I purchased a new 2018 Mazda CX-9 Signature with Machine Gray paint from a prominent Northern California dealer last Wednesday, 02/28/18. I did a pre-purchase walkaround in normal daylight and everything looked fine with the vehicle. Over the weekend, I had a clear bra installed on the vehicle and was examining the workmanship with a flashlight in the garage without the lights on. The clear bra looked fine, but to my shock, I found a MAJOR paint defect on the driver's side door. It appears that someone tried to spot-paint the finish in about a 12 x 12 inch area on the upper left-hand side of the door, adjacent to and below the mirror. When I purchased the vehicle, the dealer did not disclose any prior body work that had been done to this supposedly new vehicle. I can also make out what appears to be faint sanding marks as well. I have a hard time believing that this could have shipped this way from the factory, and was likely "repaired" by the dealer after being damaged in transit. Upon reading the California statutes, dealers actually don't have to disclose repaired damage unless it's beyond 3% of the MSRP of the vehicle, which, in this case is $1383.00. That's probably why they did a "spot" repair from a preferred shop to try and stay under the mandatory disclosure threshold.
I am planning on taking the vehicle to an independent body shop tomorrow and having them inspect and write a report on the finish, but I have no idea what to do next to get this resolved. Can I file a warranty claim with Mazda? Should I contact an attorney? Obviously this is not up to factory standards on a brand new car. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Photos are here:
https://imgur.com/a/Qah0w
I am planning on taking the vehicle to an independent body shop tomorrow and having them inspect and write a report on the finish, but I have no idea what to do next to get this resolved. Can I file a warranty claim with Mazda? Should I contact an attorney? Obviously this is not up to factory standards on a brand new car. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Photos are here:
https://imgur.com/a/Qah0w
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