7 seater car suggestions?

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#2704261 10-May-2021 09:09

danepak: Ah, but only the Takami has 360 camera though.

Yep that Takami model version looks great, but it's usually an eye wateringly big leap in price to obtain.

Checking out Aliexpress, it looks like $300-$500 would get you all the gear you need for a 360 camera, so it's disappointing not to see it on cheaper variants.

Once you've used one, it's hard to go back. They are genuinely that good, and simply having one means you pick up a front camera too, which is very useful for parking and general low speed positioning.

Insanekiwi

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#2705287 10-May-2021 10:53

turtleattacks:

Yep, tried both CX-9 and the CX-8. Both are very nice.
Leaning towards the CX-8 as it’s just that bit smaller. My wife concerned about parking it, when she’s using it. On top of that, the car park at work is super narrow already.
Furthermore, 1100-1200km on a full diesel tank vs approx half on the CX-9.
It will be a company car, but they don’t pay for petrol/diesel outside of Auckland in the weekends.
A full tank would provide a lot of driving without having to refuel, spending my own money.

I really really liked the aircon in the seats (Takami version only for CX-8 and CX-9). Not sure if they’ll approve it though. Might just be the standard model.

A new version with updated interior is coming out in July.

Are you talking about a new interior for the CX8 or CX9?

We have the CX9 Takami and although the air conditioned seats were nice, it was more of a gimmick in the end and we didn’t end up using it a lot.

The CX9 is very thirsty however.

I would suggest take a look at Mazda forums to ensure that diesel engine has no inherent issues. I read there were series of recalls on that engine in the past. 2.2 diesels.

I also own a CX-9 Limited - which struck a nice balance of price and options. We have cooled seats in our Hyundai SUV and to be honest - never use it so that was not a feature I was after. As I purchased mine in 2019; it did not have a wide screen option. I have only done 13000km on it as I don't drive it much; but it is a very accomplished car for the price. The 3rd row is very useable and I think the handling for the vehicle is very reasonable. I came from Focus RS MK3 so there was a heap of difference (as you can imagine!) but I just wanted something more relaxing and comfortable.

I will be looking at selling my car as soon as Model Y becomes available in NZ shortly.

alasta

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#2705424 10-May-2021 12:10

The very early Skyactiv diesels had some problems with oil dilution, but that has long since been resolved. It's actually a great engine.

Shindig

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#2705446 10-May-2021 12:36

I went and looked at the CX9 at the weekend! It certainly is a beast of a car... sitting in the drivers seat you get a real sense of solid build and that feeling of saftey!

Yet to test drive one, but contemplating arranging one in the coming week or so.

A little miffed that its on the Takami has the toys like a 360deg camera, and the fact it doesn't on the limited version

The 'thirsty' opinions put me off slightly, but this is coming from a 2011 Nissan Qashqui doing 13L / 100Km, and not a massive amount of driving in the week.

I see the car as there for those road trips up north, where we can fit all in the car...

The little things make the biggest difference.

Grunta47

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#2705454 10-May-2021 12:43

danepak:

Yep, tried both CX-9 and the CX-8. Both are very nice.
Leaning towards the CX-8 as it’s just that bit smaller. My wife concerned about parking it, when she’s using it. On top of that, the car park at work is super narrow already.
Furthermore, 1100-1200km on a full diesel tank vs approx half on the CX-9.
It will be a company car, but they don’t pay for petrol/diesel outside of Auckland in the weekends.
A full tank would provide a lot of driving without having to refuel, spending my own money.

I really really liked the aircon in the seats (Takami version only for CX-8 and CX-9). Not sure if they’ll approve it though. Might just be the standard model.

A new version with updated interior is coming out in July.

I liked both the CX9 and CX8, but yes it was the size of the car that made me go with the Santa Fe (2018). I had a Toyota Highlander which was already a large car for parking and the CX9 is bigger. The CX8 is roughly the same size.

I found the CX8 to be a bit sluggish when going from 80km/h to 110km/h and this is where I want power for passing, which was a surprise.

If the Hyundai dealer had not given me such a discount on the Santa Fe (2018 runout, so got something like $22-24k off) I would have gone with the CX8.

We use the Aircon in the front row seats all the time in summer.

As for the small third row of seats, my 190cm 17 year old son still sits in the back. Just remember, kids/teenagers are more bendy than older blokes.

