2017 CX-5 Soul Red Crystal Metallic

Finally closed my ticket with Mazda corporate today. After going back and forth with my local service department, they basically told me to there was nothing they could do. I was told that the chips in my hood were normal rock chips, and that other people's experiences that I have seen on this forum (and others) doesn't prove that this issue is a problem or flaw in any way. When I asked about the paint pen being on backorder since early summer, the rep at Mazda corporate told me that the paint quality issues they're having with that have no correlation to the paint issues owners are having. Riiiight.

Got my car in April, and had a cluster of chips on the hood within 3 months. Since then, I've had more chips scattered throughout the hood and quarter panels. I spent a good amount of money getting my windows tinted soon after I purchased the car, and would have been happy to get some 3M as well, had I thought I needed it.

Might just try a touch-up kit I've seen here, but am really disheartened.

Try the BBB Auto Line, it's an online process in which the BBB mediates the dispute. Had many paint chips in a 2016 Mazda 3 very similar to what's covered in this thread. Mazda wouldn't admit to a defect but ultimately agreed to cover 1/2 the cost to repaint much of the car. Not the best solution but better than nothing!
 
I think i found a reason. If you wash the car everyday - your wax is non existent at this point. Clean it once every 5 months.

We just windex it off because of the bugs and clean the windshield, once a week we apply some light show wax. I use the touch up paint in between. The amount of chips are horrendous compared to any other car I've owned.
 
Good news is there are more 46v paint options on the market now https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

just ordered and will give it a try on my hood

received my paint, it turned out the Amazon merchant capitalized on this opportunity and just uses 41v color-code, and repackaged it as 46V.

bvOPqyJBnZes4o4z1


buyers beware !
 
I'm also getting a lot of little chips in places where the paint has no business chipping (in the space behind my door handles, down the side of the vehicle, etc.), especially with multiple coats of wax on. There's also a really nasty one on the front corner of the hood where it's exposed to road debris looks like. It seems like they're all down to primer, not metal, which I find odd. Means the paint is not sticking to the primer well, and is chipping off with small impacts. I had 2 Hyundai's before this car (which are known for having thin paint), and neither of them chipped up like this, driving the exact same routes as I do now. Hell, I even drove the Genesis Sedan in a 200+ km/h windstorm (out of necessity unfortunately) where sand and little salt rocks were hitting the front of the car and didn't have any issues with chipping. Had a little chip in the glass but the paint stayed great. Haven't had any such wind storms this year and the paint is starting to go shabby after just 4 months? Seems odd. I guess that's what you get when you pay $20k less for a car, still sad that they can't get a decent coat of paint on a $35k machine with a "special paint" fee to boot. Never had to pay any "special paint" fee to get 3 stage paint on my Genesis, or the 2 stage paint on the Gen Coupe before it.

I wouldn't even mind a couple of chips here and there if they had a f***in paint marker or pen for the thing, but they can't even provide that after nearly a year of selling the color code. Kind of ridiculous, and starting to get on my nerves with more and more chips showing up every day it seems.
 
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To be clear, all my communication has been with Mazda's Corporate Customer Service.
Mazda customer service contacted a dealer on my behalf, and the dealer said they don't have anyone who can inspect paint, so they referred me to a local body shop for the inspection.
The body shop reported back to Mazda Corporate that the chips are unusual, and likely did not come from rocks.
Mazda Corporate reported back to me that they are escalating to a district manager to see if they will cover repainting the hood under warranty.
Stay tuned...

I have a 2017 Soul Red Crystal Metallic that isn't even 5 months old - 7600 miles. A quick scan shows 14 chips in my hood. Could be more but there is some dirt on it. I want to cry. This gorgeous color is like bad nail polish! All my chips show up as white. I assume that means the primer? All look much like the photos in this thread. How do I follow the same path you are on sjtilney? I can't deal with this. I'm hate driving my care at this point. I feel like every drive is a risk for more chips. My Toyota did not do this. Not this easily. I would like some guidance on how to report this and hopefully get a resolution - though what that resolution might be I have no clue. There is something faulty going on. There has to be.
 
Well mine is six months with 8500 miles and there are a few chips - maybe 3 or 4. When I last washed it, I took some of the normal Soul Red touch up and touched the spots with a cocktail stick.

No need for any drama, no need for the cops and no need to throw myself off a high building. For heavens sake, get over it.
 
Well mine is six months with 8500 miles and there are a few chips - maybe 3 or 4. When I last washed it, I took some of the normal Soul Red touch up and touched the spots with a cocktail stick.

No need for any drama, no need for the cops and no need to throw myself off a high building. For heavens sake, get over it.

Well... That's isn't very nice. I'd love to have only 3-4 chips. That is normal imo.. I believe there is something going on with some of these cars. Maybe yours is fine. Mine is not.
 
It could be where you live, traveling gravel roads, or lots of truck traffic. There are a lot of variables. Sorry to hear you have this issue and hopefully Mazda will help out. Our silver CX5 has no chips at all in three months but stuff does happen.
 
