New Owner Impressions from Montreal, Canada

[CX-9 Czar]

Hello everyone,

First post here, this looks like a valuable community for Mazda owners. Thank you for allowing me to contribute.

I plan on sharing my impressions and experience with the brand-new black CX-9 GT full equipped (less the rear DVD) I took delivery yesterday.

Why this make/model? Well, the 2002 Ford Windstar LX I drove until yesterday morning was my 4th minivan (1 Lumina, 1 Grand Caravan and 2 Windstars) and I was sick & tired to drive this kind of family workhorse. I still have 3 children (now 12, 14 and 16ish) so I needed a roomy 5 seater, so a 7 seater was my only true option. I did not want something BIGGER than a van but something which drove a little more like a berline and, because I spend more than 2 hours commuting, I was looking for comfort.

My short list was:


Subaru Tribeca
Very nice but the 7 passenger option is not a true 7 seater. Eliminated for practical reasons.
Saturn Outlook
Serious contender but I found it really massive. My wife would have had trouble parking it. Eliminated due to size.
GMC Acadia
Massive and bland. Interior felt like my Windstar... Eliminated due to design.
Buick Enclave
More stylish but still felt like a minivan to me. Unsure if I liked the look. With comparable options, about same price as CX-9. Eliminated due to overall impressions.
Hyundai Veracruz
Very nice package and priced competitively but I could not relate to the classic SUV design. Not convinced that Hyundai is reliable enough, but this is not an informed impression. Eliminated due to manufacturer.


So I settled on a CX-9. More on this decision later!

Thank you.

Benoit

[Lindyrect]

Great choice. I look at some of the same vehicles and found similar points.

[CX-9 Czar]

So I paid a visit to a local Mazda dealer (Duval in Boucherville) and spend quite a bit of time looking at it, read reviews, comparisons. I did 2 test drives, with and without kids in third row. I liked the feeling even though only the GS was on demo.

I decided the GT was the configuration for me, with Luxury and NAV packages. I dismissed the rear entertainement kit which adds almost CAD $2,000 to the bill, and frankly I don't do much long drives with the kids anymore and they're not so much kids after all. They can stick to their iPods and Gameboys.

Then the fun part began, negotiation. It was the typical bid-counterbid sequence, bluff and not-so-subtle tactics on both sides, I must admit.

American readers will be shocked to learn that the spread between invoice price in Canada vs. USA is about CAD $10,000-$12,000. That's a lot, given the fact that our currencies are now almost at par. But the market here tells me that vehicules of this category are all priced between 40-50k$ so the $47,231 wholesale price CarCostCanada.com gave me sounded hard to undercut. List price, all in, was CAD $60,327.

So after a round of bidding through a "list price discount" approach of 5-6%, I came back a few days later with a "wholesale price plus" a "fair" markup to the dealer, with a competite quote from another local dealer.

To make a long story short, I ended up closing at CAD $56,364 all in (taxes, freight, all misc. fees, plus rails and bars on roof, installed) or $48,429 base. This was $100 more than the other quote. I signed at 11:30am and took delivery at 6:00pm. Not bad!

I think I may have still paid too much but for big ticket items like this, I always have this feeling.

Dealership was so-so, salesman was a young guy who was nice but he didn't have a clue about the vehicle, probably geared-up to sell 3's and 5's.(stoned)

Next post will detail initial impressions.

Thanks

[Mazda3]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[CX-9 Czar]

Driving in general: my reference point being the Ford Windstar, it is no surprise that this is a completely new experience for me. Lots of power, control, smooth ride despite "hard" suspension, low noise level. I still need to adjust to the rear arc lower visibility and longer nose, but very manageable.

Steering: Very precise and responsive. Much more stable in sharp turns than the Windstar.(eyeballs)

Accelleration: A bit lagging at low speed, I wonder if it is because the 'puter still learns from my patterns. Much better on the highway, but still no race car.

Braking: Real good. Sensitive but you adjust quickly. I feel totally in control of the beast.

More next.

Thanks

[SeCX-9]

I am confused.....

Has this section become the Czar's personal Blogging space?

[CX-9 Czar]

Well, this thread has. It's mine. It's 100% on forum and folder topic. If you don't like it, complaint to the moderator. If he doesn't like it, I'll go elsewhere, it's as simple as that.

Sheeesh...

[brightwhite]

I am confused.....

Has this section become the Czar's personal Blogging space?

Don't be an ass.

This info will be valuable for others looking to get a CX-9.

