A good friend of ours is driving a Mazda CX-9, and her lease is ending in the end of September. She initially wanted to extend the lease and perhaps even buy the car out, but she recently got in a crash and the car doesn't drive right after the repair. Her CX-9 is well equipped - navi, leather, LED headlights, automatic everything, but when I was picking it up from the body shop I was surprised at how cheap and flimsy it feels. It feels more or less the same as a 2013 Mazda 3 that I leased years ago, and a far cry from the excellent Mazda 6. Regardless, right now her lease is around $600, which I think was way too expensive for when she got it 3 years ago, but today it may not sound too crazy.

I want to advise her in the right direction - are there SUVs available around her price range? Who's got decent deals going these days?

 

Telluride / Palisade. Easily the best SUVs in that price range with similar seating. Those two also wipe the competition in reviews...the Highlander and Pilot aren't nearly as well received.

 

Depends on your definition of a "Decent" deal......what you and her would consider acceptable in today's Seller's Market, with high-demand and low-supply. If her CX-9 is still acceptably-drivable even after the accident (and she does not immediately need a new vehicle), it might be worth waiting a little until the market stabilizes a little and more new vehicles become available to choose from.

Agreed that they are desirable, but Demand/Supply for those two vehicles was bringing high prices (and few, if any discounts) even before the pandemic and computer-chip/production shortage. Good Luck find one that will sell at list or below.

 

$600 to lease a CC-9? Really?

 

Wow, sounds like you have your job cut out, w/ varies vehicles......Highlander, Explorer, Traverse, Pilot, Telluride, Atlas, Ascent for common 3 seaters.......Get it paid off in 36 months.........

 

The Atlas is space-efficient and, in the German tradition, has good drivability and road-manners (I've sampled one)....but also has some cheap interior components and a below-average reliability record.

 

I think she was ripped off when she initially leased the CX-9, I emailed my leasing guy to see what he can get a deal on.

 

The CX-9 does ride and handle better than most of its competitors. Take a look at the Signature trim, it improves the interior and general sense of quality. There was an article on the CX-9 Signature trim level on Autoblog a couple of days ago.

 

'deals' are relative, vary by area, model, time of day/month/year, supply, dealer, etc.

perhaps narrow it to 2 or 3 vehicles she would take any of and work the best deal among those.

 

Here’s that Autoblog article

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/07/30/...-toward-luxury

 

I dont think she cares much as long as its decent, similar in size and price to the Mazda. I am just wondering if one manufacturer has more stock than other and willing to offer better deals.

 

Palisade/Telluride

 

I think the top trim Telluride leases for around $700-800, if you can find one. The new Pathfinder may be comparable to the CX-9.

 

Leases aren't good on the Palisade/Telluride, its a buy not a lease.

 

To clarify, she is looking to lease.