Mike's 2022 CX-9 Kuro Edition

sm1ke

2022 Mazda CX-9 Kuro Edition
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Canada
Over the weekend, I traded in my slightly older CX-9 for this one, a black 2022 Kuro with red interior and almost 71k kms.

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On a whim, I decided to stop by a dealer to check out a black 2022 CX-9 Kuro Edition. I've been keeping an eye on used inventory lately just to see if a good deal comes up. This one had been listed at $38k CDN for a while, and this dealer has a "one-price" policy, which when paired with the initial asking price, is likely why it wasn't sold yet. I talked to a sales rep, and took it for a test drive. It drove just like my 2018 as expected, just a little more "fresh". It helped that the interior had been recently detailed. The red is a bit bright - my wife was worried it would be too "bold" for her liking, but once she saw pictures she was sold as quickly as I was.

This 2022 has half the mileage my 2018 has. Initial inspection was good, oil on the dipstick is clean, brake fluid and coolant levels are good. The safety inspection and CarFax were clean, with no accidents showing and no major repairs. The car is a lease return. It's got brand new Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 tires on it, which is awesome. We'll see how they handle this coming winter and evaluate the need for dedicated winter tires later. Paint looks like it's in decent condition, aside from one spot on the driver's door that was touched up. It could use a polish, but outside of one small rust spot on the roof and a small scuff on the chrome trim of the rear bumper, the rest of the car looks like its in good condition. By comparison, my 2018 has tiny rust spots all over the roof that will only get worse with age, and there's also a small spot at the lower corner of the driver's side rear door that's showing minor signs of rust. My 2018 also has some tiny rock chips in the hood and fenders from highway driving in Calgary. Maintaining this black paint will be a big challenge, but I hope to get it looking mint after I give it a polish.

When it came to talking numbers, I was expecting them to be pretty hesitant to negotiate anything because of their policy. However, I was able to negotiate other items. For one, they offered a dealer finance discount that I was able to get them to increase from $500. They also lowballed the 2018 trade-in value at first (as expected), but we were able to apply some pressure to get them to a better number, better than I was initially expecting to get actually. Then, we were able to get them to throw in a block heater, and have their PDR guy pull out the only dent on the car. All in all, the price we paid to upgrade was more than fair, and we'll be able to pay it off well before the factory powertrain warranty expires.

I'm happy to have an updated car. The black exterior and red interior is a welcome change of pace from the refined grey and auburn brown that the Signature has, and I'll miss the slightly tacky Signature lighting in the front grille. The 360-degree cam, hands-free liftgate, larger infotainment screen and updated instrument cluster all help to make this feel more like an upgrade, instead of buying a different version of the same car. Additionally, it has a trailer hitch and roof rails with cross bars installed, which I did not have on my car. I don't know if I'll ever use either of those things, but it's really nice to know that they're there if I need them. I'm not sure what Mazda did for NVH improvements past 2018, but interior cabin noise on my 2022 is significantly reduced - I noticed it almost immediately on the test drive.

Some new pictures of the 2022..

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The dealer detailed the interior and exterior before we picked it up yesterday. They did a great job on the interior, not so great on the exterior. Since the car got an oil change at 70k and plugs were done around 60k, it doesn't really need anything at the moment. I'll probably give it a good polish to prep it for winter, and apply Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat to the black plastic trim for long term durability.

I'm looking forward to a (hopefully) problem-free owner experience with this CX-9! :) Seems like you guys will have to keep putting up with me for a good while longer lol
 
Can you keep us updated about tires handling winter conditions? Winter should start pretty soon in Calgary area 😋 and I am really curious about this particular tire. I will be in a need of changing mine in approx 12 months and this tire has great reviews and is reasonably priced in Canada.

Otherwise great choice of a car. It's basically GT model with captain's chairs and red interior. So apart from the lack of Nappa leather and wood you are not missing anything.
 
Sure thing, I'll keep you updated. I haven't driven on all-seasons through winter for like 10 years, so I should be able to get a good idea of how much winter tires can improve things.
 
Wow, what a surprise but great to see you staying with Mazda @sm1ke! Your 2018 CX-9 despite its age and mileage, is probably one of the nicest and best maintained in the whole country!

Love the color combo and definitely looking forward to your updates!
 
Thanks guys! The colour combo certainly looks great. I can't wait to give it a proper paint correction and remove all the swirling and minor scratches.
 
Can you keep us updated about tires handling winter conditions? Winter should start pretty soon in Calgary area 😋 and I am really curious about this particular tire. I will be in a need of changing mine in approx 12 months and this tire has great reviews and is reasonably priced in Canada.

Otherwise great choice of a car. It's basically GT model with captain's chairs and red interior. So apart from the lack of Nappa leather and wood you are not missing anything.

Search this forum and you will find a fair amount of user review for that specific tire. (The pirelli scorpions as 3 plus). It is pretty much one of the go to tire on this forum. But i can’t comment on winter performance though, they are still only an all season tire and not really comparable to all weather tire or dedicated winter tire.

@sm1ke I almost did the same last year (trading in my 2018 GT for a 2022). In the end I didn’t pull the trigger, but i had the same reasoning, updated interior, updated tech and warranty for not a fair value. I still don’t think there is anything like the CX-9 on the market. The other three rows are bigger, which is fine for most but I don’t need bigger. And they don’t have the handling and car like behaviour of the CX-9.
 
Well this came outta the blue! lol Congrats on your new-to-you CX-9!! I absolutely love that color combo, the red interior is gorgeous! If your wife thought it was bold on the Kuro, what would she think of it on the CX-70/90 where it carries over to the center console, dash and door cards? lol

Knowing your pension for detail, I'm looking forward to seeing pics of it after being polished up and to see what else you have in store. Did you keep the aftermarket wheels from your old CX-9 to transfer over or going another route?
 
@sm1ke I almost did the same last year (trading in my 2018 GT for a 2022). In the end I didn’t pull the trigger, but i had the same reasoning, updated interior, updated tech and warranty for not a fair value. I still don’t think there is anything like the CX-9 on the market. The other three rows are bigger, which is fine for most but I don’t need bigger. And they don’t have the handling and car like behaviour of the CX-9.

For sure. The CX-90 is a good car, it's just a bit bigger than I want it to be and I knew I'd miss the style of the CX-9, especially when it comes to the rear.

Well this came outta the blue! lol Congrats on your new-to-you CX-9!! I absolutely love that color combo, the red interior is gorgeous! If your wife thought it was bold on the Kuro, what would she think of it on the CX-70/90 where it carries over to the center console, dash and door cards? lol

Knowing your pension for detail, I'm looking forward to seeing pics of it after being polished up and to see what else you have in store. Did you keep the aftermarket wheels from your old CX-9 to transfer over or going another route?

It was definitely out of the blue! I had no real concrete plans to trade it in, but after seeing it in person and taking it for a test drive, I knew I'd be trading up lol. I did keep the aftermarket wheels. I'm not sure if I'll throw them on this year, we've only got maybe 6-8 weeks of summer left. They'll definitely be going on next year though!
 
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