Batman

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#2705456 10-May-2021 12:47

Grunta47:

I liked both the CX9 and CX8, but yes it was the size of the car that made me go with the Santa Fe (2018). I had a Toyota Highlander which was already a large car for parking and the CX9 is bigger. The CX8 is roughly the same size.

I found the CX8 to be a bit sluggish when going from 80km/h to 110km/h and this is where I want power for passing, which was a surprise.

If the Hyundai dealer had not given me such a discount on the Santa Fe (2018 runout, so got something like $22-24k off) I would have gone with the CX8.

We use the Aircon in the front row seats all the time in summer.

As for the small third row of seats, my 190cm 17 year old son still sits in the back. Just remember, kids/teenagers are more bendy than older blokes.

i'm very vary of cramming people in what is really the boot of a car.

that was before my mate had night mares when his hatchback car got rear ended by a light truck in a 50k stop junction and the entire boot vanished such that his child in the rear facing car seat was looking at the truck's engine.

Grunta47

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#2705834 11-May-2021 08:40

Batman:

i'm very vary of cramming people in what is really the boot of a car.

that was before my mate had night mares when his hatchback car got rear ended by a light truck in a 50k stop junction and the entire boot vanished such that his child in the rear facing car seat was looking at the truck's engine.

I no longer have the Highlander for that very reason. Rear ended by a Corolla hatchback and it bent the chassis, so car was a write off. Luckily both cars were able to drive off, which was fairly impressive of the Corolla. Oh yeah, the other driver was on their phone.....but that's for another topic.

For me, one rear end accident in 35 years of driving was not really a factor in deciding the next car, otherwise I'd never buy anything and just stay home. Though with the amount of people I see every day on their phones while driving, perhaps I need to rethink that logic:-)

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turtleattacks

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#2705878 11-May-2021 10:13

Grunta47:

danepak:

Yep, tried both CX-9 and the CX-8. Both are very nice.
Leaning towards the CX-8 as it’s just that bit smaller. My wife concerned about parking it, when she’s using it. On top of that, the car park at work is super narrow already.
Furthermore, 1100-1200km on a full diesel tank vs approx half on the CX-9.
It will be a company car, but they don’t pay for petrol/diesel outside of Auckland in the weekends.
A full tank would provide a lot of driving without having to refuel, spending my own money.

I really really liked the aircon in the seats (Takami version only for CX-8 and CX-9). Not sure if they’ll approve it though. Might just be the standard model.

A new version with updated interior is coming out in July.

I liked both the CX9 and CX8, but yes it was the size of the car that made me go with the Santa Fe (2018). I had a Toyota Highlander which was already a large car for parking and the CX9 is bigger. The CX8 is roughly the same size.

I found the CX8 to be a bit sluggish when going from 80km/h to 110km/h and this is where I want power for passing, which was a surprise.

If the Hyundai dealer had not given me such a discount on the Santa Fe (2018 runout, so got something like $22-24k off) I would have gone with the CX8.

We use the Aircon in the front row seats all the time in summer.

As for the small third row of seats, my 190cm 17 year old son still sits in the back. Just remember, kids/teenagers are more bendy than older blokes.

Can I ask how much you got your Sante Fe for? Which trim level and was it brand new or ex-demo?

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Inphinity

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#2705880 11-May-2021 10:18

Grunta47:

I found the CX8 to be a bit sluggish when going from 80km/h to 110km/h and this is where I want power for passing, which was a surprise.

Tbh, though, if you're after a 7-seater SUV with real acceleration, you're looking at the big $$$ for the BMW X7M, Audi SQ7, or Merc-AMG GLS63. Ok, maybe I'm being a little over the top, but honestly, none of the 'mainstream' brand 7 seaters are powerhouses in this regard.
Having recently looked at going down this path ourselves, the Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, CX-8 and CX-9 were our front runners. The X-Trail, Outlander, and others we looked at had far less third-row room to the point we didn't really consider them usable as full-time 7 seaters. The Kia Sorento was the only one we found available as a Hybrid with 7 seaters, which would probably bump it up our list, but the price premium may not be worthwhile - we didn't get to the stage of doing those figures yet.

Grunta47

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#2705920 11-May-2021 11:57

turtleattacks:

Can I ask how much you got your Sante Fe for? Which trim level and was it brand new or ex-demo?

It was the 2018 Santa Fe Ltd PE version. This had a list price of $82,990.00 and I paid $64,753.00 (Sorry, it wasn't quite the $20k plus that I remembered.....but I think we done something tricky with the financing). It was a bigger discount than I would have got on the Elite version, so it ended up being around the same price.

