Thought you guys would like to hear this one...

[sranger]

I recently bought a Mazda AWD CX-9 Grand touring Edition. Initially I was very pleased with the vehicle. However, after spending several hours in the drivers seat for up to two hours at a time, I realized the my tail end was getting quite sore. I am about 6'-4" and 230lb so I am not a small person. What initially felt like a supportive sporty seat quickly turned into a hard uncomfortable seat. The main problem is the way the two tone leather seats are sewen together. They put a rolled seam on the side bolsters. This makes the seam very hard and if you are larger than normal, it pokes into your hips. It is not really somthing that you will notice on a short test drive. However the constant pressure on a long trip gets very uncomfortable.

 

I drive several hours a day in my job and this has got so bad that I will probably have to sell the vehicle. I realise that I will lose a ton of money, but that is life...

 

My previous vehicle was a 2005 Mariner. It was not very big and needed a telescoping steering wheel for a big person like me, but was much more comfortable than this $39,000 CX-9. I still love the way the CX-9 handles, rides and stops. The stereo is excellent and it has a lot of room inside. However, you would be amazed at how fast a vehicle starts looking like a lemon when your tail end is so sore that you don't even want to drive it again.

 

The reason that I am posting this is to one, admit my mistake, ( I should have bought the MKX ) but also to warn anyone else who is thinking about a CX-9 to be very careful about buying one if you are larger than average. The Non-Two Tone seats might be ok, but the fancy two tone seats in the GT might be a problem.

 

My last four vehicles were Fords, the main reason I did not buy the MKX was because I did not like the way the brakes felt or stopped. I still would not buy one unless they imrpoved its stopping performance.

 

I cannot express in words how horrable I feel at this moment. I figured if nothing else, I think you guys deserve to give me a good "I told you so..."

 

P.S. Both Mazda and the Dealer said screw you when I asked if there was anyhting they could do to help me with this problem...

Edited June 15, 2007 by sranger

[matthewq4b]

I recently bought a Mazda AWD CX-9 Grand touring Edition. Initially I was very pleased with the vehicle. However, after spending several hours in the drivers seat for up to two hours at a time, I realized the my tail end was getting quite sore. I am about 6'-4" and 230lb so I am not a small person. What initially felt like a supportive sporty seat quickly turned into a hard uncomfortable seat. The main problem is the way the two tone leather seats are sewen together. They put a rolled seam on the side bolsters. This makes the seam very hard and if you are larger than normal, it pokes into your hips. It is not really somthing that you will notice on a short test drive. However the constant pressure on a long trip gets very uncomfortable.

 

I drive several hours a day in my job and this has got so bad that I will probably have to sell the vehicle. I realise that I will lose a ton of money, but that is life...

 

My previous vehicle was a 2005 Mariner. It was not very big and needed a telescoping steering wheel for a big person like me, but was much more comfortable than this $39,000 CX-9. I still love the way the CX-9 handles, rides and stops. The stereo is excellent and it has a lot of room inside. However, you would be amazed at how fast a vehicle starts looking like a lemon when your tail end is so sore that you don't even want to drive it again.

 

The reason that I am posting this is to one, admit my mistake, ( I should have bought the MKX ) but also to warn anyone else who is thinking about a CX-9 to be very careful about buying one if you are larger than average. The Non-Two Tone seats might be ok, but the fancy two tone seats in the GT might be a problem.

 

My last four vehicles were Fords, the main reason I did not buy the MKX was because I did not like the way the brakes felt or stopped. I still would not buy one unless they imrpoved its stopping performance.

 

I cannot express in words how horrable I feel at this moment. I figured if nothing else, I think you guys deserve to give me a good "I told you so..."

 

P.S. Both Mazda and the Dealer said screw you when I asked if there was anyhting they could do to help me with this problem...

 

 

With your size and the hours you spend on the road you should have seriously had a look at a GM or CV.

 

 

Matthew

[BlackHorse]

This is why it just aggrivates me to no end when a car dealer wants you to take a two minute test drive and then come back to the dealership and start talking about buying their 30 and 40 thousand dollar vehicle. Don't you guys just hate that? I especially hate it when you go for a test drive and the salesman tells where to drive, where to turn and all that and of course your ass is back at the lot usually in 5 minutes or less. It infuriates me!! Once I get serious about a particular car I intend to test drive it for at least an hour or two before I talk money. That way I know the car quite well by the time I make that decision. I'm not saying it's your fault sranger, and of course I don't know how much time the dealer afforded you with the CX9 before you made that choice. But it just seems good business to me that if I'm about to make a 20 to 40 thosuand dollar purchase that it's just in the poorest of taste to rush me through the "get to know the product" phase just to get me into a cubicle and start siging paperwork. This is why I usually end up renting a car that I might be seriously considering before I buy one so that I don't have to put up with dealership bullshit. Car dealers piss me off so bad sometimes it's not even funny.

