1. Purchased a new shape CX-5 from CMH Mazda Menlyn in Pretoria (South Africa) - delivered on 2 June 2017. Pre-delivery it was fitted with a tow bar and rear pdc’s by the dealarship. .

2. On 5 March 2018 an electrical fire started in the interior of the vehicle (left, back).

3. The vehicle was subsequently inspected by another Mazda dealership and they found the following:

3.1 The pdc wires were not routed correctly and in fact two of these wires were resting on the exhaust tailpipe. It was also noted that the grommet through which the wires enter the frame was totally destroyed due to poor workmanship.

3.2 The tow bar harness that was used, was the one specified for the previous model. It could thus not be plugged in and CMH Menlyn decided to cut into the wiring of the vehicle and to use soldering to secure the connections. Subsequently these connections made a short and the box (surelink 2000 with CMH’s name printed on it) could not short out, but rather overheated to a point where the plastic melted and it caught fire.

4. Mazda South Africa has undertaken to replace the damaged harnesses, but have not been able to import these items (one month after the fire). I am concerned that this modus operandi also applies to other CX-5 vehicles fitted with tow-bars.

Eish!!!!