What have you done to your CX-5 today?

I don't like flooding, but this deserves its own post.
Dropped the car in the morning for the transmission replacement (and the muffler replacement), it was mostly hassle-free. They dropped me home, then I didn't get any calls from them until 4:30 pm. I was supposed to get back the car today. Anyway, I called them. At first, the receptionist transferred me to the body shop who didn't pick up. After a bunch of calls and talking to the receptionists and service clerks I finally managed to talk to the same service advisor that told me initially that the transmission needed to be replaced. He was not there when I dropped off the car.
Here is a quick summary of what I am told by different people
  • The transmission is replaced, we're waiting on the muffler replacement (that the dealer strongly suggested we do now instead of when we replace the bumper. Less work for them I'm sure, but I get a rental for sure for the bumper replacement.)
  • All repairs are done, but we need to do more testing. (This was a service clerk, I think she was trying to make an excuse)
  • The transmission is replaced, unsure about the muffler, they needed to fix a "major" coolant leak that they noticed as they removed the transmission. This was the service advisor, when I challenged him about the fact that I have two "major" issues on a 6-month-old car, he quickly changed it to "oh it's a minor leak, but as we took down the transmission we might just as well replace it" He also claims to have sent someone to a remote dealership to source the part instead of ordering it from the States.
  • The service advisor also said that if he were there, he would tell me that there is no way the repairs would be done in one day even without the coolant leak. And that he would find me a rental for sure.
  • Body shop went to voicemail (obviously they would make me wait until tomorrow morning) and the receptionist didn't really want to help. When I called the second time I'm sure she asked a colleague to talk to me. (I clearly wasn't rude to her but I think she only worked until 5pm and didn't want to deal with me)
The service advisor is going to call me first thing tomorrow morning (he is genuinely helpful so I am sure he will) to find me a rental car. If not they will have to drive me to work.

Don't get me wrong, I am not frustrated about the repairs taking long. I'd rather they take their time. I am frustrated about the lack of communication -- if I can't have my car back by the end of the day, let me know in advance so I can plan accordingly.

The service advisor said he knew it wasn't going to be a one-day job. Although I can't fully blame him as he was not there in the morning (I looked for him, that's how I know), he was the one who initially told me that this was a one-day job. Again to be fair this was before the body shop wanted to replace the muffler, but then the body shop should have let me know; because again I don't benefit anything from them replacing the muffler today. I feel like they wanted to save some time by doing two mechanical repairs together, but it didn't really work out.
I am not sure if there is a coolant leak, I'll check the repair bill when I get the car back. I feel like this was an excuse for keeping the car for longer than what they told me. It's not a great excuse because it obviously raises the question of how there can be a major coolant leak at 6 months and 12000 kilometers. And if there is a major coolant leak how come my engine temps have been normal since day 1? The "major" leak suddenly became a "really minor" leak that they might just as well fix as the transmission is down.
I do believe they have more testing to do as the car hasn't moved since 8:30 AM.
I have no clue if they replaced the muffler yet.

Anyways, the lack of communication is frustrating. The fact that I don't have a car right now is frustrating (and I need to drive to work tomorrow). The fact that I am being bombarded with classic repair shop excuses is frustrating. Although I am 24 and this is my first car, I learned a lot from my dad about the art of getting your car serviced.
And lastly, the fact that it's literally a 6-month-old car is frustrating. I could have bought a 2016 CX-5 and I doubt I would have to get the transmission replaced within 6 months.

(You need to be nice to people in general, but) Obviously, if you want to get things done, you need to be nice to the people you deal with (otherwise you're going to get the short end of the stick and they are not going to bend the rules a little bit in your favour -- and you'll be even more frustrated) but there is a fine line between being nice and being taken advantage of (my age is a factor in this too I think). They clearly expected me to say nothing about this and they didn't have a plan when I challenged them.