[TomServo92]

This is why it just aggrivates me to no end when a car dealer wants you to take a two minute test drive and then come back to the dealership and start talking about buying their 30 and 40 thousand dollar vehicle. Don't you guys just hate that? I especially hate it when you go for a test drive and the salesman tells where to drive, where to turn and all that and of course your ass is back at the lot usually in 5 minutes or less. It infuriates me!! Once I get serious about a particular car I intend to test drive it for at least an hour or two before I talk money. That way I know the car quite well by the time I make that decision. I'm not saying it's your fault sranger, and of course I don't know how much time the dealer afforded you with the CX9 before you made that choice. But it just seems good business to me that if I'm about to make a 20 to 40 thosuand dollar purchase that it's just in the poorest of taste to rush me through the "get to know the product" phase just to get me into a cubicle and start siging paperwork. This is why I usually end up renting a car that I might be seriously considering before I buy one so that I don't have to put up with dealership bullshit. Car dealers piss me off so bad sometimes it's not even funny.

 

My solution to this is quite simple: I don't buy from a dealer that won't give me some quality seat time. If they try to rush the sale, I walk.

[2000SableWagon]

You might want to consider taking it to an upholstery shop, and see if they can re upholstery the two front seats. Might be a little expensive, but cheaper than the bath you will take trading it in.

[RaZor]

Sable beat me to it, but I would add that a good upholstery shop can remove your existing leather covers without damage, so tell them you want them back. Then sell them and you should be to offset your cost of the re-upholstery job. OR you can store them properly and then have them reinstalled before you sell it and they would be "like-new".

 

They won't need them for templates as you would want the seams in different places anyway.

 

A good shop should be able to fix you up for much less than the hit you are going to take otherwise.

[ANTAUS]

No you can't lemon law, because the seat is uncomfortable. You need to prove that the recurring failure, occurs more than 3 times and the issue hasn't been corrected. In your case "comfort" isn't debatable in this case.

 

But I would recommend a few other options specifically with the seat. You could get the seat reulphostered to suit your needs. Maybe add a bit more cushioning for a few hundreds will cure the issue, rather than losing thousands on your trade-in. I myself always add a bit more insulation (Dynamat) under the carpets and a few other panels to reduce the interior noise in my car.... it's all about what it's worth to you.

 

And for future reference, if you don't test drive a vehicle where YOU want it, and as LONG as you want it, then walk away to a dealership that will. What I usually recommend to friends is to go to Carmax, find the vehicle they are looking to buy in the NEW market, and just go there to test drive it. Usually Carmax people aren't pushy and will take their time with test drives and such...then if they like it, they'll go to the dealership of choice or buy online.

[BlackHorse]

My solution to this is quite simple: I don't buy from a dealer that won't give me some quality seat time. If they try to rush the sale, I walk.

 

Agreed. Plenty a young salesman has found out the hard way.

[waymondospiff]

sranger - it's interesting that you mention that because I've found (in the Mazda's I've owned/travelled in) that the seats get more comfortable the longer you sit. But, with the seat trim design it could be a stand-alone CX-9 issue (maybe the CX-7 too, doesn't it have similar seats?) But like others have said, reupholster the seat. Depending on where you're located I might even be able to recommend a shop (South, Texas/West, NW, Cali) that I think would do a good job. Or you can always replace the whole seat. But I'm guessing a good reupholstery job would do the trick. Heck, even some kind of seat cover, like lambswool or cushioned neoprene "off-the-shelf" might be able to change the comfort just enough.

 

But if you like the CX-9, and it is a sharp truck, I'd work with it to make it fit your needs. Also, you'd take a bath on the resale market.

 

And matthewq4b, it's not just you, but why on this board does the answer for every automotive question begin and end with Panthers? Some people like cars designed in the past decade or two. Cars that can "turn" and rides that don't make you seasick. I like the Panthers, they're great at what they do, but there's a reason they sell so few in the retail market.

 

Scott

[RichardJensen]

You guys are all morons. ^{< not intended to be taken seriously}

 

Here's the solution: ^{< setup}

 

^{< punchline}

 

http://tthl.en.alibaba.com/product/5035623...at_Cushion.html

 

[ the preceding post was intended to be sarcastic and has been close captioned for the humor impaired ]

Edited June 15, 2007 by RichardJensen

[RichardJensen]

Bad day at the office, Rich? :shades:

What that sentence failed to convey was the over-the-top 'Well Duh' attitude of the inebriated guy at the end of the bar who has the answer to everything....

