Too Expensive? The New 2022 Mazda CX-9 Is The Closest Thing To A 3 Row Sports Car You Can Buy! 

Whenever a reviewer says “it drives like a Mazda” or references the old “zoom zoom” marketing, it is a compliment. I definitely encouraged anyone to test drive a Mazda when cross shopping vehicles. They drive well, have great reliability, and look good. My wife and I previously owned two generations of Hondas, mainly because they drove and felt better than Toyotas, but now I am a Mazda fan.

Replaced my wife's Equinox a couple years back with a Mazda CX-5 (we didn't need the extra row of the CX-9). Mazda builds a great quality product and I definitely agree with you Tommy that Mazda has the best driving dynamics out there. I would encourage anyone to go test drive one. It's something you need to experience --they really are fun to drive. Edit: Can confirm that the rotary knob to control the screen is pretty good. It only took me a couple days to get used to it. I still think it should be touch for the people that want that functionality though.

I like the manual interface for the screen. I think it is much easier to use than reaching over to touch the screen, especially while driving. I recently bought a 2023 CX-50 and love it overall.

I have a 2021 Mazda CX-9 carbon edition AWD and love it!

Upgraded my wife’s 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe to a 2019 Mazda CX-9 Touring about 6 months ago and she said it’s her favorite vehicle she’s ever had. We have taken on many trips over to the California coast and up into the Sierras and it drives and handles like a dream. Plenty of power from the turbo 4 and the interior feels premium. Overall extremely happy with our purchase and will drive it for many years to come.

Anything without a CVT is a dream these days! :)

I love my 2011 CX9. That car is solid as a rock. 169k miles and its going strong. I cant wait for the CX90 with the new inline V6. My wife is on her second CX5 and loves those cars.

Almost six years later and I still love my 2016 CX-9 GT. Drives great. Looks good. Can’t go wrong with a Mazda! EDIT: Just a quick update on this. Overall I am still very satisfied with my Mazda and as long as you don’t look at the wheels, the car is still beautiful. However, I’m having a terrible issue with the paint peeling on my wheels, which is addressed in a TSB. Mazda customer service has been terrible. The dealership says it’s something I need to resolve through their corporate office. The corporate office says I need to resolve the issue through the dealership. They’re both impossible to get a hold of and I’m definitely getting the run around. We’re a three Mazda family (CX-5, CX-9 and Mazda 3). I guess that as long as you don’t have to deal with their customer service, you should be fine. But should there be any issues, prepare yourself for a ride.

I’ve owned multiple Mazdas and simply put, they’ve been bulletproof. I’m currently on a 2018 CX-9 Grand Touring and I love the car. Zero problems so far. However, if Mazda truly wants to compete with the likes of Acura, they MUST upgrade their safety tech. Yes, the CX-9 has features like lane keep assist but it barely works. Even the adaptive cruise fails to track the car in front if a curve is too severe. Consumers are increasingly demanding things like semi-autonomous driving tech and Mazda just isn’t there yet.

I have a CX-5, and my daughter has a 3 Hatch. We both love the media controls. I hate being in my wife’s car where I have to use the touch screen. Mazda’s are fun, reliable, and have been a great value for the quality materials and experience they deliver. I fear some of that value is in jeopardy in their move upmarket. I hope not, though.

I test drove one of these and was blown away about how much fun for a dad vehicle it is. The turbo pulls hard makes it feel fun but take it out of sport and it’s comfy and chill. Hard to believe it’s 0-60 is 7ish seconds feels faster and for being only a 6speed auto it shifts well. Very much debating on trading my Acadia for one.

Mazda fanboy here, had a 2014 3 sedan and currently 2016 Mazda 3 iGrand Touring hatchback. Dont need/want touchscreen. Totally love the command center knob.

No touch screen is amazing! It's so much more precise. I get what I want every time. With touch screens i would miss the button I was trying to press by a mm or something.