Anyways, although I like my CX-5 a lot it's coming to the point where I regret a little bit not getting a RAV4 in the first place just because of reliability. Apparently the more you dig in my CX-5, the more problems you notice. I have a long road trip planned up and I am thinking about canceling it at this point.
My parents have been driving Toyotas exclusively for the last 25 years or so and we have never had a moderate issue - let alone a transmission replacement.

Update Aug 25th: They replaced the transmission but the issue is still there. I literally replicated the issue on the first try.
We are in the same area. I believe you bought your CX-5 from Gabriel which is the largest group of car dealers in Montreal. They have luxury dealers like Audi, Porsche, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, Genesis and mainstream brands like Ford, Hyundai, Kia...and Nissan. Looks to me that the tech who replaced your transmission was working at their Nissan dealer where replacing a transmission (CVT) is routine work (just trying to make you laugh)! I've owned two Nissan Murano (2014 & 2017.5) and my wife has a 2015 Juke, we never had any CVT issues but we had transfer case leak when my 2017.5 and her 2015 were brand new.

Perhaps when they replace the muffler, the problem will go away if this was causing the noise, who knows (muffler hitting heat shield?). Good luck and I know from past experience how frustrating this can be as I've had all kinds of problems with different brands of vehicle in the last 49 years. So far my CX-5 has been flawless.
 
First of all, thanks @sm1ke , @Jack Rabbit , @MadStyle , @Conrad 16.5 and @Freedom55 for the helpful replies.

@PaulZooms I know it was a long post, and I understand that you didn't want to read it. But the thread is called "What did you done to your CX-5?" and I posted what I did/what was done to my CX-5. What you did was in no way "encouraging concise writing" by the way. Anyways.

According to the service papers, they replaced a pipe for the coolant leak. I've been checking the temps ever since I got the car, and I've never seen something out of the ordinary. Also the papers show that they indeed ordered and replaced the transmission, but who knows at this point? The car is going back to the dealership on Monday. If they can't fix it, I am going to get it inspected myself and contact Mazda. (Assuming I find the Canadian equivalent of AAMCO)

A couple notes:
1) I don't think I have ever parked this car on a hill. It's always on a flat surface and I put the handbrake on before releasing the brake pedal.
2) I am fully depressing the brake pedal. But it does feel like it's not fully depressed.
3) @Freedom55 Yes, I got the car from Gabriel St-Jacques, now getting it serviced at Gabriel Plateau. I still don't know if they replaced the muffler or not (which is funny, but nothing in the service papers indicate that it has been replaced) but I doubt it's the cause, as I also feel a noticeable thump ("ça donne un coup" as the technician said) when I shift from P to R.
 
Mrplt:

How close are you to America border?

If can't find a good tranny place up there, might be worth the ride to cross over for the nearest AAMCO...even if it's a day trip. Make a day of it, take the girlfriend, sightsee, shop, get some ice cream or whatever else you all come to america for. Visit one of the amusement parks, etc.
 
My son had to replace the tranny in his old Toyota Tundra (280k miles) at the end 2021. $4k later, the new (Aamco, Naples, FL) tranny broke down twice after picking it up, the first time a day later, the second time (after another month in the shop again) on the way home with me driving it! Aamco had it towed back in both times at their expense, to their credit, but had the truck four months overall, and communication was lacking. They seemed to get it fixed OK the last time, but left some wires running to the back of the truck unhooked...
 
My son had to replace the tranny in his old Toyota Tundra (280k miles) at the end 2021. $4k later, the new (Aamco, Naples, FL) tranny broke down twice after picking it up, the first time a day later, the second time (after another month in the shop again) on the way home with me driving it! Aamco had it towed back in both times at their expense, to their credit, but had the truck four months overall, and communication was lacking. They seemed to get it fixed OK the last time, but left some wires running to the back of the truck unhooked...

Not that many old pick-ups running around Naples. I see more high-end cars there than anything else. I grew up there and visit once a year or so. We were just down there in May for the month.