[RangerM]

My solution to this is quite simple: I don't buy from a dealer that won't give me some quality seat time. If they try to rush the sale, I walk.

 

Don't most of the dealerships rent? Most (Ford dealers) I've dealt with encouraged me to take a "weekend test-drive", but if that weren't long enough, I'd think renting would allow it.

[LincolnFan]

You guys are all morons. ^{< not intended to be taken seriously}

 

Here's the solution: ^{< setup}

 

^{< punchline}

 

http://tthl.en.alibaba.com/product/5035623...at_Cushion.html

 

[ the preceding post was intended to be sarcastic and has been close captioned for the humor impaired ]

 

One of my friends had that in his new Focus. I had to punch him in the face.

[Michael Reynolds]

One of my friends had that in his new Focus. I had to punch him in the face.

 

LOL, wow I didn't think people actually put those in their cars still. How old is your friend?

 

I took the Fusion on no less than 5 test drives, I looked at my salesperson and told him I know this must be a pain but I'm not financing something and will end up hating it down the road. The G went out 3 times before we finally made a decision, and the Audi.......well my younger brother has one so I knew better.

[LincolnFan]

18 I think.

[TomServo92]

One of the reasons I keep going back to the same saleslady. She lets me take vehicles I am interested in home for an entire weekend. If they don't have exactly what I am looking for on the lot, she gives me the closest thing to it.

 

Same here. I found a nice medium sized dealership where I've developed a good business relationship with the sales manager.

[sranger]

Thanks for all of the advice and comments. You guys were actually quite kind with your comments.

 

I have had it looked at and worked on by an upholstery shop. They attempted to adjust the padding, but the seams are the real problem, not the padding. The problem is that the seats are a two-tone leather design. In order to make interior look decent you would have to replace ALL of the upper and lower seat covers in the front and second row. Otherwise it would look stupid. I really do not want to drive my clients around in a vehicle with a hillbilly looking interior. It is one of the reasons why I bought a little more high end vehicle to start with. Unfortunately for me, appearance is important in sales.

 

The cost to re-work all of the seats covers to my satisfaction would be about what I would lose in depreciated value at this point. This is not something that you would notice easily. I drove the vehicle about four times for about an hour each when I first bought it and thought it was comfortable. My test drive was nearly an hour long. It was only after I drove it for four hours straight on a single trip did the problem arise.

 

The problem is a stupid rolled edge seam in the middle of the side bolsters. This extremely hard seam puts constant pressure on my hips and the back of my upper legs. After about a 2hr ride I actually have a red mark down my hip and leg where the seam runs down the seat on each side. In other words, it took several long trips for me to even realize that my legs were getting quite sore. To be honest, I never even thought this might be a problem. I have owned many vehicles, and this is the ONLY one that I found to be so uncomfortable. Of course, it is also the only one I have ever seen with a rolled edge seam in the middle of the side bolsters on the bottom of the seat. It looks great, but is basically a bad design (hind sight talking of course)

 

I might have new seat covers made, but either way, I am going to lose a lot of money. At least I got it for about 5K off MSRP to start with so I wont get bit too bad either way.

 

My main purpose of the post was to warn people. I think many may cross shop the CX-9 and the MKX…

 

I can tell you that the new 3.5L V6 is a sweet engine. The 3.7L that is going into the 2008 MKX and CX-9 will even be better…

Edited June 16, 2007 by sranger

[RichardJensen]

Aww, come on! Try the beaded seat covers! If you put them on all 4 seats your clients will never know. Tell them it's part of your ethnic heritage (if you have any--mine consists of the peculiar habit of eating fish dissolved in lye).

[Sixt9coug]

why not just change the seats to the std ones?

[waymondospiff]

One thing to try:

 

http://www.shearcomfort.com/

 

They've got a large selection, I believe they'll custom design for certain vehicles, and they have padded designs. If it is truly that painful, I'd try a padded seat cover - they cost about $100 for two - and $100 (if it worked) vs. $1000s in depreciation is a no brainer. If you tried a non-fitted style, you could drive with the cover on for your long trips and slip it off for short drives with your clients onboard. What have you got to lose?

 

As a former road warrior, if you kept the seat cover on and told your clients you keep it for comfort I doubt they would question you. Most non-roadies have no idea how we do what we do. Just pass it off as a "trick of the trade."

 

Scott