Hi All!

Had ours for about 10 months and 14K miles now. Went from a 4 year old Mazda 6 to this CX-7 looking for better Winter time handling. So far it has done that well. I'll list my pros and cons thus far, but do remember - it's only my opinion to be used any way you see fit. Remember - YMMV.

Pros:
[ul][*]Comfort is pretty damn good. I hated the 6 for long trips, the seats sucked - always felt they were far too narrow. But the CX-7 was a welcomed relief for my 6'2" 230lb body. Leg room was plenty and the seats are generous and really good.[*]Looks IMO are hot. For a crossover, Mazda did done well. Still have to chuckle over the crossover name - let's be honest, it's a station wagon on steriods. lol![*]Plenty of power once the engine wakes up to about 2500rpm.[*]MPG is much better than my exploder - even with its AWD.[*]Cargo room is plenty! My dog thanks Mazda.[*]Great sounding stereo.[*]Headlights are fantastic - make the dead of night turn into daylight. Low beams are well defined for height and do take a bit to get used to.
[/ul]Cons:
[ul][*]No power on take-off. Torque doesn't kick in until around 2500rpm. Doesn't matter if you're in auto or manual shift mode - same pathetic results, hit the gas from a dead stop and the engine hesitates. Yes, the TB on this has been applied.[*]Tranny in auto mode is lame. Hunts consistantly - manages to find 6th gear at 25-30mph. Drives me crazy - prefer to manually shift to get it to drive responsively. Yes, the tranny programming has been wiped once already.[*]Tires will wear out prematurely - and the dealers can't do anything about it. Came with Turanzas(sp?) and already the fronts are losing tread. The dealer claims this is normal as tires that come with the car are a softer compound than after market of the same brand/type. We'll see - they all will be replaced soon. And yes - they are rotated regularly.[*]Mudflaps - what a joke. Guess Mazda never QA'd them.[*]Strange oscillating noise inside if the back windows alone are rolled down. Speed isn't a factor. In 47 years I've never heard this from any other car. Open the front windows and the noise goes away.[*]Tin wheel wells. They must have forgot to noise proof them as even sand blasting up into them echoes through the interior. Very noisy.[*]Storage is OK at best. As a comparison, look at the interior of a 6 and then the CX-7. The 6 spoils you with lots in integrated storage throughout the interior. The CX-7, well, at least it has a center console and a glove box. *rolls eyes*[*]The stereo sucks. Ya, I gave it a thumbs up in the pros, but they really cheaped out here. The CD player will not play MP3s burned to a CD. And even more important, there is NO aux input for a MP3 player. Sad when you consider this IS 2007 and MP3 players have become a staple over the last 3-4 years. With these basics missing, you'd think Mazda would have put in a cassette player to keep up with the retro theme of the stereo system.
[/ul]That's all I can think of for now. As for the magic question: would I buy another one? No. It's a nice car with too many disappointments for me to overlook when it is time for another. They did good, but not great. It get 2 out of 3 zooms from me.

My 2 cents... Murph

 

Have you had the TCU reflash done?

It eliminates the 65 mph level hunting between 5th and 6th.

 

I'm currently looking at the CX-7 - or should I say my wife is. I own a Speed6 and like the DISI so we decided to look at the 7. Tooka 2007for two test drives - one inner city and one on the highway - biggest complaint by far was the road noise coming up through the floor and around the wheel wells.This car is not quiet and that's what's holding us back right now.

Questin - has Mazda done anything about this issue (or do they even recognize it as an issue?)