What have you done to your CX-5 today?

We got our 2014 CX5 6 years ago next month, with around 58k miles, and now it's got about 128k miles. I've never done anything with the coolant in that time. Noticed it was below the L mark on the reservoir (radiator still full) so I picked up some Mazda OEM coolant and filled it to in between the L and F lines. Eventually I'll get around to changing the coolant altogether. But DANG that coolant was expensive! $32 with tax for a gallon from the $tealership.

Also changed the oil (a bit early) and rotated the tires in anticipation of our upcoming road trip vacation next week to the Smoky Mountains.
Nice. I'm about to hit 116k miles on mine. I'm overdue for a transmission fluid drain/fill, but otherwise plan to do the coolant at 120k. I also have a bottle of the OEM coolant as I've had to top it up twice now during my owning it from new.
 
Test fitting the new grille chrome delete I found on some random Taiwanese vendor overseas. Fits perfect.
20220718_152741.jpg
20220718_175524.jpg
20220718_175451.jpg
20220718_152751.jpg
 
You misunderstood my sarcasm. It's idiotic to blur your plate, nobody gives a crap what your plate is, nobody.
Lol. True. Almost... Unless the guy is wanted in 50 states. Or says something stupid on the forum about some past misdeeds. Then the law might be interested in his plates.
 
What did I do? Nothing.
What did the dealer do? Finally got the fuel pump recall taken care of. Also oil/filter change and tire rotation, since I was already there.
 
Put in some Osram Nightbreakers for my low-beam halogens. My old Phillips bulbs (I think Vision or Vision Plus) were dimming and I noticed I was having trouble seeing at night lately. Very happy with these by comparison, even if they end up not lasting as long.
 
So, new hood put on end of April. Bodyshop said no auto carwash and no wax 3 months. Hand washed today. Only been 3 months and already have two (2) stone chips in hood. Didn't take long for hood to get damaged. Front end bumper has multiple stone dents...but no discoloration. Based on this I may be considering getting PPF but only on hood.
I had a few few larger chips in my 2019 pearl white and had it repainted. Dealer wanted over $900. and I had it done by one of the top rated body shops for under $500. Have not seen a chip in 8 months.🤞
 
I got rear-ended today. Driving at a safe speed on a 2-lane street, guy at the right lane tries to change lanes without looking, I slam on the brakes and the car behind hits me. The guy at the right lane just drove away. Tried to file a police report about him, obviously was told there is nothing to do.

The damage is only on the bumper. I had taken off the dashcam because of the windshield tint and was lazy to put it back on, big mistake. Unsure if this is fixable or needs to be replaced.

I need some assistance as this is my first accident. I filed a report and gave them my side of the story (I don't think the other person is going to say anything different but who knows).

Insurance call center person gave me a few options for the repairs none of which is the dealership. So what happens when I want to get this fixed at the dealer? (as Soul Red is hard to match) Has anyone gone through something like this? Again, sorry as I have no experience in this. Thanks

IMG_5124.JPG

IMG_5118.JPG
 
Guy behind you should have been able to stop. What if a pedestrian ran out on the road?

If in a no-fault state,(and no fatality/severe injury) , police shouldn't ticket you.

However, insurance may assign % fault to each driver. You should have either 0% to no more than 40 % fault assigned to you. You can always get a lawyer if you are being faulted 100%.

For repairs, if they have a preferred list, it's easier to use preferred but you should still be able to take it to another body shop, and insurance send adjuster out(before repair) and will write you a check.

Not all dealers have their own body-shops.

However if you can find a dealer that sells Mazda as well as other cars and runs a body shop, that's your best bet to match the color.
They(dealer body shop) did a great job with my machine gray.

Also, insurance will only cover so many weeks of rental car.
With the parts shortage, make sure the body shop can order the parts before you drop the car off. You may have to sign something obligating you to have it fixed there and confirming insurance will pay prior to them ordering parts. But way to better than being without a car for multiple weeks and then having to pay rental fees. It's always possible after they tear the car apart that they may still need to order a part but still better to have most parts there and not be waiting for alot of parts.
 
Last edited:
Guy behind you should have been able to stop. What if a pedestrian ran out on the road?

If in a no-fault state,(and no fatality/severe injury) , police shouldn't ticket you.

However, insurance may assign % fault to each driver. You should have either 0% to no more than 40 % fault assigned to you. You can always get a lawyer if you are being faulted 100%.

For repairs, if they have a preferred list, it's easier to use preferred but you should still be able to take it to another body shop, and insurance send adjuster out(before repair) and will write you a check.

Not all dealers have their own body-shops.

However if you can find a dealer that sells Mazda as well as other cars and runs a body shop, that's your best bet to match the color.
They(dealer body shop) did a great job with my machine gray.

Also, insurance will only cover so many weeks of rental car.
With he parts shortage, make sure the body shop can order the parts before you drop the car off. You may have to sign something obligating you to have it fixed there and confirming insurance will pay prior to them ordering parts. But way to better than being without a car for multiple weeks and then having to pay rental fees.
Thanks for the response. I didn’t get a ticket because I did what I had to do. I wanted to get the police involved for the car that tried to cut me off so they would get a ticket.
From my understanding the adjuster has to come see the damage in person. And I assume they come to me? Again, I’m really sorry for these basic questions.

My dealer is a part of a group that sells many different brands and I know they have a body shop. But it feels like the insurance will only pay what the adjuster will quote — and I assume that’s based on what their repair shops quote. So what happens when the dealer run shop charges more?
Otherwise I’m concerned about whether they use original parts and whether they can colour match.

