List of new accessories for new CX-9 Touring. Change or add something?

[tulsamal]

I just got my 2011 CX-9 Touring last week. Got the moonroof/Bose and the power liftgate/advanced keyless packages. And I'm happy. But it is missing some of the things I need to keep it looking good for a long time.

We have dogs. Lots of dogs. Mostly Belgian Malinois. I'm going to drive this car during the week as a family car. Taking kids here and there, getting groceries, etc. But on the weekends the wife will take it to dog shows. She's going to be putting dog crates back there plus all of her grooming stuff, etc. So I'm definitely interested in something like the cargo tray. I'm sure she will put all her stuff in and then have the dogs hop in the back and get in the kennels. That sounds like bumper protection so claws don't scratch it all up.

Also we live in a rural area. The last mile to our house is dirt and gravel. Especially messy when it is wet. So I want things that will help to minimize the amount of mud and rocks hitting and sticking to my car.

So here's what I'm thinking right now. Will this stuff do the job or is some of it worthless? Or are there better (more heavy duty) choices?

Cargo Tray
All weather floor mats front and rear
Rear bumper guard (stainless steel)
Moonroof wind deflector
Black front and rear splash guards
Cargo net

That's $577 plus $24 shipping so speak up if I'm wasting my money!!!

Thanks,

Gregg

 

[ceric]

Gregg:
Best prices I know here:
waynemazda.com
mazdaparts.org
(both are genuine Mazda dealers)
The latter has no S&H charge of more than $100. This is significant since lots of the accessories are
bulky, expensive to ship.
However, the former does have lower price if the total is less than $100. So, check both.

 

[BPhillyZoomZoom]

As always...good suggestions Ceric....

 

[tulsamal]

OK, you are going to force me to do a comparison but just looking at the websites suggests to me that "free shipping" just means higher prices!

partsformymazda.com is where I got my initial prices. The site says mazda and OEM all over it. So $577 plus $24 shipping. $601.

mazdaparts.org, same parts, "free shipping" the total is $621.60.

I tried to check prices on waynemazda's page but they wanted me to enter all of my contact information to request one part quote? If they have a shopping section with a shopping cart, etc, I guess I just don't see it.

Looking around the forum, I see people recommending mazdaparts.org all the time. But I don't see anybody saying anything about partsformymazda.com? I don't want to be a hard head here. If there are good reasons for that, somebody needs to speak up! Doesn't ship, changes prices, out of stock, etc, etc. I don't want to buy from a site if "everybody knows" they are a problem. But I look at it right now and it seems like their prices are lower!

Gregg

 

[ceric]

I've not heard of this place (partsformymazda.com) before.
Maybe it has even better prices, who knows?

All I said was that these two I recommended sell genuine Mazda parts/accessories because they ARE
Mazda dealers. I am not sure about partsformymazda.com.
Maybe someone who bought from them can make comments. Have you purchased anything from them?

Shipping charge can be ourageous if the item is huge such as the roof rail.
You do need to compare for best prices. If you don't care for a couple tens of dollars,
go ahead with anyone of the three, I guess.

Prices are different from one item to another.
Take all-weather mat for example, for the front+rear set,
Mazdaparts.org => 64.82+108.32=173.14 + $0 S&H = $173.14
your partsformymazda.com => 164.95+ $11.95 S&H = $176.10 (actually more expensive in this case)

So, you do need to compare if you care to save a few hard earned bucks.
I have bought many things (see my signature) from mazdaparts.org. You are talking to a very happy customer here. Fast shipping and never missed a beat.

How about waynemazda.com?
Someone once showed me that waynemazda.com does have better prices (like your partsformymazda.com), but requires S&H charge. From one item to another, mazdaparts.org might be more expensive or cheaper. Your call, really.
However, there are some complaints on their customer service on google.

Anyway, I got my stuff from mazdaparts.org.
Just FYI.

 

[nuru]

Gregg:
Best prices I know here:
waynemazda.com
mazdaparts.org
(both are genuine Mazda dealers)
The latter has no S&H charge of more than $100. This is significant since lots of the accessories are
bulky, expensive to ship.
However, the former does have lower price if the total is less than $100. So, check both.

Try these sites for very low pricing:

http://www.tascaparts.com/partlocator/index.cfm?siteid=213668


http://www.autotownmazda.com/ - mention this forum and the prices drop.

example; I priced the Sirius Satellite kits at:
0000-81-Z30B - $203
0000-81-N06B - $57

EC Mirror w/Camera
0000-8F-N01A $299.17
0000-8F-N04A $271.80

Foglight Kit

Kit TE69-V7-220 $301.66
Switch GSM6-61-122A $35.48
bulbs TD11-V7-235A $118.44 (I would get my own after market bulbs )

 

[ceric]

Good to know all the alternative sites for Mazda parts/accessories.

 

[nuru]

Good to know all the alternative sites for Mazda parts/accessories.

Yep, even with shipping, these are very good prices. I had "special pricing" at my dealer and these sites were still a lot cheaper.

 

[Dodbrat]

Just a side comment from one who put in the cargo tray and also crates dogs all over creation. If the crates are "tight" already, the cargo tray adds just enough room to make them tighter. The cargo tray also doesn't allow for them to slide into place that easy, I use Vari-kennels. Love the cargo tray as makes cleaning up easy, but it was an adjustment with the crates.

