What have you done to your CX-9 today?

[sm1ke]

Very clean install!

The black trim looks amazing, I'll need to do mine!

Thanks! The coating does a decent job of hiding minor oxidation and scuffs too.

I forgot to mention the rubber piece on the inside of the liftgate that's kind of sagging down between the hinges. It's missing 3 clips. They look like the push-clip plastic fasteners for the body trim, but they have a small nub at the end instead. Gonna have to find a few of those clips to replace them.

 

[sm1ke]

Vinyl wrapped a few small interior trim pieces and installed them.

 

[sm1ke]

Applied some of that ceramic trim coating to the engine cover. I'm hoping this will make it easier to clean.

I also ordered a pair of exhaust tips. Just need to work on getting the OEM tips off. I don't think they're screwed onto the pipe, but they don't want to come loose after giving them a few good yanks.

 

[shawnee]

Applied some of that ceramic trim coating to the engine cover. I'm hoping this will make it easier to clean.

View attachment 344505

I also ordered a pair of exhaust tips. Just need to work on getting the OEM tips off. I don't think they're screwed onto the pipe, but they don't want to come loose after giving them a few good yanks.

A good few yanks always makes me come loose Other than that, always good to see @sm1ke work on his car

 

[sm1ke]

A good few yanks always makes me come loose Other than that, always good to see @sm1ke work on his car

Looking a bit more closely at the tips, I think they may be spot welded to the piping, so these 2.5" inlet tips won't work. I'll be returning them today. I ordered a pair of 3" inlet tips, which I know for sure will slip over the OEM tips.

 

[sm1ke]

This weekend I got a few things done. Got the front windows tinted to 35%, installed a pair of LED reverse light bulbs, and replaced the slightly damaged SkyactivG emblem on the liftgate with a new one (Note: the OEM SkyactivG emblem is a pinned emblem that will leave 2 small holes if removed). I may actually remove the new emblem to properly polish that area, then reattach it. It's smaller than the old one, and I can still see the outline of the original emblem.

I also took some time on Saturday to polish the car. It isn't perfect, but it's like 80% there. I'm happy with maintaining it at this stage since the paint already has some imperfections from the last 3 years, like touch ups from rock chips on the hood, a small scratch that was made worse with touch up paint on a door, and a bit of wear and tear on the rear bumper from loading and unloading stuff in the trunk.

The flake in the paint really pops out now. Here's a quick video showing a before and after.

 

[shawnee]

Just had my front lower control arms and sway bar links replaced at a Mazda dealership. My CX-9 is currently at a little over 96,300 miles and still going strong. Haven’t had any issues with the car *knock on wood*.

After the install, I had the car aligned. Not sure what the issue is, but the steering isn’t centered (car keeps pulling to the left). I went back and got it aligned again, the issue is still there even though everything, according to the computer, is aligned.

Going to go back to the dealership and have them recheck the control arms and sway bar links and see whether they were installed properly.