Mazda CX-90 in Kingston: A Pre-Owned Three-Row Buyer's Guide to Versions, Winter and Financing
A used Mazda CX-90 is worth a serious look if you want a three-row SUV that does not feel like a bus on Princess Street and still has all-wheel drive on a February morning.
It is the wrong buy if you need all three rows full and a week of luggage behind them at the same time, every week.
There is also a trap in it: two CX-90s from the same year can look identical on a listing and take different fuel, and the badge does not say which.
Jim Thompson Chrysler is a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram dealership on Gardiners Road, not a Mazda dealer. We sell pre-owned vehicles of every make, and a used CX-90 gets the same straight answers here as anything wearing one of our own badges.
Key Takeaways
The CX-90 is a 2024, 2025 or 2026 vehicle and nothing older. It first appears in the Canadian vehicle ratings for the 2024 model year, so anything you find pre-owned is at most two model years old.
Every CX-90 rated for Canada has all-wheel drive, and Mazda's own name for the system is i-Activ AWD, standard on the CX-90. No front-wheel-drive version exists in any of those three model years, so drivetrain is one thing you do not have to hunt for.
The fuel grade is the expensive thing to get wrong. Two CX-90s of the same model year with the same 3.3 L six can look identical on a listing, and Mazda Canada recommends regular gasoline for the standard-output version and premium for the higher-output one — the Government of Canada measured them on those grades at 9.3 and 9.5 L/100 km combined for 2024 and 2025.
You cannot tell which is which from the outside. Check the fuel door and the original window sticker, not the badge on the tailgate.
The plug-in hybrid suits one Kingston driver and not another. The federal ratings put the CX-90 plug-in hybrid at 42 km of electric range for 2024 and 2025 and 43 km for 2026, which is a short in-town day rather than a 401 run to Toronto.
Is a Used Mazda CX-90 the Right Three-Row for a Kingston Family?
Yes, if what you actually want is a three-row that behaves like a normal vehicle the other six days of the week.
Most families who shop a three-row do not need the back row every day. They need it for hockey carpool, the drive to Gananoque with the cousins, and the airport run with grandparents in the back.
The rest of the time it is one adult, a coffee, and the Gardiners Road to 401 merge. That is where the Mazda CX-90 Kingston families cross-shop earns its keep, because it still parks in an ordinary Cataraqui Centre spot.
If a three-row is the shape you are after, you can browse our used vehicle listings online at any time and sort by what is actually there today.
Which Used Mazda CX-90 You Are Looking At: Model Years and Two Fuel Grades
This is the section that saves people money, so read it before you read a single listing.
The model years
The CX-90 shows up in the Canadian vehicle ratings for 2024 and not before, and it is listed again for 2025 and 2026.
That is the whole used market. A pre-owned CX-90 is a 2024, a 2025 or a 2026 — one or two model years old, not a vehicle that has been through five Ontario winters.
The gas six, in two versions
The 3.3 L six is listed twice in each of those model years: a standard-output version and a higher-output one, which the federal ratings label High Power. The difference that matters to your wallet is the fuel grade each one is set up for.
Mazda Canada recommends regular gasoline for the standard-output six and premium for the higher-output one, and its own word is recommended rather than required. The federal ratings were measured the same way round, the standard version on regular and the higher-output one on premium.
That is not a one-time cost at purchase. Follow the recommendation and it is every fill for as long as you own the vehicle, and nothing on the outside tells you which one you are standing in front of.
People expect the fuel consumption to cancel that out, and it does not. The Government of Canada rates the 2024 and 2025 CX-90 all-wheel drive with the standard 3.3 L six at 9.3 L/100 km combined, and the higher-output version of the same engine, measured on premium, at 9.5 L/100 km combined in the same two years.
So the higher-output car costs you more per litre, on the grade Mazda recommends for it, without using meaningfully fewer litres. The same federal data puts the 2026 standard 3.3 L six at 9.4 L/100 km combined and 10.1 in the city, against 9.9 in the city for 2024 and 2025, which is why you check the rating for the exact model year in front of you.
Shortlist by model year in our used listings, check the fuel door in person, and if the sticker is gone, bring us the vehicle and our team will look it over with you.
The plug-in hybrid
There is also a plug-in hybrid version, with a smaller four-cylinder engine and a battery you charge from a plug.
Premium is what Mazda Canada recommends for it too, and on the 2026 plug-in hybrid Mazda states plainly that 87-octane regular gasoline can be used, with slightly less system output. Its ratings were measured on premium, which is the number you see below.
The federal ratings put the 2024 and 2025 CX-90 plug-in hybrid at 42 km of electric range and the 2026 at 43 km, all three at 4.2 Le/100 km on electricity, with a recharge time of about two hours. Running on gas alone, and measured on premium, the same federal data gives it 9.4 L/100 km combined for 2024 and 2025, and 9.2 for 2026.
