Apollothedog
2019 CX-5 GTR
My son is interested in either a cx 30 or cc 5 in the soul red color. I told him about the issues the color has regarding chipping. The dealer said that was resolved and no longer happens. Anybody know if that’s true?
Is the Soul Red color still an issue on 2020’s?
- Thread starter Apollothedog
- Start date
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- Canada
No idea, but I would guess that it probably isn't. Soul red is an absolutely beautiful colour though, especially in the sun, and if I could have gotten it with my car at the time, I would have. That said, I'd ensure that I protected the car appropriately from rock chips. That means paint protection film on the entire front clip (hood, fenders, bumper, mirrors, A-pillars). Mud guards (OEM or aftermarket). And a ceramic coating for the entire exterior of the car, minus the windows. Of course, the car will still get rock chips, but at least you'll be able to avoid all of the minor chips if you didn't have protection.
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- Cx5
My guess is that there was probably never an issue specific to that color. I’ve had 3 16+ Mazda’s and the all chip easily.
16 3GT jet black mica
16.5 cx5 GT snowflake white($200 option)
19 cx5 GT-r eternal blue mica
16 3GT jet black mica
16.5 cx5 GT snowflake white($200 option)
19 cx5 GT-r eternal blue mica
You might want to do some research before choosing the 3M product. From what I have read, the 3M might do a good job of protecting the vehicle from chips, but it has a tendency to turn yellow after a few years. I believe that there are other products on the market that will not turn yellow, although I am unsure of the different costs involved.
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- Denver, CO
No, there were documented issues of brand new SRC CX-5's getting hundreds or more of paint chips within weeks/months. Comparatively, my CX-5 is 7 years old and has a lot of paint chips after well...7 years.
The secondary issue is that to paint correct a SRC is tremendously hard to do due to the paint process. Same one as the Machine Grey.
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- Central Virginia
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- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
Tagged to follow.
I'm curious as well. All Japanese paints suck, but the SCRM sucked worser than the rest.
This issue caused me to make a different color choice when I bought.
There's a recall petition here where at least one 2020 CX-9 owner says his hood looks like it has been sand-blasted because of the crap paint. Another person claims that their dealer counted over 300 chips in their CX-5 (no MY cited) and the dealer wants the owner to help pay for the repair. Two data points does not a trend make.
Here's a thread on the SCRM paint on another forum. A couple of 2019 owners are fuming about the fragile paint, while a number of 2018 owners claim no issues after 2 years.
There's another forum I trolled when shopping in 2018 that had extensive paint complaints logged, but I cannot find it to see what 2019/2020 owners are saying.
I'm curious as well. All Japanese paints suck, but the SCRM sucked worser than the rest.
This issue caused me to make a different color choice when I bought.
There's a recall petition here where at least one 2020 CX-9 owner says his hood looks like it has been sand-blasted because of the crap paint. Another person claims that their dealer counted over 300 chips in their CX-5 (no MY cited) and the dealer wants the owner to help pay for the repair. Two data points does not a trend make.
Here's a thread on the SCRM paint on another forum. A couple of 2019 owners are fuming about the fragile paint, while a number of 2018 owners claim no issues after 2 years.
There's another forum I trolled when shopping in 2018 that had extensive paint complaints logged, but I cannot find it to see what 2019/2020 owners are saying.
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- Canada
Looks like more research is needed. The current films available (3M, Suntek, Xpel, etc.) are much better than they used to be 10 years ago. I found this quote from a PPF/tint forum, posted by a distributor in 2017:
A majority of the time it's discoloration due to the film just being dirty. It's more prevalent on white than any other color which is why it stands out more. But none the less, the film is just usually dirty from poor maintenance. The problem is when the products are pores, they open and close from the exposure of heat and sun which causes the elements like dirt, debris, pollen, chemicals, etc... to soak into the product and therefore get locked in if the surface isn't maintained. I think we as an industry wish the films were self maintaining but they aren't and will always need some type of maintenance. We are seeing more companies add coatings to the top of the film to help with that type of defense and utilize PPF as more of a chip protection to the paint.
