Rust appearing on tailgate-beware
- Thread starter sbmrinaldi
- Start date
Ive got a 2008 with the same "license plate" problem. To be honest, I'm on the fence about whether its my fault or not. On one hand, my plate cover looks like it trapped the stuff that caused it...on the other hand, I take really good care of the car, its only a coupla years old, and it seems like the paint should've held up regardless.
My dealer said it was my fault...I should've used the dealer's plate cover...they will not fix it.
My dealer said it was my fault...I should've used the dealer's plate cover...they will not fix it.
I had a washing related question regarding 'washing' engine. How do (used car) dealers get the engine bay so clean? Can I just open the hood and drench it? Anything to avoid/watch out for?
Finally got the rust fixed and Mazda paid the bill. According to the service manager, when the repair is made, they are also provided with a "kit" by Mazda that has some sort of foam spacer or gasket that keeps the plastic trim piece far enough away from the painted metal surface so that vibration of the plastic piece won't rub the paint off again. Hope he's right!
I would like to see a pic posted of this problem. When I bought my 08' about 1.5 weeks ago and took the 30 day tag off, I noticed that the paint was scraped up around the bolt hole areas, so when I put my new plate on, I just used the wide 3M double sided thick tape (the stuff similar to what holds command hooks to walls) behind the license plate, anywhere the metal plate would touch the gate, so that it eliminates any potential for scratching/scraping.... That thick adhesive tape makes for a nice buffer between the plate and the gate. but I didn't see any rust.
Aron in Toronto
Member
On mine the rust is appearing at the joint between the plastic license plate light housing and the metal tailgate.
It looks, as CX9ZoomR mentioned, like the plastic trim is wearing through the paint and allowing corrosion to start. Ive noticed rust starting in the same location on several other CX9s as well.
It looks, as CX9ZoomR mentioned, like the plastic trim is wearing through the paint and allowing corrosion to start. Ive noticed rust starting in the same location on several other CX9s as well.
Just bough my 2009 GT and I have the rust in the same location but opposite side. Was it covered under warranty?
I found a TSB 0901509 Mar 09. Does anyone have access to look at this TSB? I can't seem to be able to view it.
I found a TSB 0901509 Mar 09. Does anyone have access to look at this TSB? I can't seem to be able to view it.
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- 2010 Mazda CX-9 GT Dolphin Gray
Known issue. Take it to the dealer. Should be covered under rust perf warranty.
Went to my dealer and they know about the issue with the rust on the tailgate. I can choose the shop that I want to repair it and Mazda will cover it. Hope they repair it so it doesn't happen again once the 3 year/ 80k warranty is over. The autobody shop should warranty the repair.
I have a theory... Since my liftgate latch is electric, I NEVER slam my gate, not ever. I just lower it to the latch very softly and let the electric latch do the rest. I have been looking at my gate very closely and have not found a spec of rust or any problems anywhere. I wonder if manually slamming it closed aids in the rusting on the corners of the applique/garnish. (you should be able to slam it every time if you want, but i'm just wondering if this contributes to the rust?)
I think your theory sounds very legitimate! I have the manual gate, and when I talked to the body shop guy, he said that the rust is being caused by there not being enough clearance or any barrier between the plastic piece and the painted metal. Any vibration or movement between the two parts causes them to rub together and the paint to get worn off. Then the rust begins on the exposed metal. If you live in the "rust belt" like I do, the salt that gets on there in the winter makes the rust start and progress even faster. The "kit" that they recieved to repair mine included a gasket material that is placed between the two parts after the rust is completely removed and the tailgate is repainted...
I believe your dealer is incorrect. I think it could be argues that this is a design flaw, and the paint was definitely "perforated" by the incorrectly installed plastic piece rubbing the paint off the tailgate. Also, I believe the rust warranty on your CX-9 covers it until 50k, so it that's true, you might also let them know. If they still won't do it, find another dealer or request that they bring in a Mazda zone rep to review.
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I know most of you are referring to the known TSB regarding the plastic/chrome piece above the license plate rubbing through the paint and causing rust.
I just bought my used 07 GT, and took a look last night. The common places on the left and right edges have been rubbing a bit, and there was one pinpoint of rust on one side. But where I'm getting most of the rust is around the Mazda emblem. Three spots which weren't that bad yet, but would be if I left them. There is also one spot at the *top* of that plastic piece on the left side. This is kinda odd, since it doesn't look like there would be any rubbing there.
Here's what I'm going to do:
I've ground off all the rust with a dremel. This always sucks because there is more rust than you see which means your repair area is always bigger than you expected. I'm going to prime these spots and get touch-up paint from Mazda. It will not be perfect, but they are in areas that are hard to see.
Then I'm going to take single-sided foam tape, and run it everywhere the original foam was run. This should make the piece stick out an extra several mm.
This is quite ridiculous for a low-mileage 2007 car, imo.
I just bought my used 07 GT, and took a look last night. The common places on the left and right edges have been rubbing a bit, and there was one pinpoint of rust on one side. But where I'm getting most of the rust is around the Mazda emblem. Three spots which weren't that bad yet, but would be if I left them. There is also one spot at the *top* of that plastic piece on the left side. This is kinda odd, since it doesn't look like there would be any rubbing there.
Here's what I'm going to do:
I've ground off all the rust with a dremel. This always sucks because there is more rust than you see which means your repair area is always bigger than you expected. I'm going to prime these spots and get touch-up paint from Mazda. It will not be perfect, but they are in areas that are hard to see.
Then I'm going to take single-sided foam tape, and run it everywhere the original foam was run. This should make the piece stick out an extra several mm.
This is quite ridiculous for a low-mileage 2007 car, imo.
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- 2010 Mazda CX-9 GT Dolphin Gray
Tailgate paint is known issue with early model CX 9's. A quick forum search would have revealed it. Not sure why you didn't see this before buying a used car. If it was such a big deal why buy it? Mazda has since fixed the issue.
Almost every vehicle has its "known issues".
One could spend countless hours scouring the net for tiny details like this about an array of vehicles they are considering. I already spent many hours researching the reviews of the vehicles I was considering.
If you don't know *what* to look for (who would have guessed to do a search criteria for "CX9 rusty liftgate"), it takes even longer to try to dig up good info. And if you're about to say that is what the search function on this site is for, please be aware it doesn't work unless you sign up. And why would you sign up to all sorts of forums just because you *might* buy a vehicle?
Let's try to be realistic here...
At the end of the day, I'm not *not* going to buy a vehicle because some have reported a rusty tailgate anyway. There are not a lot of 7 passenger vehicles which are still remotely sporty and in the same price range as the CX9. However, it certainly would have prompted me to look closer at the trouble spots if I was aware of them.
One could spend countless hours scouring the net for tiny details like this about an array of vehicles they are considering. I already spent many hours researching the reviews of the vehicles I was considering.
If you don't know *what* to look for (who would have guessed to do a search criteria for "CX9 rusty liftgate"), it takes even longer to try to dig up good info. And if you're about to say that is what the search function on this site is for, please be aware it doesn't work unless you sign up. And why would you sign up to all sorts of forums just because you *might* buy a vehicle?
Let's try to be realistic here...
At the end of the day, I'm not *not* going to buy a vehicle because some have reported a rusty tailgate anyway. There are not a lot of 7 passenger vehicles which are still remotely sporty and in the same price range as the CX9. However, it certainly would have prompted me to look closer at the trouble spots if I was aware of them.
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