I've never heard so many sirens! Police, ambulance, or fire. Nearly all the time but mostly in the mornings.
 
Installed the mirror dash cam last night, took an hour to do so, that dongar rear view mirror power adapter made things way easier and streamlined for powering the cam.
 

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Still have to do the exhaust tips and change out the lugs but I'm good for a while.

Rear emblems dipped
Vinyl wrapped chrome window trim
Smoked out rear bumper reflectors
Wheel center caps dipped
Front emblem smoked - Lamin-X & does not at all mess with any sensors for those that are wondering.

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Got the car back from the dealership for the bumper replacement (and the transmission situation) I was given a Hyundai Kona as a rental car which made me realize how great the CX-5 is.

They found that the transmission issue came from a mount (I don't know which mount). So far everything is good. The replacement bumper looks good to me, although it's missing a bracket that they ordered and should be ready in November.

Also I put my winter tires on. I won't be here until October 30th and when I come back all the tire shops are going to be busy, I wanted to get it done sooner than later. Also the weather often drops below 7C.

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With the stock Toyo summer tires, I feel like the car is moving sideways (I don't know how to explain it) when I am going over potholes/imperfections. I definitely don't feel it with the winter tires. I know the Toyos are on the softer side (among summer tires) but I don't think it's normal. I might swap them with another set next summer.
 
Got the car back from the dealership for the bumper replacement (and the transmission situation) I was given a Hyundai Kona as a rental car which made me realize how great the CX-5 is.

They found that the transmission issue came from a mount (I don't know which mount). So far everything is good. The replacement bumper looks good to me, although it's missing a bracket that they ordered and should be ready in November.

Also I put my winter tires on. I won't be here until October 30th and when I come back all the tire shops are going to be busy, I wanted to get it done sooner than later. Also the weather often drops below 7C.

IMG_6149.JPG


With the stock Toyo summer tires, I feel like the car is moving sideways (I don't know how to explain it) when I am going over potholes/imperfections. I definitely don't feel it with the winter tires. I know the Toyos are on the softer side (among summer tires) but I don't think it's normal. I might swap them with another set next summer.
I just don't get it that they replaced the transmission without first checking if a mount was loose, broken or misaligned! I've had similar issues with two different vehicles in the past; a broken mount on a 1976 VW Rabbit which I replaced myself (the replacement mount was much more solid) and a misaligned mount on a 2012 RAV4 V6 which the dealer tried to fix but I ended up trading the vehicle before they could take another crack at it...

Hopefully this is the end of your problems and don't even think of trading your CX-5 for a hybrid RAV4 or RAV4 Prime; you must have heard that the cable connecting to the rear electric motor corrodes and costs about $7000 CDN to replace after the 3 year/60,000 kms warranty expires. There is a class action lawsuit against Toyota Canada.

If you were thinking going full EV, their bZ4X is recalled and production has stopped because the wheels can fall off during hard braking or emergency maneuvers. The bolts holding the front wheel hubs are breaking off. And we thought Toyota was still at the top of the reliability chart (nobody's perfect)!
 
Can you please post where you brought it from? eBay is charging almost near $100 for them. I’m willing to pay $20-30 but not almost $100 for a chrome delete just for the windows.
I couldn't find it any cheaper either($70 for part plus $80 shipping). Part of problem is there is no competetion as its all made in China, and it's a luxury item( not necessity). Plus its shipped from china so there's extra $80 in shipping on top. Unless world economy tanks, or America starts mamufacture its own s***, not gonna get it too much cheaper.
 
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Rolled over 60k miles on the 2019 North American 2.2 diesel today. No mo warranty for me.

It's been a solid trouble free performer (just like all my other mazdas) so far and looking forward to many more trouble free miles to come 😁.

Still hate my driver's seat though lol! I hate it enough to want to do something about it. One day. I've got a shop nearby that does custom aircraft interiors. I may stop by and see if they'd be interested in any seat mod work. Gotta rework those seat bolsters.
 
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