Meaning, once you get the PPF installed, you maintain the PPF just as you would the paint. Clean it every once in a while, make sure it has some form of UV protection (wax, sealant or ceramic coating) just to be safe, and you're golden.
I think its just hard to find a dealer/body shop who actually knows how to properly respray SRCM or MGM. If you try to respray it like a typical paint, it won't come out well. I've heard of some shops getting a PPG rep to show them how to paint SRCM and MGM, and the repairs are supposed to be quite good.
I've had to get some significant paint repairs done to my MGM paint, and it came out looking brand new. That said, I think SRCM is harder to paint than MGM, and I have yet to see anyone post the results of an SRCM repaint (good or bad).
I have a 2015 CX-5 in soul red with over 300k km of mostly highway miles and while I have paint chips, they aren’t proportionately any higher than any other vehicle I’ve owned in any colour. Paint chips in my view are the nature of the beast - especially on highways.
To be honest, the windshield, headlights and the plastic glossy trim ok the grill has taken more of a beating than the paint.
To be honest, the windshield, headlights and the plastic glossy trim ok the grill has taken more of a beating than the paint.
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- Central Virginia
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- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
That's good to hear. When I was researching, I learned that the industry consensus is that German paint is the most durable, Japanese paint is the most fragile, and everything else falls in between.
The specific Mazda paint that folks seemed to having exceptional problems with is Soul Red Crystal Metallic, which was introduced in 2017. This is a 3 layer paint. Soul Red Metallic came out in 2012, if what I read is accurate.
Apollothedog
2019 CX-5 GTR
Doesn't the gray use the same process? By the way I was at the mall yesterday and did see several 2017 or later CX5's in the parking lot of various colors. Gray had a few small chips on the hood, the red had quite a few small chips though it may have been a year older but nothing crazy like in some fof the pictures floating around, white (not mine, I think it was a 2017) was clear as was the blue. All of these cars were in between where I parked my CRV and the mall entrance. We do have quite a few CX5's in this area. Maybe because we have 4 dealers within a 20 mile radius. Just for the record my CRV has 41k miles on it and no chips, I do have scratches from runaway shopping carts though. Hoping my white GTR holds up as well. Getting obsessed with the freaking CX5 these days.
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- Canada
They are both difficult to paint, but I think the gray is a bit less complicated.
Repairing Mazda 46G Machine Gray
Soul Red Crystal de Mazda | Conseils techniques | PPG Refinish
Apprenez le processus de réparation en trois étapes pour le code de peinture Soul Red Crystal 46V métallisé de Mazda.
us.ppgrefinish.com
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- 2014 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD w/Tech
I have a 2014 in white. I took delivery in August 2013. I had 3M film installed with less than 100 miles on the vehicle. I have maintained the film the same as if it was paint. It does not look yellow at all, but yes you can see the line on the hood where it ends. It does not bother me. I also put OEM mud flaps on right away. My CX-5 now has just over 79K miles. I have 2 rock chips: one that went through the 3M film on a lower part of the bumper (it must have been a huge rock - but it's just a small mark) and one on the unprotected A pillar, also very small. Other than that the exterior looks like it did the day I picked it up at the dealer.
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- Central Virginia
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- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
Yeh, they are both the 3 layer process. I think Machine Grey came first by a couple of years. I can understand why the red might be more difficult to match, but I don't know why it's more fragile than the grey. Or perhaps because there are so many red CX-5s out there, we hear about it most from them.
When I was shopping in early 2018, I read about this issue and would walk around parking lots, first looking at CX-5s (to see how each color was holding up in the real world), and then just looking at SUVs in general to see how each manufacturer's paint colors were doing. It was then I decided against red, not entirely because of the SRCM paint issue, but because (a) there are so many daggone red SUVs out there, and (b) after looking at all the versions of that color, none of them really looked red anymore...even the SRCM. So I got Eternal Blue Mica.
