If you look at reviews of the Mazda CX-90 online, you’ll find lots of criticism. Edmunds scored it dead last in a 9-car comparison and called the PHEV’s transmission “troublesome,” Motor Trend calls the SUV “the first Mazda we remember driving that is not deserving of our unconditional love,” and Car and Driver says its long-term test vehicle “came up short.” So I went into my Iowa vacation weekend expecting something disappointing, but in reality, what I found is a car that — while perhaps not best in its class — felt like a really solid three-row SUV. And when I looked at the used pricing, my mind was blown.
The Mazda brand right now is in a weird spot. Is it a performance brand? Is it a luxury brand? Is it an everyperson’s brand? Who knows. But I know my wife, a lifelong Lexus fan, likes premium cars, and given what Mazda has done with its interiors over the past decade or so, I was hoping the CX-90 would suit her liking.
So we hit Burbank Airport, and my son got to see the world from above for the first time; he was a huge fan:
Upon touchdown in Minneapolis, our Soul Red CX-90 media loaner awaited us in an airport shuttle lot:
It looks nice, and though the mostly black interior is a little bland, material qualities are impressive. My wife Elise says it’s “Not quite luxurious, but definitely premium.” I agree with her.
Elise, my child Delmar, and I loaded in, and we pointed the Mazda’s nose southwest towards our destination of Okoboji, Iowa, where we planned to meet up with Elise’s sister and her family at their lake house.
Even before we left the parking lot, I found three annoyances. The first is the shifter, which I’m surprised hasn’t been recalled yet given that — if you were to follow the long-standing PRNDL up-down shift pattern that was basically the standard for decades — you’d end end up putting the car into reverse instead of park. And it’s not just me saying this:
The second issue is storage. The Mazda doesn’t have much of it when compared to other family vehicles. There’s a glovebox; there are medium-sized, non-expandable door pockets; and there’s a really shallow center console. Other than some cupholders and a little wireless charger cubby that pops an error message up on the screen anytime you put a non-phone in it, there’s really nothing else up front. I want more.
The third annoyance is a small one, but something that people with kids will notice. When I walk to the car to load my kid up into his car seat, I grab the door handle and…nothing. That’s because the rear doors do not have keyless entry capability. If I want to unlock the rear door with the fob in my pocket, I have to grab the front door handle, then the rear. It’s not ideal; for someone loading kids into a family car, a rear door unlocking when I yank the handle would be helpful (my wife’s 2017 Lexus RX has keyless entry on all doors).
On the plus side, my son loved the panoramic roof; it kept him entertained during our three-hour drive from Minneapolis to Okoboji, Iowa.
From the airport lot, my wife drove the Mazda three hours in the dark as I worked. From the passenger’s seat, I noticed a bit of a firm ride over cracks in the pavement.
I also noticed that the headlights — which come standard with automatic high beams— are excellent. The brightness is good and the light spread is just right, which is comforting when you’re with your family in deer country.
Elise and I really liked the infotainment system, largely because we’re used to a dial-style infotainment controller in both her Lexus RX and my BMW i3. Simply bump the control dial to the right and click, and you’re using Apple Carplay, looking at Maps or Spotify or whatever. The screen is a bit far away, but it is a touchscreen when in Apple Carplay/Android Auto mode, which was occasionally useful even though I preferred using the dial.
The time in Okoboji was relaxed. I basically just hung out with family at their house, swam in a lake, checked out some museums, and ate good food. It was a super easy few days for the CX-90, which did its job beautifully.
When we hit up Walmart to stock the kitchen up for the week, the trunk swallowed everything:
Even with the third row up, there was more space than I expected:
And when it came time to load most of the crew into one car, I was yet again surprised. After having read so many reviews about how tight the interior is, I wasn’t expecting it to be reasonably comfortable back there for Elise’s sister and nephew. It seems to me that, so long as the combined height of the three people sitting in line doesn’t exceed about 17.5 feet (i.e. The average height of the driver and the two people sitting behind him/her is 5’9″), there’s enough comfort for somewhat long drives. 
The seat in the back is best suited for kids, but with three sub 5’9″ folks in a row, nobody was complaining about legroom, and in fact, the folks in the third row were happy with their cupholders, USB-C jacks, and dedicated third-row AC vents.
The one complaint I had about the seating situation involved my baby getting hurt. The second row bench is a 60/40 split-row, so if you’re in the last row and want to get out, you pull a latch and it slides and tilts the 60 (if on the driver’s side) or the 40 (on the passenger’s side) forward so you can step out. The problem I noticed was that my son had his arm reached out towards the inside of the car, and when I tilted/slid the 60 part of the bench forward, it and the edge of the car eat wanted to basically act like a giant pair of shears on his arm.
