Control Arm Shears off on a 2023 CX-50 with 2k miles

[madar]

Of course, on the other side of the coin is that there is a little black event recorder on modern day cars, my 16 has one. Maybe that has something on it that raises questions.

 

[Silly Wabbit]

Fyi, dealers can sell a damaged vehicle as new as long as it didn't pass a certain repair cost threshold.

 

[GTXT23]

Fyi, dealers can sell a damaged vehicle as new as long as it didn't pass a certain repair cost threshold.

........that they officially report ;-)

 

[Conrad 16.5]

I don't understand why people here are questioning the veracity of the OP's story?

Not one of us here has any say so in what goes on with her car at the dealership. What would be the point of coming on this forum and not presenting the facts, as she knows them to be?

Why are people asking questions about what may or may not have happened before the OP took delivery of the car from the dealership? That's 100% beside the point. It was sold as a new car because it was new.

From what I'm reading, it's a warranty claim and Mazda should cover it as such.

 

[ctbale]

I don't understand why people here are questioning the veracity of the OP's story?

Not one of us here has any say so in what goes on with her car at the dealership. What would be the point of coming on this forum and not presenting the facts, as she knows them to be?

Why are people asking questions about what may or may not have happened before the OP took delivery of the car from the dealership? That's 100% beside the point. It was sold as a new car because it was new.

From what I'm reading, it's a warranty claim and Mazda should cover it as such.

I agree. I find the op credible. The questioning of his motivations is weird. Like really weird. I do think there are pieces of information missing that I would like to know. Reasons for denial of warranty. Reason insurance says its on mazda. Who spilled thier milkshake on the driveline inner area.

But yes, questioning the op like some members have is strange.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

Its good that there were no injuries- but a tow truck drivers guess on what might have happened is random hersay - and not a professional opinion.
We have on rare occasion had other people suddenly join the forum to post an issue with their car and have not participated in any prior dialogues, making claims of mechanical issues with little or no history or incomplete data , again with zero prior participation here -

It begs the question why now ?
The issue I personally have with these types of posts , is that there is never enough information for anyone to make a definitive clear assessment of precisely what occurred ,who is responsible and a history of ownership experiences leading up to the mechanical failure. - We are Mazda enthusiasts who have owned Mazda's for decades and do enjoy the ownership experience. We are likely harder on Mazda than anyone else because many of us do our own maintainence and repair work . Yet we are scientific and fair backing up everything with facts. If not , were called on it by others.
That said , When a random post appears from someone who is not the owner speaking in hearsay for someone else who is , that had a specific experience , that again calls it's motive and legitimacy into question.

I believe that many things could have happened which are not mentioned, and in reality ,the conclusion made by the insurance adjustor was not accompanied by a detailed description of what exactly this person says occured and why it is a manufacturers defect ?
Questions I have are : What was the mileage on the vehicle when purchased ? Who drove it at the dealer prior to delivery ? Was it damaged at the dealer before delivery or is that possible ? Who else has driven the vehicle since your " daughter " took ownership ? Did the car get driven by any friends of your " daughters"..boyfriend , other ?
Was there ever anything that was damaged in a prior event that you may or may not be aware of ? Was the vehicle ever valet parked ? Was the vehicle ever bottomed out ? Was anything hit on the road ? Have the wheels ever had any alterations or been removed..that you are aware of ? Where the lug nuts properly torqued down , if so to what ft-lb ? Did you ever have a flat tire ? Has the vehicle ever hit a curb or impediment which could have damaged the K-member, rim, tie-rod(s) hub -bearing or suspension ?
Was the vehicle ever modified in any way that you are aware of ? Was any service ever done on this vehicle anywhere by anyone at anytime for any reason ? Where there any dash lights on indicating anything that might need attention , check engine , tpms , etc ? Was the tire properly inflated prior to the incident , if so what was the psi ?
You said you werent the owner , so is it possible you dont know everything that car has been thru in 2000 miles ? Is it possible your daughter loaned , or allowed someone else to drive that vehicle without her onboard at ANY time prior to the incident ?
If so , who and why ?
What was the exact mileage at the time of the incident ?

