2017 CX-5 Soul Red Crystal Metallic

We knick in wood over here X...we don't touch it. [emoji16] First time you posted that, it took me a minute... LoL

:) See below for re what I said!

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I've had my 2018 SRCM CX5 for about 5 weeks. I don't see any paint issues yet. Early days maybe.....who knows.

I noticed my first chip after just a couple weeks and many at roughly 2k miles. Maybe you've gotten lucky or perhaps they truly have modified the paint formula and application -- even at the factory level. That would, of course, be the best outcome here.

To the poster above considering the CX-5, my advice is to just go for it :) My wife and I agree it's by far the best car we've ever owned: fun to drive, head-turning both inside and out, cool tech. The paint issue has sure been a bummer, but it hasn't detracted in a major way from our love of the car -- and Mazda is stepping up to take care of it with very little fussing on my part. I guess things could go south eventually if the paint continues chipping year after year, but so far we don't regret our decision in the least.
 
I noticed my first chip after just a couple weeks and many at roughly 2k miles. Maybe you've gotten lucky or perhaps they truly have modified the paint formula and application -- even at the factory level. That would, of course, be the best outcome here.

To the poster above considering the CX-5, my advice is to just go for it :) My wife and I agree it's by far the best car we've ever owned: fun to drive, head-turning both inside and out, cool tech. The paint issue has sure been a bummer, but it hasn't detracted in a major way from our love of the car -- and Mazda is stepping up to take care of it with very little fussing on my part. I guess things could go south eventually if the paint continues chipping year after year, but so far we don't regret our decision in the least.

I'm leaning 90% to "just doing it." Everywhere I look, everyone has such great things to say about these cars other than the paint. And it seems that this red is really the only way to go...at least, for me it's that way. The only thing I changed my mind on was the white interior. Too much risk of blue jean stains, etc. I would be ordering one from the factory. The dealer nearest me has another 2 locations out of state, and they drive cars from one to the other. I would want to break mine in from the get-go, and that long highway trip early on is not recommended.

Could you share a little about what it's taken to get help with this issue? Was your dealer involved at all, or have you 100% worked directly with Mazda? What are they doing...local paint shop repairs?

Glad you're happy with your car!
 
We have the parchment interior and have had no stains after a year of ownership and 18,000 miles. That's with two small kids often riding in the back. I've only had to wipe clean the door handle and the rear armrest once. We live in SW Florida and my wife is grateful for the white interior since she sees her colleagues struggle to get in their black interior cars after a long day in the sun.

Mechanical long term reliability, nothing beats a Toyota. The 2019 Rav4 Adventure Grade has piqued my interest. If it were available in 2017, I may have gotten it instead.
 
We have the parchment interior and have had no stains after a year of ownership and 18,000 miles. That's with two small kids often riding in the back. I've only had to wipe clean the door handle and the rear armrest once. We live in SW Florida and my wife is grateful for the white interior since she sees her colleagues struggle to get in their black interior cars after a long day in the sun.

Mechanical long term reliability, nothing beats a Toyota. The 2019 Rav4 Adventure Grade has piqued my interest. If it were available in 2017, I may have gotten it instead.

You know, if you spend enough time on the internet researching the downside to things, you will never leave the house.

I've seen others make comments here about avoiding white because of the blue jean bleeding issue that's written about.

Regarding the RAV4 Adventure, I was looking at that. I believe it has the anti-roll bars on the front and the back, if I recall correctly. I drove a 2016 RAV4 at Carmax, as well as a 2016 CR-V. Road noise turned me off on both (the Carmax guy said it was the brand of tires), and the oil dilution issue Hondas seem to be plagued with took the CR-V off of my list. But that conversation takes us down the rabbit hole of Direct Inject technology you cannot seem to avoid in new vehicles. Honda just seems to have it worse.

Maybe I should go to the Toyota dealer and at least test drive a new Adventure, although there are reliability threads on some of these CX-5 forums where nearly everyone who has over 100,000 miles on them state no significant repairs except the expected maintenance. I think only one person who commented had something significant (a cracked block).

I am plagued with the 1st World Problem of too many options and too much information.
Maybe I should go to Russia where my choices are "Car" or "Car."
 
I*ve had 3 CX5s with the white interior and none have suffered with staining.

Huh. That's good to know. I've seen vids of folks with white interiors showing how to get that blue hue off of them. I can't recall what brand cars those were. On a larger scope, there are similar write ups on how to get the blue stain off of white leather couches, purses, boots, etc.

I guess there are tons of variables.
 
Ultimately it is up to you if you want to go ahead with it :)

I was thinking about hanging out here and talking about it long enough for Mazda to come up with a solution.

Plan B is to go to a CR-V forum and chat about oil dilution until that gets addressed. :D
 
There is no comparison between a robotically controlled four step paint process at the factory where temps and humidity are strictly controlled, and the body shop paint job you get after two weeks of Mazda grinding the body shop down to accept what they are willing to pay for the work. It doesn't take two weeks to get the approval because the decision process hard. That time was all about saving Mazda some money.

The language on the touch up paint disclaimer makes it very clear how challenging it is to apply layers light reflective and light absortive flakes, tinted clear, and clear coats with the right amount of each from various angles on different portions of each panel. Expecting a body shop paint shop to approximate the quality of what I paid a lot of extra money to get is unrealistic.

The body shops are likely to be getting paint from Mazda that will stick to the primer, but don't think for a moment that any of us will be getting what we paid extra for.
 