Luckily, I didn’t slide the seat forward with enough force to do any serious damage, though he was crying from the pain. I find the sliding mechanism to be intuitive, and I’m not sure how I’d suggest Mazda fix this or if they even should, but it’s just something to be careful of.
There wasn’t a whole lot to our time in Iowa; I just wanted to do midwestern things on my kid’s first trip to the region. And midwestern things we did; we rode a ferris wheel and I made my classic dad-joke about them all being made of iron:
My son got to enjoy his first merry-go-round:
Elise and I played putt-putt golf with her family while trying to keep Delmar from running around and bothering other golfers:
We explored local museums:
One museum even had a 97-year-old wooden “Funhouse Slide,” which Elise and I rode down on burlap sacks:
A big local treat is the nutty bar, along with root beer. The nutty bar is rectangular chunk of vanilla ice cream on a stick, with peanuts and chocolate on the outside; it’s simple and magical:
Also magical? The local delicacy called the “Tavern,” which is basically a loose-meat burger:
There was one point when I decided to head to the local Toyota dealership and charge the car to see what it’d be like driving the plug-in hybrid in all-electric mode. I was basically going to be driving just a few miles a day, so it seemed ideal.
Look at how cheap the energy is in Iowa; 14 cents per kWh!:
But 2.5 hours away from my family during vacation was not worth the 30ish miles the charge added to the CX-90’s range, especially since the vehicle drove rather strangely in EV mode. To me, it seemed like it was still driving like a gas car even after I forced it into EV mode, but doing a bit of research, I’ve learned that the CX-90 actually shifts in EV mode. From Edmunds:
To find out what was going on, we reached out to Dave Coleman, Mazda’s manager of vehicle dynamics for North America. “The shifting you’re feeling in EV mode is actual shifting,” he said. “The electric motor is between the engine and transmission, so the transmission is active no matter which power unit is working.”
…Coleman points out that, contrary to common belief, electric motors have powerbands similar to gasoline engines. “You can get more performance from a smaller motor if you use a transmission to keep the motor at an appropriate rpm,” Coleman said. “If you’re making a pure EV, it’s usually cheaper and easier to just use a bigger motor rather than adding a transmission. But in our case, we already have a transmission.”
There’s more to it. Coleman also notes that the way the CX-90’s all-wheel-drive system controls chassis behavior plays a role. “We vary the amount of coupling between the front and rear axles through the wet clutch that sends torque to the front wheels,” he said. “This changes the amount of yaw damping, which affects both the steering response and effort, so we can dial in steering behavior, and even tweak it for different situations.” By sending both power sources through the same transmission, Coleman says Mazda can keep this control consistent.
Nonetheless, it feels weird, and if I’m honest, overall the CX-90’s transmission was a bit clunky, shifting harshly during normal daily driving. I found the combined 323 horsepower from the electric motor and 2.5-liter naturally aspirated inline-four to be plenty, getting the vehicle up to speed quickly enough (0-60 is about 6-ish seconds according to a few sources), but it was sometimes a bit clunky getting there, and given what I’ve read about reliability, the slightly slower but lighter inline-six is the one to get (more on reliability in a bit).
After a few days in Iowa, we drove back to Minneapolis, and it was there in the city that I appreciated how much smaller the CX-90 felt to drive than it actually was. A 38.1-foot turning circle is fantastic for a three-row car — right there with the Toyota Grand Highlander. But it wasn’t even just the turning radius; the way the vehicle handled, its heavy but delightful steering (quite a few outlets have complained about the steering, but I enjoyed it), and just its general proportions that made it feel really not much bigger than my wife’s 2017 Lexus RX350. It’s a legitimately useful three-row SUV that’s not huge and plenty maneuverable, even in the parking lot of the Mall of America, where in this photo you can see how wide those rear doors open.
Here’s another look at that wide rear door opening, which can be useful for families:
We spent a day in the beautiful and highly progressive city of Minneapolis, checking out the mall, and gazing in awe at the St. Paul Cathedral:
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts was also magnificent:
And that was pretty much the whole vacation. Minneapolis to Okoboji and back to Minneapolis — a fine, relaxing midwestern family vacation.
The Mazda CX-90 Is Not The Best, But The Used Deals Are Bonkers
So you get the idea here: The CX-90 ain’t all that. Its transmission doesn’t shift particularly smoothly, the ride quality is a bit firm, storage isn’t amazing, space is decent but not great for tall passengers, I’d like passive entry on the rear doors, my son’s arm almost got guillotined, the shifter design seems like a bad idea, and it seems the radiant heat getting through the windows is higher than my wife’s Lexus:
The biggest concern people are going to have, though, is the reliability, which — especially on the early models — seems to be… well, not great. Consumer Reports Predicted Reliability for the CX-90, whether PHEV or not, is bleak.
