This is a review of the 2013 Mazda CX-9 by my husband, Will.
My seven day review period went something like this…
Day 1: I come home from work at lunch to find the “Niner” packed to the gills with car seats and Angela smiling, “I thought I could drive it for just one day <eyelash batting>?”
Day 2: The mad rush to get kids to school and Angela off to a meeting immediately following leaves no time to switch car seats – another day shot.
Day 3: The load of garbage I brought home from work in the back of our van I’ve been driving needs to be unloaded before I can put all the car seats back in it. One work stop after another, and the whole day is gone.
Day 4: What’s this!? Our van failed DEQ and has to go to the shop. Oh, crimany! Luckily we have a Mazda CX-9 that will fit all the car seats, and I’m stuck in my sedan for another day…
Day 5: … or two…
Day 6: … or THREE…
Day 7: Finally, I get to drive the Niner. I have nowhere to go but volunteer to take the boys to cash in pop cans at everybody’s favorite store (Grocery Outlet). You know they have free coffee there, right?
Some things I like and hate about the Mazda CX-9:
Blind spot alert in the mirror. The side mirrors alert you when a car is in your blind spot – so awesome!
An engine with power. This sucker accelerates fast and has a top speed much higher than I could discover on my trip to the Grocery Outlet. (Angela here — It goes really fast :).)
Low-profile tires. They look cool. What can I say? I look pimp. Is that something the kids are still saying these days?
Voice commands/Bluetooth connectivity. This is the easiest connection I’ve encountered. My phone and mobile phone book connected very easily, and I was able to make calls by voice command – all without having to read instructions. This is a rare find.
Gas Mileage. Average fuel consumption for the week was 15.8 mpg. Are you kidding me? Is this a Suburban? In 2013, can’t we do better? Can I at least get 20 mpg?
My gauge on whether or not I like a car is this: “If I won this car on a game show or in a drawing, would I keep the car or sell it?” I would keep the 2013 Mazda CX-9.
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Did the CX-9 you tested have front-wheel-drive (FWD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD). The photo at the top of the page is of an AWD model (you can see the AWD badge under the larger CX-9 badge on the tailgate.
The FWD models average 2-3mpg better fuel economy overall, cost less to buy and maintain, have sharper handling and accelerate from 0-60mph allmost a full second faster (7.2 seconds, for the record). I have a 2012 CX-9 GT FWD and I love it!
Thanks that is super helpful. I’m 5 ‘8 and my husband is 6’4 so big is necessary! We’ve wanted the Pilot all along, they are just expensive we are trying to look at other options! I appreciate your insight.
When I was looking for a mid size SUV I tried this out. I’m tall (5’10” with a long torso) and I barely fit comfortably through the driver’s side door (with a model that has a sun roof). To be fair, I pretty much knew starting out that I needed a basic model without a sunroof so that my friends and family (most of us tall/big) would comfortably fit. I found this SUV felt the smallest out of all of the cars/SUVs I test drove. (I looked at the Ford explorer, escape, edge, flex, subaru outback, terrain/traverse/tahoe/acadia, pilot, crv, venza and rav4). The gas mileage on all of these is relatively comparable (for cars that are new-3 years old) and I’d expect you’d get between 16-20 in town and 20-25 hwy if you didn’t get a hybrid or the smaller SUVs. I ended up buying a basic Honda Pilot EX, and put in leather after-market. I like the sliding middle seat and the boxy shape was the easiest for me to see out of. I didn’t like that many newer models have smaller-feeling windows and cabin spaces. Plus the pilot had plenty of head room for my two dogs in the back row with the seats down. The clean-ability of this was great–lots of cubbies and hard plastic to easily clean. Some reviewers thought this was cheap, I thought it was practical. The third row in any of these probably isn’t good for anyone over 5″ tall.
This is actually one of the cars my family of 4, soon to be 5 is considering. Any chance you could give some insight on the space? Does it have a third row? Is it spacious? Enough room in the back? I’d love the real life insight!