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Re: Thinking CX-7, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY SAVE $$$$ [aviboy97]

by jbuswell on Wed Jun 14 23:50:48 PDT 2006

Thanks, the CX-7 is nice. The gas mileage is getting better as well, got around 22 mpg out of it with the last tank. I think the dealership is partly to blame with the GM vehicle, they can't come up with a paper trail for the warranty replacement transmission, pretty sure they rebuilt it from extremely worn parts, possibly junk parts considering the amount of metal fatigue on some of the internal parts of the last transmission. The after market rebuild with new parts seems to be doing really well.. so far :)

Re: Thinking CX-7, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY SAVE $$$$ [aviboy97]

by jbuswell on Tue Jun 13 00:22:06 PDT 2006

aviboy97, Yes pretty much double the gas costs. My other SUV is a 2001 Pontiac Aztek GT, people poke fun at the exterior from time to time but I think it looks way better than your generic RAV4 or CRV. The interior on it is awesome, its a very useful vehicle, and gets awesome gas mileage. It averages about 26 mpg, considering its a 3.4l V6, and about the same size as the CX-7. It can also seat an adult between the two car seats in the back. The only downside to the Aztek, is that GM didn't do a great job with the powertrain. I've gone through three GM transmissions at this point, after the last one broke just outside their warranty, I had it completely rebuilt from high-performance after market parts. That not only improved the performance and power, but I seem to be getting on average about 28 mpg out of the thing. I know this because both the in-dash computer and the old fashion way come out with the same numbers. I've got almost 80,000 miles on the Aztek, and its always given between 24 and 28 mpg since the first day I bought it. I also stopped taking it to the GM dealer, and since then, no mechanical problems at all. Strange ? :) In terms of the bumper. My wife backed the Aztek into the garage wall at our old house, big hole in the wall, but I just had to dust off the Aztek's rear bumper. She also backed it into a concrete wall at the same house, and it just had a minor scratch on the plastic bumper. My guess, the CX-7 would probably need a repair in the same situation. I actually DO own one now, the FWD version, last tank got 15 mpg. I got the 10-12 mpg figure from the Grand Touring Model I test drove. The dealer said they filled the tank with 5 miles on the odometer, and it had been test driven close to 120 miles. I test drove it for about an hour with the sales guy. Which added about 30 miles to it, and the tank was below 1/2. To be fair to the dealer, they went out and tested the car pretty heavily after I pointed out the gas mileage issues. They got back to me the other day and said they weren't sure if they put 91 octane in it or not, and that might be part of the problem. They're not the first dealer to say that either. There is no indication on the car, gas tank etc, that you should use premium fuel. The only two mentions are in the "getting started" booklet attached to the ignition, and the owners manual. With the high gas prices, I'd imagine most dealers would probably just dump 87 octane into them if they are unaware of the 91 octane requirement. One thing I noticed that was interesting, I've gone to 4 dealers here in Ohio looking at these before I bought one down in Cincinnati. The first two dealers I went to had the AWD model window sticker showing 19 / 23 as the gas mileage. However, the last two dealers I went two, the exact same model vehicles with the same options had 18 / 21 as the gas mileage on the window sticker. My FWD Sport has 19 / 24 on it, the same as the 6s. I'll keep you posted on how the mpg works out over time. Probably not too fair to judge it within the first 600 miles anyway as the engine is being broken in.

Re: Thinking CX-7, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY SAVE $$$$ [deanie]

by jbuswell on Mon Jun 12 23:57:34 PDT 2006

Deanie, Current tank of gas (18.4 gallons) lasted 290 miles, the bulk was a trip from Cincinnati to Athens, Ohio, mostly highway some 55 mph winding roads down route 50. Thats about 16 mpg on average. I'm going to fill it up with premium 91 octane BP tomorrow, and I'll let you know how that tank goes. Its very easy to depress the accelerator on the CX-7 and end up at 60 mph in a few seconds (eg. not flooring it), I'll try to drive it a little more conservatively and see how that helps the mpg. In terms of safety the thing is awesome, I took it for a short run down State Route 550 and 690 here in Athens, road veers back and forth, and plenty of hills that change direction just after the peak. I was able to take the turns on that road at 60 mph without any problems, one I probably shouldn't have but the Dynamic Stability Control kicked in and kept me on the road :) The CX-7 is definately more spacious and cooler than the Mazda 6s. However, there is absolutely no room in the back seats with one infant and one toddler car seat back there. I don't know how petite your wife is, but our 11 year old nephew is about the only one who can sit back there comfortably between the two car seats. Having said that, our daughter's toddler car seat fits much better in those rear seats than it ever did in the 6s. She looks far more comfortable in terms of the angle the seats at than she ever did in the 6s. One other thing, I'm glad the front head rests pop out, my daughter likes to be able to see out the windshield when nobody is in the front passenger seat, which she can't do with the head rests in place. I only paid around $23,200 for the FWD Sport, to be honest with you, having driven both the FWD Sport and the AWD Grand Touring, I just don't see the justification in the price difference unless you've got money to waste. I thought I'd miss the fancy climate controls that are in the 6s, and the Grand Touring but not in the Sport. The front windshield defroster was always a PITA on the 6s anyway, and it never worked right on a cold foggy morning. I was happy to see that the manual climate controls work very very very well. The only downside to the FWD Sport is that I didn't get the Cargo Tray, which I've now got on order. After three shopping trips around town with it, the groceries just go everywhere regardless of how careful you take the turns. One thing to keep in mind with the rear view camera, its part of the GPS package right? Check with your insurance company, make sure they don't charge or plan to charge higher premiums for cars with navigation systems. I was talking to my insurance agent, and she told me that something like 8 out of 10 owners of GPS enabled cars don't set the trip BEFORE they leave, and end up getting into the habit of trying to set the trip while driving, which sooner or later results in some kind of accident as a result. So they are looking to charge a premium for cars with GPS enabled features, and since most cars they are in the $30k or higher range, people will pay it. Hope that helps. btw. one real issue with the car is the speedometer. After driving it for a few days, didn't really notice in while test driving, its difficult to hit 5 mph increments and know that you're not doing 58 or 59 instead of 55. I guess its partly due to the fact you barely have to touch the accelerator and you go faster :)