The only " evidence " is that the insurance adjustor said it was a manufacturers defect. What is the defect ? , .. Insurance companies regularly deny claims to see if will stick.
But claiming Mazda "has no regard for the safety of it's customers " is an unfounded conclusion which is slanderous.

There are a plethora of unanswered questions - but this is not a court of law , its an enthusiast forum...and certainly not yelp !
There are just to many unknows to attempt to try it as a case online particularly with something this rare and severe.
Its my hope you get it resolved, but please don't just appear here and bash Mazda with zero history and insufficient data. In my opinion its impossible to determine who's culpable here and don't want to either . If there is a defect in manufacturing , and documented evidence that demonstrates responsibility , I guarantee that everyone here would like to know and would appreciate seeing it. If there is a court ruling or admission of responsibility , that would be of interest as well. If theres a recall or TSB that would also be good information that can help others. But this story leaves me with more questions than answers.

I REALLY don't understand your attitude in your post. At some point, EVERYONE on this forum was new to it.

"We have on rare occasion had other people suddenly join the forum to post an issue with their car and have not participated in any prior dialogues, making claims of mechanical issues with little or no history or incomplete data , again with zero prior participation here -"

Rare occasions? Exactly how should someone new to this forum present their case? A person can't participate till they participate, right?

"It begs the question why now ?"

Because the OP is looking for help from the group NOW, why else?

What you believe has no relevance to what the OP is saying, or to us/me. You admit that the facts are incomplete and yet you give an opinion just the same. That seems to be the way things work there days....

 

[ctbale]

Agreed Conrad 16.5. great points. I know it makes people uncomfortable to hear the brand they drive might have a problem with this or that, but most of us want this information and are greatfull that prople like the op take the time to document a situation like this.

 

[GTXT23]

I REALLY don't understand your attitude in your post. At some point, EVERYONE on this forum was new to it.

"We have on rare occasion had other people suddenly join the forum to post an issue with their car and have not participated in any prior dialogues, making claims of mechanical issues with little or no history or incomplete data , again with zero prior participation here -"

Rare occasions? Exactly how should someone new to this forum present their case? A person can't participate till they participate, right?

"It begs the question why now ?"

Because the OP is looking for help from the group NOW, why else?

What you believe has no relevance to what the OP is saying, or to us/me. You admit that the facts are incomplete and yet you give an opinion just the same. That seems to be the way things work there days....

If you are going to bash Mazda - and blame the company for a major catsstrophic failure - you best have solid evidence / Theres no evidence - Thats quite a claim the wheel just folded in onitself on the freeway at 2000 miles. Even Mazda ( as was later admitted ) said they denied it as a warranty claim because the vehicle must have hit sonething - so the OP had that info and failed to mention it -

I don't understand why people here are questioning the veracity of the OP's story?

Not one of us here has any say so in what goes on with her car at the dealership. What would be the point of coming on this forum and not presenting the facts, as she knows them to be?

Why are people asking questions about what may or may not have happened before the OP took delivery of the car from the dealership? That's 100% beside the point. It was sold as a new car because it was new.

From what I'm reading, it's a warranty claim and Mazda should cover it as such.

Its ALL herday until we see documents with statments of the findings - Lets see what happens - The OP still has not revealed any of the documents or specifics - Mazda corporation gave a reply in writing \. where is it ? Extrordinary claims require extrordinary evidence

Agreed Conrad 16.5. great points. I know it makes people uncomfortable to hear the brand they drive might have a problem with this or that, but most of us want this information and are greatfull that prople like the op take the time to document a situation like this.