I bought the CX-9 new back in 2021 and I have to say it's been an incredible option. I wouldn't describe it as 'sporty' but rather 'peppy'. It's got enough power when you need it so you're not so bored you wanna kill yourself on city streets but enough space to ACTUALLY pick large things up from the store. The interior is incredible but I have to admit the door rattle a bit straight from the factory with any sort of bass in your songs. I would 100% buy this again - though I will be buying a second (used) sports car to give me that love of driving again. NOTE: YOU HAVE TO GET PREMIUM. You technically don't have to BUT I have noticed a distinct difference between BP premium and "RaceTrac Regular".

I agree that the nob is better than a touch screen, as soon as you get used to it. Also, on my sister's 2020 CX-5, it is a touch screen if she's in park.

There’s a brand new red Mazda3 I drive by on the way to work everyday and every time I drive by I have to turn my head to look. It really is an amazing color and this video doesn’t come close to doing it justice. Have loved my 18 Mazda3 since I bought it new. I always get compliments on the interior every time someone new gets in it. Love the rotary dial controls. Has a touchscreen but I never use it. Don’t like leaning/stretching forward to touch the screen when I can just rest my hand on the center console and control everything with a single knob. Definitely has good control/handling and is a very smooth/quiet ride on smooth roads but you definitely feel the bumps in it. Suspension is stiff. I regret having the bigger wheels on it because of the lack of shock absorption with thinner tires. Would totally go with the cheaper, smaller wheels so I could have thicker, more giving tires for a softer ride if I could go back. That’s the only thing I regret on it.

It's true that the rotary dial for the infotainment is far better than the touch screen. I use a Mazda and a Honda and I vouch for the way Mazda has gone.

I think it's a worthy option for my family to consider bc of the amount of luxury features you get on the Grand Touring trim since it's the second most luxurious trim after the Signature trim, & it has a bench in the second row compared to the Captain's chairs on the Signature trim. This feels like a potentially worthy affordable alternative to certain compact luxyry crossovers or even other midsize 2-3 row luxury crossovers, like the GV80 or Grand Cherokee 2-row

The top of the line Mazda CX-9 is a great alternative to RX-L or MDX entry levels for the value of money.

I have owned a CX9 GT since 2007 ,it has 250000km on it now with no issues. it drives and handles like a sports car. just love it. waiting for the up coming CX90.Always been a Mazda fan.

Since you asked....I don't think you're wrong but if I have 4 kids 19 dogs and a hamster I'm going sienna.

We have a 2021 cx9 signature 100th anniversary edition we bought new. Top trim above signature here in canada and we love it. It ran us nearly $60k cad. That's for my wife. We got used to the infotainment within a week on bothe cars. I drive a mazda 3 gt hatch awd I also bought new. Great cars. All I used to drive before were audis. Nice to not visit the dealer every week 🤣🤣

Hey, 1/2 mazda fanboy here, the sweet spot for the infotainment was in 2018 cx5 when you get the touch screen and the knob thingy.

Only thing about this model is that there is a known issue with oil consumption just fyi

Love my 2016 CX5! Recently drove it from Portland, OR to Palm Springs to Vegas and back to Portland over 2 weeks, via Death Valley. Not a single issue. I love it and - unless Mazda totally screws it up - I will be getting the new CX-90 plug-in hybrid when it arrives. Zoom-zoom! :)

I’ll wait for the new CX-9 with the in-line 6

I have an old model 2013 with the V6 I like this model except for the engine but I hear the new CX90 will have an inline 6, that will probably be my upgrade.

As the original owner of a Mazda 1979 RX7, I can vouch for the longevity of Mazda products. But they really need to update the CX-9.

