Warning - Possible Hatch Damage Due to Ice Forming

If there is ever a TSB then Mazda will probably re-flash the programming, if it can, to make the sensors more sensitive.

If it snows or rains and then freezes, and your CX5 is outside, it would be wise probably not to operate the hatch.


What does this cost to fix?
 
What does this cost to fix?

Nobody knows since there hasn't been a fix released yet. It might take a lot of work to fix it since it's a design flaw. Remember, these design flaws sometimes don't surface for a year or longer on newer models. It's not until the design has been exposed to all types of weather and scenarios does one finally get to see the flaws in it.
 
Sorry to year about your misfortune but this is the first time I am glad that I have a manual tail gate. Besides it gives me more exercise, walking around each time to open the gate manually.
 
This is very unfortunate. I hope you get resolution.

Makes me happy I have a two car garage that isn’t used like a giant overflow/storage space.
 
The first thing that came to my mind was that in the area of consumer law, there is an implied warranty called "fitness for purpose". In your case, Mazda sold you a vehicle in Canada where it is almost guaranteed to rain/snow/freeze at some point during your ownership. Therefore, the vehicle should be able to be used as it was designed in such an environment. In your case, it didn't work properly. So I think that this would fall under that category and they should be responsible for fixing it.

That being said, I am in the US and my understanding of the law is based on US law. So, I googled "Canada warranty fitness for purpose" and a case decided (eventually) in the plaintiffs favor came up so Canada has a similar law. The really funny part? The case was against Mazda! Read it here: http://www.lavery.ca/en/publications/our-publications/1922-the-warranty-of-fitness-for-purpose-in-consumer-law-court-of-appeal-judgment.html

I would run it by an attorney if I was you. I think you have a good case!
 
If there is ever a TSB then Mazda will probably re-flash the programming, if it can, to make the sensors more sensitive.

If it snows or rains and then freezes, and your CX5 is outside, it would be wise probably not to operate the hatch.

Lol! I'm not disagreeing with you, but I can see it in the owners manual now, "in case of bad weather, don't open the rear door!". Kind of defeats the purpose of having a remote controlled rear hatch...
 
Just an update: The car is fixed and my hatch is fully / safely usable again. Mazda was of no help, however I was lucky to find a body shop with a sr rep who seemed to care about my situation and want to help.

3 body shops quoted $850 - $950 all in for a repair. Hatch replacement was absurdly expensive for the damage involved. I ended up getting it repaired for $480 all-in, once again only because someone absolutely outside of the situation decided to help me - and I'm very thankful for it.

The metal on the roof was straightened by welding a small tab to the roof and popping the dent back out. PDR was not an option due to the complex bend and how it was at the edge of the panel. After the panel was reshaped the hatch was removed and the damage caused by the body work tool repaired. Then the top portion above the spoiler re-painted, then the hatch re-installed. They did all of this while I was in the hospital with my wife with our twins being delivered and I got the car back with a usable trunk the day after we got released from the hospital. It looks a million times better, the repair is not obvious and everything is working 100%. Needless to say, we are VERY thankful for the help.



My twins were delivered early and they now occupy nearly all my time so I've moved on. Literally no time to do anything other than be happy that they're here healthy and continue on with every day life. In the end I'm still disappointed with how Mazda and my servicing / purchasing dealer handled the situation - but that damage is done. I still love the car and how it drives, but my faith in the brand is no longer unquestioned. Before this had happened I had intended to purchase extended warranty due to my usage, however I've now chosen against that.

In my humble opinion if an independent body shop was able to repair for this amount the dealer's own internal body shop could've offered the same discounted service with Mazda's support and I would've walked away from the whole situation with much more satisfaction as a customer. But... it didn't work out that way and that dealer's lost me for good.

I just had my 1 yr maintenance done at another dealer 10 minutes further away and drove away completely satisfied. Even though the drive was longer it was all back roads and much more pleasant. And to my surprise they shuttled me all the way back home and picked me back up at the end of the day.

My previous dealer will lose the $ amount equal to my repair in revenue from me with my regular maintenance visits within the next calendar year (I drive 40k / yr), not including any future non-maintenance business.

Oh well, onward and upward.

I'll end it with the fact that if this happens again next year I'll be ditching it much earlier than planned. This is not something I want to have to do on a regular basis.
 
Just an update: The car is fixed and my hatch is fully / safely usable again. Mazda was of no help, however I was lucky to find a body shop with a sr rep who seemed to care about my situation and want to help. ⋯
Firstly, congrats to your new twins! They're going to keep you two busy for the next 20+ years! :)

Secondly, we're glad you've fixed your damage on liftgate with minimum expense and good result.

