I bought my 2018 CX-9 in November. It was the right choice and has handled a couple of 700-mile one-way interstate trips with four people (my wife, two adult daughters, and me), daily 18-mile each way commutes, occasional third-row passenger duty, and miscellaneous hauling.
-I'm a Midwesterner, and a big believer in dedicated winter tires. I had Blizzaks mounted on the original 20" Signature rims right before Christmas and the CX-9 was solid and steady on snow and ice. I felt very secure.
-I had the original Falken all-season tires remounted on Liquidmetal Splice rims. I decided to leave the Blizzaks on the stock rims and put the regular tires on the new rims because 1) the Liquidmetal wheels are 10lb lighter each and they'll be on about 75% of the year, and 2) I think the Splice wheels look good. I switched back to the Falkens on Friday and it snowed this morning!
-I had a hitch added so I could use an aluminum (welded) tray and cargo carrier. It was absolutely necessary for our 8-day home-for-Christmas trip with our daughters.
-I bought Weathertech mats for the front and second-row seats. They smelled like cat pee when they were new, but they work great (and as you can see by the dirt, they were a good idea).
-My wife bought me the official Mazda rear cargo mat. I like it a lot.
-My brother bought me the retractable rear cargo cover. It should have been standard. I feel so much more secure if I have a briefcase or packages in the car.
-I have a radar detector that gives me peace of mind and I added a dash cam to give me more. I got a little strip of aluminum sheet and bent it into a bracket so I could mount them both by the display screen (the dashcam is the horizontal cylinder on the back side of the screen). I wired both to the rearview mirror power connector and tucked the wires under trim.
That's it for a while...I think!
-I'm a Midwesterner, and a big believer in dedicated winter tires. I had Blizzaks mounted on the original 20" Signature rims right before Christmas and the CX-9 was solid and steady on snow and ice. I felt very secure.
-I had the original Falken all-season tires remounted on Liquidmetal Splice rims. I decided to leave the Blizzaks on the stock rims and put the regular tires on the new rims because 1) the Liquidmetal wheels are 10lb lighter each and they'll be on about 75% of the year, and 2) I think the Splice wheels look good. I switched back to the Falkens on Friday and it snowed this morning!
-I had a hitch added so I could use an aluminum (welded) tray and cargo carrier. It was absolutely necessary for our 8-day home-for-Christmas trip with our daughters.
-I bought Weathertech mats for the front and second-row seats. They smelled like cat pee when they were new, but they work great (and as you can see by the dirt, they were a good idea).
-My wife bought me the official Mazda rear cargo mat. I like it a lot.
-My brother bought me the retractable rear cargo cover. It should have been standard. I feel so much more secure if I have a briefcase or packages in the car.
-I have a radar detector that gives me peace of mind and I added a dash cam to give me more. I got a little strip of aluminum sheet and bent it into a bracket so I could mount them both by the display screen (the dashcam is the horizontal cylinder on the back side of the screen). I wired both to the rearview mirror power connector and tucked the wires under trim.
That's it for a while...I think!
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