Brand new with 45km on the clock.

The CX8 had only just arrived in NZ at the time so there was no discount, however it was still a cheaper car. It was really the acceleration for passing, being slightly smaller and accessories which swayed me to the Santa Fe (nudge bar, side steps....etc).

I'm fairly sure I would have been happy with the CX8, maybe next time.

Insanekiwi

592 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2706293 11-May-2021 21:16

I do look at the pricing of these cars in comparison to what you pay in Australia. Interestingly, apart from few brands like Tesla / Mazda in general - cars appear to be cheaper in Australia and this has been the case for many years. Mazda pricing in NZ is very competitive even compared to the US market.

Overall - that may be why I feel Mazda feels more premium compared to other brands which might cost more especially in NZ market in the price bracket.

I already down a diesel Tucson LTD - and as much as I like it, I probably would not be getting another diesel again. Even if the environment factor out of the equation, it just never feels as refined as petrol engines and that's what I go for these days. Thus, waiting for Model Y in NZ.

I do have to accept that one big flaw of CX9 (still my favourite) is the length. The shear length of almost 5.1m especially in Wellington city can be a beast to manoeuvre and my wife refuses to drive it. I have used 360 cameras before on BMW 5 series - and I am very happy with well placed sensors front and back and a decent rear view camera and don't miss the 360 view at all.

I did drive Sante Fe as a rental car in Queenstown, and apart from the fact that it was a base model, gutless (petrol), the size of the vehicle was just right.

I suggest test drive all the cars, and ideally if possible overnight or over the weekend if the dealer allows and go from there!

turtleattacks

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#2706298 11-May-2021 21:38

Insanekiwi:
I do look at the pricing of these cars in comparison to what you pay in Australia. Interestingly, apart from few brands like Tesla / Mazda in general - cars appear to be cheaper in Australia and this has been the case for many years. Mazda pricing in NZ is very competitive even compared to the US market.

Overall - that may be why I feel Mazda feels more premium compared to other brands which might cost more especially in NZ market in the price bracket.

I already down a diesel Tucson LTD - and as much as I like it, I probably would not be getting another diesel again. Even if the environment factor out of the equation, it just never feels as refined as petrol engines and that's what I go for these days. Thus, waiting for Model Y in NZ.

I do have to accept that one big flaw of CX9 (still my favourite) is the length. The shear length of almost 5.1m especially in Wellington city can be a beast to manoeuvre and my wife refuses to drive it. I have used 360 cameras before on BMW 5 series - and I am very happy with well placed sensors front and back and a decent rear view camera and don't miss the 360 view at all.

I did drive Sante Fe as a rental car in Queenstown, and apart from the fact that it was a base model, gutless (petrol), the size of the vehicle was just right.

I suggest test drive all the cars, and ideally if possible overnight or over the weekend if the dealer allows and go from there!

You are so right about this car being too long, we had a Forester and this new car is way too long!

We nearly got stuck in a car park in Parnell as it was way too narrow!

The turbo charged engine is awesome though.

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danepak

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#2706299 11-May-2021 21:56

I think the CX-8 is perfect for us for the following reasons:
- I’m no speed monster (acceleration isn’t that important to me)
- 1000 to 1200km on a full tank
- 95% of the time (or more), it will be used as a 5-seater
- slightly smaller than the CX-9 (my wife won’t want to drive it either - a nightmare to park, she reckons)

turtleattacks

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#2706604 12-May-2021 14:58

danepak: I think the CX-8 is perfect for us for the following reasons:
- I’m no speed monster (acceleration isn’t that important to me)
- 1000 to 1200km on a full tank
- 95% of the time (or more), it will be used as a 5-seater
- slightly smaller than the CX-9 (my wife won’t want to drive it either - a nightmare to park, she reckons)

Maybe our wives could join a coffee club - two months after getting a brand new CX9 Takami - wife still won't drive it.

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danepak

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#2706605 12-May-2021 14:59

turtleattacks:
danepak: I think the CX-8 is perfect for us for the following reasons:
- I’m no speed monster (acceleration isn’t that important to me)
- 1000 to 1200km on a full tank
- 95% of the time (or more), it will be used as a 5-seater
- slightly smaller than the CX-9 (my wife won’t want to drive it either - a nightmare to park, she reckons)

Maybe our wives could join a coffee club - two months after getting a brand new CX9 Takami - wife still won't drive it.

LOL, very funny!

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