Thirdly, IMO this's at fault to Mazda North American Operations, not to your Mazda dealer. The final decision would come from MNAO for your compensation due to a bad design, and your dealer can't do nothing about it unless they're willing to pay the mistake for Mazda. My friend is having similar situation for his defective LED headlights on his 2016 CX-5. MNAO is only willing to help him $1,500 for both headlight replacements, that means $900 ~ $1,700 out of his pocket for a 19,500-mile、37-month old CX-5! Especially he learned from this forum that some CX-5 owners did get free replacement on their LED headlights without new-car warranty, one example with almost 70,000 miles! He has been taking my suggestions and bought 2 Mazda's in his last two new car purchases. Now he's in process of getting another new vehicle and he's not going to consider a Mazda this time based on his bad experience with MNAO!
 
I know Mazda Canada is the one who denied the claim. That was disappointing on its own. My secondary issue with the dealer themselves is they could've - independently of Mazda's decision not to fully reimburse them for the fix - arranged a discounted rate at their body shop. It still would've been help and still would've meant something - and this lack of independent help hurts even more than Mazda themselves denying my claim.

I'm not saying they had to lose money on the repair, but they could've offered the fix closer to cost or at least at some sort of discount. Instead I was told to call my insurance if I wasn't happy with what I was hearing. From my end if my past 2+ years of service loyalty and a vehicle purchase didn't mean enough to them to give me some sort of help on this I'm no longer going out of my way to maintain a "relationship" with them. My business was theirs to lose, and they've succeeded.

The dealer I was working with was the closest dealer to my house, but in the wrong direction. Right now I have to skip across town or hop on a busy highway under endless construction to get there. I have another dealer 10 minutes further away, but it's all back-road driving joy to get there (this is where I just had my first annual / big service done after getting the car back from the body shop).

I also have another dealer directly on my commute to work at about the half way point where if I coordinate it right I can stop for an oil change first thing in the morning when they open and carry on my way when it's done.

Or I can go to the dealer in the city where I work and get a shuttle to the office.

All of the above I had avoided to try and build a relationship at the first dealer.

My point is I made an effort to build and keep a relationship with this one dealer and if that relationship doesn't mean anything when I need it to, then I will get my warranty required work done wherever is most convenient for me at the time and keep my documents in order if I have an issue.
 
I know Mazda Canada is the one who denied the claim. That was disappointing on its own. My secondary issue with the dealer themselves is they could've - independently of Mazda's decision not to fully reimburse them for the fix - arranged a discounted rate at their body shop. It still would've been help and still would've meant something - and this lack of independent help hurts even more than Mazda themselves denying my claim.

I'm not saying they had to lose money on the repair, but they could've offered the fix closer to cost or at least at some sort of discount. Instead I was told to call my insurance if I wasn't happy with what I was hearing. From my end if my past 2+ years of service loyalty and a vehicle purchase didn't mean enough to them to give me some sort of help on this I'm no longer going out of my way to maintain a "relationship" with them. My business was theirs to lose, and they've succeeded.

The dealer I was working with was the closest dealer to my house, but in the wrong direction. Right now I have to skip across town or hop on a busy highway under endless construction to get there. I have another dealer 10 minutes further away, but it's all back-road driving joy to get there (this is where I just had my first annual / big service done after getting the car back from the body shop).

I also have another dealer directly on my commute to work at about the half way point where if I coordinate it right I can stop for an oil change first thing in the morning when they open and carry on my way when it's done.

Or I can go to the dealer in the city where I work and get a shuttle to the office.

All of the above I had avoided to try and build a relationship at the first dealer.

My point is I made an effort to build and keep a relationship with this one dealer and if that relationship doesn't mean anything when I need it to, then I will get my warranty required work done wherever is most convenient for me at the time and keep my documents in order if I have an issue.

The dealer seemed an asshole anyhow, not a great customer service even if its not their fault.

As a word of wisdom, in Winter you need to always check if its clear (no ice or hard snow blocking the path) ...same thing could happen if you open the hood and there is snow/hard ice blocking the path. Difference is that the hood is not controlled through a motor so you would feel the resistance and stop opening it :D
 
The dealer seemed an asshole anyhow, not a great customer service even if its not their fault.

As a word of wisdom, in Winter you need to always check if its clear (no ice or hard snow blocking the path) ...same thing could happen if you open the hood and there is snow/hard ice blocking the path. Difference is that the hood is not controlled through a motor so you would feel the resistance and stop opening it :D

Thus the frustration...

There was no visible ice or snow blocking the path from outside of the vehicle. Externally the vehicle was free and clear on on the roof with no indication damage would be caused when opening the hatch. There was nothing over or near the roof / hatch joint at all.

The ice had frozen UNDER the top portion of the rear hatch - between the sub structure and the roof. So when the free and clear hatch tried to open and swing in as it does due to it's design, it could not. Thus bending the metal edge out.

Hense... the frustration of the whole situation. I have a working theory of why/how it happened, not that Mazda cares, but I will share when I have time to upload a photo. I will be performing a minor modification in an attempt to prevent it from happening to me again, if in fact it was caused how I thing it was caused. Which in my opinion is a design flaw.

I know others have had the same complaint as I saw another post similar to what I had experienced (interior rubber isolator / weather strip at top of hatch freezeing to the car and ripping off the hatch).