My mom just got this after having a Sienna, almost the same spec, if not the same. Honestly, while this is fast and fun to drive, I would have gone with a Highlander hybrid for this class, more space, my dad has a CX5 already, so not like they don't have a "funner" vehicle. But she's excited and got all the accessories since she hasn't gotten a new car in 12 years and before the Sienna, they both only leased,

I bought a 2014 Mazda CX-9 in 2015, with 18k miles. She has over 244k on her now and still running fine. I am torn on getting a different 3 row vehicle like the Toyota or VW….shopping around now. Handing my Mazda down to my son.

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY EVERYONE

Just got a CX-9, reminds me of my racecar - like handling of my 2000 Honda Odyssey, not like my float-boat, mild steering 2011 Odyssey!

I had a 2014 CX9 for quite a while and it was fantastic. Drove great, fit everything you’d ever need in it, and I thought it looked great.

I bought the first Mazda CX9 that the dealer in Janesville wi received it was a signature, it has been an absolutely great dependable ride. Superb handling, very capable AWD system, and a no turbo lag responsive engine the ONLY thing it lacked was room.

Love my 2021 cx-9!!!! Had a 2010 cx-9 before that and the wife has a 2017 6. Can't beat the reliability and super fun to drive!!!

Too expensive? No way. The amount of stuff you get with this for the same price as a highlander is hilarious. Especially the lower trims - a Carbon Edition gets you WAY more than an LE or an XLE

Love this CUV. Perhaps one of its biggest short comings is it's need for Premium fuel. Just too pricey. Mazda says you can run Regular now but at a loss for performance

I've always loved this SUV. Beautiful and classy.

Just ordered 2022 cx9 to replace my leased 2019 cx9, but a higher trim. Nothing in this category drives as CX9.

We’ve got 3 kids with another on the way and 2 dogs. Looking at this pretty intently.

For almost $50k, Mazda should've added a panoramic roof and a freaking touchscreen infotainment! May be fun to drive. But lacks some tech and features. Which explains why Mazda sales are tanking. Mazda really needs to step their game up and give their consumers what they want and not what they want for the consumers.

Wow great video. Just stumbled on this. Very informative and straight to the point. Thank you. On a side note. I have the cx9 I agree with Mazda, the control dial is in fact easier to use than reaching over to the touch screen. I also have the Acura tlx which uses a touch pad, and it’s terrible compared to the dial.

Good video and quite informative as always Tommy. Appreciate you guys and keep the videos coming out.

Unfortunately, an accident totaled our 2016 GT. Went out today and got a new GT. Has some upgrades over our 2016 so please with it.

I agree that Mazda builds fantastic looking vehicles and great enthusiastic driving dynamic, but I have to disagree that it's the most fun 3 row SUV to drive. I felt like the engine felt a little under powered for the CX-9. I ended up going with a Honda Pilot because the 3.5 NA engine really moves the pilot plus the 3rd row is actually usable for taller adults. It maybe not be the best-looking SUV but personally I think it edges out the CX-9 for driving and usability with 6+ adults. Plus the Torque Vectoring AWD is fantastic on the Honda! I did rent a 2021 CX-30 for a week and absolutely loved it which is why I seriously considered the CX-9.

Family friends leasing Mazda CX9 for last 10 years. I took a test drive on latest model. 4 cylinder engine is OK for city but lagging on highway with fully loaded with kids and luggage. Not so good in deep snow compared to Toyota Highlander. Lease monthly price 550

I don’t understand why nobody complains about engine noise inside cabin. That 2.5T with 227hp is too low for a 3 row suv. Glad that the new cx90 is 280hp

Is this Savagegeese??

My wife loves her CX-5 from 2016! Gonna give it to teen daughter since it only has 54,000 miles on it and grab the wife a Toyota Highlander Hybrid Platinum model👍🏾

3rd row up makes the cargo area useless. You need to buy narrow car seats to fit 3 across in the second row (which you prob was not thinking about when you bought seats for 1st kid or 2nd kid). You will be driving much closer to the steering wheel than you want to with a rear facing car seat behind you, and when they go forward facing you will be tired of them kicking your seat. And a minivan suffers all the same drawbacks. The first time you go grocery shopping and open the hatch with a full load of groceries and realize you forgot to take out the double bob and have zero room and you'll just wonder why you didn't spend $50k on a used Suburban or a full size crew cab truck. My crew cab F150 is 100x the family hauler vs my wife's Atlas.

