Hi all, I’m a newbie here. Just bought a new 2019 CX9 in February. Had a tow hitch installed at the dealer today and I want your opinions on if they did a bad job out if I’m just picky. Thanks in advance!

 

You should take it back. If that is a Mazda hitch, they come with a template for the panel and that cutout is not it. Not a professional job.

 

Its normal to cut out the bumper, but that is a very messy and unprofessional job. I personally would not be happy & would complain.

I would never let that vehicle leave my shop looking like that.

 

Poor cutting and lack of cleaning up said cut. Poor work, especially fora dealer. Looks like the car wash kid did it.

 

I would demand they correct that debacle, including replacing the bumper. I believe you have a good legal case, should they refuse to correct it.

 

Find an identical car with a neatly done job. Photograph it. Now you have ammo to say, "This is what I paid for, not what I got. Fix it." Don't waste time with a service writer. Talk to the service manager. If that doesn't work, go to the dealership's general manager.

And, it's partly on you. You should not have accepted the car back without a good look-over. You should have raised your complaint on the spot. Always inspect everything you paid them to do, even check the oil level after an oil change. You get what you inspect, not what you expect.

 

Just bought a 2022 and am beyond pissed.
they cut a hole in the fender which looks terrible and put on a class 2 for $600....

Absolutely ridiculous. Returned the hitch so we can get a Class 3 installed, of course aftermarket is designed to sit below the fender so now we got this giant gaping hole in our brand new car...

Why doesn't mazda have a template?

 

Well.....a Class II hitch receiver (1-1/4") rated at 3500# is the Mazda official receiver. https://www.mazdausa.com/vehicles/cx-9/accessories
"This Class II-rated receiver features a towing capacity of up to 3,500 pounds8 and was specifically configured to accommodate the design of the Mazda CX-9."

The photo does show a clean smooth neat cut under the bumper.

 

Well the "official reciever" is extremely poor in quality. When I think of "OEM" (let alone pay a lot more for) the last thing I expect is someone freecutting a mouse hole into a fender like it's a high school shop class project. That to me doesn't feel like it's "specifically configured to accommodate the design of the cx9".

That more seems like its a hitch for a car with a smaller fender, but also happens to work with a cx 9.

Its dissapointing, especially considering aftermarket can do both a class 2 and a class 3 hitches without cutting the fender at all.

Hopefully Mazda decided to improves upon this for the CX-90.

 

What an abortion, holy s#it. eTrailers has an outstanding video on how a professional installs a hitch on a CX9. Pretty ez, unless your retarted like this guy is. Wow