Well - its good to have opposing opinions ...so we know one thing for certain ...everyone the " OP " has interacted with on this failure has DENIED responsibility , the insurance company #1 , the dealer #2 and finally #3 Mazda corporation - So he came here to say Mazda dosent care about its customers safety - with NO DOCUMENTATION - I say something stinks here and Mazda ( in my experience ) will usually air on the customers side - In the LAW - not the world of " feelings " if a company pays a warranty claim on something such as this it sets a precedent - meaning they admit fault - It appears ( op said ) Mazda did inspect the damage and said NO . So based on this - Im skeptical but at no time ever said I knew what definitively occured - I asked - repeatedly - show us the facts - even yrwei52 said please name the dealer -
If the OP is someone of high inluence and notariaty and made the claim that Mazda dosent care about the safety of its customers- and its hurts Mazda without substatiation - without cause -

 

[Colleen1028]

Since you are in Dallas area I wish your daughter’s CX-50 was towed to Town North Mazda at Richardson, one of the best car dealers I’ve been dealing with, but apparently it wasn’t. Any car dealer should have no problems to replace the damaged lower control arm and drive shaft assuming there’s no further damage inside of front differential in transaxle. Would you mind to tell us which Mazda dealer you and your daughter has been dealing with? I blame the whole issue on an incompetent Mazda dealer as they can easily to replace damaged suspension components under warranty on a vehicle with only 2,000 miles.

Mazda North American Operations usually have to to rely on their dealers checking and assessing the problems and damages, let the dealer make the repair under warranty. Has your Mazda dealer said anything about their opinion?

She purchased at Hiley Mazda of Arlington and has been in contact with her salesman, whom she really likes and says he feels bad but there's nothing he can do. After speaking with my daughter again today, it was the tow truck driver that suggested he take it to Freeman Mazda in Irving. I guess it was the closest to where she was at the time this happened. My daughter did opened a claim with MNAO When my daughter was denied this to be warranted at the dealership level (Freeman) she called MNAO and asked to be put in touch with someone higher up and was told there is no one higher to speak with as we stand by the decision of our dealerships". My daughter has opened a claim with the BBB and also filed a report with the NTSB. She is not authorizing her insurance at this point to pay to fix the vehicle....it's not about the money, in fact, it's an inexpensive repair....it's a matter of principle. I appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.

 

[yrwei52]

Here are some reports from CX-5 on LCA ball joint failure although most of them were over 70K miles:

Hi, I was recently travelling in a Mazda CX-5 2013, which has done 73K miles, when the suspension control arm suddenly detached, causing the steering to be lost and the wheel to cave in. The car has been regularly serviced, MOTd, and has had no accidents. Furthermore, it has not been driven on rough terrain.

The incident happened after travelling around 170 miles and there had been no signs of any suspension issues leading up to the incident. Thankfully the problem happened as the car was entering a car park. Had it occurred at speed, the consequences would most likely have caused fatalities.

Has anyone experienced anything similar or has suggestions to make? I'm still reeling from the trauma!

Thanks!

Old thread, but this just happened to our 2014 CX-5. The ball joint separated from the LCA, letting the wheel dangle - fortunately in out driveway. Ugh. A new LCA is due to arrive today, so meanwhile I've been removing the bad control arm. I needed a mega cheater bar for one of the rear inner bolts, and a bit of cheating on the front inner bolt, but the A-arm itself is out now.

HOWEVER, I CANNOT get the pinch bolt that holds the ball joint pin out. I got the nut off the rear side OK, and in theory, you should just be able to push the bolt out of the knuckle, but no! Tried a big mallet to (err) 'tap' it out. Tried an impact to get it to turn. Nothing. Tried heat followed by cold. Kroil penetrating oil. That bolt is welded in. I can turn the ball itself, with a wrench, so at least the pin is not seized, but I really need some help or ideas on that bolt. I can't even cut it, as I don't know where the seized area is, and I could end up making it worse.

HELP PLEASE!?

Hi to all , 2013 cx5 with 119.00 miles

Same failure to me , but also pull the drive shaft..

Fortunately it was during a turn with very low speed..

What to say…

Last night my daughter pulled out of a parking space in our 2014 CX-5 and her wheel just separated from the car. It has 75K miles on it and we bought it as a Mazda certified car in 2019. The mechanic told me that the lower control arm failed, causing the axle to break. When I looked inside I saw that the ball joint was detached. When the tow truck driver came out, he knew exactly what it was and told me that he has seen this many times on Hondas and a number of times on Mazdas. At the shop, a number of the technicians were shocked at what they saw. They kept telling me how lucky we were.

