Great choice with the CX-9!
I considered the CX-5 before I got mine, but I knew I wanted the extra power of the 9 (the turbo CX-5 was not formally announced yet). It truly is a vehicle that punches above its weight. It has a lot of luxury design elements and features that provide a lot of value for the money. The cost-cutting measures can be found if you try to find them, but overall they're not too obvious and really don't detract much from the experience. The CX-9 also drives like a smaller vehicle because Mazda has done such a great job focusing on making it a driver's car. Coming from a BMW 335i sedan, this was really important to me.
I wish I could get gas mileage like some here are quoting! I probably average closer to 20-21 MPG with mixed driving, but I think that's more because the area I live in has relatively higher speed limits (45-55), but also more stoplights for some reason. So my stop-and-go requires more accelerating in local driving which kills the gas mileage. My best runs have been on longer-distance highway cruising around 60-65 MPH where I've seen around 26 MPG.
Otherwise, I have one big complaint (which is relatively easy to address, but not exactly cheap), so here's the long rant:
My main complaint with the vehicle is Mazda's choice of OEM all season tire. I've driven through several Wisconsin and Minnesota winters and my worst experiences have been with manufacturer-selected Bridgestone all seasons. My BMW 328 coupe had Bridgestone Turanza runflats and the CX-9 has Bridgestone Dueler Ecopias and both have been awful in the snow. Not all Bridgestone all seasons are so bad in the snow though, I've had good experiences with Bridgestone DriveGuard runflats on another vehicle.
Otherwise, I've driven through blizzard-like conditions on the interstate with snow accumulated on the ground in a FWD VW CC with the OEM Continental all seasons on that car (I forget what model they were) and I felt more sure-footed in that than I do with the Bridgestone Ecopias in my CX-9.
Mazda's AWD system is pretty good and compensates to some extent, but that only helps in situations where I'm applying throttle, not when I need to stop or turn off throttle. I am also a "threshold" driver in that I apply throttle and braking as needed up to the point just before the electronics need to kick in (like traction control or ABS) which makes a difference in things like stopping distances and initial take-off.
To some extent, I understand I could always adjust my driving style to help compensate, but other drivers on the road with all seasons on even larger vehicles do noticeably better than I do in similar turning/stopping maneuvers and it's been a bit frustrating dealing with these tires in some of the wintry weather we've had here this year so far. My CX-9 is less than a year old and that makes it even more frustrating to think that I would have to spend ~$1000 for new tires, mounting, balancing, alignment, etc. to remedy this.
That said, "your mileage may vary" always applies. Others believe the Ecopias to be fine, others have pointed out that they can be particularly sensitive to overinflation (~1-1.5 PSI over even making a difference in driving capabilities), etc. I'll give the Ecopias credit as well in being perfectly fine in warmer weather, even in the rain as well. They're just not nearly as good as other all-seasons I've used in the winter.
All that said, the CX-9 itself is a generally excellent vehicle. Congrats on your purchase and I hope it brings you many happy miles and years of driving!
