So we had a 2007 or 2009… Funny can’t remember… In Chicago. I say that since it seemed no matter what tires /brakes we used this thing would slide. Wet pavement /snow or ice. Tie rod broke, transfer case, weird noise from end. If my wife actually put in oil when she was supposed to wouldn’t of had to drop an engine in at 100,000. There are definitely some recalls mostly I think air bag stuff. So look these up. Transmission could have some issues around 90,000https://www.kbb.com/mazda/cx-9/2011/consumer-reviews/
The good. It’s a very comfortable car and has loads of room with the seats down. Great Bose system (newer 2019 Bose is actually very nice). Drives like a luxury car not truck /suv. If you got leather it’s an upgraded version like the touring /grand touring model which gives you extras. Its a true 7 seater and get 2 large kids in the last row. As stated that year might not be the best. Not great gas mileage but it’s a 7 seater. Again it’s a nice looking inside suv but it has issues. Have a mechanic do a once over
My mechanic wouldn’t suggest it due to its mileage and upcoming issues.
Funny, didn’t even know Avis /Hertz sold cars till 2 weeks ago I drove by a lot for kicks. Tons of Ravs there. But they had a really nice Lexus but it was sold. Can’t negotiate. But the price on the various cars was just OK. Not great in my opinion. Maybe I like to negotiate… Lol. They said they do pull only certain cars at certain miles from the fleets for resale and they have to be clean cars. They were, gotta give them that. But something about buying from a rental company doesn’t sit with me well. They said they are tuned and mechanically looked at all the time since they are rental cars and have to perform correctly. Let me know what your experience is.
@HeartofDixie Gosh, I feel for you. Shopping for a used car is so hard. We almost bought a CX9 at one point and also liked the CX 7. How far out of the price range was the Honda Pilot and what year? We have owned 2 older model Pilots and a 2009 Pilot is my daily driver. It’s super reliable and easy to find a mechanic who works on Hondas that doesn’t work at a dealership. I always loved the look of the Mazdas though. Good luck!
I’ve never owned one, but my car mags keep saying Hyundai made huge strides in the last 15 years or so and they do have an industry-leading powertrain warranty. I also expect their resale value isn’t great compared to Honda and Toyota, so they might be worth checking out especially if you can get one with some warranty remaining.
The Honda Pilot is like an SUV version of the Honda Odyssey minivan, which has a more roomy and versatile interior if that is your priority. The Honda Ridgeline is like a crew cab pickup version.
It’s not that big of a cooler but is the cube shape with wheels and pull-out handle, there just wasn’t enough clearance to get it in because of the shape. It was frustrating though how limited the cargo space was for bigger items. We live an hour away from places like Target, Aldi, and Publix so I try to stock up when I make a trip. You run out of space quickly in a vehicle when getting cases of water, big packs of toilet paper or paper towels, dog food, coolers for frozen/refrigerated items, etc.
I really am struggling with making a drastic step down in size and features(leather seats, spacious rear seating and dual temperature controls) but my mother keeps reminding me that I need excellent gas mileage and I am concerned about spending more than I can afford.
LOTS of used cars from rental car companies out there right now as the rental companies have needed to make some drastic fleet reductions due to the pandemic. Some have VERY low mileage/months in service.
I did a little math based on driving 60 miles per day, 50 weeks per year. That’s 15,000 miles per year just for work.
At 30mpg, $3/gallon gas, you’ll pay $1500 in gas per year. At 20 mpg, you’ll pay $2250 per year. I guess ask yourself if $750 per year is worth having a bigger vehicle and extra space.
I just used a rough rule of thumb of full size SUVs getting in the area of 20 mpg, and 30 mpg for a midsize sedan. At 15 mpg your Yukon would run around $3000 per year.
A minivan is probably your best space-to-price ratio in the larger vehicle sector, since they tend to have more interior room and comfort than SUVs but cost less (e.g. the Honda Odyssey tends to cost less than the Honda Pilot).
Larger minivans:
Chrysler Pacifica
Chrysler Town and Country
Dodge Grand Caravan
Honda Odyssey
Kia Sedona
Toyota Sienna
We had a minivan a few years ago, a Ford Windstar that my ex bought and mostly drove. It was good space wise but I didn’t really care for it. I think that I would rather go with a sedan than a minivan, if I can’t find an suv that fits the bill.
