Discount Tire appears to be the real deal when it comes to customer service. We just got few around here and I've used them for new tires twice already. Only time in my life a tire place didn't tell me I needed an alignment when getting new tires. Every other place calls that play every time it seems.
What have you done to your CX-9 today?
- Thread starter voldsom
- Start date
Yeah, I really like them, and they'll usually negotiate some with package pricing for new tires if you tell them a realistic number from somewhere else, including Tire Rack. In addition they have never over sold crap I don't need, are friendly, and don't talk down to you. One shop even gave me two used hankook snow tires because they didn't want to put my blizzaks only on the front wheels my old 6 (had DWS year round, so I wasn't worried about oversteer, just needed traction to get going. Oversteer would have made the car more fun anyway
). They just threw in the tires and only charged me mount and balance for the blizzaks... Ridiculous customer service.Side Note:
If you want to hear what the AWD sounds like engaged, drive around with the spare on the rear end. I think the diameter is slightly different (even though it shouldn't be) than the GT's 20's with the OE 50 series tires. The only explanation I could have for the noise/vibration I was hearing, sounded a lot like my friend's Jeep when it's in 4WD. I kept speeds under 40, because all I could think about was a transfer case issue at 36,001 miles, lol. That and seeing that tiny donut on this big of a car was a little unnerving. Probably drove a a total of 15 miles in this condition. Just FYI.
Related: I heard there is a system Subaru has where you pull a fuse(?) or something and it disengages AWD while you have a donut on the car. Anyone know if this is true/ if our system has it?
If you want to hear what the AWD sounds like engaged, drive around with the spare on the rear end. I think the diameter is slightly different (even though it shouldn't be) than the GT's 20's with the OE 50 series tires. The only explanation I could have for the noise/vibration I was hearing, sounded a lot like my friend's Jeep when it's in 4WD. I kept speeds under 40, because all I could think about was a transfer case issue at 36,001 miles, lol. That and seeing that tiny donut on this big of a car was a little unnerving. Probably drove a a total of 15 miles in this condition. Just FYI.
Related: I heard there is a system Subaru has where you pull a fuse(?) or something and it disengages AWD while you have a donut on the car. Anyone know if this is true/ if our system has it?
I've never heard that for my STI. The center diff is a mechanical LSD diff so I don't know how it would disengage.
At least your TPMS told you right away. I took off in my STI without knowing a huge spike was in my tire and it was completely deflated. I knew something was wrong about 1/2 block away and got out and saw it was completely flat. I turned the car around and got back to my driveway and that's when the TPMS light went off. Gee thanks, government mandated nanny that didn't notify me of a complete flat yet bugs the crap out of you when the pressure in your tire drops 1/2 psi. Luckily the wheel was not damaged.
At least your TPMS told you right away. I took off in my STI without knowing a huge spike was in my tire and it was completely deflated. I knew something was wrong about 1/2 block away and got out and saw it was completely flat. I turned the car around and got back to my driveway and that's when the TPMS light went off. Gee thanks, government mandated nanny that didn't notify me of a complete flat yet bugs the crap out of you when the pressure in your tire drops 1/2 psi. Luckily the wheel was not damaged.
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If there was, im sure it would state it in the owners manual. They always have a small section dedicated to towing.
If there was, im sure it would state it in the owners manual. They always have a small section dedicated to towing.
Ahhhh, good call, RTM
Nothing on disabling the AWD while you're driving it, but it did shed light on on the diameter of the wheel being about 1" less than OE. Explains why the AWD might engage if it though that the left rear wheel had less traction (dictated by the smaller wheel/tire combo going through more revs than the wheel on the other side for a given speed).So what did I do to my CX-9 today?
Tint on front driver and passenger windows - 30% to stay legal in my state. Cost me $100 as I went with the "pinnacle" product, their top of the line. Going to go back in a few weeks and get rear passenger and hatch done. The factory glass already has some tinting in it (the tint guy said it wasn't tint, but was factory "smoked"???). No limit in my state on rear windows so not sure just how dark I will go.
They also claim to have a clear product that will block out most of the heat from the sunroof glass, as my wife does not want any tint on the sunroof glass. Anyone have any experience with it?
Tint on front driver and passenger windows - 30% to stay legal in my state. Cost me $100 as I went with the "pinnacle" product, their top of the line. Going to go back in a few weeks and get rear passenger and hatch done. The factory glass already has some tinting in it (the tint guy said it wasn't tint, but was factory "smoked"???). No limit in my state on rear windows so not sure just how dark I will go.
They also claim to have a clear product that will block out most of the heat from the sunroof glass, as my wife does not want any tint on the sunroof glass. Anyone have any experience with it?
Also, put in Weathertech digital liners all three rows, have them in a few other cars and am a big fan. The kids play outdoor sports and we are always tracking dirt and grass clippings into the cars. The weathertech mats were a no brainer for us. Also did the Mazda rear cargo cover as it allows us to have the liner in place regardless of third row configuration. The weather tech options were either third row down all the time, or only cover the small space behind the third row. We are constantly putting third row up and down to move people and coolers and wagons and tents and more. The weather tech offerings just didn't offer the flexibility we need. The quality of the Mazda mat seems to be pretty good, I did NOT drill the holes in the back of the third row to attach the clips as so far the velcro seems to be working just fine.