Has there been a recall on this? I didn’t see one for the year 2014, yet I see this topic is repeated. I am shook because this could have been fatal if it was at high speed. My last 3 cars have all been Toyotas that were safety/reliability dreams well past 150K miles. My previous 2 Mazdas were leases, so I haven’t tested their reliability and I am concerned. The car has mainly been driven 8K miles per year within my MA town, with a few 200 mile road trips. It was last serviced 3 months ago for an oil change and tire rotation, not done at the dealer, but by an ASE certified mechanic.

I’m looking for feedback on this more unusual repair. I took it to a very reputable shop, but am also wondering if I should have gone to Mazda. I chose the closer shop because it took 3 different tow trucks to be able to load it on the flatbed without creating further damage and I wanted to minimize the travel distance. I also knew I wanted both sides repaired, out of caution, and was concerned about the price differential at the dealer.

The photos are not the best, but I can go back and take more as the parts will take a week or more.

 

[yrwei52]

If you are going to bash Mazda - and blame the company for a major catsstrophic failure - you best have solid evidence / Theres no evidence - Thats quite a claim the wheel just folded in onitself on the freeway at 2000 miles. Even Mazda ( as was later admitted ) said they denied it as a warranty claim because the vehicle must have hit sonething - so the OP had that info and failed to mention it -

No, MNAO usually is rely on what the dealer said, and makes a warranty decision. That’s why I said at the beginning that if the CX-50 was towed to a reputable Mazda dealer, the result could be different. Tell me how is it possible the driver hit something without damaging anything else, even a bend wheel, and broke the ball joint on the LCA? If the vehicle hit some pot holes and bumps which caused the the ball jumps out of the ball socket, the shell is too weak to withstand the force. Either way, MNAO should warranty this obvious defect or weakness on the ball joint, and not just believe what the dealer said.

What is the motive the OP spending time to post and bash the Mazda here? This isn’t bashing Mazda, but the OP is expressing his / her disappointment on how the MNAO handling this case.

This reminds me this thread by @Go Hawks:

Dangerous cylinder deactivation trouble on 2018 CX-5 and Mazda6 models

Once posted, he faced heavy criticism of bashing Mazda just like this thread. Ended up it was he the first exposed the problem on cylinder deactivation, and Mazda eventually had to issue a safety recall to fix the fallen rocker arms.

Its ALL herday until we see documents with statments of the findings - Lets see what happens - The OP still has not revealed any of the documents or specifics - Mazda corporation gave a reply in writing \. where is it ? Extrordinary claims require extrordinary evidence

What kind of document you really want to see? In my experience the dealer can verbally tell you, sorry it isn’t covered. End of story. The CX-50 is OP daughter’s car, and most likely OP only heard whatever his / her daughter said dealing this problem. I believe the daughter doesn’t know too much about the car just like my daughter, and she definitely got push away by the Mazda dealer. Yes the daughter can request a formal invoice and stated the reason why the broken ball joint isn’t covered, but I doubt the daughter knows she can do that at the first place.

Well - its good to have opposing opinions ...so we know one thing for certain ...everyone the " OP " has interacted with on this failure has DENIED responsibility , the insurance company #1 , the dealer #2 and finally #3 Mazda corporation - So he came here to say Mazda dosent care about its customers safety - with NO DOCUMENTATION - I say something stinks here and Mazda ( in my experience ) will usually air on the customers side - In the LAW - not the world of " feelings " if a company pays a warranty claim on something such as this it sets a precedent - meaning they admit fault - It appears ( op said ) Mazda did inspect the damage and said NO . So based on this - Im skeptical but at no time ever said I knew what definitively occured - I asked - repeatedly - show us the facts - even yrwei52 said please name the dealer -
If the OP is someone of high inluence and notariaty and made the claim that Mazda dosent care about the safety of its customers- and its hurts Mazda without substatiation - without cause -