Re: Thinking CX-7, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY SAVE $$$$ [deanie]

by jbuswell on Sat Jun 10 23:24:55 PDT 2006

Deanie, I think you are confusing the two posts. The second posted said he was doing 90% highway, and got 23 mpg. When I test drove the Grand Touring model on Friday, it was mostly in and around town, in the height of rush hour. It didn't perform well. I did get a voicemail from the dealer yesterday (Saturday) saying that when I test drove the car, they had filled it with 87 octane gas and not 91 octane, and this was the reason for the poor mpg. Like I said I went to test drive a FWD model at a different dealership. The big difference here is that this dealership is a Mazda "presidential" awarded dealership. I got a price about $300 over invoice, they held the vehicle for the day and gave me top dollar for my 6s. I went in around 4.30pm, and was out with the vehicle around 6pm. They had set the price up for me for the day before I even left my house. Considering the price difference of almost $10k between the FWD Sport and the AWD Grand Touring I test drove on Friday, I must admit, I'd be hard pressed to justify the price difference. The FWD Sport handles extremely well, got about 26 mpg on my way home (180 mi drive), and it was raining heavily the entire time. Having driven both, the AWD seems a little heavier and a little slower to accelerate than the FWD. The AWD model feels like your in more control. The FWD Sport seems to have a little more of a mind of its own. A couple of times in the rain from a stop, I had it lunge to the right unexpectedly around 20 - 30 mpg. I've very happy with the FWD Sport, the only thing I miss is the ambient temp sensor, but ist definately not worth the difference between the FWD Sport and the Grand Touring!! :) The climate controls on the FWD Sport don't seem to suffer the horrible "fog ups" that the 6s has.

Thinking CX-7, READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY SAVE $$$$

by jbuswell on Sat Jun 10 00:27:11 PDT 2006

Quick Glance: - Visually Stunning - Great Interior - Good overall acceleration / performance for an SUV - Con: Requires 91 octane gas!! - Con: AWD has poor gas milage (city: ~12, highway ~14, way off the advertised! - Con: Rear bumper isn't very strong - Con: Some dealers won't budge from MSRP (some over) Advice: WAIT! Dealers will be overstocked soon. Dealer admitted close to 30 people test drove the CX-7 in 4 days, and nobody wanted to buy it. Why? 91 octane requirement was a big big problem for a lot of people with the gas prices, especially when the dealer won't budge from MSRP. I got the opportunity to test drive the CX-7 yesterday. I didn't pre-order because I didn't want to sacrifice my 2003 Mazda 6s, if the CX-7 performance wasn't good. I own another SUV with a 3.4l V6, and it can accelerate pretty well, so I was hoping the CX-7's 2.3l turbo would be half-way decent. The CX-7 is a visually nice car, its not as tall as I expected and the front is at a much steeper angle than it looks in the photos. The interior style is clean, there is a good command of the road, and the view from the drivers seat is pretty decent. Performance wise its good. It accelerates well from a stop. It seems to struggle a bit when accelerating (foot down) once in motion in 2nd / 3rd gear. Its extremely quiet. Sales guy tried to say it was as good accelerating as the 6s, 6i yes, 6s, no way. Would I sacrifice the 6s performance for the bigger vehicle more family functional vehicle, maybe. I'll have to see if the lighter FWD Sport gets better gas milage. Considering the gas milage issues, I would definately wait. I called around a couple of dealers in the state to see if anyone had the FWD model, and I'm going to test drive one later today. Before the test drive the dealer's sales guy was like: - Nobody has these - We won't budge from MSRP - 6-8 week minimum on orders - Everyone is coming to look at this - Everyone wants the AWD sport model (which is why the one they have isn't sold) - Gas milage on FWD and AWD is the same Now the gas milage thing seemed off to me. I bought the 2WD model of my SUV with traction control in 2001 because the gas milage was 4-6 miles off on the 4WD model. This seems on par with lots of other car manufacturers. So I was interested in finding out why the AWD model had the same gas milage. Answer: IT DOESN'T! If you are driving it downhill with your foot off the gas, then maybe. But in a realistic drive around town, the CX-7 AWD got about 10 - 12 MPG. Due to some construction, one way streets etc, and the sales guy trying to make the sale, we ended up on about an hour long test drive. 91 octane is a requirement, at around $3.00 a gallon (was up as high as $3.25 around here a few weeks ago), that can get expensive fast. Compared to the SUV I have now, its pretty much double the gas costs. Something to keep in mind, and a good way to get the dealer down on the price. After the test drive, I was in a much better position. The dealer didn't evn try to sell me the AWD model, they started to talk ordering the FWD model and offering $600 over invoice, big change from the pre-test drive. Gas milage is the big issue here. Seems to me there are a few too many hidden issues with the CX-7, its early days yet. So things could get a lot worse. When I was calling around dealerships, I found one that had the CX-7 marked as used. Apparantly it was a pre-order AWD Touring model that someone had for 3 days, and then returned it, because of the poor gas mileage performance. Not a great start!!

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