My 2021 Mazda CX-5 is just about to turn over 30,000 miles, and it was sideswiped a few weeks ago with serious damage (over $8,000) to the its rear right quarter. USAA insurance did me proud and had it repaired at one of their selected body shops, and the repaired part of the car looks like new. I did a close inspection of the car before taking delivery after the repairs and saw no other damage. But about a week after getting the car back I noticed what's shown in these pictures--a piece of the LEFT front side bumper (beneath the headlight) has popped out. I am pretty darned sure it was not like that when I accepted the car from the body shop. But I have no idea where it came from.



2021 Mazda CX-5 #1

2021 Mazda CX-5 #2


I'm not blaming the body shop and have no evidence that this issue was caused by the shop who made the repair, but one troubleshooting and maintenance theme that's worked well for me over the years is that when dealing with a problem LOOK WHERE THE LAST GUY WORKED. To be sure, as far as I know the body shop that did my repairs had no reason to work on the front left side of the car where this issue is. And it seems unlikely that they are at fault. A big, strong smash on the rear right of the car seems unlikely to have caused this to the left front of the car.

On the other hand, I can think of no other reason why this occurred.

So, first, any thoughts on why this happened--seemingly out of nowhere?

And, second, is repairing this a job deal for a body shop? In other words, is the repair as simple as "snapping" the bumper back in place? Or is it a bigger deal? Should I take it back to the body shop that did the work, whose work was excellent?

Many thanks for any insights from members of this most informative forum!

Milt Baker, Pompano Beach, FL

 

First sorry to read what happened to your Mazda.

As for the bumper unless the securing tab is broken it should be somewhat easy to pop back in. The pictures while ok don't really show if there was any impact on any of the sectional parts and look even under or the very bottom of those parts. Look for even slight paint mares.
I also notice and maybe it is just how the picture is taken but there is a slight lifting of the panel left side of the picture at the bottom of the light that should be perpendicular to the right side?

 

I would agree with Cali. It can be easily snapped back in if the locking tabs aren't broken.
Use a plastic tool (like a plastic putty knife) to push down when trying to snap it back in place, not a metal one.
I will say to me it appears, from the picture, that the top corner of the lifted piece may have cracked away from the top locking tab as it is not level with the rest of the piece, and it should be.
If it has cracked it will not stay locked in.
Unfortunately, there is no way to know if you signed off on it like this from the body shop unless you took pictures.

 

A big salute to Callisto and Lobstah for pointing me in the right direction so I could determine what cause the pop-out shown in the original pictures I posted. Based on their advice, I checked low down on the left side of the front bumper and, viola!, there was a very small point of impact, then a 24-inch black track (robber or plastic) on the paint from left to right. The damage was slight but from this evidence is clear that was caused by another vehicle. The good news is that, using Collinite 870 cleaner-wax, I was able to remove virtually all the black track. Also, by applying steady strong pressure on the part that popped out, I was able to re-seat it as shown in the latest picture which I'm attaching. I haven't yet been able to road-test the car, so it's an open question whether I made a permanent fix of just a temporary one.

Again, let me say how much I appreciate this great forum and the savvy answers we get from frequent posting experts such as Callisto and Lobstah, as well as from one another, to help us all keep our CX-5s in shape. That's what forums like this are all about, and CX-5 owners are blessed to have a such a great, helpful forum.

Many thanks,

Milt Baker, Pompano Beach

P.S. I had trouble posting this, and this is my third attempt. Dunno what I'm doing wrong.

 

Some times posting pictures does seem like you are doing something wrong but most of the time it is simply the internet and not you.

I have posted likely a few hundred pictures or more on this and many forums and at times think "what the heck". Log out come back later log in and that same picture I was trying to post popped right in with no trouble.

 

Glad it worked out for you.
And as Calisto said, picture posting can be finicky at times on almost all websites.