My wife and I have been holding off getting her a new ride for awhile, despite this not being a great time to buy I don't really see prices going back down. Inventory is improving and due to my mother in law needing reliable transportation we decided to go ahead and upgrade my wife's ride.
tl;Dr she wanted to start by looking at non Mazdas, while she likes her CX-3 she isn't a Mazda fanatic like him.
Her best friend has a Lexus RX350 and my wife is a fan of RX350 from the "luxury" factors. Personally not a big fan of the design and honestly not a fan of the price. We did go to go a dealership and the sales folks didn't really want to talk to us. Inventory is also super low. If my wife decides this is the direction that she wants to go in I will support her but probably would try a different dealer.
After road tripping with our CX-5 and our nearly one year old daughter we both agreed something a bit bigger would be nice. Of course for me that would be the CX-9 as the best option. My wife did want to look at the Highlander. We drove one. It wasn't bad, but certainly isn't fun to drive. Interior leaves much to be desired. Toyota though is also pretty terrible. Talked with three dealers here to get ideas on pricing on the AWD XLE. Inventory is super low and so the dealers all have crazy markups and the way the Toyota distribution network works means you can't buy a car without tons of added options.
We looked at Subaru. They of course have a devout following, like Mazda fanatics. We drove the Ascent and Forrester. The Ascent was awful. The Forrester wasn't bad but not as fun and responsive as my CX-5 and not as sexy. A super practical vehicle and good price point for the fully loaded Touring. I will give Subaru props for having a super friendly and knowledgeable sales staff. Having the barista in the service department at our local deal is pretty cool. Subaru is doing market adjustments so hard to get a deal.
The local Mazda dealership has been good in the past for me. They were super friendly. They aren't doing any market adjustments and their inventory is getting better. Drove the CX-50 (Turbo and Non-turbo) and CX-9. My wife likes the value of Mazda and I think I have her on board for a CX-9 Carbon Edition. Upscale interior, all the tech she wants but still at a decent price point. We both loved the color palette.
Didn't check out any other brands. I am a fan of Acura but price wise I think going with a CX-9 over the MDX is the right choice. Honda's aren't as sexy, my wife hates the boxy design of the Pilot. The offerings from Detroit don't call to us.
If you have any recent stories or thoughts to share around car shopping please add them to this thread.
tl;Dr she wanted to start by looking at non Mazdas, while she likes her CX-3 she isn't a Mazda fanatic like him.
Her best friend has a Lexus RX350 and my wife is a fan of RX350 from the "luxury" factors. Personally not a big fan of the design and honestly not a fan of the price. We did go to go a dealership and the sales folks didn't really want to talk to us. Inventory is also super low. If my wife decides this is the direction that she wants to go in I will support her but probably would try a different dealer.
After road tripping with our CX-5 and our nearly one year old daughter we both agreed something a bit bigger would be nice. Of course for me that would be the CX-9 as the best option. My wife did want to look at the Highlander. We drove one. It wasn't bad, but certainly isn't fun to drive. Interior leaves much to be desired. Toyota though is also pretty terrible. Talked with three dealers here to get ideas on pricing on the AWD XLE. Inventory is super low and so the dealers all have crazy markups and the way the Toyota distribution network works means you can't buy a car without tons of added options.
We looked at Subaru. They of course have a devout following, like Mazda fanatics. We drove the Ascent and Forrester. The Ascent was awful. The Forrester wasn't bad but not as fun and responsive as my CX-5 and not as sexy. A super practical vehicle and good price point for the fully loaded Touring. I will give Subaru props for having a super friendly and knowledgeable sales staff. Having the barista in the service department at our local deal is pretty cool. Subaru is doing market adjustments so hard to get a deal.
The local Mazda dealership has been good in the past for me. They were super friendly. They aren't doing any market adjustments and their inventory is getting better. Drove the CX-50 (Turbo and Non-turbo) and CX-9. My wife likes the value of Mazda and I think I have her on board for a CX-9 Carbon Edition. Upscale interior, all the tech she wants but still at a decent price point. We both loved the color palette.
Didn't check out any other brands. I am a fan of Acura but price wise I think going with a CX-9 over the MDX is the right choice. Honda's aren't as sexy, my wife hates the boxy design of the Pilot. The offerings from Detroit don't call to us.
If you have any recent stories or thoughts to share around car shopping please add them to this thread.
