I do have an actual - how do you say - defect in product manufacturing/wormanship quality ??? Help me out here I'm missing the word . Anyways , this is what I mean ; my rear bumper is twisted towards the inside about a couple of millimeters at the joint of the quarter panel (the lip-edge) in the fender-well circle + the line that continues towards the tail lamp is sticking out about one millimeter (not flush to the body) on one side worse than other . Also I have noticed this on a couple other Mazda 6s and I'm planning on reporting this to my dealer since week one but I haven't taken the time yet . I have proof on pics on the day I picked it up at the dealer ... but only noticed days later . What do you say , have you seen the same , and what will Mazda do about it ??? It is minimal to notice on the reduced size of pics 'cause of the pics hosting site www.photobucket.com but here goes .... last one is with www.tinypic.com but works only for one pic at a time though

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It doesn't look to unusual to me. There may be a fastener that runs vertically inside the wheelwell (under the wheelwell liner). You can loosen that fastener and pull the bumper out a little. Re-tighten the fastener with the bumper perfectly flush. If the bumper area past the wheel well lip is slightly proud to the quarter panel (can't tell in the pic), you can give it (plastic part) a thump with your open palmed hand where the lip ends and the quarter panel begins. There is a x-mas tree type fastener that will probably seat an extra notch if you do that.

Small imperfections like that are what a ~50 second cycle time will get you. (i.e. that whole bumper is assembled in less than 1 minute.) Overall, the fit/finish on the Mazda6 is excellent when compared to other vehicles on the market.

 

You mention that 'there might be' a fastener . I imagine that could relieve the slight bend and relieve at the same time further up the bumper to make it all come back flush , probably without having to tap it since the pressure is relieved .

Them being assembled as they are is what has attracted me , in part , to the model . The fit and finish is very tight in the seams of the bumpers / doors / hood lines indeed . For the other upper part in the bumper that isn't flush I noticed it when it was dirty ; fact being that dirt had accumulated in a concentrated fashion on the area in question , the picture doesn't render justice .

Thank you again sstlaure

I wonder how many have gone noticing , or not , this and how many bumpers like this are actually are out there . As I mentioned , I have seen this on the odd 6 once in a while since ; probably the same plant assembly guy on the same shift only causing this . Anyways guys and gals check out your bumpers 'cause you might have it . I inspected the car on pick-up day very closely and (even noticed a minute dent on it the week before pick-up that they fixed by massaging it) never noticed it until later when the infatuation level had gone down a notch , hihi . It's only a milimeter or so .... in U.S. conversion measure .... a fraction of an inch .... but still imperfect and enough to bother my otherwise perfectly percieved 6 (if it wasn't for the orange peel paint job that come with all these new cars nowadays albeit an Acura or whatever) .

 

No problem.

It's manufacturing variation, not necessarily a particular operator. It's very difficult to control margins to perfectly flush as they always vary to a certain extent. Typically designs are set to an over-flush or under-flush condition nominally to avoid the "wavy" appearance that you mention (sometimes over, sometimes underflush.) The 6 was a real challenge as everything was set dead flush.

I say maybe on the fastener in the wheel well as I'm an interior engineer and I'm not 100% familiar with the area in question. This is typically how front/rear fascias are attached (I do know that they are held in with a combination of screws/x-mas tree type fasteners, though.

The screw would control the end point (underflush currently in your pic), but the point away from the edge would be controlled by the x-mas tree fastener. Imagine a post ~15-20mm long with a series of ribs running down the length of the fastener. The more you push it in, the further down the ribs the fastener will engage to.

Giving it a little thump on the plastic fascia shouldn't cause any damage at all so long as you are careful about it. (That's basically how they are installed anyway.)

OS....I just really looked at your avatar for the first time. Very funny. I think that's my kid you've got in there.

 

I've noticed the slight inward angle in the same place you have on my 04 mazda3, except that its on the left side. normally something like this would bother me a lot but no one else seems to really notice it unless ive pointed it out to them, so i dont really mind it that much.

this defect is the Ford portion of the car.

 

I challenge you to find any car of any make with fit/finish that rivals your Mazda6. FYI...We achieved better fit/finish numbers for the North American produced Mazda6 than the one produced in Japan at launch.

I really wish people would get off of the Big 3 bashing mood. Do you know that 1 in 5 jobs in the US are tied to the American Auto Industry? Did you know that this year Big 3 products rivaled European brands for reliability, and only slightly lagged behind the Japanese? What was true in the 80's isn't true today, but for some reason it's fashionable to bash US brands.