I’ve read through lots of Reddit and Facebook and forum posts in which owners ask one another “Would you buy this car again?” and answers are usually mixed. There have been plenty of recalls, and many owners complain about software issues/repairs. But some have only good things to say about their vehicle’s reliability. So it’s a crapshoot; are the most recently built CX-90s more reliable than the early ones with teething issues? That’s what many owners suggest, but the jury is still out.
This uncertainty probably contributes to the CX-90’s poor resale value, or, to spin it positively, to the white-hot deals you can get on the second-hand market:
Wow. I am shocked.
A premium, three-row SUV with a turbocharged inline six, an eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive, Apple Carplay, automatic high-beam project headlights, and on and on can be had not even a couple of years old, with 50,000 miles on the clock, for $25 grand.
If it’s not obvious why these are such amazing sales prices, allow me to compare them to those of the Toyota Grand Highlander and Honda Pilot.
[Writer’s note: I just chose random listings, and have no affiliation with any of these dealers. The only dealerships I can vouch for are part of The Autopian’s partner Galpin, which is where I recommend anyone buy their Mazda or Honda. Right now, it looks like no 2025 CX-90s are on the lot, but Galpin does have one of the cheapest 2025 Pilots I’ve seen anywhere. -DT].
Obviously, there are more scientific ways to get average transaction prices on these vehicles, but based on an eye test, it looks like the CX-90 may be the cheapest premium, lightly-used three-row mid-size SUV money can buy. It even seems to be cheaper than even the Kia Telluride and the Jeep Grand Cherokee L.
Seriously, $25,000 for the CX-90 above, with a 280 horsepower turbocharged inline-six that gets a solid 28 mpg highway, all-wheel drive, a nice leatherette interior, great headlights, a useful infotainment system, and a reasonably usable third row? If Mazda managed to figure out the reliability bugs through recalls/changes to later model years, I’d be tempted to buy one, because I really enjoyed driving my family around in this pleasant but imperfect SUV.
As a longtime Minneapolis resident, I won’t get too pedantic about MOA being in Bloomington and you correctly noted the Cathedral is in St. Paul. But I will note the Sculpture Garden, with the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry, is at the Walker Art Center, not the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Both are great and I suggest visiting, but don’t head to MIA looking for the spoon!
VERY Minnesotan response!!! Well done! And all very true!
I looked at a lot of used CX-90s after buying a new one and found most of them were the PHEV 4 cylinder with issues or former rentals. I can’t say I bought our CX-90 for the resale value, we plan on owning it for the next 10+ years.
I do enjoy driving it. The 2026 6 cylinder doesn’t seem to have transmission issues. Once in a while it’s rough when leaving from a stop, but not frequently.
It did ride really harsh when we first bought it. I could feel the lines painted on the road as we drove. Lowering the tire pressure from the 50 psi the dealer had it to the recommended amount fixed that.
I looked at a Toyota Grand Highlander but it was a lot more money to get it similarly equipped in addition to the local dealers here adding on $5k to the sticker price. After driving a Grand Highlander I knew my wife would hate it because it felt massive.
Shifter pattern doesn’t bother me. Reminds me of our old Mercedes that you had to shift over as you went back. If you do stop the car and turn it off in reverse it holds it as if it’s in park.
You can only imagine my delight that you addressed the shifter. That shifter is a perfect example of fixing something that isn’t broken for the worse.
The graphics in the gauge cluster were similarly befuddling with a tremendous amount of wasted real estate in the screen. Why even have a screen for your gauges if it doesn’t utilize itself?
When this car came out I thought it would have Lexus levels of refinement at a lower price point, but then I drove it.
It’s not bad per se, but it isn’t great. I would take a Honda Passport, Pilot, Toyota anything, Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave, Acura MDX or Lexus TX over this any day of the week–but you can’t get lightly used versions of those for $25,000. Those are all considerably more expensive.
Kinda crazy the MPG is so terrible on a PHEV tbh.
Former CX9 owner here, and once the now Ex Wife started driving beyond local stuff for work, the gas costs quickly ate up any advantages she was earning through part time work. She replaced it with a Dart, which she really seemed to like.
As three row crossovers go, it’s quite attractive.
That said, I was just complaining to my wife that (/gestures vaguely at everything) is too damned complicated. And now we can add that shifter to the equation.
