Honda Pilot vs Mazda CX-9 vs Toyota Highlander

472 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 5:09 PM

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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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#366 of 472 Re: April sales, 2009 [citivas] by nxs138 May 03, 2009 (2:03 pm)
Replying to: citivas (May 02, 2009 6:03 pm) I agree with all your assessments concerning the Pilot: in the end, it's a solid package that has a lot of good features. Honda did a good job packaging all the little features that people want right out of the box, even though the Pilot looks like that box. When it first came out, I would have bet that it wouldn't sell all that well since there was so many new, sleek CUVs, but man was I wrong. Functionality still sells, so it was a good move on Honda's part. Replies to this message: berri (May 03, 2009 3:48 pm) nxs138 (May 04, 2009 3:34 pm)
#367 of 472 Re: April sales, 2009 [nxs138] by berri May 03, 2009 (3:48 pm)
Replying to: nxs138 (May 03, 2009 2:03 pm) The poor tire choices Toyota is putting on the Highlander and Venza shows they are becoming the new GM. I don't think Toyota has the customer focus that Honda does. Replies to this message: nxs138 (May 04, 2009 3:34 pm)
#368 of 472 Re: April sales, 2009 [berri] by nxs138 May 04, 2009 (3:34 pm)
Replying to: berri (May 03, 2009 3:48 pm) My wife and I really wanted to like the Highlander--nice acceleration, comfortable, not too big and bulky--but there were many little negatives that made you scratch your head: no split seats on the 3rd row, no memory seats, the Limited had really fake-looking wood (which is why I would have picked the Sports model), the steering felt really light (reminded me of my dad's 1981 Malibu that you could steer with your pinky), and worse of all the dealers around us were locking us into really expensive packages. And there were signs where they cheapened out, like that felt headliner that looks like it was already pilling... They say that as a company gets bigger, it gets more expensive to run...I guess Toyota has to make cuts somewhere, and unfortunately it's showing in their vehicles.
#370 of 472 Re: Pilot [udcc123] by lithnights May 06, 2009 (7:14 pm)
Agree about the importance of the split 3rd row. That is what sold me on the Pilot over the Highlander. We've had our 2008 for two months now and have already utilized the split 3rd row multiple times. We've had someone sit in the 3rd row and still be able to fold down part of it for groceries or a stroller. Also, it's especially cool for the kids (nieces, nephews for now..my kids in the future) to climb in through the lift, and climb into the split 3rd row since I have two car seats in the 2nd row. With the Highlander, that would be difficult to say the least.
#371 of 472 June, 2009 sales figures by ceric Jul 02, 2009 (8:55 am)
Pilot: 8171 Highlander: 6885 (inc. Hybrid and I4 version) CX9: 1568
#372 of 472 Mazda CX-9 Best Fit for My Family by carmama Aug 16, 2009 (2:19 pm)
We recently purchased a Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring with moonroof and navigation after looking at/ test driving the following vehicles: Minivans: Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona, Toyota Sienna, Mazda 5 SUV/ CUVs: Mazda CX-9, Ford Flex, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Honda Pilot, Saturn Outlook/ GMC Acadia, Lexus RX400h/ RX450h The CX-9 was the best fit for our family of 2 adults + 2.3 kids (3 year old, 2 month old, and 11 year old stepdaughter who lives with us in the summer). Passenger space and interior appearance are more important to us than towing or cargo capacity as we don't drive our own vehicles more than 600 miles from home. We fly and/or rent a vehicle for longer trips. We plan to have one or two more kids before we get another new car in eight to ten years, so seating for 6 to 7 was necessary. This eliminated the Lexus RX hybrids which I really liked otherwise. My husband is 6'-4" with long legs and the kids are taking after him, so legroom in all 3 rows is critical. He could not get comfortable in the driver's seat in the Mazda 5, Kia Sedona, or Ford Flex. I was surprised by the Flex, because the listed front legroom is similar to other vehicles that he liked. Sitting behind the driver, my 3 year old can kick the back of an all-the-way back driver's seat in every other vehicle we tried, but she had at least 8 inches to spare in Flex. If Ford had given the driver's seat a little more travel, the Flex would have been a stronger competitor. The Toyotas were overpriced compared to the other vehicles, and the dealers weren’t being flexible on price. So, we test drove an Outlook, an Odyssey, a Pilot and the CX-9. The best price we were quoted for an Odyssey EX-L RES/Nav was about $500 more than the best price we were quoted for the CX-9. The pricing on the Pilot, Outlook and Acadia was $3,000 to $5,000 more than the CX-9 for comparably equipped vehicles. Access to the 3rd row was easier in the CX-9 than in the Odyssey when all three seats in the middle row were in place. We thought the CX-9 interior was looked nicer than the Odyssey and Outlook, and the exterior looked nicer than the Pilot. With regard to the driving experience, the CX-9 drove much smaller than the Outlook (and I assume the Acadia). The CX-9 drove more like a car while the Pilot drove more like a truck. The acceleration and braking felt slightly more responsive in the CX-9 than in the Odyssey, but otherwise the ride was similar. In the end, we made the decision based on the vehicle that was the best value for our needs. Hopefully, our shopping experience will help others with their decision. I spent a lot of time reading these forums before we were ready to actually start vehicle shopping in person and found the information shared in them very helpful. Replies to this message: berri (Aug 16, 2009 4:57 pm) lithnights (Aug 16, 2009 6:40 pm)
#373 of 472 Re: Mazda CX-9 Best Fit for My Family [carmama] by berri Aug 16, 2009 (4:57 pm)
Replying to: carmama (Aug 16, 2009 2:19 pm) If Ford had given the driver's seat a little more travel, the Flex would have been a stronger competitor. I'm tall and also find that a frequent problem with Ford models. In fact, sometimes I wonder if they Ford family and their management team are all short people? Generally, GM seems to have better 6 footer accomodations, but not always. The problem with a lot of the Asian vehicles is short seat bottoms and backs which doesn't show up on your body until you've drive several hours so its hard to figure out on a test drive.
#374 of 472 Re: Mazda CX-9 Best Fit for My Family [carmama] by lithnights Aug 16, 2009 (6:40 pm)
Replying to: carmama (Aug 16, 2009 2:19 pm) Hey carmama, Great review. Extremely helpful!
#375 of 472 Mercedes test drive? by 4kids3dogs2cat Aug 17, 2009 (4:58 am)
Has anyone driven the Mercedes R class CUV? You can get a used 2007 with about 15K miles for the same price as a new CX-9. It's a 6-7 passenger vehicle. I now own a 2004 Sienna and it's time to get something new. I have mixed feelings about my Sienna now with 65K miles. I won't buy another. The interior has many design problems which annoy me. Replies to this message: aviboy97 (Aug 17, 2009 6:42 am) jcpharm (Aug 17, 2009 6:48 am) 4kids3dogs2cat (Aug 29, 2009 7:44 am) and 12 more... carmama (Aug 17, 2009 11:32 am) ceric (Aug 17, 2009 3:55 pm)