2010 Touring or 2008 Grand Touring

crempel

Member
:
2006 Mazda 5 GT
Hi folks,

I found a couple of CX-9's on Ebay that interest me. Both are the same price. One is a 2010 Touring with about 20,000 miles and the other is a 2008 GT with the same mileage. The GT has DVD, GPS, Bose, Xenon, 20" rims. Having not seen the cars in person, I can't comment on condition, but they look great in the pictures :)

Assuming the condition of the vehicles is similar, which do you think is a better deal? What are the advantages of the redesigned 2010 over the 2008?

Reason is telling me 2010, heart is telling me 2008.
 
Are they both all wheel drive? I am wondering because one would figure that if they are both awd then the gt should be more money. Unless the condition of the 08 is a lot better. I would check all of these things out.
 
I don't know about you but I won't buy a vehicle w/o checking it out personally.

That said, the choice is a rather personal preference.
It depends on how long you intend to keep the vehicle and how much you value gadgetry.
Statistically, 2010 should have less issues due to running improvements saved the heated seat defect on newer CX9s.
 
I am going to correct my previous answer since both are awd the touring being the 2010 and the grand touring being the 2008. That is why the price is the same. I was thinking that the gt was the 2010. Anyway like ceric said i would check them both out in person and if they are both in the same condition then it would be a matter of if you want the car with more options like the back up cam then you take the older model. On the other hand if you want a newer car and don't care for the extra fancy stuff then you pick the touring model. I have the touring model and that is fine with me. I myself being a bit lazy i would pick the touring model just because the seats are black and it doesn't show the dirt as much. The beige is beautiful but i don't think i would have the time to keep it immaculate, plus i would pick the touring because it is a 2010 model.
 
I'd pull the carfax report on them. When I was looking last year there were a a lot of one year old CX-9's with just under 20K mileage. They were all used as rentals. I wasn't too keen buying an ex-rental and I think this can be bad on resale value.
 
I'd pull the carfax report on them. When I was looking last year there were a a lot of one year old CX-9's with just under 20K mileage. They were all used as rentals. I wasn't too keen buying an ex-rental and I think this can be bad on resale value.

Ex rentals are not necessarily bad deals at all. At least the rental companies keep them clean and maintain the cars reliably. Most rentals are also used for pretty straightforward business or highway driving and as the CX9 is no one's choice for an off road vehcile I wouldn't worry about that issue either.
 
here are some differences: 2008 navigation is almost useless as a gps, but its an awesome touchscreen device for the audio. The volume knob is on the right, which they changed to the left either in 2009 or 2010. They changed some of the buttons on the steering wheel to flat buttons, changed some of the buttons for the air control, the finish on the knobs, and moved things around a little, but from what i have heard the 2010 does not have indirect blue lights inside the door handle anymore. The 2008 has the credit card like smartcard, which has a poor range and has been plauged with problems (i have not had any problems), in 2010, they have a more modern fob like smart device that is more compact. The leather is allegedly softer in the newer models. The headlights have re-located city lights i think (tiny 194 bulbs). I personally don't care about the nav being useless, i have a portable gps if i need it.
 
First, I don't think I ever used the volume knob. I used the one on the steering wheel.
The original design was correct, IMHO. The knob was located for the front passenger (therefore, on the right side).
Driver should be using the one on steering wheel.

Second, my SmartCard has given me no issue for 3 yrs. I did replaced the battery once.
Range is not an issue since you are supposed to keep it hidden 95% of the time.

Third, the OE GPS is not the best but usable. I love the integration.
I dislike things shaking and rattling in my vehicles.
Portable devices tend to do lots of those....

Just my preferences.
 
I'll also defend the integrated GPS. I have a 2010 and am not sure what differences there are from the 2008 navigation system but I like mine. Are there differences from Garmin etc....sure. Would I prefer a Garmin over the integrated Nav....never (I own Garmins that are relegated to closets now). It takes a while to get used to the integrated Nav system and it has a few "features" I could do without (#1 being lockout above 5mph for entering new address) however there are lots of things it does that Garmins don't do too. My favorite is the lack of wires dangling and the need to set up the Garmin each time. I also highly value the integration into the stereo/audio system so the music or news volume is turned down when a directional command is spoken.

One of the "problems" with the CX9 is that the user interfaces are complex even though they have been pretty reasonably designed. The owner's manual for a GT at least is a full inch thick and there are MANY features/functions that are not entirely intuitive. I suspect most owners, like myself, do not consult it often enough. With regard to the Nav for example, it has taken me six months to figure out the advantages of saving destinations as memory points rather than just typing them in as use of the memory point will allow me to select them again even if the car is moving. I used to simply scroll through the "previous destinations" to get to an address and that works fine if you are stopped but saving a destination as a memory point allows you to access it while moving. It also takes about three screens deep to figure out how to name memory points although the procedure is spelled out in the manual.

The system is not perfect but I'd never go back to a mobile Garmin type unit after living with a well integrated Nav system. What I am waiting for is a well integrated iPad 3 or 4 that has a dedicated charging/communication dock on the CX9 dash and can pop out the way we currently treat cell phones. That would offer the potential of even more integration while also allowing updates and the ability to add or update functions beyond what is possible with the dedicated Mazda Nav unit. Until them I'm quite happy with the trade offs involved with the integrated Mazda Nav system.
 
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here are some differences: 2008 navigation is almost useless as a gps, but its an awesome touchscreen device for the audio. The volume knob is on the right, which they changed to the left either in 2009 or 2010. They changed some of the buttons on the steering wheel to flat buttons, changed some of the buttons for the air control, the finish on the knobs, and moved things around a little, but from what i have heard the 2010 does not have indirect blue lights inside the door handle anymore. The 2008 has the credit card like smartcard, which has a poor range and has been plauged with problems (i have not had any problems), in 2010, they have a more modern fob like smart device that is more compact. The leather is allegedly softer in the newer models. The headlights have re-located city lights i think (tiny 194 bulbs). I personally don't care about the nav being useless, i have a portable gps if i need it.

The '10 also has a much larger smiley face grill than the '08. Really accentuated with the pearl white paint.
 
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