Cross-shopping the CX-9 - looking for opinions!

[Rawyzf]

My wife found it to be pretty good as well, though I have to say that the rotors LOOK very dinky.

Yeah I got started on All-Things-Integra.net (which is long-since defunct), then Honda-Acura.net, which spun off S2000online.com which then became S2Ki.com. Earlier than that I was on VWVortex (still have my membership!!), then NASIOC and RS25.com, and a few others. Mod on a couple of them. We old dudes have to stick together!

I think, if the salesman wasn't lying, and $35K on a $38K GT (the one we test drove, at least...pre-6% PA sales tax) is a true invoice price, then we'd be getting a pretty good deal, not including the 0% financing. We'd probably put at least 30% down anyway, maybe more. Some of those options aren't necessary, like the nav. It's annoying that you have to get Bose audio with the sunroof - I'm not a fan of Bose. But, oh well. It's also annoying that you have to delete the ability to get a rear cargo cover with the Bose, which I assume is because there's rear speakers that now take up the space where the sliding cover would mount? Unless some of you clever forum rats have figured out a workaround. Coming from a Subaru wagon, I know my wife would miss that - even though the CX-9 has pretty dark tint in the rear.

Ha, nice history! I think I started on some Yamaha motorcycle forum and it just went out of control since then. Crown Vics, Mustangs, Mazdas (since 2002 ), Pontiac, Camaro....etc. Anything I have interest in, I join up and read / research.

I do believe $35K on $38K car is invoice. You can beat that price though. We got the 0% for 60/mo and another $1500 in rebates. So, $33,500.

I know my price can be beat also from what others have posted. It's a good time to find an 2011 since the 12's will be in soon.

 

[Siper2]

Yeah, he told us the 2012s arrive in October, so this month is their offers on the 2011s. I'm not sure if there's any rebates right now, but of course we'd inquire. I wouldn't be able to talk them below invoice though, I'm sure.... they wouldn't be making a profit. Not that I'd want to rip them off. Plus, it seems that many Mazda dealerships are more honest, at least to scale, than other dealerships are.

As for my forum history, yeah it's pretty extensive. I haven't owned all the cars I've been on fan pages for (like VW, the S2000, and a couple others), but several of them. My Legacy is my sixth car, my second Subaru. Two Hondas and two Chevys, before that. My wife's on her second Subie as well, and had a Chevy and a Buick prior-to. So if she gets the CX-9, it'll be our first Mazda.

To be truthful, we're hardcore Subie nuts, but the Tribeca offers nothing... other than a slick dashboard design. The 2010+ Outback trumps it in power-to-weight, and therefore performance using the same 3.6-liter H-6 engine. It's also upsized from the last one, and has about 72-74 cu. ft. of storage behind the first seat, where the Tribeca is about 81. Not enough of an increase to matter, and the 3rd row is ridiculously tight. IF Subaru had a better offering..........we'd probably default to that. But, the CX-9 seems to us to be the best value. Plus it handles well, which is a boon for my wife.

Subaru's got a pseudo-partnership with Toyota as you may know, which is resulting in a cross-platform sports coupe that'll be coming out soon. I suspect that if Subaru wants to have an SUV again, they'll kill the existing Tribeca (which was a 2006 design initially), and maybe use a Toyota platform. Highlander, possibly, stretched a bit to make it similar in packaging to the CX-9. Or maybe the Pilot or 4Runner, I don't know. But I think the CX-9 is a better goal, since Subaru and Mazda owners share mentality. Not that they'll ask for my advice.

 

[crikey]

I bought our GT FWD with no other options except the roof rails (which the salesman gave for free) about a year ago and paid $29,500 +TTL + 0% financing. At the time of the hunt, the CX-9 offered the best value and the best driving experience.

After having Xenon headlights on our FX35 (traded in for CX-9) and VW GLI, I just had to get a GT. The 20" wheels were also something I wanted since I felt that the CX-9 looked more complete with the 20" wheels. The 18" wheels looked a bit small for the CX-9. I wanted the Bose sound system but did not want to pay for the moonroof since I never really used the moonroof that we had on the FX35.

The only other things I wished that our CX-9 GT had was a more powerful engine, the rear camera and steaming Bluetooth audio. I also find that the 6-speed transmission hunts gears a bit more than our FX35, but that might be because CX-9 has one extra gear and the ratios might not be spaced to what I was used to, in the FX35.

Other than that, the base CX-9 GT that we bought was perfect.

 

[Siper2]

Sounds good! We'd need the AWD model though, for sure. As for Bose, I can do without it, their stuff sounds okay... but not great to me, and not worth what they charge. No offense of course, to anyone here.

A test drive wasn't enough for us to notice the gearbox hunting around, but I have read a few comments on here, about that. Something to keep in mind, but not a big deal either. My wife's car is a 4 speed auto, so... a 6 will be like the Starship Enterprise, for her.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

The Aisin Tranny in the CX-9 (same as in my 6 sGT) does tend to hunt a bit (no doubt due to software programming meant to increase fuel economy). Probably even worse in the '11's since Mazda alleges an improvement in fuel economy from '10. I find that manually shifting gears is a helluva lot better. I use the manumatic mode 90% of the time. Also much better for traffic (just click it into 2nd and car will hold 2nd while you're crawling along). Overall though these cars do love to rev, so the manumatic serves them well. The V6 has a nice sound when the VVT starts working it's magic. Enjoy you're new rides.

 

[Siper2]

I'm sure my wife will have it in manual mode most of the time, anyhow... she and I are both stick shift advocates. Too bad there's no paddle shifters, but oh well.

Our Outback's 4-speed auto hunts around quite a bit, too, so... not that it's an excuse, but we're used to it.

 

[Gnef]

My motivation for the NAV kit was the bigger screen. The NAV blows compared to android devices. It might get better if I can figure out how to get it to take voice commands and then train myself. Haven't read the manual, but so far, all I can get it to do is give me categories for places that I don't want to go. I haven't had much time (still under 100 miles) in it so maybe it's all just going to be stellar once I check the manual.

I've seen some leak complaints on the moonroof for some of the prior year models. Not sure if that's been fixed in the 2011. I've got one and was wondering if I would regret it.

 

[Siper2]

Hmm, that's good to know! My wife's '01 moonroof doesn't leak, however we do have some leaking inside the map light cover. No, seriously. Turns out that the drain tunnels get clogged, and that can cause wet spots in several places. Here's a great tech thread (it's huge, I don't expect you guys to read all of it):

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...uides/8005-clean-your-sunroof-drain-hose.html

I'm not sure if this applies to most vehicles with moon/sunroofs, but... it's a good tech tidbit.

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

The leaking sunroofs were due to clogged drain holes that redirect water from the sunroof channel. Just make sure the drain holes are free of dirt and debris. Compressed air works well, or ask your dealer to do it at every service.

 

[Siper2]

Yep, same deal as the Subies, then. 10psi max is recommended for those, so the drain hose doesn't pop out of its seating somewhere inaccessible.

 

[bd75]

I'm sure my wife will have it in manual mode most of the time, anyhow... she and I are both stick shift advocates. Too bad there's no paddle shifters, but oh well.

I tried the paddle shifters on the new Outback... thought I'd like it, but I prefer the CX9s pull back to upshift over the Outbacks righthand paddle upshift. I don't like driving with my right hand on the wheel all the time I guess.

 

[Siper2]

I prefer cars with paddles, but the CX-9's shifter toggle will be fine.