Honest Opionions on CX-5 Vs CX-9

We currently have a 2012 CX-9 GT AWD. My wife drives it 90% of the time, and she gets on average about 14.5 in the city since that's all she drives in.

We have an opportunity to trade "down" to a CX-5 2014.5 GT AWD. Payments would drop about $40 a month, oil changes are covered for 3yrs, and obviously better MPG.

My question is, I have read that some people have traded up to a 9 because of various reasons.... Size, seats uncomfortable in the 5, etc

I wanted to ask opinions of anyone that has actually done the upgrade or downgrade and how you feel afterwards.

Much appreciated for the responses

Biggest issue I see for you is loosing $,$$$ by trading a 2 year old car for a new car. You take the biggest depreciation hit in first two years. Dealer takes a big bite out of you on trade ins. If it turns out you don't like the CX-5 because it's smaller, you will wind up taking a bath twice if you trade again. Its best to keep a new car at least 5 years to get your moneys worth.

If you really want to get out of the CX-9 I'd suggest selling it yourself to cut your losses.

I research the CX-9 before deciding CX-5 was right for me. The CX-9 has the Ford Mustang 3.7L engine that is very efficient. Believe they went with 3.5L after first year (same engine destroked). Unfortunately the CX-9 is 700lbs heavier than a Mustang so you get 14.5mpg city. The CX-9 stacks up well against others in its class. It has quality interior, great handling, and nice seats. The CX-9 has same engine as the Ford Edge Sport, but a much nicer vehicle. The CX-9 has huge interior even bigger than Ford Flex. If I needed a larger vehicle, the CX-9 would be high on my list.

Until last year, we had one each of the CXs at home (CX-5, CX-7 & CX-9). Loved them all but the fuel economy in the CX-7 & CX-9 was my deciding factor to trade them for two of the more fuel efficient new 2014 Mazda6s. Anyway, hard comparison, the CX-9 is luxury, large, bad in fuel but great in everything else (space, ride, comfort, etc.). The CX-5 is less luxury but good fuel economy. I still find the CX-5 comfortable but never to the level of the CX-9. Both good in AWD. The CX-7 was great in looks and AWD, but its fuel economy sucked for not being all that big and the space in the 2nd row was not good at all.

Thank you everyone for your opinions. Actually, if I do trade in, I am not taking that much of a hit. I got $8200 off when I bought it new in December 2012. So the dealer is giving me pretty close to what I owe so that's almost a wash.

We went from the CX-7 to the CX-9 for the size and not having to use premium gas and synthetic oil. I had no idea we had the same engine as the Ford Edge. That's pretty cool.