 6:52 pm)
#348 of 478 Re: [lithnights] by golic Feb 06, 2009 (7:03 am)
Replying to: lithnights (Feb 05, 2009 7:11 pm) I have 4 kids ages 8-3. And nothing beats a mini-van for versatility, ease of mom jumping into back area to pick up dropped toy, stop a fight, etc and CARGO space. If you are going to keep this car until or through booster seat age, then I would get the third row - you can always keep the seats down for extra storage on those family vacations or camping weekends. Since I refused to own 2 - minivans. Our second car is a 3-row SUV. I have had great success with the Pilot for the following reasons: 1. The middle row seats lean and slide forward to access the 3rd row. Which does allow for a booster seat to stay in place. Not the best for a car seat. 2. The third row on the Pilot - is the only car I know which is wide enough for either two car seats or two booster seats and kids can buckle themselves. 3. I can also get 2 booster seats and 1 car seat in the second row. 4. I would recommend a 3rd row, for the instances you take grandma and grandpa with you to the ball game, recital, etc...It also allows you to take kids friends on car pools etc. 5. I did not look at the cx-9, but the buick and flex failed the Hockey bag and stick test behind the 3rd row. Cargo area is vital!!! Replies to this message: lithnights (Feb 06, 2009 7:58 pm) golic (Feb 07, 2009 6:57 am) nxs138 (Feb 10, 2009 7:21 pm)
#349 of 478 Re: [citivas] by lithnights Feb 06, 2009 (6:52 pm)
Replying to: citivas (Feb 06, 2009 5:59 am) Will the parents be driving with us daily? No, more like a couple times a year, if that. Now that you've asked me that, and I've answered, it makes me realize that it's not an important aspect of the purchase. Now that I think about it, I think it's feasible to say that if we got a 3rd row vehicle, for now, it would be folded flat most of the time. And I guess if we needed to take a bunch of us in the car, my wife and I could scoot through the tailgate and have my parents drive up front. It would be interesting to see if the backward facing infant base and seat would fit next to the forward car seat, and leave the passenger side open to slide. That would be awesome. Maybe I will bring the seat with me when we test drive again. My wife is anti-minivan so they are not on the possibility list. How long will we keep it? Could be 3 years, could be 5-8 years. Who knows? I have always kept our cars a long time (2000 Maxima, 2001 Altima) but if we realize our needs don't match a car we have, I could see us swapping more often. I think that's realistic as kids get older and requirements change. Agree? I told my wife that as time goes on, we will realize things that we like or don't like but hadn't thought about when buying. Simply b/c we've never had kids and don't know what we'll need. It's funny you mention the kids loving the 3rd row..I've heard that from a couple people now. It must be the place to be for a kid! One last thing..what was the ipod issues with the CX9? Was it just the 2008 model? That is one big thing I like about the Pilot and CX9..the aux in capability and where they placed it. Thanks for all your feedback.