My wife has driven Honda Pilots (2003 and currently 2007) for the past 9+ years. After attending the NY Auto Show in April, we were fairly convinced that her next SUV would be a 2014 MDX to be released late next year, supposedly with an optional hydrid engine. However, I started considering the JX after having seen a lot of articles in car mags and ads on TV recently - we ended up taking a test drive on Sun. and was impressed with the whole package. The sales person and his manager that we met with were great and made us a very tempting offer - VPP pricing @ about 7.5% off MSRP, a very good trade allowance on the Pilot (better than I expected based on the "black book" estimate from the dealer's website), and also got them to add the tow package @ no charge. Their initial financing offer was @ 2.9%, but I asked them if they could match local CU offers (1.99% for up to 60 months) and - after a credit check - they offered my 1.56% for 4 years (not sure how they arrived @ 1.56%, but not gonna argue). Needless to say, we're very close to pulling the trigger - the biggest hurdle is my wife and her attachment to her Pilot(s). Although she liked the JX, she wasn't "feeling it" and kept comparing everything to her Pilot, nor was she really sold on any of the color combos we saw, at least until almost the very end of our visit when I asked the sales manager about the Diamond Slate (only color we hadn't seen other than Glacial Silver) - as luck would have it, they had one Diamond Slate/Graphite in their auxilary lot...as soon as we saw it, we both agreed that was the combo to go with (car has Prem and Theater pkgs, and a few other small options). The dealer agreed to let my wife take the Graphite JX for a day-long test drive later this week to help seal-the-deal before month end.

Anyway, on to my questions:

1) I've scoured the internet extensively for the last few days and can find only positive reviews of the JX from owners (aside from one review on here where the owner has experienced problems with the IBA system). Curious to hear pros and cons from owners on this forum.

2) What have people been getting for average MPG? I'd be ecstatic if my wife could get 20-21 mpg with the JX compared to the 15 mpg she's getting with the Pilot.

3) This was my first experience with a CVT and I found the lack of feeling shifts a somewhat odd, but pleasant feeling after a while. When I first took a highway on-ramp with the JX, I punched it and while it accelerated smoothly, the engine didn't sound too "happy" doing so (i.e. sounded a little "thrashy") which surprised me since I'd read several reviews where people commented how quiet and smooth the JX was. Anyway, aside from that one time, the engine-tranny combo seemed fine for the rest of the test-drive. I'm sure I'll be able to better assess it on our extened test-drive later this week, but curious as to how owners find the engine & tranny combo.

4) Curious to hear impressions from any other former Pilot owners out there who have jumped to the JX, or those who have cross-shopped the JX vs the MDX.

5) Any other owner impressions/feedback are welcome...

Thanks!

Definitely a HUGE upgrade from the Pilot to the JX. Typically, with a new model from Infiniti (or ANY manufacturer, for that matter), there are some early hiccups - I haven't heard of any with the JX.

I'm sure some of the "early-adopters" will chime in here soon, but for now, check out the other threads and see what the other new owners are saying. I don't think you'er going to beat that deal, VPP pricing at under 2% financing is unheard of!

Which dealer are you working with?

AZhitman wrote:I don't think you'er going to beat that deal, VPP pricing at under 2% financing is unheard of!

Which dealer are you working with?

Until I close the deal, I'll just say I'm in New England and have 5 Infiniti dealers within 50 miles of me so it's a fairly competitive market...

1. I need to post a comprehensive review of our JX experience but in a nutshell we are very pleased after one month of ownership. I’m a pain in the a$$ when it comes to cars and I have found very few faults with the JX.

2. After about 1,000 miles on the odo we took a short road trip from Phx to LA to Phx just last week. Try as I might the best MPG I could get was 17.9 and that was using mostly cruise control running 92 octane. I’m hoping this gets better but I don't have very high hopes for much more than that.

3. CVT takes a bit of getting used to, especially for me because my daily driver is a manual. Compared to an automatic it is relatively easy to adjust to. On-ramps are the exception when it sounds like the engine is stuck in “gear” trying to achieve the power you’re asking for. Outside of that it’s sweet! Engine isn’t terribly powerful but I never had any reason to clench when trying to make a pass. Plenty of power for family-hauling in traffic and cross-country.

4. I can’t comment on the MDX but oddly enough we took a Phx-Tahoe-Phx roundtrip last year in a 2011 Honda Pilot. It’s hard to compare the JX to the Pilot. Pilot was really more of a traditional SUV feel – higher ride position, great visibility, average comfort and technology. The JX is more of a car ride – smooth. The technology on the JX is so much more advanced that the Pilot and the interior is night and day. We have a Moonlight White on Java and it is just so sweet. The driver’s seat is comfortable but a bit too much on the firm side for long trips.

LateralG wrote:1. I need to post a comprehensive review of our JX experience but in a nutshell we are very pleased after one month of ownership. I’m a pain in the a$$ when it comes to cars and I have found very few faults with the JX.

2. After about 1,000 miles on the odo we took a short road trip from Phx to LA to Phx just last week. Try as I might the best MPG I could get was 17.9 and that was using mostly cruise control running 92 octane. I’m hoping this gets better but I don't have very high hopes for much more than that.

3. CVT takes a bit of getting used to, especially for me because my daily driver is a manual. Compared to an automatic it is relatively easy to adjust to. On-ramps are the exception when it sounds like the engine is stuck in “gear” trying to achieve the power you’re asking for. Outside of that it’s sweet! Engine isn’t terribly powerful but I never had any reason to clench when trying to make a pass. Plenty of power for family-hauling in traffic and cross-country.

4. I can’t comment on the MDX but oddly enough we took a Phx-Tahoe-Phx roundtrip last year in a 2011 Honda Pilot. It’s hard to compare the JX to the Pilot. Pilot was really more of a traditional SUV feel – higher ride position, great visibility, average comfort and technology. The JX is more of a car ride – smooth. The technology on the JX is so much more advanced that the Pilot and the interior is night and day. We have a Moonlight White on Java and it is just so sweet. The driver’s seat is comfortable but a bit too much on the firm side for long trips.

Thanks for your feedback. My wife took the JX for the extended test drive today and after 7 hours and 45 miles of around-town & highway mileage, concluded that "she liked it, but didn't love it". We took it back to the dealer tonite and promptly went 2 miles up the road to the Acura dealer - after driving the MDX, we both agreed that while the JX had a much nicer interior, the MDX was much sportier, not to mention all the features felt very comfortable/natural to us after 9 yrs of Pilots. Well as much as I thought my wife was gonna tell me to "seal the deal" on the MDX, she said she still wants to go look at the '12 Pilots (go figure!)....oh well, if she's happy and I can save $7-8k on a loaded Pilot vs MDX or JX, I won't complain

I'd recommend a Pilot over an MDX all day long... EVEN if the price was identical. That should tell you something.

Why?
I have had a couple MDX's and they are pretty good.... Nothing to complain about other than horrible city MPG.

AZhitman wrote:I'd recommend a Pilot over an MDX all day long... EVEN if the price was identical. That should tell you something.

Why ? Just curious. I'm big fan of Honda but lately, I'm getting annoyed with their road noise level. Well, highway in So Cal is not helping the cause either. Wife does like Pilot Size though but I end up getting the JX. MDX is little bit too small although it drives quite nimble and fun. We have X3 for nimble and fun so we need something nice and smooth to haul 2 little ones.