I'll follow up when I have some time to put it together.
 
Hello,
I have just experienced the same issue. Wondering if you were able to resolve any further?
Thanks for your time.
 
I wasn't able to get any further with Mazda. I let them when and got the issue repaired on my own.

It REALLY left me sore to get nothing at all but the shaft after being a long time mazda owner and repeat customer.

The reality was I had a lot going on at the time with my twins being born almost immediately after it happened. I was lucky enough to find a local body shop who felt bad for me and my situation and completed the repair at a discounted rate. It was significantly cheaper than the dealer's own body shop. I had visited 3 Mazda dealers in the area and they all came back the same. I think my problem was once it was in the system they kept referring to the original case file. But I have no idea.

Did you have no ice visible on the roof as well? That's what really got me. Absolutely NO WAY to tell damage was about to occur.

I'm 99% certain I know what has caused the problem but Mazda doesn't seem to give two sh*ts about the issue, why it happened, or fixing it. When I get a few minutes I will take a photo of what I've done to try and prevent it from happening again (removing the rubber strip attached to the top of the hatch to let water drain instead of puddling and freezing)

I no longer have any loyalty to any specific dealer and only perform the amount of work specified to retain my mechanical warranty. My repeat business with the brand is no longer gauranteed, where I previously would've come back without question.

In fact I was wanting to trade my 2017 Mazda 3 for a CX-9 when we needed a bigger car for the twins + dog + nanny etc. Instead I didn't even set foot back in the dealership for a test drive and my business went elsewhere.

I feel your pain. Interesting you're also in Ontario in a similar climate. If it happened recently the weather was very similar conditions to when my issue happened.

If you need any support of an additional case in your talks with Mazda I will be happy to help in any way I can. If you get help from Mazda I would appreciate some info as well if I can chase down a re-reimbursement of some sort.

Luckily my damage was isolated to the metal panel on the top of the hatch in front of the plastic spoiler. The body shop removed the hatch, straightened the panel back out with some tooling and re-painted only that top portion of the hatch. Then re-installed the hatch. I paid in the ballpark of $500 for the repair. Other body shops were quoting anywhere $800-$1,200 before taxes.
 
⋯ I no longer have any loyalty to any specific dealer and only perform the amount of work specified to retain my mechanical warranty. My repeat business with the brand is no longer gauranteed, where I previously would've come back without question.

In fact I was wanting to trade my 2017 Mazda 3 for a CX-9 when we needed a bigger car for the twins + dog + nanny etc. Instead I didn't even set foot back in the dealership for a test drive and my business went elsewhere.
I was surprised Mazda Canada didn't give you at least partial help on your damage definitely due to poor design in colder environment. In fact, I even feel Mazda didn't do the testing of its vehicles in colder environment although they do have test facility for different environments if I recall. Your hatch damage is an example, and another example is the new liquid engine mounts which now have to switch to old-styled rubber engine mounts to fix the severe vibration issue in cold weather.

I used to buy only VW vehicles but at certain point VW of America let me down on warranty issues. Like you, I no longer have any loyalty to any specific brand of automobile and I only choose whichever I feel the best to meet my requirements. Would you mind to tell me, instead of CX-9, which bigger vehicle did you get?
 
I don*t see why it*s poor design. Car doors often freeze shut if they*re left outside which is why mine always goes in if there is a hard frost. It*s not poor design, it*s the same as any other car. If it*s cold, it*ll freeze.
 
I don*t see why it*s poor design. Car doors often freeze shut if they*re left outside which is why mine always goes in if there is a hard frost. It*s not poor design, it*s the same as any other car. If it*s cold, it*ll freeze.
Its not just the freeze, its the water accumulation when some snow or ice melted getting under the liftgate which freezes again, and when power liftgate opens up the top edge of the liftgate hit the re-freezed ice and gets damaged. Studum has said he didnt see any snow or ice formed outside of the liftgate when he activated the power liftgate, but the hidden ice he couldnt see caused the damage. OP has owned many vehicles before, thiss the first hes having such problem. Like liquid engine mounts, its definitely a design flaw IMO.
 
I don*t see why it*s poor design. Car doors often freeze shut if they*re left outside which is why mine always goes in if there is a hard frost. It*s not poor design, it*s the same as any other car. If it*s cold, it*ll freeze.

Yeah, doors freeze shut all the time, but they don't cause major sheet metal damage when you try to open them. It's poor design because there was an obstruction and the hatch motor kept trying to do it's thing.
 
Is it unique to the Mazda design? Most hatches swing in there. At least all Ive owned.
The problem is the poor drainage in that area for gen-2 CX-5 as gen-1 seems not to have this issue. Of course new power liftgate which wont stop when theres resistance compounds the problem.
 
The problem is the poor drainage in that area for gen-2 CX-5 as gen-1 seems not to have this issue. Of course new power liftgate which won*t stop when there*s resistance compounds the problem.

Bingo.
 
Back