If it ain’t broke, Mazda…
I remember going on one of those slides and the burlap sack I was given feeling wet like someone peed on it. Then I was going down the slide I felt a weird tickle sensation in my bladder and fully understood that I was definitely sitting on a piss soaked sack.
We have on around here that was closed for a long time, when it re-opened in 2022 people were not prepared for 70s levels of “safety” I remember riding this thing as a kid and being absolutely terrified.
Youtube link from the local news.
Bwahahaha, it’s beating the hell out of those kids. Just like the ones I remember! Fun times….of course, I did have to get my neck fused two weeks ago.
Two thoughts as a happy prior-gen (cx-9) owner:
1) The reliability thing is really surprising to me. I just turned 100k on my 2019 without a single unscheduled visit to the dealer. I’ve owned Camrys and Accords but the cx-9 is the most reliable vehicle I’ve ever owned. What gives with the cx-90??
2) When I was in for scheduled maintenance once the dealer offered to let me take a loaner cx-90 home for the night (“once you drive one you won’t want to bring it back!”). I did in fact find the 90 to be quite nice and I would still recommend it, but my general feeling was mild disappointment that this all-new inline-6 platform in “Turbo S!” guise, with “Inline 6!” emblazoned down the side of the crazy long hood, didn’t really feel appreciably faster or more balanced than the car it replaced.
My wife was looking at a CX-70 and the local Mazda service manager steered her away from the 70 and 90.He said too many drivetrain problems and they had a bunch coming in for warranty work because outside trim was falling off the cars which sounded weird but why would he lie? He recommended the CX-50 N/A because it was basically bulletproof.I can say from owning 4 Mazda vehicles between us the 2.5l motor/transmission combo seems to be unstoppable.The things I can complain about is the synthetic leather isn’t very durable and tends to peel.The steering wheels get very worn and peel.The paint seems very thin and chips easily.My Mazda 6 windshield seems to have more chips in it than any other car I have ever owned.And finally they all seem to have a harsh ride.All 4 we owned have had a lot of miles but while they have a premium look there are places they definitely cut corners on to keep the prices reasonable.I would definitely buy another Mazda because they are priced fairly and have never given us an issue.The 4 we own/owned are 2014 Mazda 3 sedan,2020 Mazda 6,2021 Mazda CX-5,and 2024 Mazda CX-50.All with 2.5 N/A and automatic transmission.All were mid trim models.
So we have one of these, and some of the review I agree with, some I disagree with, and some of things reviews bring up has me wondering if they are smoking crack.
Things I agree with:
*Storage is a little slim. The most annoying to me is the sunglass holder, which is tiny compared to any other car.
*The rear doors not having keyless entry is also annoying, but none of my other cars do either.
*You unfortunately got the wrong config- the second row bench is terrible, I don’t know why it’s an option. The second row captain’s seats give much better access and a lot more room, as well as making the third row a much more pleasant place to sit since you get a giant hole for bonus leg space.
*The infotainment button/dial is fantastic, much better than using the touchscreen, and better implemented than anyone else on the market at the moment.
*The turning radius is fantastic for such a big car.
*The rear doors opening nearly 90 degrees is a godsend for parents with car seats.
*Interior materials and feel are very, very nice. Competing with BMW/Mercedes/Lexus that cost 2x as much.
*The steering feel is fantastic, I have no idea what numb shitboxes other reviewers have been driving, but it’s the best I’ve ever felt in an SUV.
*Shifter lever- yeah, the pattern sucks. You learn the correct motions after a while, but it shouldn’t be an issue in the first place.
Things I disagree with:
*The inline 6 is absolutely not the one to get if you care about reliability, efficiency, or power. The only advantage it has is towing. The PHEV is an electric motor coupled with the same Skyactiv G that Mazda has been running for more than a decade and it’s probably the most bulletproof ICE engine on the market today. The I6 is new, unproven, and has a massive turbo. Also it takes up almost all of the engine bay, whereas the PHEV I4 leaves you gobs of space to work on it (seriously, you could stand in the engine bay with it).
*Shifting- 2024 and 2025 models had problems, the 2026 is much better. Not sure if I’m just too used to janky transmissions, or if your i3 has made you soft but I wouldn’t describe the shifting as harsh, just middle of the road.
*Stiff ride- again, I think your new California lifestyle has made you soft. The ride quality isn’t old-Cadillac boat style, but it’s not crush-your-spine M3 style either. It’s in the middle, and I think strikes a good balance of comfort and handling. In my experience, it’s soft enough to keep sleeping newborns asleep even on the terrible pavement we have.
