Tow hook cover fell off bumper

:
2018 AWD GT Premium Red/Black
Yesterday, after enduring Frozen II with the family, I came back to my car to discover that the left rear tow hook cover was gone from my 2018 GT Soul Red.

I see that Mazda sells an unpainted replacement part, and there are sites that sell painted replacements for a Mazda 6.

Has this happened to anybody? What did you do?

I don't want to call a bunch of wreckers. I'm not generally free to make phone calls during the day, and I hate doing it.
 
Some asshole probably stole it.

Send your local dealer an email with the part number and see if they can bring in a painted replacement. Send emails to those sites that sell painted replacements for the 6 and see if they offer the same for the CX-5.
 
Good suggestions. I left an email with the dealer, but think it may have been to sales, so I'll probably need to try again.

Tried an Ebay seller who lists a used bumper.
 
It happened to mine.
Dealer only sell unpainted one for >$10.
I painted it myself with touchup paint.
Not perfect, but hard to tell from a distance.
 
Yesterday, after enduring Frozen II with the family, I came back to my car to discover that the left rear tow hook cover was gone from my 2018 GT Soul Red.

I see that Mazda sells an unpainted replacement part, and there are sites that sell painted replacements for a Mazda 6.

Has this happened to anybody? What did you do?

I don't want to call a bunch of wreckers. I'm not generally free to make phone calls during the day, and I hate doing it.


I had the rear cover plate on my GTI *come off*. I bought a new unpainted replacement cover and then painted it myself with paint purchased from a company called Automotive Touchup paint. It came out fine and wasn*t too expensive...although much cheaper than having a body shop paint it.
 
What color did you guys do. This is the Soul Red. I'm hesitant to try painting it myself. I see they have pre-painted ones cheap on Ebay for the Mazda 6.
 
What color did you guys do. This is the Soul Red. I'm hesitant to try painting it myself. I see they have pre-painted ones cheap on Ebay for the Mazda 6.

Soul Red...you want it to match. Ask the parts department if the one for the 6 will fit the CX. Make sure you are using the same model year.
 
Try your local salvage yard. No paint required.
 
Soul Red...you want it to match. Ask the parts department if the one for the 6 will fit the CX. Make sure you are using the same model year.

I can see that the Mazda 6 ones are different in the pictures.
 
Remove a piece of trim, door handle, side mirror, or the other one (if thy left one of them) and take to Home depot to have them match and sell you a pint or quart. You may get a better match this way than factory, since this may very well be a 3 stage paint (base, mid, clear), so simply getting a factory paint code might not match
 
Last edited:
I don't believe that is a tow-hook but, a tie-down hook and is not to be used for towing. Ed
Correct, and all should be noted. Think of it, no car company would create a tie point for a tow rope rather than aproper fixed tow bar/device. Now, if you're shipping your car overseas, then yes you can use this.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread.
 
I don't believe that is a tow-hook but, a tie-down hook and is not to be used for towing. Ed
They've called it both, current models its a tie down. I think my cover fell off because I probably damaged the clip when I bumped the bike rack on the back of a Prius.

I currently have a black, unpainted cover in place. Its $85 shipped to my house. I'm sure it will be less noticeable than the black cover and will take less than 2 minutes of my time to install.
 
Last edited:
They've called it both, current models its a tie down. I think my cover fell off because I probably damaged the clip when I bumped the bike rack on the back of a Prius.

I currently have a black, unpainted cover in place. Its $85 shipped to my house. I'm sure it will be less noticeable than the black cover and will take less than 2 minutes of my time to install.
I received the painted part. The paint job looked high quality, well done. The match wasn't that great. It is a lot less obvious than the unpainted black one I had, but you knew that one wasn't trying to match.

I notified the seller and they sent me a shipping label and asked for pictures to try and do a better match. Customer service has been good. We'll see.

I need to take a picture after cleaning, and without the reflected chalk drawing from the asphalt:
1601929853704.png
 
I received the painted part. The paint job looked high quality, well done. The match wasn't that great. It is a lot less obvious than the unpainted black one I had, but you knew that one wasn't trying to match.

I notified the seller and they sent me a shipping label and asked for pictures to try and do a better match. Customer service has been good. We'll see.

I need to take a picture after cleaning, and without the reflected chalk drawing from the asphalt:
View attachment 227577

It looks like they may have painted it Soul Red Metallic instead of Soul Red Crystal Metallic.
 
It looks like they may have painted it Soul Red Metallic instead of Soul Red Crystal Metallic.
Yeah, maybe. They did ask for the VIN#, year, model, and paint name presumably to match it. Since I'm sending this back anyway, I was tempted to send them the original one from the passenger side too, for matching. But that's doubling down hoping it doesn't get lost in the mail (around election time no less) and that they don't accidentally paint the good one to match the other or something.
 
The problem is that with anything not factory will likely not match unless done by a professional shop, as I' guessing that it is a 3 stage paint - Base, pearl/flake/whatever, then clear. After market stuff is going to be a single stage that will never match.
 
The problem is that with anything not factory will likely not match unless done by a professional shop, as I' guessing that it is a 3 stage paint - Base, pearl/flake/whatever, then clear. After market stuff is going to be a single stage that will never match.
It's custom painted and they know its a 3 stage process, which makes it not consistent even from Mazda. They are going to repaint it. We'll see.

I have a Dr. Colorchip kit, and an unpainted cover. I didn't even bother painting with that for the reasons you mention.
 

Latest posts

Back