Well - when I bought my 2016 Soul Red color at around Jan. Feb 2016 there's a thread here which talks about exactly this same problem but with 2016. Chips, etc., etc. However, everyone also talked about Soul Red and White being only 3-coat was better whereas other paints suffered more. In 2017 - it seems we're back to square one but this time Soul Red paint being chipped all over.
Personally, I wouldn't go with some inspector said in an Auto body shop. At the end of the day there's more incentive for him to declare those chips as abnormal since it'll get Mazda Corp to pay up under warranty and they can charge more. The alternative would be the customer who'd not do the repair at all perhaps 99%.
Personally, my 2016 Soul Red doesn't have any chipping - hood or bumper. It goes a long way - 4 times/year - clay bar ; polish ; 3 coats of wax. Although that hood wind deflector looks like just a fancy piece of plastic I believe it does help. Weather tech sells more serious hood deflectors - they'd go a long way in preventing these chips.
I don't know if Mazda paint is bad/thin/etc. What I do know is with every iteration of a new generation of CX-5 - 5 topics always come up: paint - bad, windshield glass - thin, MPG - can not beat EPA, Infotainment/audio/CarPlay/Android Play / Speakers - not meeting expectations and cabin noise - too much. (The last one seems to have subsided quite a bit).
 
Mine gets odd chips but if there was a chip for every time I hear a stone ping off the front of my car, there would be no paint left. Just google stone chips and any other brand name and you’ll get loads of hits (no pun intended).

Do owners expect no chips? It’s a tall order I’m afraid. Leave it locked up in tha garage, it’ll be fine. Every car I’ve ever had has had stone chips going back to the mid 70s. The big difference now is that you don’t get the accompanying blotch of rust to go with it.
 
Well - when I bought my 2016 Soul Red color at around Jan. Feb 2016 there's a thread here which talks about exactly this same problem but with 2016. Chips, etc., etc. However, everyone also talked about Soul Red and White being only 3-coat was better whereas other paints suffered more. In 2017 - it seems we're back to square one but this time Soul Red paint being chipped all over.
Personally, I wouldn't go with some inspector said in an Auto body shop. At the end of the day there's more incentive for him to declare those chips as abnormal since it'll get Mazda Corp to pay up under warranty and they can charge more. The alternative would be the customer who'd not do the repair at all perhaps 99%.
Personally, my 2016 Soul Red doesn't have any chipping - hood or bumper. It goes a long way - 4 times/year - clay bar ; polish ; 3 coats of wax. Although that hood wind deflector looks like just a fancy piece of plastic I believe it does help. Weather tech sells more serious hood deflectors - they'd go a long way in preventing these chips.
I don't know if Mazda paint is bad/thin/etc. What I do know is with every iteration of a new generation of CX-5 - 5 topics always come up: paint - bad, windshield glass - thin, MPG - can not beat EPA, Infotainment/audio/CarPlay/Android Play / Speakers - not meeting expectations and cabin noise - too much. (The last one seems to have subsided quite a bit).

An excellent post. I’ve got 2 chips in my screen and I’ve read the comments on soft and brittle glass. Do I blame the quality of the glass? No, I blame the debris on the road. It’s gone particularly bad in this country due to lack of funds, budget cuts and poor weather.
 
An excellent post. I’ve got 2 chips in my screen and I’ve read the comments on soft and brittle glass. Do I blame the quality of the glass? No, I blame the debris on the road. It’s gone particularly bad in this country due to lack of funds, budget cuts and poor weather.

The BEST place to drive in the UK for excellent and improved road surfaces believe it or not is the Isle of Wight (where we holiday). See http://www.islandroads.com/

Yes I know it's a PFI project which leaves a sour taste in the mouth at the moment (Carillion debacle) but I have personally seen and felt the improvements with billiard table smooth roads which are very quiet (even in my CX5) and lack of stones on the roads and potholes. The roads have gone from really dire due to lack of investment by the IOW Council to possibly the best in the country.
 
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Chips are a part of life. Some application of touch up paint should reduce their visibility.
 
Exactly. My touch up isn’t a good match but it shows less than the chip and it covers bare metal.

No official Mazda touch up paint here.

Had to get closest colour match touch up paint from auto part retailer
 
No official Mazda touch up paint here.

Had to get closest colour match touch up paint from auto part retailer

And that is exactly the problem. Chips happen, sometimes more than expected I suppose. But the manufacturer doesn't offer a solution to keep them from rusting. At least where I live, the salt on the roads in our 1/2 year winters is enough to rust a well coated vehicle, let alone exposed metal. I like to have a touch-up pen on me that at least matches the paint color to give the vehicle's body a chance at not dying within 2 years.

So on another note, I found a solution, at least for Canadians. ChipFixx seems to be able to mix custom touch-up paint based on our paint code. Gonna try it out hopefully this evening if I can get my rig into the shop here where I work to start applying it to a couple spots. Ordered it on Standard shipping and it arrived within like 2 business days, pretty decent service so far, so hopefully the paint matches! Unfortunately they do not ship outside Canada, so I don't have a solution for you Aussie and American crowd. :(
 
They used to supply it here but stopped doing so due to lack of demand
 
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