Other relevant thing to bring up, since this is mostly a family car:
If you dig deep into the actual crash test results in the IIHS database, the CX-90/70 have the best results of any vehicle sold today, beating out every other top safety plus on cabin intrusion and passenger injury result, including even the Cybertrukk. I know car makers have taken a step back from marketing on safety, but Mazda maybe shouldn’t in this case.
I never said the ride was harsh (it’s decent!), and we may not fully agree on the shift quality but I stand by that, just as I stand by my preference for the non-plug-in hybrid. Your notes about reliability are quite interesting, and those might shift my opinion on preference.
But it sounds like otherwise we’re pretty much in agreement, and I was quite a fan of both the PHEV and in-line six.
I appreciate your perspective as an owner, and that’s very good insight about crash performance.
Just saying, with the PHEV you could fit little Delmar with a child seat into the engine bay to wrench with daddy. It’s genuinely absurd how much space there is, it’s like stepping back into the 1950’s.
And this I think is a big reason this car (which I quite like) doesn’t sell better. It’s one of the longest in its class but because of the longitudinal engine layout that length is all ahead of the windshield. I think most buyers of kid busses like this would prefer to have all that empty space in the passenger compartment instead of the engine bay.
I think there’s truth to this, when I had my Cayenne I remember my wife being disappointed how little interior space it had relative to the footprint. Like the CX90 it had to have room for a longitudinal drivetrain and I think that really shrunk the passenger compartment compared to a transverse CUV. For comparison pretty sure a friend’s second gen CX5 had about the same interior room in spite of being a whole vehicle class smaller.
Yeah, it’s a bummer, definitely could have more space. The I6 mild hybrid was I think a mistake. Should have stuck with I4s.
Ok I’m sold!
Snakes Alive!, those are some good deals, and it should be stressed more that this is a great looking vehicle.
I rented one as a surprise upgrade in Denmark last year and it was kind of embarrassing to be driving such a big, ostentatious car there, especially around the quaint little villages of Bornholm. I felt like telling everybody ‘it’s an upgrade! I was hoping for a Yaris Cross!’
lol wow that is a surprising rental to get in Denmark. Though you never know I was shocked to see a Ranger Raptor street parked in a dense part of Copenhagen when I was there a couple years ago.
I leased a 2024 PHEV and then got a 2026 once the lease ran out (the lease deals in 2024 were phenomenal). It’s got some quirks but the 2026 seemed to iron out a lot of the small complaints (the SW seems to be very much improved – including the transmission and while the shifter is awkward at first, it hasn’t bothered me after the first week or so). in almost 4000 miles with the ’26, I’m averaging 79+ MPG and only use a level one charger for nightly charges. Granted, it’s a lot of local driving, but for a three row SUV, that is hard to beat. Also, the rear wheel bias makes driving in the mountains a joy (I’m in Colorado). Plus, both of my kids have loved it – the captain’s chairs in both vehicles have been comfortable, handle a car and booster seats well and make rear access a bit easier than what I have heard about the bench seats. Viva la actual buttons for climate control as well.
Yeah, you’re experience is matching mine. I have to run the ICE a bit more on the daily commute, so I only get mid-50s, but still fantastic mileage. ’26 models are definitely a cut above the ’24s and ’25s, which is probably why you can get such a screaming deal on them.
I suppose the only “fix” for the folding seat issue would be to sacrifice the 60/40 functionality, split it 50/50 and hope that leaves enough clearance.
Also, is that a Giga World Interior-themed key fob for an i3? Is that something that came with the car or something you, David saw in the parts counter and had to have?
I found it online and had to have it.
Any owners here? Due to back issues I might need to get a different car, $25k with 50k miles for one of these is a killer deal.
I wanna hear some pros and cons from long term owners.
We’ve had ours for 6 months, and so far it’s the best SUV I’ve ever driven. I disagree with David that the ride is harsh, it’s middle of the road and honestly never been uncomfortable. Sleeping newborns stay sleeping even when you hit potholes, which I think is a pretty good result. NVH is fantastic, and the seating position can be adjusted to fit pretty much anyone.
Handling is far better than a car this big has any right to be, efficiency (for the PHEV at least) is fantastic.
Only problem is the 2026 models seem to be a step above the 24 and 25 models, and the shifter complaints have gone away, which means you might not get as good of a deal on them.
Cons are the storage space is slim, and the rear doors not having keyless entry. Oh, and the AC button being on the passenger side of the center console is stupid, as is the shifter pattern which you eventually learn but you shouldn’t have to.
I didn’t call the ride harsh! It’s actually decent.