Again, what is the motive the OP posted the complain here and expressed his / her disappointment on how the Mazda dealer handling things? He / she would gain nothing of doing this here other than getting criticisms or suggestions. You want two sides of story but unfortunately the Mazda dealer won’t visit here. It seems very strange you want OP to present both sides of story, and there’re too many reports here have presented only their side of story. We simply choose to believe what the poster said unless there’re obvious holes making us suspicious. In addition, the photos have showed me enough evidence that the broken ball joint is a defect and a safety hazard. If you believe the daughter has done something to damage the ball joint, she’d be a genius to me to make such damage without damaging anything else!

 

[yrwei52]

Here are some reports from CX-5 on LCA ball joint failure although most of them were over 70K miles:

Here’s my take. Even if the LCA ball joint failed at 70K+ miles, some of them we can see it still had good rubber boot from photos, it’s still too early to fail and caught owners by surprise in such dangerous situation. My 1998 Honda CR-V with 190K miles still has all original ball joints、tie-rod ends on front suspension, and no plays on any of them. I did replace all rubber boots at 180K miles as those OEM rubber boots are available from Honda dealer and are replaceable.

 

[Conrad 16.5]

If you are going to bash Mazda - and blame the company for a major catsstrophic failure - you best have solid evidence / Theres no evidence - Thats quite a claim the wheel just folded in onitself on the freeway at 2000 miles. Even Mazda ( as was later admitted ) said they denied it as a warranty claim because the vehicle must have hit sonething - so the OP had that info and failed to mention it -


Its ALL herday until we see documents with statments of the findings - Lets see what happens - The OP still has not revealed any of the documents or specifics - Mazda corporation gave a reply in writing \. where is it ? Extrordinary claims require extrordinary evidence


Well - its good to have opposing opinions ...so we know one thing for certain ...everyone the " OP " has interacted with on this failure has DENIED responsibility , the insurance company #1 , the dealer #2 and finally #3 Mazda corporation - So he came here to say Mazda dosent care about its customers safety - with NO DOCUMENTATION - I say something stinks here and Mazda ( in my experience ) will usually air on the customers side - In the LAW - not the world of " feelings " if a company pays a warranty claim on something such as this it sets a precedent - meaning they admit fault - It appears ( op said ) Mazda did inspect the damage and said NO . So based on this - Im skeptical but at no time ever said I knew what definitively occured - I asked - repeatedly - show us the facts - even yrwei52 said please name the dealer -
If the OP is someone of high inluence and notariaty and made the claim that Mazda dosent care about the safety of its customers- and its hurts Mazda without substatiation - without cause -

The OP certainly doesn't have to prove anything to you, and she doesn't have to provide any documentation to you in order to prove her assertions.

What would be her motivation to come here and lie to us?

From what I'm reading, most here find her credible.


This has already been asked but here it is again.

IF the damage to her daughter's CX was caused by hitting something then why is there no sign of damage to other areas of the car? If something was hit/run over and caused this damage, it must have been fairly sizable and would certainly have caused damage elsewhere.

 

[madar]

Control arm looks like a piece just cracked right off like a potato chip, weird...

 

[ctbale]

The strut got pulled outboard pretty good so for a good repair its probably going to be a lca, strut, upper strut bearing and a real good inspection of the upper strut tower. That area had to feel it when the knuckle got pulled to the right. Oh yea, and that brake line is toast. Maybe the wheel speed sensor wiring too.

 

[ctbale]

Op:. Post more pictures! We always like it when people post pictures

 

[madar]

That brown stuff might actually be oil from the transfer case. That wheel had to pull on the axle shaft, maybe broke it out of its housing.

 

[GTXT23]

I agree. I find the op credible. The questioning of his motivations is weird. Like really weird. I do think there are pieces of information missing that I would like to know. Reasons for denial of warranty. Reason insurance says its on mazda. Who spilled thier milkshake on the driveline inner area.

But yes, questioning the op like some members have is strange.