I'm really happy with my weather tech digital liners too. First car that I've put them in (cost was always prohibitive), but man clean up is easy, and I don't even think about snow/dirt on my boots anymore because the liner is so easy to clean. Great investement
Sweet on the tint. I really need to get the front tinted/darker on the back in my 9... My old 6 was @ 20% all the way around (not legal, I know. But in 4 years no issues), and the consistent tint from front to back looked so nice. I'm hoping when I go in to the tint place they can get a close match. I'll probably go 30% up front (the 20 is just a little too dark sometimes, but the privacy was awesome), and hope they can get close to that in the back. I was looking at the glass and I think I agree with your tint guy that the glass is smoked. There is no line anywhere on the glass where tint could have been noticed; makes sense they would just color the glass when they make it, I suppose.
Off topic: I was looking at tint laws from state to state and man some of them are dumb. I'm thankful for Colorado, who's tint laws are pretty generous comparatively. Any darkness in back, 27% up front minimum. From the summary I read, states like Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, etc. won't let you tint AT ALL unless you have a doctors note for a medical condition. F-that, tint is useful for more than aesthetics. It lowers internal temps (allowing you to use the AC less), it reduces glare from the sun perpendicular to you (when it's low), it protects interior finishes and adhesives by lowering temps, gives you privacy, and IMHO it looks cleaner/better. People who claim tint is just for aesthetics have obviously never lived with a car that's properly tinted. OK, rant off
LOL!Nor do they live in a warm sunny climate!
Finally got around to doing the first wax job on this thing last weekend. I loosely masked off the black molding around the bottom with painters tape to keep the wax off of it and then put some Zymol on it.
Thanks. Yeah, the weather was brutal that day as you can see in the pics. Any cooler last Sunday and I'd of had to turn off the AC and open the sunroof.
From a "keeping-the-car-clean" perspective, I'll trade you a week of warm beach-going weather, complete with a clean CX-9 to drive around, for a week of snowboarding in Colorado... and I'll wash and was your CX-9 when I'm done!"
From a "keeping-the-car-clean" perspective, I'll trade you a week of warm beach-going weather, complete with a clean CX-9 to drive around, for a week of snowboarding in Colorado... and I'll wash and was your CX-9 when I'm done!"
Pretty sure it's got Carnuba as well as a bunch of other natural oils. The stuff smells like suntan lotion and seems to leave a very thin film of oil behind... at least until a couple of rain showers wash it away. I can't say that it's any better than X, Y, or Z brand, but I've used it in the past and been happy with it.
IL allows tint on all windows except the windshield. You could go as dark as you wanted on the rear and rear side windows, but front sides were illegal till about 5 years ago. Now were allowed up to 35% on the front windows. But if you see the 6 in my sig, its had that tint since 2006 as it was the very first thing i did to it after buying it. Never even been asked about it when pulled over.
Ahh, I must have been working on old info. Yeah, I thought it was rediculous that the front sides couldn't be tinted at all "legally". Good thing it's been revised and you've never had an issue (2thumbs)
Hahah, I wouldn't know what to do with "humidity" (shady) I'm a skier and mountain biker myself, I do love these mountains
(great for the motorcycle too)
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Saturday marked this milestone. Actually looked down at the right time for once! (Since I missed 1k and 1111, lol).
Also ordered the RockyMounts TieRod in orange for a bike roof rack to attach to the factory crossbars. I was originally going to go with a wheel-on option, however they all tend to be bulky and/or long. I wanted something low-profile to keep on the car year round (since I went mountain biking yesterday thanks to Colorado throwing some nice weather our way) and wouldn't make a bunch of wind noise. Will report when that comes in.
Also ordered the RockyMounts TieRod in orange for a bike roof rack to attach to the factory crossbars. I was originally going to go with a wheel-on option, however they all tend to be bulky and/or long. I wanted something low-profile to keep on the car year round (since I went mountain biking yesterday thanks to Colorado throwing some nice weather our way) and wouldn't make a bunch of wind noise. Will report when that comes in.
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I was a bit concerned about that, and have done a few trials with the Thule Prologue I have now... It's not as easy as the 6 was, that's for sure. But it's not impossible either. Was thinking of keeping a step stool around too, lol.
As far as the hitch goes, that was my first thought. However, I don't have the hitch yet (but will eventually), and a good, wheel-on rack I'm looking at $400 bucks or so (can't do the hanging style, due to the geometry of my bike, the triangle is too compact. Tried LobsterClaws and adapters before too, but they didn't inspire confidence)...
So it was $100 bucks to get it on there now (got a deal on Amazon), or $500-600 bucks to get a hitch and a rack. In addition, as I've owned both hitch and roof racks before, the bike stays a bit cleaner and safer up on the roof. But then you get the negative of wind noise when the bike is up there. But you also know someone won't bonk it in a parking lot (or you won't bonk it, lol). But then you have to worry about low hanging structures.... AHHHG!
I really went back and forth on this. Trust me, I wanted to load up the back with a sweet Kuat rack with the built-in bike workstand, but coulnd't drop $450 on a rack. And with how muddy it is in CO right now (as you know @mxer), I didn't wanna keep loading the bike in the car. But, I figured I'd try the roof out and if it sucks I can either return or sell the thing (I got such a good deal on it I would probably break even locally on Craigslist
) I'll definitely report back if it sucks, lol.