I'm leaning 90% to "just doing it." Everywhere I look, everyone has such great things to say about these cars other than the paint. And it seems that this red is really the only way to go...at least, for me it's that way. The only thing I changed my mind on was the white interior. Too much risk of blue jean stains, etc. I would be ordering one from the factory. The dealer nearest me has another 2 locations out of state, and they drive cars from one to the other. I would want to break mine in from the get-go, and that long highway trip early on is not recommended.

Could you share a little about what it's taken to get help with this issue? Was your dealer involved at all, or have you 100% worked directly with Mazda? What are they doing...local paint shop repairs?

Glad you're happy with your car!

If you go back a couple pages in this thread you'll see my whole journey (only 4 or 5 posts worth). Basically, I contacted Mazda a few weeks ago through a general customer service form. An agent emailed me the same day and instructed me to make an appointment at the dealer's collision center and that she'd reach out to them with instructions. I set up the appointment for 2 days later and they had spoken with Mazda and knew the drill. Photos were taken and submitted, and about 2 weeks later I heard that the repaint was approved and an appointment slot available next week. So very easy indeed. Can't guarantee this would be everyone's experience, but since I started with corporate it seems they've got a flow for handling this stuff now.

Regarding the RAV4, definitely test drive one. Our previous car was a 2006 RAV4 and we loved it, but it just seemed time to replace it at around 150k miles. Never had a major problem, but didn't want to encounter one at the EOL either! We test drove a 2018 and were extremely underwhelmed, but the word on the street is that these redesigned 2019's are likely to skyrocket up the reviews and sales charts. You should compare them at the very least. The Mazda might still win out -- it's an incredible car that feels far more luxury than it does mainstream -- but it's hard to say until you've tried both.
 
Avoidin' Deer If you go back a couple pages in this thread you'll see my whole journey (only 4 or 5 posts worth). Basically said:
Thanks for taking the time to repost that. I try to not ask questions that have already been answered...should have clicked your name & scanned your prior posts first. I've read so many comments on so many boards that my head is humming (though this is the only forum I've set an account up on).

I appreciate the input on the 2019 RAV-4s. I watched an Edmunds video doing a 3 way comparison between the CR-V, the CX-5 and the RAV4 (all 2018s) and the only knock they had on the RAV4 was that the style was at the end of it's design life; in other words, no real knock on the objective qualities of the vehicle other than "it's gone unchanged for too long." The only bad thing I have heard (and observed) has been road noise and a more utilitarian feel. That was the knock on prior year CX-5s and CR-Vs as well. I'm specifically avoiding the CR-V because of the oil dilution issue (had I not researched the new 1.5L turbo before buying, I would never have even found out about it). Given a choice between diluted oil or questionable paint durability, I know which I would opt for.

I just may wait to see what 2019 brings. Being August, the release date for 2019s should be right around the corner. I have a 2005 pickup that has 140,000 on it (right around your old RAV4's mileage) so is somewhat limiting on the distances I'm willing to take it, but I'm not in a huge rush to get a replacement truck or a second vehicle. My primary motivation is, being recently retired, I have more time to do the things I want to do, but I'm in the country, so it's all a 60-80 mile round trip for each event. Even rental car places (for one-time road trips) are 20 miles away, so that older truck has been somewhat limiting. But there's no gun to my head to make an immediate move.

My thought right now is I have a utility trailer, and the compact SUV's have enough towing capacity that I can hook up that trailer for the occasional Lowe's drywall/plywood run and to haul my trash out once a month (no refuse service out here), and then enjoy better mileage and a higher-end ride the rest of the time. As I said in a prior post, I'm overwhelmed by choices. But I'm grateful to have them. Hasn't always been that way. I've spent my fair share of time at junkyards scrounging parts.
 
FYI - 2019 model probably announced in USA around November at LA Motor show
 
Thanks, buddy.

Is that the Toyota or the new CX-5?
I saw another thread about the 2.5L turbo finding it's way into the 2019 CX-5.

None of the articles I read about the new RAV4 gave a release date. (Heck, most of them read as though they were an ESL class project...yet the author on one of the worse graduated from a Minnesota university with a journalism degree. So very sad.)
 
Thanks, buddy.

Is that the Toyota or the new CX-5?
I saw another thread about the 2.5L turbo finding it's way into the 2019 CX-5.

None of the articles I read about the new RAV4 gave a release date. (Heck, most of them read as though they were an ESL class project...yet the author on one of the worse graduated from a Minnesota university with a journalism degree. So very sad.)

2019 CX-5 with possible 2.5T engine
 
My '02 4Runner with 227k miles and will likely last another 227k if I continue to look after it. I'd wait until the 2019 Rav4 hits dealer lots before making a $32,000 decision.

@baseballgrassygy, I don't think humans painting will be any worse than what the machines churned out. If it chips again, I will contact Mazda and then pursue a buyback through Florida's lemon laws. They either solve the issue or they can give me my money back so I can go across the street to Toyota.
 
My '02 4Runner with 227k miles and will likely last another 227k if I continue to look after it. I'd wait until the 2019 Rav4 hits dealer lots before making a $32,000 decision.

@baseballgrassygy, I don't think humans painting will be any worse than what the machines churned out. If it chips again, I will contact Mazda and then pursue a buyback through Florida's lemon laws. They either solve the issue or they can give me my money back so I can go across the street to Toyota.

I agree with this 100% ...not particularly a fan of the 2019 Rav4 styling but it definitely would have been a major contender over our 2017 CX-5 if it were available at our time of purchase. This is based on our experience with our 1998 4Runner (200K miles with minimal expenses besides normal maintenance). Our 4Runner is the only vehicle we have that I would never sell.

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