Whether it is the cheap one to run depends entirely on you. Measure that range against the distance you actually drive in a day.
If your day is Amherstview to downtown and back plus a school run, much of it can happen without burning fuel. If your day is Kingston to Toronto on the 401, the battery is gone early and the rest of the run is on gasoline.
The Third Row and What Fits Behind It
Here is the part most listings will not tell you, and it is the reason some families should not buy this vehicle.
Seating layout varies by configuration, so how many seats the specific CX-90 in front of you has is a window-sticker question, not an assumption.
Do not take anyone's word for whether the third row "works", including ours. Bring the people who will actually ride back there and have them sit in it, in the parking lot, before you sign.
Then do the second test, which almost nobody does. Put the third row up and load your own stuff behind it: the stroller, the hockey bag, the suitcases you actually travel with.
Who this isn't for. If you need all three rows occupied and a full load of cargo at the same time on a regular basis, be honest with yourself in the parking lot rather than three weeks later on the way to the airport.
If that describes your family, a larger three-row is the more honest answer, and our used SUV listings are a better place to start. Our pre-owned Volkswagen Atlas guide walks through the same questions on a bigger body.
And if the third row was never really the point, a two-row Mazda is the simpler way to get the same feel. Our pre-owned Mazda CX-50 guide covers that side of it.
All-Wheel Drive and an Eastern Ontario Winter
Good news first: every CX-90 listed in the Canadian ratings for 2024, 2025 and 2026 has all-wheel drive, and Mazda Canada's own CX-90 pages name that system i-Activ AWD and list it as standard.
You still confirm drivetrain by VIN and window sticker on the exact vehicle.
What all-wheel drive does not do is stop the vehicle. That is tires, and in Eastern Ontario that means a proper set of four winter tires.
Around here that set goes on in the first half of November, not after the first storm — Kingston's freeze-thaw mornings ice the road before any snow stays.
The other winter question on a two-year-old vehicle is what the salt has been doing underneath it. Two winters is not long, but a vehicle that spent them on the 401 and on gravel concession roads deserves a look from below before you buy.
What to Check on a Used Mazda CX-90 in Kingston
Every one of these you can learn to look for yourself, and every one of them we will look at with you.
Book a pre-purchase inspection and a used CX-90 goes up on a hoist here before you commit to it, whatever badge is on the nose. That is where most of this list gets checked properly, with the vehicle in the air.
Which fuel version it is. The fuel door and the original window sticker tell you whether it is the standard-output six Mazda recommends on regular or the higher-output one it recommends on premium, and our team can help you confirm it if the sticker is gone.
Tires, all four. Tread gets measured with a gauge, not eyeballed at the curb, and four matching tires with even wear tell you a lot about the last owner.
Brakes. On a two-year-old vehicle the question is not usually whether they are worn out, it is whether the wear is even, which is a hoist question.
What is left of the factory coverage. Coverage runs on time and distance from the original in-service date, not from the day you buy it, so get that date and the kilometers in writing and ask the seller for proof of what is still covered.
Kilometers against the age of the vehicle. On a nameplate this young you are often looking at a lease return or a one-owner trade, and the odometer tells you whether it lived on the 401 or in the west end.
Recalls are issued against a VIN rather than against a model year, and Transport Canada's public database lists open recalls for every make, free to search.
We cannot look a Mazda VIN up in Mazda's own system, and we will not pretend otherwise - what we can do is put the vehicle on a hoist for a pre-purchase inspection and tell you what we find, whoever is selling it.
If You Want a Different Three-Row: The Dodge Durango
Some families who shop a CX-90 are really after a three-row that leans harder into space and hauling than into a tidy footprint.
If that is you, the Dodge Durango is the three-row we sell that answers the same question a different way. Our pre-owned and new Dodge Durango guide goes through it properly.
You can see our new vehicle listings or build and price one the way you would order it, then come and talk it through on Gardiners Road.
This is not a contest and we will not pretend one of them wins. The right one depends on which week of your life you are buying for.
Trading In and Financing a Used Mazda CX-90 in Kingston (O.A.C.)
Almost nobody buys a three-row without something to get rid of first, and the trade is usually where the whole deal is decided.
Start with Value My Trade online, then bring the vehicle in so an appraiser can put eyes and hands on it. A photo of a bumper is not an appraisal.
If you are not buying anything from us at all and just want the vehicle gone, that is a real option too: we buy cars outright, with no purchase attached.
On the money side, financing is available, O.A.C. Nothing on this page is an offer of credit, and approval depends on the application, so the useful first step is to find out where you stand rather than to guess.
The 30-second credit application starts that, O.A.C. It puts the trade, the payout and the finance options on one page in plain language, which is the only way any of it makes sense.