[antlind]

Well, this thread has. It's mine. It's 100% on forum and folder topic. If you don't like it, complaint to the moderator. If he doesn't like it, I'll go elsewhere, it's as simple as that.

Sheeesh...

(rockon)

[Mazda3]

I am confused.....

Has this section become the Czar's personal Blogging space?

There's nothing wrong with Czar sharing his experience here.

[CX-9 Czar]

Thanks!

[CX-9 Czar]

More impressions:

Comfort: really great. Leather seats are firm, adjustment is good.

Ambient noise: pretty good control. I feel I'm in an insulated bubble. I haven't experienced any air friction noises yet it will be interesting to see if I hear any after my roof rack is installed.

Ergonomics: Ouch. 1st strike. The tuner buttons, including the ON/OFF, are quite far from the steering wheel. (uhm) Being fairly big (six feet) I could see smaller folks having to reach out for it. Otherwise, ok.

Compartments/drawers: The main compartment on the back center console is of good size, Blackberry fits nicely in the open compartment in the front center. Not much room to put anything else, but this may not be a problem, I just need to adjust vs. what I used to have with the Windstar. Coin drawer is useless, IMHO.(dunno)

Next: sound system, NAV and Bluetooth.

[f308gt4]

I'll add a few comments to CX-9 Czar's posts, since I've had my Galaxy Grey Touting edition for a few weeks now. Overall, a great car.

Driving in general: This thing is great. Very sports car like, considering it's large size and weight. It's fairly responsive, and the power is pretty decent for a family hauler. It's not ferrari fast, but it does the job. Braking is also pretty good. Mazda did a really good job with this one, considering it is a 4000 lb car.

Steering: Agree on the responsiveness. I thought I would have a difficult time parking it, but it is really easy to do. A pleasant surprise. I can take turns fairly quickly, which is another pleasant surprise.

Ergonomics: I agree again on the poor placement of the radio controls. However, the switches on the steering column make up for this IMO. The seats are comfortable, and there is lots of room in the car for people. I've had guests visiting for the last week, and 7 people in the car (5 adults, 2 kids) is no problem. I was able to get a close look at a 2009 Honda Pilot this weekend, and while the pilot seats 8, it looks really cramped in there. On the other hand, the pilot appears to have more cargo room behind the rear seats. But, the CX-9 looks much better than the Pilot, and I imagine it probably drives better.

Gas Consumption: We've gone through 3 tankfuls, averaging about 16 mpg with mixed driving. Wish it was more, but at least we can get away with using just regular gas. Unfortunately, my wife does primarily short trips around town, so I'm not really expecting too much in the way of fuel economy.

In general, I can't find too many negatives about this car. I wish it had a trip computer (we had one on our last car). That's really about it. If the car was lighter and more fuel efficient that would be nice.

I'll try to provide more updates as available.

[CX-9 Czar]

We seem to share the same basic experience with the ride. It's true you don't feel the weight/size of the vehicule as much as we could. This thing can really speed along nicely. Accel is so-so but I haven't played much yet with the semi-auto gears, have you?

Trip Computer: This is a stupid oversight. In this day and age of fuel economy, I wish I could monitor how my driving habits influence this on the fly, and better manage my next stop for refueling.

Tuner Controls: it's true I mostly use the steering controls but still, the ON/OFF swith is real far away!

Door Locks: I don't understand why doors don't lock automatically after driving away. My Windstar's did!

[Mazda3]

Trip Computer: This is a stupid oversight. In this day and age of fuel economy, I wish I could monitor how my driving habits influence this on the fly, and better manage my next stop for refueling.

Door Locks: I don't understand why doors don't lock automatically after driving away. My Windstar's did!

Check the 09 specs I posted. Trip computer standard for 09.

Ford and GM are the only auto's that have the doors lock like that as far as I know. Reason is because most people hate that feature. I would not buy a vehicle that had that feature unless I could shut it off.

[CX-9 Czar]

Good about the '09 specs. I'd like to know though if the '08 lack of it was deliberate or just an oversight.

For the autolocking doors feature, I thought this would be more common than just GM and FoMoCo. I'm sure most families with young children like it?

This is a minor issue, for sure. I wouldn't trade my CX-9 for a Taurus X to get it, although I didn't look at it seriously, I wanted to move away from FoMoCo this time. And it looks like a station wagon.

[brightwhite]

Yeah, autolocking doors is the most ridiculous feature ever. Glad the Mazdas don't have it.

