Upset beyond belief, 3-day old 2019 Signature damaged by detailer!

geek755

Member
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2008 mx-5 GT Niseko
So frustrated right now...

Picked up my wife's Soul Red CX-5 on Sunday and drove very carefully back to our house and parked the car, afraid to drive it until we put some PPF film on it. This is our 6th Mazda and I had the same color on my 2015 Mazda 6. I know it's fragile and I wouldn't even let the Mazda dealer wash it before delivery.

I made arrangements to have it prepared for XPEL PPF, then ceramic coated, the detailer was told the paint is less than a month old based on the build date and he said it wouldn*t require much in the way of polishing. I scheduled the PPF installer to come to his shop (tomorrow). Widow tint is scheduled for next week.

Detailer even sent pictures earlier today showing how good it was polishing up....showed these to my wife...feeling good about spending $1K for the ceramic and another $1k for PPF...it's expensive but wanted to make sure the beautiful red paint she had to have stayed that way.

Then the detailer texts me at 10pm and sends a pictures where he burned through the friggin paint!

I'll attach a pic shortly but I'm out of my mind upset. I know the paint will be damn near impossible to match. Detailer was up front and apologized and said he would cover the repair cost, but it doesn't make it any easier do deal with.

Word to the wise....be SUPER careful who you let detail your new CX-5....even if they have a good reputation, doesn't mean there won't be a problem.
 
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That sucks! That isn't the crystal red special stuff, is it? : /

I'm afraid this will go bad. I'd go straight to the Mazda dealer and ask who can fix it. They gave me a shop, as all others wanted $3-4K to touch a spot on my Machine Grey, because it;s such a nightmare to blend they wanted to re-do half the damn car! The Mazda dealer gave me a place, said they could do spots/panels by themselves "but it won't be cheap", they warned.
 
Yes, crystal soul red....it*s like a candy color. I*m very afraid they will need to do just what you mention, repaint 1/2 the car.
 
Yes, crystal soul red....it*s like a candy color. I*m very afraid they will need to do just what you mention, repaint 1/2 the car.

My dealership has a shop that can do legit touch-up on that color, but when I went to a shop, they even called around, even places with 1/4mil dollar paint booths said F that. I have not tested out the dealer's shop, but they say they've good results from them.
 
Sorry to hear this. This is one of my chief gripes about the Mazda cars we have owned and why I have a really hard time calling these new trims "Premium" because IMO the paint is the worst I have ever had on a car. It is super thin and doing paint correction can be risky. I have used a polisher on my CX-5 several times and will again, but I would not do what detailers normally do with paint correction on a Mazda. On mine I have only used a Menzerna SF4500 and a polishing pad rather than a more aggressive cutting pad. This is pretty much not paint correction, but with Mazda's thin paint I am just not willing to take that risk. This is way different than the quality of paint on most German cars where the detailer can do the normal paint correction and the end result is amazing. A black Porsche, Mercedes or BMW that has been pro detailed is insane looking.

I feel bad for the detailer as well. He was probably just going through his normal steps (edit: with a new car). I suppose he should be familiar with each manufacturer's quality of paint though if he is in the business.

We have bought several Hondas and I have to say the quality of paint on my wife's new Honda has certainly improved compared to previous models. Mazda has some nice looking paints like the Soul Red, but it is way too thin IMO that does not allow for detailing that well. Another reason I went with Xpel on the front of my CX-5 because our previous Mazda had a lot paint chips on the front within just a few months of ownership.

Anyway I know this sucks and I hope it gets worked out and looking nice in the end. Best wishes.
 
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The spot where he burned through the paint is small, but still might be impossible to touch up. Im headed to the dealer this morning. Took the day off to try and get this crap resolved ASAP. Wife was not at all thrilled.

I cant attach the pic from my iPad, but will later today.
 
PPF and ceramic guy here does all of his own paint correction work beforehand (It's also included in the price, and very similar to the one you posted). Did yours not offer the service? I would want to do it myself anyways if I was the installer...

How good is this detailer? He/Peeps may say he is great, but to buff as hard as he did on a brand new car is beyond a rookie mistake, it's just downright dumb...

Sorry to hear this, again, but I'm afraid you've got a world of hurt going on to get this repaired correctly. Hate it for you...
 
PPF and ceramic guy here does all of his own paint correction work beforehand (It's also included in the price, and very similar to the one you posted). Did yours not offer the service? I would want to do it myself anyways if I was the installer...

How good is this detailer? He/Peeps may say he is great, but to buff as hard as he did on a brand new car is beyond a rookie mistake, it's just downright dumb...