If you are still carrying a balance on your current vehicle, say so early rather than at the desk. It is arithmetic, not a character flaw, and it is much easier to work with at the start of a conversation.
Why Shop for a Used Mazda CX-90 at Jim Thompson Chrysler in Kingston?
Because a used CX-90 gets the same treatment here as anything wearing our own badge, and because we will tell you when it is the wrong vehicle for you.
We sell pre-owned vehicles of every make here, not only Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram.
Our service department is the same one that will look after it afterwards, so the inspection conversation and the ownership conversation happen in one building.
And the finance desk works the same way the rest of it does: financing and lease options are available, O.A.C., with the numbers explained rather than recited.
Frequently Asked Questions
What model years does a used Mazda CX-90 come in?
The CX-90 is a young nameplate: it appears in the Canadian vehicle ratings for the 2024 model year and no earlier, so a used one is a 2024, 2025 or 2026 vehicle. That means anything you find pre-owned is at most two model years old.
Does every Mazda CX-90 have all-wheel drive?
Every CX-90 listed in the Canadian ratings for 2024, 2025 and 2026 is an all-wheel-drive configuration, and Mazda Canada names the system i-Activ AWD and lists it as standard, so there is no front-wheel-drive version you need to avoid. Drivetrain is still worth confirming by VIN and by the original window sticker on the exact vehicle you are buying.
Does a used Mazda CX-90 need premium fuel?
Not on every version: Mazda Canada recommends regular gasoline for the standard-output 3.3 L six and premium for the higher-output one — a recommendation rather than a requirement — and the Government of Canada measured each version on the grade Mazda recommends for it. Check the fuel door and the original window sticker, not the badge.
Is the Mazda CX-90's third row actually usable?
That depends on who is sitting in it and for how long, so bring the people who will really ride back there and have them sit in it before you buy. Seating layout varies by configuration, so confirm what the specific vehicle has on its original window sticker.
How do I check a used Mazda CX-90 for open recalls?
Search the VIN in Transport Canada's public motor vehicle safety recalls database, which covers every make and is free to use. Jim Thompson Chrysler in Kingston cannot look a Mazda VIN up in Mazda's own system, but our service department will inspect the vehicle before you buy and tell you what it finds.
Find Your Mazda CX-90 in Kingston
A three-row is a ten-year decision made in an afternoon, and two things decide it: who sits in the back, and which fuel it drinks.
Come and settle both of them in person. Get directions to 805 Gardiners Road, or call ahead and we will have a coffee and an appraisal waiting.
Sources: every figure above, and the model-year and drivetrain listings for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 CX-90, come from the Government of Canada Fuel Consumption Ratings, published by Natural Resources Canada on open.canada.ca, read September 25, 2026. The i-Activ AWD name, its standard fitment and the fuel-grade recommendations are Mazda Canada's own, from its CX-90 and CX-90 plug-in hybrid pages, read September 27, 2026.
Recalls are held against the VIN by the manufacturer and in Transport Canada's public database, which is free to search for any make.
Visit us at 805 Gardiners Road, Kingston, ON K7M 7E6
Browse inventory online, value your trade, get pre-approved on approved credit, book service, or contact our team.
Local: (613)-389-4426 Sales: (877)-251-9249 Parts: (888)-711-5309 Service: (888)-713-0742
About the Author:
Kerry Irven is the Vice President of New and Used Automotive Operations for Heighton Automotive Group, a family-owned and operated automotive group serving communities across Eastern Ontario. Kerry began his automotive career in new-car sales, building his experience on the showroom floor and working his way through multi-store dealership operations.
With over 25 years in the automotive industry, Kerry has helped grow automotive businesses from one location with 40 to 50 vehicles in stock to more than 500 vehicles across 10 rooftops. His hands-on background in both new and used-vehicle operations gives him a practical understanding of what customers look for when shopping for their next vehicle.
Throughout his career, Kerry has always been actively involved in staff coaching and in understanding customer wants and needs, helping ensure the businesses he works with continue to adapt to what customers are truly looking for.
One of the most exciting chapters of his career has been the shift into modern automotive marketing, embracing new technology, transparent pricing, customer-first inventory strategies, and new ways to create a better vehicle-shopping experience.
Kerry has completed extensive automotive training, including certification through the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council, involvement with the Used Car Dealers Association of Ontario, Canadian automotive dealer training, and multiple customer service courses.
Born and raised on a farm, Kerry has always valued family, hard work, and a practical, down-to-earth approach. Joining Heighton Automotive Group and working alongside Thomas Heighton and family, along with managing partners Kyle Lothian and Martin Gougeon, has allowed him to bring those same values into the car business. It has also allowed Kerry to continue following a simple philosophy: treat every customer exactly the way he would want to be treated.
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