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Honda Pilot vs Mazda CX-9 vs Toyota Highlander

549 messages,  Last post on Feb 11, 2013 at 8:48 PM

You are in the Mazda CX-9 Forum.

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

Messages Page 52 of 55

#509 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [ceric] by luckyseven

Jul 04, 2011 (5:52 pm)

Replying to: ceric (Jul 01, 2011 6:16 pm)
Price difference between cx9 and HL is a moot point. Depends on timing, location, your negotiation abilities and trim/features you want. In 2007 I paid $26K+tax for 2008 Base with AWD and 3 seat rows. I don't think you can get comparable cx9 for this much. HL also has higher resale then cx9 so don't forget to include it in your math. BTW starting from 2011 model year HL has split 3rd row. 2011 model started to be produced back in august of 2010.

#510 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [luckyseven] by citivas

Jul 04, 2011 (6:06 pm)

Replying to: luckyseven (Jul 04, 2011 5:52 pm)
The Honda's resale value has been awesome so far. I am coming off of a three year lease next month and my '09 Pilot Touring will is worth at least $6-8,000 more than my residual payment and only $6K or so less than what I paid new. Amazing.

#511 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [citivas] by luckyseven

Jul 04, 2011 (7:30 pm)

Replying to: citivas (Jul 04, 2011 6:06 pm)
can't be wrong by going with Honda or Toyota!

#512 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [citivas] by aviboy97

Jul 05, 2011 (11:44 am)

Replying to: citivas (Jul 04, 2011 6:06 pm)
Can you give us an exact dollar figure as to your lease buyout and current value?

#513 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [aviboy97] by citivas

Jul 05, 2011 (12:40 pm)

Replying to: aviboy97 (Jul 05, 2011 11:44 am)
Ok. My lease residual buy out will come in right around $22K after factoring in NJ sales tax. The used market is so hot right now that I am getting dealers proactively calling me every week asking if I would sell my car to them. I haven't even been competitive with trade-in offers yet and already have a $29,000 offer. According to KBB online, that's right in the range for a dealer trade-in value for my equipment and several thousand below what I could probably get with a private party. I negotiated $34K new 3 years ago (Touring), including tax, license, doc, etc., but before you factor in the lease costs. I will have paid $15K in lease payments plus $3K in up-front trade-in value. So if I sold now, worst case I will have spent about net $11K for three years of ownership of a top-of-the-line Pilot, or about $305/month. If I used the KBB estimate for a "good" (not excellent) condition private sale, I would only be down about $7.4K or $205/month.
 
It's all theoretical because I don't plan to sell this year. I seriously considered it but after looking at all the current model year 3-row CUV’s on the market I couldn’t find any I wouldn’t have considered a trade-off for my Pilot, and that includes looking at all the luxury brands including BMC, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, Acura, Lexus, etc. I was disappointed that in three years there hadn’t been anything that gained or retained the benefits of the Pilot but with more luxury drive and interiors. So I’ll wait at least a year and see if any major model refresh changes the picture. Honda sent letters and had multiple people call trying to talk me into “trading it in” for a new lease for a current model year top-of-the-line Pilot “at no up-front cost” with “the same or better” payments but I said no thanks.

#514 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [citivas] by aviboy97

Jul 05, 2011 (1:05 pm)

Replying to: citivas (Jul 05, 2011 12:40 pm)
Interesting....based on market conditions in our area (I'm in western CT, and NJ is in my market) $29,000 seems like a really good offer! Average retail price for your car is about $30,500. $29,000 is $1000 over market-ready condition on trade or wholesale purchase, which means your car would need no re conditioning, no tires or brakes. It's about $2,500 over market value if your car does need brakes and tires.
 
The values you are being offered is because there are no new Pilot Touring's with navigation available, so it is driving up used car prices. I am seeing the same thing with CX-9's in my dealership. The pre-owned ones are going through the roof at auctions and in used selling prices. I have 2008 Mazda CX-9 GT's selling for $28,000.
 
Let us know how you make out! Good luck!!

#515 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [sixth_gear] by davicho

Jul 05, 2011 (4:19 pm)

Replying to: sixth_gear (Jun 15, 2011 12:58 pm)
The reason you see more HLs on the road then CX-9s is solely because Toyota has done a exceptional job in establishing "reliability" among consumers. In which point to an extent at one time it was true, not so much now. Toyota has shifted their focus on remianing the #1 car manufacturer that they have lost their focus in reliability and shifted into number of units just to keep up with the likes of our domestic brands.
 
I am a proud owner of a 2007 CX-9 and I do not regret ever purchasing it. It is by far superior to an HL in every way, in my opinion. Sporty yet luxuriously looking, 20" wheels are a nice feature, very durable and supple leather, quick, HIDs, LEDs, and an actual very friendly easy to access 3rd row seat.
 
I am not biased to Mazda only, because I also own a Honda Accord coupe (daily-driver) and my wife drives a Ford Escape (which I really like as well, minus the excesive road noise). So with that said...you'll never see me in a Toyota unless their design/engineering team gets fired and replaced with otherss that can offer a not so boring vehicle all together.
 