[Lindyrect]

I personally like the autolock feature on my VW. At 10 MPH the doors autolocked. If you live in areas like DC where car jackings are common, the autolock feature is great. I know you say, well then hit the button with your hand. Great idea until you go to get out and grab the door handle to open and cannot until you hit the unlock button. Trust me. It only takes a few times of this to piss you off. Autolock then unlock when opening the door handle would be great. My $20,000 Jetta had it. Don't flame me, just a knitpick.

[Brutus]

I bought a CX-9 about 2 months ago and just finished my first long trip. This is a great vehicle on the highway, it cruises effortlessly at 130 km/h with lots of power to pass. The extra room it has was great for packing everything in. Gas mileage was about 25 mpg, which is really good as well, considering the speed I was driving for the most part. The BSM is great, especially on the 401 through Toronto. Overall, I am very happy with my CX-9.

[CX-9 Czar]

Brutus, what kind of deal did you get in Ottawa? I am flabbergasted to see prices for it in the US...

[dclange]

Can't you guys in Canada come down here and buy one?

[fellowkillla]

(mj)(thumb)(2thumbs)cx-9 czar,thanks for the info,that's exactly what i was looking for. i have a mazdaspeed and tryin to decide, but you answer all my questions!!! cx9 here i come baby!

[not_too_shabby]

I personally like the autolock feature on my VW. At 10 MPH the doors autolocked. If you live in areas like DC where car jackings are common, the autolock feature is great. I know you say, well then hit the button with your hand. Great idea until you go to get out and grab the door handle to open and cannot until you hit the unlock button. Trust me. It only takes a few times of this to piss you off. Autolock then unlock when opening the door handle would be great. My $20,000 Jetta had it. Don't flame me, just a knitpick.

Ditto that. I have owned a VW, 2 saabs and MBenz and they all autolock. It's not just a ford or gm feature. The VW and MB unlock the door when you pull the driver's door handle. The saab unlocked the driver's door when you pulled the key out of the ignition. On my MB it's turned on or off by owner programmable settings on the dash, and the vw can be turned off using the dealer's computer or a vag-com.... It's a noticeable oversight on a 40K car. And to make it worse the darn lock button isn't lit, and with advanced key the interior lights don't turn on when you turn off the car. And no trip computer is really annoying. My VW is almost 8 years old and only cost $25K and had one. It has MPG data for the current trip and another since the last time you reset it. It's nice to know that if you driven 200 miles since fillup and are getting 20 MPG, that you have burned 10 gallons of gas, tank is 16, so you have 6 gallons left.

[not_too_shabby]

Just to add another annoyance with my car to this list. When you get in the car and lock the doors all the interior lights turn off. On my VW, you can get in the car, lock the door and the interior lights stay on inside till you start the car(or about 30 seconds). So if you want to sit in a locked car while you plug your ipod in, put your sunglasses away, wallet, etc...you got to do it in the dark or turn on the map light...

[Mx5+Cx9]

Just traded the wife's 05 Mini Cooper for an 08 CX9 GT w/ luxury pack a week and a half ago. Paid $41,000CAD OTD.

We also looked at a Honda Pilot EX, more expensive and has funky textile on the upholstery that the wife did not care for. Also, definitely is not as good looking as the CX9 both inside and out. Another vehicle we looked at was a Toyota highlander. We love the motor on the highlander as it's pretty much the same engine as what's in our 4Runner, but the interior is tight. And again the CX9 is just more stylish.

This is probably the most luxurious vehicle we've owned so far. The interior w/ leather seats looks great. The wood trim and black piano trim all fits well and makes the interior look very classy. Like it should cost at least $10,000 more (IMO).

I like little cars, hence the reason my summer car is a miata and the wife's previous car was a Mini. I like the nimbleness and sportiness of little cars. I don't need crazy amounts of torque and hp, but the car has to handle well. So, I was a little indifferent about driving the CX9. But, I was pleasantly surprised. For such a big vehicle (it barely fits in our garage), it handles pretty well. I'm sure the 20" wheels w/ lower profile tires help, steering is accurate, and it doesn't rock and sway like a boat like some other bigger SUVs I've driven and ridden. The brakes are good, and the motor has enough power when needed. So far, initial overall impression is great CUV for the money (especially nowadays). It looks great and handles well, what else can one ask for? :)

[CX9ZoomR]

As a fellow Miata and CX-9 owner, I have to agree that the CX-9 handles pretty well for something that weighs over 2 tons...

[CX9 SportOwner]

Agreed. I said it before, but the CX9 tracks better than most cars of any size.