Yeah front wheels are folding in off New Mazdas left and right -- Mazda said it hit something , the Insurance wont pay and the dealer wont either .....yeah sounds totally plausible-

 

[GTXT23]

No, MNAO usually is rely on what the dealer said, and makes a warranty decision. That’s why I said at the beginning that if the CX-50 was towed to a reputable Mazda dealer, the result could be different. Tell me how is it possible the driver hit something without damaging anything else, even a bend wheel, and broke the ball joint on the LCA? If the vehicle hit some pot holes and bumps which caused the the ball jumps out of the ball socket, the shell is too weak to withstand the force. Either way, MNAO should warranty this obvious defect or weakness on the ball joint, and not just believe what the dealer said.

What is the motive the OP spending time to post and bash the Mazda here? This isn’t bashing Mazda, but the OP is expressing his / her disappointment on how the MNAO handling this case.

This reminds me this thread by @Go Hawks:

Dangerous cylinder deactivation trouble on 2018 CX-5 and Mazda6 models

Once posted, he faced heavy criticism of bashing Mazda just like this thread. Ended up it was he the first exposed the problem on cylinder deactivation, and Mazda eventually had to issue a safety recall to fix the fallen rocker arms.



What kind of document you really want to see? In my experience the dealer can verbally tell you, sorry it isn’t covered. End of story. The CX-50 is OP daughter’s car, and most likely OP only heard whatever his / her daughter said dealing this problem. I believe the daughter doesn’t know too much about the car just like my daughter, and she definitely got push away by the Mazda dealer. Yes the daughter can request a formal invoice and stated the reason why the broken ball joint isn’t covered, but I doubt the daughter knows she can do that at the first place.



Again, what is the motive the OP posted the complain here and expressed his / her disappointment on how the Mazda dealer handling things? He / she would gain nothing of doing this here other than getting criticisms or suggestions. You want two sides of story but unfortunately the Mazda dealer won’t visit here. It seems very strange you want OP to present both sides of story, and there’re too many reports here have presented only their side of story. We simply choose to believe what the poster said unless there’re obvious holes making us suspicious. In addition, the photos have showed me enough evidence that the broken ball joint is a defect and a safety hazard. If you believe the daughter has done something to damage the ball joint, she’d be a genius to me to make such damage without damaging anything else

I would be reporting to NHTSA

Probably wouldn’t hurt to let Mazda corporate know as well

Report a Safety Problem | NHTSA

File a complaint with NHTSA if you experienced a vehicle, tire, car seat or equipment safety problem that could be a safety defect.

www.nhtsa.gov

Mazda " corporate " knew about this long ago - and has dismissed it -- You think if there was a major defect they would be initiating a recall immediately-? absolutely

 

[GTXT23]

I certainly cannot explain anything about this and wouldn't try to. But you need to keep in mind that this is strictly the OP's version of the story. We don't know if everything happened exactly the way it was posted here, and with no additional events omitted (such as; "There is much more to all this than can be put in a post"). And we know absolutely nothing about Mazda's side - only the OP's version of it.

In order to be objective, I'm attempting to look at this from Mazda's perspective and figure out how this story plays out that way. So let's assume for a moment that an expert from Mazda looked at the damage and found nothing to indicate there was any operator error, or some other undisclosed information. If that was the case, then why in the world would they deny warranty coverage on a virtually brand new vehicle, when they're fully aware that it would result in a firestorm. If they had no evidence of this being caused by any non-mechanical cause, then wouldn't they just VERY quickly do a warranty repair, and attempt to keep the whole thing as quite as possible?

That's where I'm coming from on this. Mazda has no history of unjustly denying warranty claims that I'm aware of, and I just can't imagine them doing that on such a high-profile, safety-related incident, as this one certainly is. I just cannot believe Mazda would deny the claim and say 'this must have been operator error', without having any evidence of that taking place. Sorry, but this story as related by the OP doesn't seem logical and is just not adding up for me. I've had my say on this, and as always, anyone else is free to disagree.

I agree edmaz- The burden of proof relys on the OP not what wild scenarios someone can invent --- the law is in play here -- not guesswork-- proof ---facts -