“a bit firm”- Okay, not harsh, but it’s also not what I would call firm. I mean, maybe compared to some of the other family haulers it’s more firm, but so is a marshmallow. On the spectrum of suspension firmness for new cars available today, I would put the CX-90 at about a 4 out of 10 on a soft-firm scale.
We’ve had ours almost 2 years, and I’ll 2nd what Wuffles said below. It’s the best 3-row vehicle I have ever driven.
Our ’24 has been flawless in our ownership. We purchased it 1 year old as a CPO (this is the way to buy a Mazda btw, you get a longer warranty than buying it new), so it already had all of the initial new model kinks worked out.
In our ownership we’ve had 2 recalls. One to reflash the gas sensor programming and another to address squeaky breaks. Neither issue affected us and we had them both done during an oil change.
The car is excellent in snow, there are some technical videos online and the AWD system in these is VERY good.
It is the SAFEST 3 row suv currently for sale in the US.
It doesn’t have tons of storage in terms of cubbies, but in terms of luggage space it’s on par with competitors. None of them will haul 4+ people and all their luggage for a week without a rooftop carrier. You have to step up to a Suburban for that.
The inline-6 is extremely under-rated in terms of performance. Mazda is limiting the torque until 3rd gear, and the car cannot be torque launched. So it’s 0-60 time is low. But in a roll race (Motortrend tested this) it is as fast as an Explorer ST. This car PULLS on the highway.
It is a stiff car for an suv, but I find it to be sporty and not overly stiff, and doesn’t get as good of gas mileage as a pure hybrid. But we typically get 29 mpg cruising at 82 with our inline 6 which I consider to be excellent for a vehicle this size.
TL:DR we would still buy a CX-90 again if we were suddenly in the 3 row market.
Y’know, for a company that prides itself on intuitive and driver-focused design, that shifter bothers me deeply.
Irrationally deeply.
As for Mazda itself, I suspect it too will eventually succumb to ‘premiumifying’ (i.e. making things pointlessly worse, because it looks newer) and go off on a blandness tangent like it did before to try and go for more volume. Maybe it will pan out this time.
Mostly, my hope is that they keep the Mazda3 and Miata in production, but I’m not hopeful for the former.
Yeh there is no excuse for that shifter. And given that it basically looks like a standard console shifter anyways why even change the pattern?? Like you’re not even getting whatever supposed cooked up benefit most of these stupid “let’s reinvent the wheel” shifters give you at this point.
It makes me think of the column shifter on my mother in law’s Equinox. Every time I’ve driven it I have instinctively tried to grab that stalk and crank it into drive or park. It doesn’t work like that. You have to lightly push it forwards or back (I can’t remember which) for drive and press the button on the end of the stalk for park. I looked at the park button and thought it was to turn off overdrive at first.
I just wrote a long review of this and I fat fingered something and lost it. So, this is the “I’m annoyed short version”
Tldr; I agree with everything you wrote, 100%. I spent the whole weekend with the inline 6 non hybrid. Loved it, honestly. Didn’t think I would like such a large SUV, but I did. Wouldn’t want to daily something that big, but for a weekend it was delightful.
But, the transmission was a hot mess. Jerky, indecisive, never where you want it. It downshifts like they are intentionally using the engine braking, which seemed okay, but was not smooth. I could not get used to it at all, ever. We even went up some steeeeep SF hills, and, honestly, it was fine there. But the mid power accelerations were horrible. Floored, it seemed to shift fine, but any sort of change in throttle input during that event was met with computer confusion. It was horrible. Cruising down the highway, fine. Floored, fine. Anything outside that, a jerky mess.
Oh the coincidence in our experience in both cardome and timing.
Oh yeah, the shifter was just stupid, plain and simple. There is no reason to add that sideways move. Pointless. Hated it.
When did you drive this car? They have re-tuned the transmission tune.
This past weekend. It was a rental, so…. who knows.
Good review David.
The CX 70/90 is an exercise of style before function. Mazda seems to have compromised a lot to get a stylish, RWD, driver-first CUV with a nice interior to market at this price. Unfortunately, that means PHEV drive train issues, poor space utilization for the footprint, stiff ride quality, and teething issues. Given that this is a family 3 row rather than a sports car, those are big demerits.
I don’t like the styling either. The front looks like one of those smoosh-faced cats, as if they ran a CX-9 into a wall to flatten the nose. Bulbous back end. The way the doors flare out at the bottom looks like someone dropped the vehicle from 6 feet in the air.
Kinda still want one though, with the higher output inline 6 and captain chair 2nd row. Keep the 3rd row stowed. Be a nice large quick 2-row that can somehow get 28mpg on the highway.
