If so, learning to DIY a detailed PPF job would help to protect your investment and lower your cost. I'm looking into 3M, Avery, XPEL and Llumar. Don't know which yet, but I'm considering doing a highly detailed and patient DIY of the entire vehicle just to be safe. If not, then the full hood, front quarter panels and front bumper without question will be done. Still looking at different techniques for handling contours and complex adjoining surfaces. From what I can tell, not over stretching the material is key to a long lasting install and dealing with "Fingering" the right way seems to prevent peeling at the edges after drying.
I'm pretty sure I can get it done right the first time, but I also need to figure out of going with a Pre-Cut Kit for the CX-9 has any advantages over doing a so-called "Bulk Install" and then trimming manually. Of course, now, there is "Knifeless Tape" made expressly for the thicker PPF material. I guess it is different than the knifeless tape used for Vinyl Wrap material.
If you want to buy part of the pre-cut kit (bumper missing), someone in the for sale section is selling a 3M PPF kit for the Gen 2 CX-9. However, I'm not sure you'd be happy with it considering your preferences with your paint. The pre-cut kits are much easier to install, but they are cut in a way that creates "creases" along otherwise smooth surfaces. Example:
I think going the knifeless tape route and using bulk material cut down to size would give you the best results, but would be 5x harder to install. If you go that route, there is a user here who wrapped the entirety of his wife's CX-9 with red vinyl, and it looked like he did a great job. Maybe he can provide some tips.
Aside from all this, you may be surprised to learn that a very small percentage of owners would even bring such an issue up with a dealer /company even in your exact circumstance. I've never owned a car that didn't get rock chips. I've paid attention to many brands and many are worse than Mazda's paint. So while you are on a mission to destroy one of the best car companies, it's over an issue most would chock up to normal wear and tear that is NOT covered under warranty.
The fact that Mazda was offering to pay half of a repaint is going above and beyond what they are required to do. Rock chips are not covered under warranty. Only paint defects are. If you throw rocks at your car, it wouldn't be on Mazda to repaint. It's going to chip the paint. Severity doesn't matter.
Paint that does this 3-days after taking delivery and extends that same poor performance for 8 full months, is not paint that should have ever been put into production.
I agree. It's one thing for paint to chip. But for penetrations that go all the way through like those in your photos.. something is indeed fishy. The severity does matter, as a standard rock chip looks quite different from the damage on WP's car.
Here's the million dollar question though - How will you go about proving that your driving habits/environment did not cause this damage? If I were Mazda, and this issue was brought to my attention, I'd have a service tech actually test the paint. I have no idea how they would do that. Maybe they could do an impact test on your bumper, then do the same impact test to another bumper on their lot. If there's a difference, that's a pretty clear indicator that there's a definite issue with your paint. Of course, I don't think you'd find a dealer who's be willing to damage a car on their lot for such a test, regardless of make.
This leads me to another point:
All I asked Mazda to do was accept that failure as its own and fix the problem by repainting the bumper. It lied to me, told me that it was going to take care of the problem and then at the last minute, informed me that I would need to pay 50% the cost of solving a problem that Mazda created.
Maurice/Jesse may have failed miserably, but what I'm saying is, who knows if someone else may have been able to get you the outcome you desire. Having dealt directly with customers (in a completely different industry and over 15 years ago), I have seen and worked with A. those who would go above and beyond, B. those who would do the bare minimum of what's required, and C. those who would provide poor service
intentionally (usually to spite a customer). The persons you dealt with sound like they fit into B or C.
When I was in service, I considered myself to be a mix of A and B. I would have tried to handle this differently, that's for sure.
You are right, when you initiate a dialogue with the service department of any company, there's no way to know exactly who you'll be dealing with and what you can expect. With that said, after dealing with Maurice/Jesse, I would have opened a complaint with the BBB. Most big corporations take BBB inquiries seriously, and chances are good that you'd get someone better equipped to handle your situation. I'd bet Mazda has a PR person or two dedicated to handling BBB claims. If that did not get me the resolution I wanted, then I'd consider lawyering up.
In this day and age, are there any Auto Manufacturers out there with Integrity. That really seems to be the elephant in the room. The mechanical issues aside - where are the Manufacturers that won't lie to you, manipulate evidence, pretend evidence of their failure does not exist and that will stand behind their product when something goes wrong.
Sadly, I don't know of any that I would call high integrity. All of them, I think, would fall short of your expectations, simply because as an auto manufacturer who employs a multitude of different people, I don't think there's any way to guarantee that you'll be dealing with someone who represents that high level of integrity, every single time you have an issue. I had a fantastic experience with Lexus, but I've also heard plenty of horror stories. Same thing with my experience with Mazda.
