Welcome to Mazda. Mazda dealers have their moments, being independent, but Mazda has always been good about getting involved when a dealer isn't resolving a problem. The few times I wasn't getting the satisfaction I expected, Mazda responded promptly both to me, and the dealer, and stayed with it until I was satisfied.
As far as the cars themselves, none of the big 3 'American' makers are matching the quality of the better 'imports'. The quotes are there because an American car is as foreign as an import, and imports are as domestic as Americans. Even our Hiroshima built CX9s have Ford parts on them. And, as you said, they don't support their lousy cars like Mazda does. GM had paint literally falling off of their cars for 3 model years, and refused to do anything about it. That's not an isolated case, either.
If you look closely at a CX9, and then any comparable American car, you will see a distinct difference in many areas. Quality of the individual parts, particularly the castings, fit of those parts, finish, engineering, and design. On the American cars (and sadly some of the imports now), you will see a lot more gimmickry and flashy add-ons to divert your attention from the poor overall quality. The CX9 isn't perfect, but it is clearly the most well thought out SUV on the market, from an owners viewpoint. All the functional features you get, plus the mechanics, and performance are superior to the competition. The best example is the Ford Edge. Ford and Mazda started with the same platform, and came up with two completely different vehicles; a clunky bloated 5 seater vs. a smooth, quick, fun to drive TRUE 7 seater. Ford drew the exterior of the Edge, and they were done thinking about it. Mazda thought about every single detail, from how to make 7 people actually fit, and get in and out, to making the space behind the third row big enough to actually use, right down to the LCD display at the top of the center stack that is easy to read regardless of the light conditions. I could go on, especially if I had a CX9 and Edge (or anything else) parked next to each other.
And, as you pointed out, for 2010, Mazda updated the CX9 look, but more importantly, made it even more functional, as they have done for it's first 3 years. Not gimmicks to replace real features, but genuine improvements, like the dual stage heated seats and the full auto rear A/C controls, and the Air Flow mode selector now being able to go backwards, not just forwards. No panoramic sunroofs, or Microshaft driven interfaces. REAL function.
That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.