Sorry to hear this, again, but I'm afraid you've got a world of hurt going on to get this repaired correctly. Hate it for you...

Agreed. I watched a guy burn clear on an 04 mustang on the lot once. Total idiot of a guy. Was buffing a small scratch and "main, this s*** take all DAY!" As he cranked the speed, quickly followed by me " oh nonono..." and then lots of profanity from him, lol.
 
Agreed. I watched a guy burn clear on an 04 mustang on the lot once. Total idiot of a guy. Was buffing a small scratch and "main, this s*** take all DAY!" As he cranked the speed, quickly followed by me " oh nonono..." and then lots of profanity from him, lol.

LOL, not surprising...

I see an ad on Craigslists nonstop for a couple of car lots here wanting "detailers". Ad is always up, and I'm sure mostly they get one day fix crackheads...
 
Sorry to hear this.
but on a side note, I can't believe PPF and Ceramic coating only costs $2k,
here in NYC they cost approx $4500.00 and above, ridiculous!
 
Sorry to hear this.
but on a side note, I can't believe PPF and Ceramic coating only costs $2k,
here in NYC they cost approx $4500.00 and above, ridiculous!

$4500 for how much of the car?

Full car here starts at $6k, and that doesn't include ceramic coating (2 year starts at $799 for that). The installer is probably the best in the nation, though...
 
$4500 for how much of the car?

Full car here starts at $6k, and that doesn't include ceramic coating (2 year starts at $799 for that). The installer is probably the best in the nation, though...

full front ppf, with 5 year ceramic coating.
I just can't justify spending that much for a car costing ~$40k, if the car was $100k, then sure it's less of an issue i guess, since it's less than 6% of the value of the car.
Honestly i think $2k is about the limit i would spend on protecting the car at our price range.
 
full front ppf, with 5 year ceramic coating.
I just can't justify spending that much for a car costing ~$40k, if the car was $100k, then sure it's less of an issue i guess, since it's less than 6% of the value of the car.
Honestly i think $2k is about the limit i would spend on protecting the car at our price range.

Agreed. I did a full hood and front bumper and partial fender, roof and mirror wrap with a pillars, headlights, and piano black coverage.1350
 
full front ppf, with 5 year ceramic coating.
I just can't justify spending that much for a car costing ~$40k, if the car was $100k, then sure it's less of an issue i guess, since it's less than 6% of the value of the car.
Honestly i think $2k is about the limit i would spend on protecting the car at our price range.

I agree, and you*re right, here most of the cars getting the full treatment are $100k+ cars, and the owners have like 5 different ones, lol, must be nice...
 
After 7 years
Cost of CX5: 30K USD
Cost of PPF and paint repair: 10K USD

Excuse me while I buy some tactical wipes from Alex Jones website. Only $120/-
 
For a daily driver, paint correction is not needed on a brand new car in my opinion. My car looks glossy as heck, I am very happy even without paint correction. It just needs a wash with dawn to take off what ever cheap wax the dealer put on, and then apply the coatings.
It is so hard to believe that a 'detailer' screwed up a brand new factory fresh car. What part of the car got damaged?
 
Where is this burn? The neck of matching paint is both colour and finish and when I had a tangle with a truck, it went to Mazda*s own bodyshop. Guess who was the first SRC they*d ever attempted? I asked the NOT to put it out in the rain and they did but I could still see it. I ended up in arbitration with them and eventually gave up and bought a silver one. It might as well have been blue paint they applied because it shouted off the effin rooftops at me. The colour was too dark (nearly maroon) and the finish was too orange peel so it was a double whammy. They even had the paint manufacturer- PPG out and they couldn*t paint it. The was 18 months ago and they might have mastered it but if you are as fussy as I am.......
 
When I bought mine in 2013 I had Atlanta Protective Film (owner and installer) put Xpel. I believe it cost me $600 to do the front and amazingly he treated my meager CX-5 just the same as the high end cars. He did tell me that putting more above the front hood is a waste of money for my car because in his observations that SUV/CUV rarely get a rock hit further up on the hood. He did the mirrors and door cups. You can see the line on this picture. 6 years / 75,000 miles and the film has just a few minor spots from hard hits, but the paint below is in great shape.

In terms of coatings I did my first ceramic coating last year with a supposed 5 year life. 15 hours of hard labor mostly prepping the car and about $200 in some extra detailing supplies and the Gtechniq CSL and EVO coating. After doing this I understood why reputable pro detailers can be upward of $2K. I was sore for several days after this effort, but happy with the results. I learned a lot studying up and in the experience.
 
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