I have 2019 Gt , this car agging really well, it still look good even redesign in 2016 . i switched from premium gas to regular gas just fell a little bit different when loss few HP. Full gas tank can give you over 700km .if new redesign cx90 can make more 20% efficiency and design is more attractive it will be a big win for mazda

Beautiful vehicle but it really needs a refresh. 50k needs a pano roof and even though the Mazda infotainment works well it can really use an upgrade to make it work as a touchscreen and some better graphics. Mazda also needs to seriously improve its lane keep/lane trace not even close to Hyundai/Kia.

I love my CX9. I understand that jurnalists have the car for a max of 1 week. You get ised to the info system and the dial. After a while you can do it blind. You must love how many jurnalists keep complaining about car makers removing buttons for this and that but then they complain about mazda giving hardware control of the info system. I can even recall how many times guys on tfl complained about Hyundai, Honda, VW having haptic buttons and yet here....

Holy front overhang batman!

250 hp with premium fuel (at least 93 octane).

Very nice needs more power actually to be almost perfect. The 2.5 turbo adequate slow at take off.This is a heavy Suv loaded with 4 people motor really working.

My folks has an RX3 wagon, looks identical.

Had a fully loaded rental CX-9 for a few weeks while my Tesla was in the shop and it was a pretty nice car, but had some notable drawbacks. First was the amount or road/tire noise. Anything above 40 MPH was unreasonably loud for a vehicle of this price. Power was decent for a 4 cylinder but nothing impressive, but coming from a Model 3 performance most cars are going to feel slow. The tech was pretty good, which my favorite features being the 360 degree camera system and ventilated seats. One thing that really concerned me was if I was driving for more than about 30 minutes at a time the oil pressure light would come on. The vehicle was only 2 years old with 29,000 miles. After looking a little deeper I noticed the "next oil change due" sticker on the windshield said 11,000 miles meaning the last time the oil was change was probably at 5K or 6k miles so nearly 25K miles have already been driven since the last oil change. I can only imagine what issues that many miles on the same oil will cause on a turbo GDI engine. Moral of the story is that the CX-9 is a pretty nice car, but most importantly NEVER buy a used car that was previously a rental as that are never maintained.

For what its worth I believe the screen is a touch screen but only in park.

Third row and cargo area with the seat up is absolutely unusable for a family of 5

Somewhere along that life you should’ve bought a rubber 😅😅😅 Love the mazda interior. Best in class

Traverse and enclave will always be the best in the segment because their the biggest … this is America where bigger is better and it helps they come super equipped

I am waiting for the upcoming CX-90.

Nice vehicle but way overdue for a redesign.

Slow down have you seen Supersonic Red from Toyota or any special colours from Lexus? Those are the best colours in the industry

Recommend waiting for the upcoming CX-90 with the new Mazda RWD/AWD architecture. This vehicle is designed well, but frankly it's outdated for $49k

I was disappointed with the mid-row seating position and headroom. The back is not comfortable and roomy as a Telluride or a Palisade.

I don’t like it, the front headlights are way to small compared to the grill

Previous front grill looks better

Mazda’s I think are still made in Japan with 90 percent Japanese parts.

I stopped by Mazda yesterday and sat in a CX-9 Signature for the first time. It was extremely uncomfortable. Felt like I was in a bucket. Nice looking SUV, but hard seats and 10% over list made me walk away. I'm used to luxury and this...ain't it!

i would not be getting this vehicle if i needed a family vehicle.i put a premium on cargo space and room over driving dynamics

On premium fuel, it makes 250 bhp.

Did Tommy just compare the CX9 to a battleship? Lol!