Enough of the soap box...I hope you like your Mazda6, we all worked very hard to deliver a great car.

 

I checked in our lot and about 75% of the rear bumpers did not fit exactly. The dealer will probably look at the same and consider it a normal condition as that amount is probably normal fit and finish standards. Really never noticed myself untill you pointed it out
6Pack. Some people are just more finiky about there cars. I have several customers who are the same. Guess I prefer that over ones that really don't care and just consider it a mode of transportation.
Brought one in for a look and should be really easy to adjust the bumper part near the wheel opening. Slightly peel back the felt wheel well liner where the bumper joint is and there is a phillips screw there. The hole in the bumper that the screw goes thru is fairly large and provides ample room for adjustment. Take about 5 minutes on your own and can make as close as you want. The upper seam near the taillight is not so easy. Pulled the taillight and there is a push pin style clip that locates the bumper. Does not really hold very tight so the christmas tree style clip that sstlaure mentioned might help to secure tighter after adjust. Took some pics of each area but the boss is using the only computer that will download pics off the camera. Will see can post them here later.

First pic is the adjust screw by the fender opening. #2 and #3 are the plastic mounting/alignment plate behind the bumper skin up by the taillight. #4 is the push pin clip behind the tail light.

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Once again you guys ! Really appreciate your response .

Seems simple enough the philips screw part . I gather that I loosen it a bit .... pry it to desired flush fit .... hold it steady .... and screw it tight without stripping . If that's it , good enough . If mor e to it let me know please . As far as the false fender (inner wheel-well) just prying it , right ? No screws ?

babyhuey , have you tried the above to see if it works plenty fine for the fit . I'm kinda questioning myself as to if the plstic will take yeilding to it's new position .... just like that .... it has been a while it's in that wrong position .... plastic is soft enough or not ... will see I guess .

As for the upper part towards the tail light , again I don't know if you have tried to work on it as well to correct it ? Did you require to put the X-mas pin ? Part # ? Does it work better ? Or just a push in/out does the trck ? I think when I adjust the philips , like sstlaure mentions a slight push will do it . Will try .

Ya babyhuey , I am passionate about my cars down to the nitty gritty , and do expect what I pay for , unlike the casual customer who gets screwed over without even knowing . As a result from these majoritarian customers , businesses do less and less for them ... and then comes a guy like me along , who asks normalcy only gets the feeling he's asking too much from the businesses dealt with . Then there are places who do appreciate customers like us and are pleased to do the NORMAL service FULLY FULLY till we are reasonably pleased .... like I gather your place (or at least you babyhuey) and my dealer who understood me perfectly and delivered me proudly a finely polished black car . These kinds of places with good old fashioned service are getting a rarety plenty . I could go on the subject with many examples like that for an hour ; but that's a diff. story . smirk & nod in dissapointment .

Anyways back to the point that started this latter paragraph . You mention : ' I checked in our lot and about 75% of the rear bumpers did not fit exactly. The dealer will probably look at the same and consider it a normal condition as that amount is probably normal fit and finish standards. Really never noticed myself untill you pointed it out
6Pack.' ........... I somewhat think that if you as well as the majority haven't noticed this , then unless you tell your Dealer he won't know either ..... then upon someone as I asking to retro-fit it to normal will accept considering that Mazda policy in the warranty stipulates a 12 month adjustment period allowed for parts . I gather this falls in that category .

Now if that slight thump won't work on the upper part and we need a replacement pin of the X-mas genre ; then I guess I will have to use me rights to that adjustments policy , respectfully and courteously , of course .

I have tremendous respect for you Mazda guys who worked hard to put out an American assembled car that excels 90 international merital prizes and rivals the best from not only the Japs but also the Germans in some respects . Also goes for the Mazda guys that maintain'em as well as you here . I did my homework before buying this car that will impress me for a long time . As (mentioned in one of my other postings) for Ford they have shared data (etc.) with Mazda and vice versa , without mentioning Volvo and others to put out a damn good car ! It's a win win situation for both . Now Ford is building better Mustangs 'cause of Mazda know-how . We have a good/proven Duratec Ford block with all the Mazda goodies , like Magnesium engine internals , in part .

Anyways if you do correct some of these (75%) bumpers at your dealership , babyhuey , let us know how it works out like mentioned above . MERCI BUCKETS !!!