Family roadtrip vehicle dilemma, waffling on my decision.

"Phyrxes once again has a wagon!" (phyrxes)
10/08/2016 at 20:21 • Filed to: None

I have been stalking dealer inventories in preparation of handing my TDI back.

Looking at 2014 or newer cx5 touring for low to mid 20s, meaning I am financing like 10k or so after the VW check.

But I keep coming back to similar vintage cx9s which are about the same price. Do I need all the space no but I have two small children whose stuff seems to expand to take all available space.

This will also be my dd but my commute is 20 miles a day total at highway speed so the cx5 makes more sense day to day. But not having to stop on road trips as much as the mrs can be in the back with the munchkins.

And yes I know that vintage cx9 has a bunch of Ford parts as I asked a similar question this summer when I started shopping.

Thoughts?

DISCUSSION (28)

comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 20:37

I mean, it may be cliche American, but no one has ever said they wish they had less space. When we first got married, we had a mid-sized sedan and I said it was ridiculous that anyone needed more space. Do we need it? Maybe not, but the missus now drives a minivan, and it is glorious to have space and the sliding doors.

I think it also depends on how long you hold cars...if you cycle thru them quickly anyway, maybe you get by with the smaller one for a while and see if you need the bigger one later. If you’re planning on buying and holding, maybe go with the bigger so you’re not buying shorter than your intended cycle because you want more space later.

Nibby > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 20:43

A friend just got a CX5 Touring a few months ago and he loves it. It’s a pretty nice ride

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
10/08/2016 at 20:47

The Mrs and I have been talking and thinking the same way and since the off lease minivan isn’t a thing I started looking again a 7 passenger suvs. Whatever we get this time we are keeping as the next purchase is to replace the car she is driving currently which does great for her and the kids running errands but is terrible for family outings.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Nibby
10/08/2016 at 20:50

Yeah I am a huge fan but the only way to get factory leather, because kids, is a grand touring and off lease they aren’t super common. So the cx5 is likely snag a touring and hit Steve up when I am visiting the inlaws for a leather install.

comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 21:11

I will say, though...really look at that 3rd row. When we bought the Highlander, we thought the 3rd row would help it grow with us. In that segment (have to be honest, not that familiar with the Mazdas, so I don’t know how they compare with the highlander/pilot), at least in the 00-10 decade (don’t know how model growth has affected them this decade) the 3rd row was really a joke unless you were putting 5-7 year olds back there. Younger than that it would be a PITA to buckle a 5 point child seat that far back, older than that and they’ll be too big.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
10/08/2016 at 21:17

Absolutely, our oldest just swapped to a front facing seat and I have no ideal how hard it will be to put him in his seat in the third row.

The cx9 is similar to a highlander in size, the highlander is way out of our price range even off lease.

OPPOsaurus WRX > comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
10/08/2016 at 22:14

we got a minivan... it replaced the WRX. i resent the shit out of that thing. I fucking hate it and would burn the fucker to the ground if i could. Then I’d piss on it. but the space is nice.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 22:14

ford flex?

comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/08/2016 at 22:16

OK, I gotta ask...why hate a minivan to the point of wanting to burn it, and then suggest basically a minivan without sliding doors?

Nibby > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 22:25

Fit it with whale penis leather.

OPPOsaurus WRX > comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer
10/08/2016 at 22:35

the Flex you could toss around and it would smile, a Quest cries.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/08/2016 at 22:42

Wife vetoed the flex out right, I think it was largely aesthetics.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 22:43

Buy whichever you like most.

mazda616 > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 23:03

CX-5. We love ours and it’s quite spacious for its size. Better crash test ratings than the CX-9, too, despite the size difference.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 23:03

mine did too until she drove it. then she loved it. and then we got a Quest. i dont know what happened. tell her she can get what she wants but she needs to drive one before you’ll agree to anything else

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 23:11

A bit of food for thought. We paid under $28k for a brand new AWD Grand Touring. By the time you pay mid 20's and then add leather, you’re in spitting distance of a new one.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > mazda616
10/08/2016 at 23:11

I have driven both and while the 9 is okay I much prefer the dynamics of the 5. The other part being the napkin math in gas costs going up with the 9 is also not a small number compared to the 5.

The 5 is a bit larger than my jsw but not by a huge amount.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher
10/08/2016 at 23:18

All the new cx5 awd gt near me are like 33k plus, the touring start at 25k with most being 27 or so. Thes are all what they are listed at, I am purchasing using the Costco buyers sheet so I am going to see where that gets me, I may end up with a new one who knows.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/08/2016 at 23:39

Ours stickered for over $31k.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher
10/08/2016 at 23:42

Hmm interesting, thanks for the insight on a new gt. I may have to stop in the dealership and ask in the next week or so.

comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > OPPOsaurus WRX
10/08/2016 at 23:48

Well, crap, if you’re going to compare a Quest, no wonder. In minivans, it’s pretty much Honda and Toyota. We have a Sienna. Yes, in the market, there’s also Chrysler, but they’re Chrysler build quality (withholding judgement on the Pacifica) and yes, Nissan is also in the market, but it’s like a Tacoma and a Frontier...there are no Frontier fanboys, just people that have bought them that maybe don’t hate them.

I mean, c’mon, you take the “i” out of Sienna, you have what...that’s right, Senna. Legendary. The Lotus Evora has a supercharged Sienna engine.

DipodomysDeserti > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/09/2016 at 01:27

I’ve roadtripped all over the US with two kids and my wife in a BMW X1. We’ve done camping trips in a 2 door Wrangler. Get the smaller vehicle. My kids need water, snacks, and a book/kindle to road trip. Unless your child is on life support they don’t really need anything else. I travelled for six weeks with both of them through Western Europe in winter with just two backpacks.

I have no idea how people manage to haul so much stuff with them everywhere.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/09/2016 at 04:15

No problem. I got that price with zero negotiating. I simply emailed all the dealers that were close enough for me to be willing to go to, and asked them to give me, “An out the door quote on a 2015 CX-5 Grand Touring AWD, in Soul Red, without the technology package.”

Modify that to fit whatever CX-5 you want and send that off. I think I sent that to 10 Mazda dealers, and three or four of them were within a few hundred dollars of each other. Unfortunately the Mazda dealer one block away from my work, was thousands of dollars more expensive. The dealer we went with was still reasonably close, and pulled zero BS. Make sure your quote is an out the door quote, with all taxes and fees included, and has a stock number or VIN of a specific vehicle associated with it.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher
10/09/2016 at 08:55

If I use Costco’s pre-negotiated price I have one local dealer group that they have an arrangement with, but that dealer group has 3 Mazda dealers nearby so there are close to 200 new CX5s between them. I have already chatted with them and taken a test drive with the “product specialist” at said dealership and they seem really reasonable.

The biggest pain is orchestrating all of this with the bank so I’m not without a car for more than a couple days.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/09/2016 at 09:20

But whatever DD you want. Rent a van for trips. Our iventory consisted of an old truck and a Neon for many years. The best trips were when we rented something considerably bigger.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/09/2016 at 12:18

That’s all the more reason to buy new. Who knows what will be available used when it’s time to turn the VW in? There will be plenty to choose from new.

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > shop-teacher
10/09/2016 at 12:22

Court date to finalize things is the 18th of October. VW starts distributing funds almost immediately and are scheduling appointments for turn ins starting November 1st. Once I get a date I am going to go test drive again and place a deposit on the vehicle I want and schedule a ppi if I need to. I chatted with my bank and the funds from vw will be available the next business day.

shop-teacher > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
10/09/2016 at 12:31

Good luck with it all!