Captain chair 2nd row is vastly superior to the stupid bench. The I6 is a trap though- it’s actually down on power and efficiency to the PHEV, and has more shifting issues because it’s a mild hybrid that relies on ICE torque far more. Also unknown reliability, vs the I4 in the PHEV that’s a known quantity.
But if you’re keeping the 3rd row folded down just get a CX-70, same car different interior config.
I thought the PHEV had the biggest reliability red flags? When I looked a year ago the cx70 was bench only, in 60:40 config instead of 40:20:40. I use that middle pass through.
The PHEV had some teething issues with software on the 24 and 25 models which were fixed by recalls and don’t seem to happen on the 26 models. I’m more concerned about mechanical reliability- the I6 is a new engine for Mazda, it’s a hell of a lot bigger than the I4 in the PHEV and has a giant turbo. There’s a lot more to go wrong, and when it does you have basically no space to do anything without pulling the whole block. The I4 PHEV is the same Skyactiv G that’s been around for over a decade and is probably the most reliable ICE engine sold today, it’s just mounted longitudinally in the space for the I6, so you get like a foot on all sides to work on it in the unlikely even anything does go wrong.
And yeah, forgot the CX-70 doesn’t have a pass-thru, that’s annoying. Honestly, I’m not sure why the CX-70 really exists? You get a couple more cubic feet of storage space that are missing when the 90 has to fold it’s rear seats flat, but in exchange you lose 2-3 passenger seats, which seems like a poor trade.
Very interesting, thanks. The 30 or so gas-free miles of the plug-in would certainly cut the fuel bill in our use case. Most days the gas engine would never have to fire.
The I-6 flies on the highway. The 0-60 specs are misleading because Mazda is limiting the torque until 3rd gear and doesn’t allow the car to be torque launched. Once in 3rd the car flies. In a roll race it’s as fast as an Explorer ST.
Finally someone who agrees with me on the styling lol. I also find it a bit bulbous and blunt faced, especially compared to how sleek mazda’s other cars are.
Yeah, everyone fainted and needed smelling salts when this was launched but I always thought it was off. The CX-9 is a far better looking vehicle to my eye.
Oh yeah the outgoing CX9 is actually rather good looking as CUVs go.
Agreed, I hate the “flattened” nose and flared out door bottoms on these.
On our regular trips between Maryland and Massachusetts in our I6 CX-70, I get 30-31 mpg if pushing it, 32-33 if I take it easy. And it tows my 5,000 lb ski boat/trailer nicely, when needed. So far (~27,000 miles) I’ve been pretty happy with it. I liked the Q7 it replaced better, but the price of a new Q7 was significantly higher. I used to average ~26-27 mpg in that, but had to pay for high test, so my operating costs are much improved. .
This level of cost cutting bothers me even more than capacitive headlight switches. Are capacitive switches annoying? Somewhat, but you also rarely interact with them. Not having keyless entry on the rear doors would bother me literally every day. That would be a dick move on a Mazda 3, nevermind something as premium as the CX90.
My Jeep Wrangler has the keyless entry on the front doors and also on the tailgate, the back doors do not and I can deal with that. My Jeep Gladiator also has it on the front doors but does not have it on the tailgate and it is maddening.
This is such a weird complaint to me because I’ve had keyless entry on three different vehilcles from three different manufacturers and none of them had it on the rear doors. Would it be nice to? Sure, but the front door handle is also right there so it’s not that big a deal to slip your hand behind it to trigger the unlock. And it’s dramatically better than having to fish a key or fob out of your pocket as you approach.
TLDR: It’s not that big a deal.
I have the same opinion but I’ve also not had to open a locked car door with a baby in my arms.
Maybe I’m willing to give features like this a pass because I remember the pain of having manual locks that froze up in the winter. 🙂
It is. Especially at this price. Even my 14 rav4 has it at all four handles (or at least I’m pretty sure, it’s my son’s car). I’ve had kessy on my past 5 vehicles and every one of them had it on all four handles. Big miss as far as ease of use is concerned for a family car that’s supposed to be leaning premium. It’s a crappy place to cut costs. You wanna save $15 in parts? Do it elsewhere.
Do those headlights seem obscenely bright to anyone else? Maybe it’s just the camera effecting it but they seem blinding even when viewing them through the cabin.