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- Central Virginia
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- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
I had mud flaps put on by the dealer when I bought my CX-5. My "driveway" is really a 1/2 mile long (often muddy) right-of-way off the main road.
Somewhere on this forum is a thread by a member who did "Before Mud Flaps" and "After Mud Flaps" pictures of the side of his CX-5, because people questioned the effectiveness of the OEM mud flaps. They really do make a difference, in spite of their diminutive appearance. When you look real close at them installed on the vehicle, you can see how that small protrusion below the body line is just enough to block debris from being thrown onto the sides of the vehicle.
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When I worked for Mazda, it was only 2017.0 CX5's and Mazda 6s in Soul Crystal Red and Machine Grey with the problem. I just had my 2017 Machine Grey Mazda 6 repainted under warranty because there were 200+ areas where the paint had flaked off (I don't like to say "chipped off" because that makes it sound like something hit the vehicle to cause the problem). I had thought that it was confined mainly to 2017s but I was talking to a customer at work about it and she said that her neighbor just had her 2020 Soul Crystal Red CX5 repainted for the same thing
I'm real curious to know if the entire vehicle was repainted or just the affected panels.
Only the affected panels are repainted. My 6 is 5k miles from the warranty running out so I made sure to get it fixed before it did
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- Central Virginia
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- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
Well, that seems to have answered the question.
That's too bad. It's a beautiful paint.
Hi everyone. Just signed up to Mazda247 and will be picking up my new 2020 CX-5 Signature model this afternoon in 90 minutes! Picked Machine Grey.
I'm a big believer in Paint Protection Film, and have done a lot of research into different brands. IMO all the top PPF films are pretty comparable, but there is no doubt that each new generation of PPF improves on prior versions a bit. 3-4 years ago, the latest and greatest was the 3M Scotchgard PRO (if it doesn't have "PRO" then it's a much older film, that's no longer competitive). Now the latest and greatest is the XPEL Ultimate Plus (the "Plus" is the newest).
The front bumper is actually the most difficult and expensive to install, and while it is not metal, I think it is vital to get the full front bumper, and at least partial hood/fenders. Otherwise the front bumper will take a lot of dings. Now others believe that you can just repaint the front bumper for less money than it costs to put PPF on the bumper.
The other thing that's a good idea to put PPF on is the headlights. I talked to the Mazda rep at the our Auto show recently, and he says the LED headlights cost $2,000 to replace (Canadian). So getting it protected from chips and pits is important.
I would add that no doubt the Soul Red had problems a couple of years ago. Mazda says it has been fixed, but who knows. I would also comment that while Soul Red did have defect a couple of years ago, "soft paint" in general is not just a Mazda issue. Go to any make's forums and people will complain about soft paint. It's because paints are more environmentally friendly now, but not as durable.
I'm a big believer in Paint Protection Film, and have done a lot of research into different brands. IMO all the top PPF films are pretty comparable, but there is no doubt that each new generation of PPF improves on prior versions a bit. 3-4 years ago, the latest and greatest was the 3M Scotchgard PRO (if it doesn't have "PRO" then it's a much older film, that's no longer competitive). Now the latest and greatest is the XPEL Ultimate Plus (the "Plus" is the newest).
The front bumper is actually the most difficult and expensive to install, and while it is not metal, I think it is vital to get the full front bumper, and at least partial hood/fenders. Otherwise the front bumper will take a lot of dings. Now others believe that you can just repaint the front bumper for less money than it costs to put PPF on the bumper.
The other thing that's a good idea to put PPF on is the headlights. I talked to the Mazda rep at the our Auto show recently, and he says the LED headlights cost $2,000 to replace (Canadian). So getting it protected from chips and pits is important.
I would add that no doubt the Soul Red had problems a couple of years ago. Mazda says it has been fixed, but who knows. I would also comment that while Soul Red did have defect a couple of years ago, "soft paint" in general is not just a Mazda issue. Go to any make's forums and people will complain about soft paint. It's because paints are more environmentally friendly now, but not as durable.