A station wagon would offer more cargo room than a sedan. However there are few traditionally styled station wagons left, like the Buick Regal TourX, VW Golf Sportwagen, and Volvo V60. There are some small and tall ones like the Honda Fit and Kia Soul.
Suburu outback the older ones are basically station wagon hybrids and these do hold up well. Ton in my neighborhood. Actually all types and years of them Honda, Toyota.
We just helped our daughter buy a used car last week, long distance. Meaning she lives in a different city so we had to buy it sight unseen, though she did test drive it in person.
Seeing all the reports about rental car companies needing to dump their inventory, I checked with them first. I looked in two markets where she and we live, San Diego and Wash DC, both highly touristy locations with a large rental car inventory. I did not find any “deals” with any of the used rental car companies and found much better pricing on my own when comparing late model used rental cars with 2-3 y/o models being sold elsewhere. We ended up using USAA’s car buying service and found a fleet use car for her (2017 Toyota Corolla w/33K miles). That’s just my anecdotal experience having just gone thru this process.
Out of curiosity, I tried using USAA car buying service in Dixie’s area. There seems to be very little inventory in the Tupelo area, and most seem to be from a Carvana type service where the cars sold thru the used dealerships there are actually located in other parts of the country.
@HeartofDixie I know you said you are in NW Alabama but w/o knowing just how far you are from Tupelo, have you looked in any other areas? I’m not sure how far you are from Mooresville, but they seem to have much more inventory (at least when I am looking via USAA’s service).
I understand your concern about going from a big SUV down to a sedan. We were just having this conversation last night as I drive a Toyota Sequoia. It is great for my family of six and dogs, but with only two kids still at home, one leaving for college in a year, I don’t necessarily need the big SUV. My daughter made some comment about letting my 19 y/o use it and I drive our “kid car” sedan. While it’s fun to drive the fast, little sedan sometimes (easier handling, esp in traffic), if I only had one car and was replacing my large SUV, I’d personally want something more like a crossover or Pilot/Rav4 etc. That’s my personal preference and realize it’s different for everyone but just sharing your thoughts about storage/space after having a big SUV.
We love our older (2012) Honda Fit. Hatchback. Lots of flexible cargo room for a very small car. However, the newer models are not as roomy, and the glass area was reduced so it feels claustrophobic (imho). I think they changed body style in 2014. We also loved our earlier 2005 Pontiac Vibe (same as Toyota Matrix). Even better flexibility, with no lip at the trunk/hatch, so easy to load heavy items. It had a fully flat “bed” with the rear seats folded down. Passenger seat back folded fully flat against the seat, offering great long cargo space (I could load a small tree). Again they changed the body style in 2009 (I think), and once again ruined a good thing.
I just added the above in case an older smaller hatch might work. We’ve been looking for something similar, and unfortunately most of the newer small hatches no longer offer a flat bed with folded seats, nor a no-lip trunk area. These two small features make a HUGE difference regarding cargo flexibility. Even some of the smaller SUV’s lack these two features. (exceptions so far: CRV after 2017, Forrester after 2019?, Rav4 but not hybrids).
I am about 55 miles from Tupelo, about the same distance from Florence, Alabama. About 2 hours from Birmingham, 1 1/2 hours from Huntsville.
I think the fact that I will only have the one vehicle available to me makes it harder to go for something really small. My brother drives about 60 miles each way to work and he has a small car(even though he is a big guy), but he also has a pickup, his wife drives an suv, and I think they still have a mustang. It would be different if it was just a work car but there was something else available to drive.
Almost 50 years ago (OMG, I can’t believe that it was that long ago), my DH bought his first car from Enterprise car rental. My uncle, who was a mechanic, recommended looking there because, while not the cheapest place, the cars were usually in great condition. He did and bought a 1970 Chevy Impala 2-door. My uncle checked it out, and it was fine. We had it for 9 years. It ran great. We only got rid of it because of the 2 car seats and the difficulty of getting the 2 girls in and out.
A good car from a rental place can be a safe place to purchase a car.
One other thing to consider: check the insurance rates for the different vehicles you are considering before deciding. You can often check online for both your and other insurance companies to get an idea if any of the vehicles you are considering are significantly more or less expensive to insure than others.