You can transport children just fine in a 1959 Mini, a 1949 VW or 1939 Swallow Sidecar – or on your bicycle for that matter, so the premise is uninteresting…
The whole point of the Original Will It Baby? was unlikely kid-haulers. IIRC the last one Torch wrote before Otto outgrew the concept was a Miata. A 3-row crossover is “OF COURSE it’ll baby, that’s what it was built for!”
indeed
I was loaned a CX-90 when I had a CX-50. The 50 was in the shop for about two weeks while they were repairing a roof leak that caused the rear cargo space to flood after a rainstorm (missing washers and seals on the roof rail bolts). The 90 was forgettable but once the 50 burned through half its oil in 5k miles I knew it was time to walk away from the brand, sadly it seems like their CX line products have pretty iffy reliability.
It seems pretty nice, but I’ll never be able to look at a 3 row crossover as anything but a shitty minivan. Sliding doors make getting car seats in and out much easier and older kids can use them without dinging other cars.
Agree on the 3-row SUV/minivan thing. But I wish we could get luxury minivans. Can I get a Lexus minivan?
Mazda fan, but danggummit, why’d that have to screw up the shifter like that?
My 2nd to last company car was a Nissan Rouge. It also had a floor mounted shifter but it wasn’t a lever, just a puck with a momentary push forward or backward. Push it forward, and instead of going into park, which is what 50+ years of driving muscle memory tells my arm to do, you instead start rolling backwards in reverse. More than once I had to slam on the brakes to prevent an incident.
The engineer who designed that should be forced to stand behind me every time I park the thing.
I hated, hated, hated that car. Fortunately someone in HR had pity on me and I was able to transfer it to a new hire (sucker!!!!!). Unfortunately my replacement was just an Altima. At least the Altima didn’t have the death-shifter. (In truth, it was a perfectly okay company car sedan).
Looks like y’all had an epic vacation! NICE!
PS I’m not in the market for one, but if you’re interested, I’ve found Autotempest the best site for looking for vehicles.
It is a little quirky in that the search engine(s) for CarGurus and AutoTrader require 2nd clicks, but they just pop up in a new window.
It’s how I found my last car (Search for Hyundai, Ioniq 6, 2024+, <20,000 miles, white/grey interior, AWD, Limited). Found just what I wanted (A ’24 with 6,000 miles on it, CPO even, at 1/2 the original $56K MSRP, I even got the dealer to deliver it to me (about 400 miles!). Love me some AutoTempest!
http://www.autotempest.com
Yeh we had a nissan rogue rental last year for a family visit that a few of us drove and every single person did that same thing with the shifter. utterly pointless reinvention of something that wasn’t broken (or even working poorly)
Do these have a mid-row captain’s chairs option? I had a CX-9 for a bit and the kids gave up quickly in moving a seat for 3rd-row access, deciding rather to climb over the top. So we don’t have that car anymore.
Shout out to Made-Rite, Iowa’s own loose meat burger institution.
Same, once we needed the back seats for our third, our much older CX-9’s backseat was only used when the older kids climbed over top. A minivan came soon after and is much more usable.
Do many 3 row SUVs have captain’s chairs in the second row? I can’t say I’ve ever seen such a configuration in the wild.
Not as much on the lower trims, but it seems like across the board the higher trim levels come standard with second row captains chairs.
Today I learned! I never noticed when I was last in the market for a 3-row SUV, which was now over 10 years ago. Or maybe configurations have changed since then.
Depends on the brand and trim. Most GMC Acadias I saw had the 2nd row captain’s. (I now daily drive an Acadia) The Chevy Traverses and Ford Explorers I looked at were more benched than captained, but both had the option. I’m not made of Cadillac material, but I’d expect the XT6 (Traverse/Acadia/XT6 all C1xx platform) to be predominantly middle captain’s.
Yes, ours has the captains chairs in the 2nd row, it’s a much nicer configuration than the bench. Frankly I’m not sure why the bench is even offered as an option.
Probably for a max seating count for the few who would use it. Also, the 2-row CX70 has the bench.
Same seating count, the captains chair 2nd puts 3 in the third row, which is actually not as terrible as it seems since you have a lot more leg room with the big hole in the center.
Interesting. With the bench 2nd row the 3rd only seats 2?
Yes, it only has 2 seat belts in that case. Not sure why exactly, probably some regulatory thing for 7 vs 8 passenger vehicles.
That depends on make and model. The Honda Pilot, for example, seats three in the third row regardless of whether you have the second row bench or captains chairs. I believe the Toyota Highlander is the same.
My only observation when I was exposed to one: Damn, this thing is obscenely and irresponsibly huge.
Really? They’re within an inch of both the Pilot and Grand Highlander mentioned in the article. The Grand Highlander is actually larger.
It’s not actually that big, the slab doors make it feel much larger than it is.
No verbifying the nouns!
Sorry, I have a tic from Andrew Collins’s “Will it Dog” series.
I’ll read the article now.