The wife is looking for a new vehicle, we urrently have my truck and a 2002 jeep liberty, she like the jeep its just that its too high for her to get 2 kids in and out. she is thinking about either the Ford Freestyle or the Mazda CX-9. We like both for the 7 passenger seating. the mazda has a better styling i think. the Freestlye has the 205 hp 3.0 Duratec with AWD on the limited, And the CX-9 has the 263hp 3.5L V6 AWD available on all models. both of them are right around 30K. Mileage is Freestyle 20 city/27 highway and the CX-9 is 18 city/24 highway. Any of you guys have either of these vehicles or have heard anything about them would be nice to know.

Thanks in adavce
Flex

 

These are the two of them in the colors the wife likes. But the freestyle will be mono color or have the dark grey around the bottom not the AZ beige

Mazda CX-9


Ford Freestyle

 

Well, the Freestlye is getting redesigned for '08, and is getting renamed the Taurus X. Dunno if that makes any difference to you... Personaly I think the Mazda is better looking...

 

Mazda CX-9 or Ford Edge. Both are getting high marks on the review side and aren't really showing up with 'consistant' problems as of yet. Both, as you obviously know, are produced at the same location with nearly the same components...

In my mind, though, the CX-9 'edges' out the Edge on looks... Can't go wrong either way but, with the forthcoming body restyle, I'd seriously look at the CX-9 as the way to go.

We've actually been 'browsing' them as a replacement to the wife's Explorer.

 

My money is on the Ford Edge or Lincoln MKZ. Love them both. About time Ford starts to put out some great volume leader vehicles.

 

You mean MKX. The Z is the car (Formerly Zepher).

I'd get the CX-9 if those were my only choices. The Freestyle as a great interior (on the well-equipped model) but the CX-9 beats it in just about everything else. The Edge is much better competition for the CX. I just picked up an MKX not but a week ago. Put the Edge/MKX on your shopping list!

 

My 'soon to be wife' has a 2006 mazda 3. We hate it. My coworker has a Mazdaspeed 6. He hates it. Her sister has a tribute and hates it as well. I have no idea about the CX-9, but with Mazda's 'overall' quality and enginering, i'd go with ford. All of our problems have been with the cars cpu. I have had the brand new car in the shop 4 times for reflashes. The 1st time was for the cam-bus system wide re-flash to solve the 'loss' of time and stereo stations every time she shut off the car, the next 3 were for stalling issues. And yes, if it happens again the lemon law will take effect. My coworker has had main turbo seal failer twice, and he has 10k miles on it. They are very nice cars, just poor engineering. You can't polish a turd.

 

Luke - ... I don't say this to play devils' advocate but, I don't think that Ford & Mazda are going to differ much. In short, I'd go out on a limb here to say that the PCM units that go into a Tribute are the same as what go into an Escape. The CX-9 probably features the same that goes into the Edge.

I think you're just unlucky. If the paint was in better shape, you'd probably be tickled with the vehicle... that's where a guy about 40 mins away from you comes into play.

My appointment for this weekend cancelled if you're bored - cancellations seem to be plauging me lately. I turn down others because the weekend is booked and then the twits bail on me leaving me high and dry.

 

I might give ya a shout.

 

My wife and I purchased a new CX-9 two weeks ago, and we love it. We got the Grand Touring Model in AWD. It has room for 7 real people, it handles like a sports sedan, and it is very luxurious.

We looked at a whole bunch of other models, including the Honda Pilot, the Ford Edge, the Toyota Rav4, the Hyundai Sante Fe, the Acura RDX, the BMW X3, and the CX-7. None of the others came close to matching the combination of size, sportiness, and luxury for the price. The only thing that was close was the Acura MDX, but it was much more expensive. Check out the June issue of Motor Trend - it compares the MDX, the CX-9 and the GMC Arcadia, and the CX-9 gets the top spot.

Here is the full brochure for the CX-9. (6mb)

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/pdf/...9_brochure.pdf

Test drive one if you are in the market for this type of vehicle. You will not be disappointed.

 

THe Original poster wanted the 3rd row seating (7 person). That only leaves the freestyle or the CX-9. Out of those 2, I would pick the CX-9. Much better looking and a more powerful motor.
The Edge / MKX is the same as the CX-7 and only has seating for 5. If you wanted to spend a little more money the new GMC Acadia is pretty sweet even though it is a GM.