In terms of faults, I don’t know how I can get anything more than 0%. I stopped for a reason and I got rear ended. But you never know.

The rental car situation, I’ll figure out when the adjuster calls me I guess. I’ll have to wait until Monday which is annoying.
 
Thanks for the response. I didn’t get a ticket because I did what I had to do. I wanted to get the police involved for the car that tried to cut me off so they would get a ticket.
From my understanding the adjuster has to come see the damage in person. And I assume they come to me? Again, I’m really sorry for these basic questions.

My dealer is a part of a group that sells many different brands and I know they have a body shop. But it feels like the insurance will only pay what the adjuster will quote — and I assume that’s based on what their repair shops quote. So what happens when the dealer run shop charges more?
Otherwise I’m concerned about whether they use original parts and whether they can colour match.

In terms of faults, I don’t know how I can get anything more than 0%. I stopped for a reason and I got rear ended. But you never know.

The rental car situation, I’ll figure out when the adjuster calls me I guess. I’ll have to wait until Monday which is annoying.
Adjuster will come to your house ...
in rare situations dealer body shop may have inhouse adjuster...
your insurance will tell you to take it to body shop if that's the case.

Adjuster will assess damage...if body shop starts work and finds more hidden damage then they will request a supplement that usually your insurance company should approve.

Insurance company will send you a check or wire it to your bank. You pay the body shop in most cases. Sometime an approved body shop will be paid directly by insurance company.

Dealer body shop may use oem new parts, aftermarket parts or salvage parts. The estimate will say which parts are oem new, aftermarket and salvage.
Salvage parts from newer wrecked vehicle are usually fine.
Ime, dealer body shops matched Mazda colors perfectly.
 
I got rear-ended today. Driving at a safe speed on a 2-lane street, guy at the right lane tries to change lanes without looking, I slam on the brakes and the car behind hits me. The guy at the right lane just drove away. Tried to file a police report about him, obviously was told there is nothing to do.

The damage is only on the bumper. I had taken off the dashcam because of the windshield tint and was lazy to put it back on, big mistake. Unsure if this is fixable or needs to be replaced.

I need some assistance as this is my first accident. I filed a report and gave them my side of the story (I don't think the other person is going to say anything different but who knows).

Insurance call center person gave me a few options for the repairs none of which is the dealership. So what happens when I want to get this fixed at the dealer? (as Soul Red is hard to match) Has anyone gone through something like this? Again, sorry as I have no experience in this. Thanks

View attachment 311923
View attachment 311922
My wife had an accident with the front bumper in May. Insurance will send someone to assess your car damage and an adjuster will authorize you to go ahead with the repair. They will recommend their favorite body shops but you can select yours - be sure to communicate with insurance and they will transfer your case to that body shop before you make your 1st appointment with that body shop. In my case, the body ship called us first to bring it in for another assessment. Once the body shop and the insurance agreed on how to proceed, you will get another call to bring the car in for repair.
 
I got rear-ended today. Driving at a safe speed on a 2-lane street, guy at the right lane tries to change lanes without looking, I slam on the brakes and the car behind hits me. The guy at the right lane just drove away. Tried to file a police report about him, obviously was told there is nothing to do.

The damage is only on the bumper. I had taken off the dashcam because of the windshield tint and was lazy to put it back on, big mistake. Unsure if this is fixable or needs to be replaced.

I need some assistance as this is my first accident. I filed a report and gave them my side of the story (I don't think the other person is going to say anything different but who knows).

Insurance call center person gave me a few options for the repairs none of which is the dealership. So what happens when I want to get this fixed at the dealer? (as Soul Red is hard to match) Has anyone gone through something like this? Again, sorry as I have no experience in this. Thanks

Basically, what happens varies by location. Here in Manitoba, we only have one insurer, MPI. When I lived in Alberta, I had a choice of insurers. Generally the process is similar across provinces, but for more detailed info (like does an adjuster come out to you, or do you bring it to a facility?), it would be best to contact your insurer to get the correct process directly from them.

I can tell you that for me, an adjuster/estimator will not come to you - you go to a facility where the adjuster looks at your car, then takes your statement regarding what happened, while a damage estimator goes over the car to determine what needs to be replaced. Exceptions can be made if the car/driver are not able to be driven/drive, but for the most part, if the car is drivable, you bring it in.

Then, with the estimate in hand, you're free to have your vehicle repaired either by an "MPI-accredited" shop, or a shop of your choosing. I think the difference is just that if a preferred shop determines that the estimate wasn't high enough, MPI is much more likely to assist. You do not pay up front - the shops deal directly with MPI to get reimbursed.

Again, process will likely differ across provinces. Call your insurer and they should be able to provide you with more accurate info.

As far as who is best to do the repair, the dealer may not always be the ideal choice. What I would suggest is contacting multiple body shops (including dealership body shops) to see if they have any experience painting this colour. If they say that they do, I would check their Google reviews or ask them to see examples of their finished work with this colour. Then I would go with the shop that has the best reviews/best examples of finished work. I did this for my CX-9 with MGM paint, and a Honda dealership's body shop repaired the paint on my car. The paint looked as good as it did the day it was delivered once they were done with it.

Good luck!
 
It's possible that insurance companies have changed their methods for pandemic reasons. My Honda got hit in a parking lot last year and the driver was kind enough to leave me a note with his name, insurance co, and policy number. I called the number (USAA) and all they wanted was a few pictures of the damage via email. They told me to take the car to any shop I wanted and they would handle the rest. They even offered a rental car without me asking. No adjuster visit, no multiple estimates, it was the easiest repair I could have imagined. It really made me wish I could have them as my own insurance company.
 
Back