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2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited September 2014 in Mazda

image2014 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD Long-Term Road Test

I caught my foot on a plastic trim piece in our long-term 2014 Mazda CX-5 and completely dislodged it. It snapped right back into place but its design is less than optimal.

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  • 7driver7driver Member Posts: 145
    Funny, that second pic without the trim would have looked completely stock in a few cars from the 80's and 90's. Heck, the remaining pieces of trim probably covered more than in some cars prior to the 80's.
  • banhughbanhugh Member Posts: 315
    It seems that the trim piece in the first photo is missing a white nylon piece like the tab below it.
  • legacygtlegacygt Member Posts: 599
    As with most posts such as these there will be the usual back and forth about whether or not this reflects on the quality of the CX-5 and Mazdas in general. We can also debate whether or not this is a big deal. I have two comments. First, it is never a good thing when any piece of a car falls off. I have a CX-9 with 80,000 trouble-free miles and love it but it bothers me to no end every time the little clips that retain the 3rd row seatbelts fall off. It's a sign of either a design or an assembly flaw and just rubs me the wrong way.
    But the bigger issue here is the location of the piece. The footwell area around the pedals is one of the more dangerous spots to have large pieces of plastic floating around. It's simply dangerous. That plastic could get lodged above or below the pedals and cause unintended acceleration or the inability to stop. While this was an easy fix when the car was stopped, it would be a bit different at highways speeds. I think you should report this incident to Mazda because, even if your fix is permanent, it could be a problem if it happens to someone else.
  • ocramidajzjocramidajzj Member Posts: 91
    legacygt Agree with you about the CX5 trim piece. But I think that the seat belt clips along the D pillar of the CX-9 probably came off when someone grabbed the belt (kids will be kids) without removing it from the clip. This has happen to me several times. I would say that it probably requires a better design that doesn't hold the belt so tightly. But I do not think it's because it isn't fastened in properly. If it was tighter then the clip would probably break off. IMO
  • allthingshondaallthingshonda Member Posts: 878
    Might be an access panel for the cabin air filter.
  • craigistcraigist Member Posts: 29
    My girlfriend did that in the passenger footwell - caught her shoe on the edge somehow and it dislodged. Was easily pushed back in.

    The cabin air filter is actually behind the glovebox trim and wonderfully easy to change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IS9LApMCJY
  • metalmaniametalmania Member Posts: 167
    While I agree it should be better designed so as not to become dislodged while exiting the car, I'm not sure it presents as serious a safety hazard as some would suggest. It seems this is the first time this has happened in 25,000 miles of use with the car, and it didn't happen while underway. It doesn't seem like it just "falls off" by itself. Agreed it should be secured better, or at least shaped better so you can't catch a foot on it, but it doesn't appear like it would dislodge by itself while driving.
  • legacygtlegacygt Member Posts: 599
    @ocramidajzj: You're exactly right about the CX-9 belt clips. It's always because someone pulled the seatbelt without first sliding the belt out of the holder. I always try to remember to slide the seatbelts out of the holder whenever I set up the 3rd row
  • dougal1098dougal1098 Member Posts: 8
    It looks like the CX-5 is no longer part of the long term test fleet. Any reason why?
  • maestro_camaestro_ca Member Posts: 2
    This panel keeps falling out of the wheel well on the driver and passenger sides of my 2016 CX5. My trim panels don't have the white nylon clip that attaches to the panel tabs. Does anyone know how to find replacements for these small white clips?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Auto parts stores carry generic clips now, as do the catalog outfits like JC Whitney or even Amazon. Might find something that fits going that way.

    Everyone is going to want to know why you don't ask the dealer to fix it though. So why don't you? :)
  • maestro_camaestro_ca Member Posts: 2
    I have looked online and can't find anything that looks like the clips shown in the photo - that's why I'm posting on this forum in the hopes that someone could point me in the right direction. As far as visiting the dealer, I am hoping to avoid paying a big labor charge just to install a clip that costs approximately $1.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited May 2016
    Oh, you're thinking this isn't a warranty item then. Gotcha.

    Guess you tried eBay too. Pretty bad, checked this clips and fasteners site and they have three pages of Mazda clips and none look like the ones in the pic. And the ones they do have aren't cheap. Guess you could chat up a body shop and see if they offer any suggestions.

    I'm thinking you might be able to rig up some black zip ties and clip the loose ends close. Or maybe try some double-sided tape, with an especially big piece over the foam square shown in the pic.

    Makes my head swim just thinking of trying to rig up something down there.
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