Toyotas are just plain boring bricks on wheels....too bad for a company that has established such a good reputation....btw, Honda is right on the same path as Toyota except that they are using a much bigger and stronger ugly stick to mold their vehicles...

#516 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [davicho] by luckyseven

Jul 05, 2011 (7:56 pm)

Replying to: davicho (Jul 05, 2011 4:19 pm)
Realistically speaking CX9 is not that sporty (besides looking sporty), here's 0-60 numbers
 
Pilot 9.7 sec
CX-9 8.5sec
HL 7.8 sec
 
HL is also superior in handling to other 2 because it is a bit lighter so I wouldn't call it boring brick on wheels. As far as third row many people including me care less, for 4 years of ownership I used it 3 times and it was fine.
 
BTW Pilot has 149ft breaking distance from 60 MPH, this is why I didn't even consider it.

#517 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [aviboy97] by citivas

Jul 06, 2011 (7:27 am)

Replying to: aviboy97 (Jul 05, 2011 1:05 pm)
As I said, I'm not planning to sell this year despite the high offers. I couldn't find anything worth moving away from my Pilot on yet so I'm waiting for major model re-designs. I get that new model scarcity would jack up the used prices, but then how could Honda offer to put me in a comparably equipped new model year Pilot lease with no down and no payment change if I turned in my 2009 vehicle instead of buying it?
 
What I need to excite me into a change from the Pilot is a more luxury or better driving CUV that doesn't have a crappy GPS with a nanny lock out and has at least 7 truly usable seats, preferably 8 (like the Pilot). Hybrid would be nice but I won’t pay a 30% premium that would take 18 years of ownership to make-up like with the Highlander. The GPS limitation currently rules out a lot of the contenders, including the Mazda and Toyota. And the lack of decent seating rules out Honda’s cousin, the Acura, which really only has 4 usable seats, plus 3 pathetic ones (including the middle second row seat). I’m optimistic that waiting for the new major model re-designs will help expand the field but one can hope. I might even be able to give a little on the quality of the secondary seating but I will never give in on getting another vehicle without a built-in GPS or with one that is useless but for lame voice commands when in motion. If Mazda ever solved that severe shortcoming I would seriously consider it.

#518 of 549 Re: If CX-9 is so great, how come.. [luckyseven] by citivas

Jul 06, 2011 (7:47 am)

Replying to: luckyseven (Jul 05, 2011 7:56 pm)
I've always been curious how they do those 0-60 tests because I have tested my Pilot (we have plenty of low traffic country roads around where I live) multiple times and have handily beat it. I'm not defending the Pilot's drive which is just ok. But it's just not true that it takes that long to accelerate. Perhaps if all you did was immediately floor and stick the accelerator but I figured out early on that Pilot acceleration requires a little bit of subtle art to pump the gas at the right rev-up spot. Then it jumps handily. If you don’t do this it seems to get caught up in mid-acceleration before getting over the hump. You can say that’s poor engineering but whatever the reason you can accelerate faster if you adapt to the car.
 
I’ve also never had any complaints about braking on the Pilot, though I have read the tests and unlike the 0-60 test I haven’t wanted to abuse my car testing the distance. We’ve always owned at least one Toyota or Lexus as our other vehicle (though if we were buying today we’d get the Odyssey over the Sienna) and my wife and I both prefer the braking experience of the Pilot, perhaps not on paper but in daily use. The Toyotas tend to have overly tight braking when the brakes have first been adjusted and then they get softer and softer between servicing. This is definitely the experience with our Sienna and previous Lexus RX300. And these cars were bought on opposite sides of the country and serviced at at least 8 dealerships in 3 states, so it’s not just about how they were serviced. The Pilot feels neither overly firm or soft and is consistent. It’s easy to judge what you need. Which is not to say it may not be a little worse in a worst-case crash condition. I defer to the testing. Just sharing our experience.
 
As far the “sportiness” of the drive, it’s not all about statistics. I own neither the Highlander or CX-9 but test drove both at least half-a-dozen times and have driven the Highlander often since my in-laws own one and I’ve had it as rentals several times. It “feels” light and accelerates well. But the CX-9 is in an entirely different league over the Highlander in terms of the feel and handling. The Highlander has soft steering (something almost every review notes) and it just doesn’t take turns like the Mazda. The Mazda has come out ahead in so many professional car reviews in terms of drive and handling that it is silly to pretend the Highlander is its equal in that category. It may be for your particular needs, which is fine, but it’s not the “drivers vehicle” the way the CX-9 is.
 
I respect all of these vehicles as having advantages for people with different priorities. For us overall function (including tech) and utility was the top priority so the Pilot made sense. If you want a 3-row hybrid, or even the best conventional mileage of the three, the Toyota is the way to go. If you want a great drive, the Mazda wins.

Messages Page 52 of 55

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