Scotty, I know you've given the Mazda CX-90 a good review. I know buying new is not advised, but leaning towards buying one because "happy wife, happy life". I've heard sceptics mention that the engine is too compact which will make maintenance and repair a pain in the you know what. Supposedly you'd have to remove the engine for even routine maintenance/ repairs. Would you advise against buying one because of that? What new SUV would you recommend ?
As long as you get the 3.3 inline-6. I have driven the inline-4 plug-in hybrid version and the hybrid system itself is not that great and it gets worse mileage than the turbo-6. It's a really nice car and is RWD-biased (it comes with AWD). I would go for the 3.3 Preferred Plus version if I were buying. Plus, the turbo inline-6 gets 2-3 MPG better mileage than a lot of competitors with turbo inline-4 engines.
I’ve heard similar complaints, and that it should have been flipped to make maintenance easier, rather than having to drop the whole engine. But that is all hearsay. I really don’t know.
I’m not sure how Scotty feels, but here are my thoughts on the CX-90. Overall, I think it is a compelling choice. Especially with the inline 6 engine. Sure, eventually down the line the engine may have to take out the engine for maintenance. But the hope is that those are few and far between.
The way I think of it, is like dropping a tranny to change a clutch. It’s not often it happens.
if it were like a Porche where you need to drop the engine for many things, that would be a different story.
If you want to avoid all that, the alternative would be the Highlander or Grand Highlander.