 

[tulsamal]

Dodbrat,

Hey, I'm going to jump in here and ask you a dog question that is really important to me! If you fail to see it or something, I'll start a new thread somewhere to try to figure this out!

When we were car shopping, the most important thing to the wife is that we had >42" of space between the rear wheel wheels. That's because they make full size wire dog crates that are 21" wide. They call them SUV crates since they are designed for this job. Several models of cars I looked at just couldn't meet that standard. It finally came down to the Toyota RAV4 and the CX-9. The RAV4 was over 42" but not by much. The CX-9 was something like 46.5"! So I was thrilled and so was she. She thought she might even be able to use her standard size crates and not buy the SUV ones. (If the non-dog people are confused, just think of two rectangular boxes that are 21" wide. Doors open at the end toward the rear of the vehicle. So I need enough room to slide two crates in side by side.)

We bought the car, I drove it home. All was right with the world. Until I tried to actually put two standard size crates in the back. At the bottom, they did fit. But I had only measured between the wheel wells at floor level. I hadn't considered that the vehicle might be smaller further up. Turns out the rear seat belt things stick in further than that and so does the power lift gate bar on the left. It's more like 38" up there!!!!!! Holy, crap. She told me and told me that this was the number one thing and that if I couldn't find a vehicle that would do this, she would buy a Honda Odyssey van and be good.

I haven't told her yet. I've delayed her by saying we don't have the cargo tray and floor mats, etc, so don't want dogs in yet. But sooner or later, she is going to find out. What I'm hoping to find out from somebody like dodbrat is what crates will fit back there? We are talking about big crates since the Belgian Malinois that she shows are 50-70 pounds. Sure, we could shove them way forward so that they hit the front seats. But that just introduces more problems. The second row seats don't fold down totally flat. So pushing the crates up there causes them to sit at an angle with a gap under them. And it also means that the doors of the crates are way far forward and all the other cargo room is taken up. So tables and suitcases and everything else would have to go at the rear of the vehicle. In front of the doors. So then you are on a 500 mile drive and you need to stop and walk the dogs. You've got to unload everything in the rear in order to get them out and put them back!

I'm hoping that somebody makes some crates that are smaller at the top than the bottom? Maybe 21" wide but with an angle top or something? That will still leave me with door issues but what are my choices?

Thanks,

Gregg

 

[tulsamal]

double tap!

 

[nuru]

Dodbrat,

Hey, I'm going to jump in here and ask you a dog question that is really important to me! If you fail to see it or something, I'll start a new thread somewhere to try to figure this out!

When we were car shopping, the most important thing to the wife is that we had >42" of space between the rear wheel wheels. That's because they make full size wire dog crates that are 21" wide. They call them SUV crates since they are designed for this job. Several models of cars I looked at just couldn't meet that standard. It finally came down to the Toyota RAV4 and the CX-9. The RAV4 was over 42" but not by much. The CX-9 was something like 46.5"! So I was thrilled and so was she. She thought she might even be able to use her standard size crates and not buy the SUV ones. (If the non-dog people are confused, just think of two rectangular boxes that are 21" wide. Doors open at the end toward the rear of the vehicle. So I need enough room to slide two crates in side by side.)

We bought the car, I drove it home. All was right with the world. Until I tried to actually put two standard size crates in the back. At the bottom, they did fit. But I had only measured between the wheel wells at floor level. I hadn't considered that the vehicle might be smaller further up. Turns out the rear seat belt things stick in further than that and so does the power lift gate bar on the left. It's more like 38" up there!!!!!! Holy, crap. She told me and told me that this was the number one thing and that if I couldn't find a vehicle that would do this, she would buy a Honda Odyssey van and be good.

I haven't told her yet. I've delayed her by saying we don't have the cargo tray and floor mats, etc, so don't want dogs in yet. But sooner or later, she is going to find out. What I'm hoping to find out from somebody like dodbrat is what crates will fit back there? We are talking about big crates since the Belgian Malinois that she shows are 50-70 pounds. Sure, we could shove them way forward so that they hit the front seats. But that just introduces more problems. The second row seats don't fold down totally flat. So pushing the crates up there causes them to sit at an angle with a gap under them. And it also means that the doors of the crates are way far forward and all the other cargo room is taken up. So tables and suitcases and everything else would have to go at the rear of the vehicle. In front of the doors. So then you are on a 500 mile drive and you need to stop and walk the dogs. You've got to unload everything in the rear in order to get them out and put them back!

I'm hoping that somebody makes some crates that are smaller at the top than the bottom? Maybe 21" wide but with an angle top or something? That will still leave me with door issues but what are my choices?

Thanks,

Gregg

Uh Oh you are in trouble BIGTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There has got to be a solution for your issue before she finds out about the issue! Good Move on raising the the cargo floor mat issue, that will buy you some to time to research a "better" carrrier solution.

 

[nuru]

I am also assuming that carrying some stuff on a receiver hitch attachment is out of the question? That configuration si what I used for as long trip with a large wolf (132+ lbs). I was able to get the animal out without issue.

 

[weitrhino]

tulsamal, I hope not but I think you're screwed!

 

[kornholio]

Have you ever thought about making one out of wood? That is just a thought. Maybe that will solve your problem. As for your wife, you made an honest mistake. She shouldn't get too upset, was she with you when you measured the vehicle. It would have been a good idea if you would have brought the empty crates with you when you was looking at the car. Might sound crazy but that is how mistakes are prevented.