CX-9 Body Flex

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blink_me192

Member
We have a slight problem here. I had a closer look at the car, and noticed that some panel gaps seemed to be quite wide. Went around the back and I noticed that the rear tail lights were slightly out of alignment, and in general the whole left side of the car seemed to have moved slightly, as the panel gaps on the left side of the car are wider than those on the right side.

In addition, the right tail light seems to be making contact with the rear bumper and body panel, causing the paint to start flaking off. The plastic in the rear tail light also has a lot of what looks like cracks or stress fractures in it.

Should this be of any concern? Will it cause any problems later down the track? The CX9 seems to have a lot of flex in the body, as whenever its parked on anything other than flat ground, the doors don't seem to shut properly as the latches don't line up.

Below are some of the pictures i've taken. It doesn't really show that well because of the angles but in person they are pretty noticable.

Could anyone else check their CX9 and perhaps get some pictures up for comparison purposes?

Top of Tail Lights
IMG_2628.jpg


IMG_2630.jpg


Gap Between Tail Lights
IMG_2621.jpg


IMG_2623.jpg


Rear Windscreen
IMG_2622.jpg


IMG_2624.jpg


Tail Gate
IMG_2636.jpg


IMG_2637.jpg


Tail Light Tolerances
Notice the right tail light touching both the bumper and body panel, where as the left tail light as a visible gap.
IMG_2641.jpg


IMG_2640.jpg


IMG_2620.jpg




Flaking Paint resulting from Right Tail Light Contact with Panel
IMG_2631.jpg


Small Cracks/Fractures appearing in Lens Cover of Tail Light
Its hard to see in the pictures, but they are the short dark vertical lines in the lens cover.

IMG_2664.jpg


IMG_2663.jpg


IMG_2662.jpg


IMG_2661.jpg
 
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blink_me192 said:
Did you understand what i was talking about in my OP? Or are you just as confused about it as i am re: the panel gaps?
Click to expand...

I see what you are saying a bit......I guess I've never taken out the slide rule on the seems and gaps on my car. Isn't that what they used to do in those old german car ads with the ball bearing?

Whatever your point is, i've got no rust or paint chipping after 18 months of driving in harsh New England weather.

This is the oddest post I've seen anywhere I guess.
 
Edited the OP to make it clearer what i was trying to point out.

Could anyone confirm to me whether this is just an isolated problem with our CX9 or whether its a common problem?
 
SeCX-9 said:
Whatever your point is, i've got no rust or paint chipping after 18 months of driving in harsh New England weather.
Click to expand...

My post wasn't about rust or paint chipping. it was about the chassis flexing and the body panels/tail lights/tail gate becoming misaligned causing un-even panel gaps.

I apologise that i wasn't clearer in my original post - i've updated it now so hopefully it makes more sense.
 
I have not experienced permanent metal stress from flexing, but I do hear the body flex when pulling out of parking garages whilst turning or into raise driveways.
 
Blink_me192, I can definately see from your pics what you are saying. The left side seems to have a lot more gap/clearance then the right side. Couple of questions:

Did you buy your CX-9 new or used?
If used (even slightly) did you run a Carfax report?

I went out to look at mine and although I did not use any type of measuring device, my CX-9 looks very symetrical in either side with the exact same gap/clearance at the points you pictured above and also at all four doors. Mine is a 2007 with nearly 62K miles on it, so if there was any stress on the body, it would have definately showed up by now.

If you bought your CX-9 new or if you bought it used and can prove that it has not been involved in any accidents, definately do not hesitate to bring it up at the dealership as well as getting Mazda involved. Call Mazda up tell them your concern as well as sending these pictures you posted. At the very least get it noted on paper at the dealership if they do not want to cover it under warranty in case something does come up at a later time.

At first I assumed that your case would be a simple misalignment of your hatch from the hinges, but that all went out the window when I saw the difference in gaps from the quarter panel to the tail lamps and the stress/cracks on the lamp assemblies.
 
The only thing I'd be really concerned with is that paint peeling. It will lead to rust. So I would take it to the dealer and have them fix that and figure out why the tail light is rubbing.
 
Your argument seems to center around the tail light area.
How can you be sure that
- it was not an assembly issue instead of body flexing?
- the tail light was not replaced at some point and someone did a poor job at that?

Just my thought from looking at the pictures.
 
So, I think what we're thinking here is that the car was involved in an accident if it was used, right? That would seem to be the obvious thing in my mind. Do you notice any paint differences when you're looking at it in good lighting? If it has been in an accident and they weren't able to get everything lined up just perfect, you might notice some differences in the paint around those areas.
 
I can see rear glass was misaligned to tail gate a bit to the right, so it leaves more gap on left side than right side.
 
This is an interesting post (not sure why the first few responses were negative unless there was a massive edit to the OP).

I noticed the same taillight misalignment issue you are referring to on my car, but in my case it was specifically after the dealer had done some body work which required taking one of the tail lights off. There is a screw that holds it in the place, and it wasn't properly lined up/fully tightened. I brought it back (had something else to fix), they fixed it, and now there is no gap. So this should be easily fixable.

Re: the glass, that could just be how it was installed at the factory (ie, very slightly off-center but within tolerances).

Anything specific that leads you to think body flex is causing it? Are you seeing wide or inconsistent gaps in any of the metal-metal panel connections?
 
I haven't had any problems w/ misaligned doors, tailgate etc. w/ our CX9. I guess my 1st questions would be did you buy yours new? Has it been in any accidents?
 
The car was bought new. Its an 08 Luxury Model (Australian Spec car). The colour of the paint on both bumpers has always been slightly off compared to the rest of the car (the bumper is slightly darker, and its noticeable). Never been in a smash up or anything, but some stupid woman did reverse into the front bumper when it was less than 2 weeks old, but it was nothing more than cosmetic damage with a few scratches that was buffed and painted. The rear has never been touched. The car is always parked undercover so those cracks in the tail lights can't be sunlight damage.

petesamprs, the original post hadn't be edited that much. All i did was rearrange the photos.

Im led to think that its flexing because the metal-metal panel gaps on the left side of the car are slightly wider than the right hand side. I also took out the tail lights and tried to realign them but once i installed them again and tightened the screws, it was pretty much still the same.

I don't think im going to worry about this anymore. If it is the chassis flexing, theres really not much that can be done. Im beginning to think that it may have always been this way since we bought the car in 08, but im just wondering why i never picked it up until now.
 
Blink,

If I were you, I would still at least make a note of it to the dealership next time you go in for an oil change/service so that it is at the very least noted and in writting in case it does get worse at a later time...it may save you headaches and/or money later on.

Its probably within specs, although its probably at the very last strand of the spec spectrum but you rather be safe then sorry. Just my $0.02
 
Blink,

From one Aussie to another "'G-day"- I wouldn't let it rest at all. In the very least I would have a reputable panel beater have a look at it and give their opinion.

You bought it new - but was it a demo ?

I have heard some stories about cars being damaged in shippment / pre-delivery - maybe, just maybe it has been repaired before you took delivery ??

Cheers
 
All my lines are still tight on the vehicle except where a damn dump truck PIT manuevered me last year.
 
I agree with the "follow it up" suggestion. My guess is the problematic rear light is improperly installed. The vertical marks are probably just artifacts of the plastic or from a car wash maybe.

My CX-9 seems to be very rigid, without any noticeable flex, even on very uneven driveway transitions. I find it far more likely that the light is the culprit. Dealers can do amazingly uncaring work.

The gaps, IMHO, look fine. Locating the light seems to me to be most likely to fix most of the issues in the pics.
 
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