Question Mazda CX9 or honda pilot?

Have a friend looking at getting a new (to her) vehicle and she is considering both these vehicles. She has a 22 month old rf'ing in a headwise and will soon have a newborn in a key fit to start off then a new generation marathon. Both mom and dad are quite tall so they need their seats all the way back. They are concerned mostly about which vehicle, the Mazda CX9 or the pilot would play nicer with the two rear facing seats...possible years of the new car would be 2009-2012. Anybody that can weigh in on this ...please do! Thank you!

I can say that I am very happy with my 2012 Pilot. So far it has been a great car for driving kids/stuff around.

My neighbors have a CX9 and they are happy enough with it. I remember test driving it, but I don't remember why we crossed it off our list. It probably only has one tether in the third row, which was a deal breaker for us since we have 3 kids and I frequently have 2-3 FFing harnessed seats in the car, I wanted to have some flexibility in who could sit where.

CX9 offers no tether anchors in the 3rd row.

In terms of fitting seats in the 2nd, I only recall thinking that the front seats of the CX9 are very thick front to back, and sort of curve back at the top. Cushy and comfy I'm sure, but I recall thinking the front to back thickness of the seatback ate up some of the 2nd row front to back room. Hard to explain, I guess. It was in the context of installing a rf Advocate and mom having to lose some legroom to make things work. Normally parents can have their seat quite far back in terms of legroom as long as they agree to sit fairly upright, but in this instance simply sitting more upright didn't cut it. Deal breaker? No, but something I noticed and thought hmmm. Thick front seats, lol. Who knew.


If they need the drivers seat all the way back, the 2nd row middle seat of the Pilot is really friendly. They could put the KF there, and the Graco seat behind the passenger. Or vise versa, point being the middle seat is a 'real' seat - no hinges, narrowness or other things that normally create issues in other middle SUV seating positions. Pilot is just so .. friendly for car seats.

I have a Pilot & my boss has a CX-9. I definitely prefer the Pilot. The rear doors are hhuuuugggeee on the CX-9. Makes it very difficult to get them open very far in tight spaces. Also, no tether anchors in the 3rd row, only two seating positions in the 3rd row and the head room is claustrophobic back there!

And I concur about the thick seatbacks of the CX-9.