Yesterday I ended up purchasing the Mazda CX-9 Signature Edition. We were waiting for this vehicle to come out to give a comparison. I was in the market for Honda Pilot. I am upgrading from a 2011 Ford Edge Limited, Fully loaded. I wanted to pass along my thoughts on why we went with teh CX9. It may help others. In the end with features & price, I would say the Mazda and Honda were a virtual tie in my book. Here's why:
We were mainly looking at the Touring model, which is at a price point similar to the CX9 Grand Touring. The pilot feels much bigger on the inside. Alot more space in the 2nd and 3rd row. Honestly, the Pilot is an awesome vehicle, and there were only a few things i thought were strange about it. There's no blind spot monitoring. To me, that is one of the most important newer safety features to have, and why they excluded it is beyond me. I found out later you can get it in the Elite model, but that will add an additional 3K to the price. Also with the Elite, you get a panoramic roof, HD radio (another one of those odd upgrades), and captains chairs. Again, at a much higher price point. Finally the touring did have rear entertainment with BluRay, but in this day and age with Tablets, i don't think it's as big of a selling point anymore, at least for me.
To recap:
Honda Pilot Touring:
Positives: more spacious all around, drives great, bluray entertainment, remote starter.
Negatives: no Blind Spot monitoring, no HD Radio, and not a big fan of the infotainment.
As for the CX9, i personally like how it feels more like I am driving a car than a truck. It felt very similar to the Edge i am trading in. Even though it is a 4 Cylinder, i think it is extremely quiet. I also think it has plenty of power for the type of driving I do on a daily basis. The third row is very small. i think you can get adults back there, but it would be cramped. Also to get to the third row, it's not as easy as they claim. I had my son try and get back there, and he struggled to move the seat forward with the mechanism. I personally had some struggles as well. And lastly, in this day and age, how do you not have a remote starter standard? As a matter of fact, the only thing you can get is the Mazda mobile start, which works. but it takes forever to login, and start your car (we have it on the wife's mazda 6). Plus you have to pay a yearly fee to use it. i know people complain about the seat adjustments, and it's just not that big of a deal for me. i am average sized, and i found a comfortable position. I have been pretty much settled on getting a Grand Touring, mainly because my wife was not feeling the brown leather interior. However, in person, it has a much darker richer tone to it, and already owning a Mazda 6 with Black Leather, her comment was that it will at least differentiate the two as the black interior in CX9 looks very similar to the Mazda6. Plus, it doesn't look like you can get the steel grey in anything other than the Signature right now. I assume in a few months that will change.
To recap:
Mazda CX9 Signature:
Positives: Drives more like a car, Looks better than pilot, has blind spot standard, love the interior.
Negatives: No remote starter, third row is very small and hard to get to, wife doesn't like the interior color
I'm sure there are other differences, but this is just based on what matters to me..
So i went with the CX9 over the Pilot mainly because i just like the way the CX9 handles and drives slightly better. We are a family of 3, so the 3rd row is more of an insurance policy than a need. Otherwise, i am sure i would have gone the other way.
First off, I got a great deal. My initial thought is that i wouldn't had been able to negotiate much being a new model and all, but i didn't even have to ask. He gave me a discount that i was pretty pleased with. Plus he gave me more than i expected on my trade-in. I suspect approaching end of the month may have helped here. As mentioned, i was leaning toward the GT, but it didn't sound like my dealer would be able to secure me one for a few weeks from now, and he gave me such a great deal on the Signature, i couldn't pass it up. I pick up my CX9 next Thursday, and will try to update everyone on my experiences.
(I will post my price if you want to know and if you are allowed to. You can message me privately as well)