New here, looking to buy a 2017 CX-9 GT

[Glaucus]

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum. Today I took a 2017 CX-9 GT out for a test drive and plan to make an offer soon. It drives really nice, even with 98,000Km on it. Anyway, I have a question perhaps people here could answer. I was under the impression that the GTs came standard with all the TECH package features, but it turns out I was wrong and this particular car does NOT have the TECH package. So I was wondering what effort is involved in adding the front radar to the car? Could I swap out the front Mazda logo with one that contains the radar and just plug it in somewhere? Or is it a lot more involved than that? Does Mazda offer the tech package as an add-on to older models?

Thanks.

 

[jal142]

I am unaware of anyone adding options like you are hoping to do and having them fully function. The only example I can think of off the top of my head is that a few people swapped the higher trim headlights to the lower trim models, but they had to modify the wiring harnesses to do so and adaptive lighting function does not work.

Without digging into the parts diagrams and so forth, I would guess that it will not be a plug and play operation. Based on my experience, Mazda doesn't use one common set of electrical harnesses so I would be surprised if the plugs and so forth exist on the car you have in mind. Beyond that, I don't know if anyone has cracked Mazda's body control module, so getting the car to recognize the new option even if you were to install it is uncharted territory.

 

[Glaucus]

Ok, thanks. Kinda what I expected but figured I'd ask the experts. I heard that there is a retro upgrade for the infotainment on older models like the 2017s that adds CarPlay/Android Auto, so I was hoping that Mazda has a habit of offering advanced features to older models. But ya, I thought that was a long shot. Thanks again.

 

[PTguy]

Is that a Canadian CX-9? There are differences to the U.S. models, and I haven't seen a list of all the differences. The U.S. GT does have the tech package. The U.S. cars don't have a heated steering wheel, at least in my model year of 2016. In any case, get the owner's manual from the seller, or buy one soon. There may be features you haven't seen or the previous owner didn't turn on.