"small tweaks" from 2014 to 2015 and 2016?

Desertsp

Member
:
TBD
I've been looking at buying a used CX-5 and am wondering if it makes sense to spend the extra $$$ to get something newer rather than older.

My basic requirements are the 2.5L engine (excludes 2013-14 Sport), AWD, and blind-spot monitoring. Moonroof and upgraded audio quality would be nice but not necessary. Don't care about leather or other electronic features, but would take them if a deal came along.

So I can read about and see the obvious changes, but am having trouble finding a listing of the smaller changes between model years. For example, there are reviews suggesting the 2014 has a weak A/C and heater and no lighting on some controls. Where can I find if small details like those were changed in later years? Any good fan websites or threads here?
 
I have not seen such comparison. You might find one from someone who owned both model years. from my knowledge:

2016.5 - heated seats and Navi standard on touring but they are not on 16 (you need moonroof and bose package as well from your description).
2016 and 16.5 same NVH as far as i know. They just made some more things standard - heated seats are top top must have feature if you have had one lol.

2015 to 16 - the front end is different in 16, 15 has a black lip on top of grille - google pics, i love 16s front end look.
also 16 has commander knob to control touch screen- people seem to like, i like the fact it becomes intuitive. If my kid wants Thomas and Friends theme song - i actually was able to scroll through my iPod and play it - later thought wow that was quick.
16 should be quieter than 15, although good tires on 15 might make difference almost non noticeable.

14 to 15 no idea.


From what you want if a 14 could be had in budget, maybe save a couple hundred for better tires. Another important aspect - there have been transmission failures and windshield issues. 15 seems to be bad with windshields cracking under stress, 16 might have corrected it. Tranny issues are on earlier 16s but not sure about 14 / 15. Get a certified - by 100K for sure your issues will surface. 14 Certified with high miles >>> than a non certified newer one. Good luck.
 
Thanks. I had suspected theres not really a complete comparison of ALL changes. Good to know about the window issue, I had not heard of that one.

Agree that an older higher mileage CPO may be better than newer, simply due to the coverage. Main reason for going newer would be for fewer issues....but CPO negates that sort of.
 
14 and 15 has real handbrake. 16 and 16.5 on the other hand have an electronic parking brake instead, and also used the saved space to put in the Commander Knob which the 14 and 15 do not have. 14 also has a gated shifter. 15, 16, 16.5 has the style they have now with the button and straight down shifter instead.

Cosmetically the 14 and 15 had the front honeycomb style grill (my preference). The 16 and 16.5 has the style with the horizontal lines. Admittedly, probably easier to keep clean than the honeycomb. There are also some stylistic differences to the front and rear lights. For instance, 7eregrines avatar picture there is not what my rear brake lights look like.

And 7eregrine is correct, 2.0 vs 2.5, you will need Touring or above trim for all of these years to get 2.5L. Sport was 2.0L on all of these years and didn't get 2.5L until 2017 MY.

Kaps already covered the features/packages differences.
 
One big difference (to me) between '13-'15 and '16 on up is the TPMS. On my '14 it's external to the tires/wheels. On '16 and up, it's part of the valve stem and expensive if it needs replacing. On all older models, tires are usually something that need replacing if for no other reason than the age of the rubber. Oh, and even though the valve-stem-based TPMS is there, it doesn't have an individual readout of the tire pressures on any model/iteration of the CX-5. Just my 2.
 
He means 17 on up. The 16 uses the same system as the 15.
Source: Have 16 featuring hub mounted TPMS not valve stem TPMS.
 
Why not try to get the newest, cheapest/best value one with the lowest or almost lowest miles? Our (US market) 16 Touring AWD was CPO and it has zero options. This means no sunroof, no leather, no Blose stereo, no NAVI, no HIDs.

It did come with Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Blind Spot Monitoring as standard. It has Halogen projector headlights with the highbeam DRL. it has the 6-speaker regular stereo with BT and front USB/AUX. I also have fog lights and intermittent front wipers with a Mist feature (opposite/backwards direction as my VW GTI (mad)). I have steering wheel controls and the command knob thing. I also have factory rear window tinting on the back doors and hatch glass. Finally, black cloth seats with a power front driver (no memory).

In regular OH driving, we getting about 25-26mpg each tank after a solid year of ownership and averaging 11.5 gallons per fill-up for the last 12 fill-ups since the beginning of the year.

One major con to add is the sound deadening, or lack there of on the non-sunroof roof. Wind noise is noticeable at hwy speeds and noise fatigue/road buzz is possible on longer journeys. When it rains, the rain is really loud and very noticable when it hits the roof over the 2-front passenger seats, especially when stationary.

Go look at a few. Find what you like. Find what you can afford. Go with the best value/$. Have at least 2 colors you are happy with to broaden your possible matches/winners.
 
I don't think 16 is loud at all. It was an improvement in 16 so anything older will be worse.
 
Why not try to get the newest, cheapest/best value one with the lowest or almost lowest miles? Our (US market) 16 Touring AWD was CPO and it has zero options. This means no sunroof, no leather, no Blose stereo, no NAVI, no HIDs.
<snip>
Go look at a few. Find what you like. Find what you can afford. Go with the best value/$. Have at least 2 colors you are happy with to broaden your possible matches/winners.

That's my plan. I setup a big spreadsheet to try and analyze the best option, and it really doesn't make a difference in the long run as long as the car is in the 2014-16 range. Newer and depreciating outweighs any additional longevity, older and the opposite is true. 2-4 years old with 50- 75k miles seems like the sweet spot from a pure financial standpoint.

You must've seen my other thread where I decided to find one in "Sky Blue" paint, of which there seem to be about 2 viable listings in a multi-state radius from me lol.....
 
The biggest difference in the 1st gens that mattered to me is the headlights. The 2016.5 (mid-year update) got a new headlight unit that has a built in eyelid, projector LED headlamps, and LED strip DRLs that really make the "eyes" look amazing:

garage_attachment.php
 
GoFrogs. If you bought recently, what did you pay for your '16 Touring?

A year ago, in April, I think we got a truecar price around $22.4k minus our trade. Car had sub 9k miles and I'm thinking it could have been one of the dealer's loaner fleet cars due to the abnormal wear in the driver scuff plate/sill area.

Car was clean, no glaring OMG items. It met our budget, met the wife's color combo approval (unlike a Forester 2.5i base), met our storage/gear holding rqmt, met wife's AWD rqmt, met my NO CVT rqmt. We traded in a fairly mint '04 Pathfinder SE AWD and gave up a few niceties/features; but we thought everything the CX-5 had plus the bump in average mpg was enough to justify the trade; otherwise, we would still be in the PF doing what we do - that thing was a beast, but it drank like one too.

(drive2)
 
Last edited:
The biggest difference in the 1st gens that mattered to me is the headlights. The 2016.5 (mid-year update) got a new headlight unit that has a built in eyelid, projector LED headlamps, and LED strip DRLs that really make the "eyes" look amazing:

garage_attachment.php

Is that true for all models or just the GT?
 
Back