You say expensive at 49k but that's just barely over the average price of a new car in 2022. My mom has a slightly older cx9 and I love it except the low res backup camera and the slow usbs up front unless you pay an extra 500$ for a dealer installed thing. At least for her model year that's how it worked. It runs on regular and gets 25mpg.

2016 I leased then it was the new cx9 2019 I leased a Hyundai Sonata 2.0t 2022 I leased the new 2022 pathfinder out of these 3 vehicles the Mazda was the best when the lease is up on the Nissan I think my first choice is going to be the Mazda easy to drive comfortable waiting to see what the cx90 is going to look like anybody ask me about a new car I tell them go drive a Mazda you won’t be disappointed

Hopefully when the CX9 replacement comes it will have improved mileage. By the way it is true about what Mazda claims about the infotainment system. Use it for a few weeks you would love it and won’t want to switch back to touch screen.

That “kind of a wood material” is better known as “wood.” Everything in the CX9 interior is of higher quality than the KIA/Hyundai alternatives (except for the digital display). Smaller than the KIA/Hyundai? Absolutely. But let’s not conflate interior size with quality.

This is not comparable to a mini van at all. Stroller doesn’t fit in the hatch with third row up and there are no AC vents in the third row. The lack of vents really irritates me

No air vents in the 3rd row and only console vents for 2nd row. Not good. Too bad it's a great car besides that and limited cargo.

OH NO!!! I had another kid!!🤣😂😂

Quite pricey! Try living in Europe if you want to know about pricey cars. You Americans haven’t a clue about expensive cars, and don’t get me started on the cost of fuel!

Interesting that vehicles like this 3-row, top spec CX-9 would be considered too expensive when a Tesla Model 3 compact sedan costs more with a far less luxurious interior. While I love EVs, they definitely make ICE vehicles into bargains unless you're figuring over 5 years of ownership costs.

Sorry to rain on the Mazda fanboys' parade but 227 HP on premium? No touchscreen? It might be well tuned but at some point you can't escape physics. The exterior also looks dated IMO.

Isn't it 250hp on 93 octane?

Mazdas biggest let down is always the infotainment system.

Mazda definitely make great vehicles but I’ll have to disagree with you saying this looks better than the competition.

Does the CX-9 have cylinder deactivation ?

I love the Signature model grille with LED accent lighting..

Mazda all way make great vehicles we had 2# 626 15 years

Btw does anyone have an idea when the CX 9 will be replaced?

I’m a Mazda fanboy. I had to switch to a Camry because they are killing the 6. I miss the infotainment system. I also miss the handling. The Camry does have AWD. One of my disappointments for the 6 was to get a touring trim it went to 19 inch tires. Not as great in the snow. Live in SW PA and wasn’t cutting it.

"Oh, no!" 😝

I'm sorry the sorrento is better looking,more technology, more luxurious, & more powerful with over $5k in savings! Oh yeah pano roof

I’d like one but the bubble butt SUV crossover design is getting bland, may as well make is square, at least that would improve the interior space. I’m also over the tablet sticking up out of the dash, that was kinda cool in 2013

TFLnow-1 advice. Better you watch some other reviews so got more details in your video. Very blunt info.

do you have an idea what is the wading depth capability of the CX9? can it traverse floods?

Video starts at 1:31

Love ya Tommy, but the CX-9 is an also ran in the three row crossover space. Useless third row for even pre teens and awful cargo capacity vs most in the class. Throw in a meh interior and the godawful pig snout grill that sticks out of the front end a good 3” and my wife didn’t even want to test drive it. The 2nd gen Pilot gave her the body style and durability/storage she wanted inside (she didn’t want luxury materials that the kids could destroy) and I got a Traverse that is the biggest vehicle you can get without a ladder frame. If I wanted something sporty in this class why would I look beyond a Durango R/T or Explorer ST?

After my 2016 Mazda 6 I will not be buying another Mazda