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

Always go to a detailer that works on Telsa's. They are known to have the absolutely worst paint of any company. When I have my CX-9 done (Grey) he measured the paint (I don't remember the thickness) and he said it was comparable to other cars and not that bad.

Felt_Rider said:

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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I can tell you it's not a waste of money with a CX5, the way the hood is shaped. Do the whole hood. On something like a Jeep Grand Cherokee, etc? They have more "flat" hoods with less rake. Much safer not to.

I only have about 4500 miles on mine, deep blue, and already have little chips in the hood and blemishes from bird crap. I wanted to wait to clay bar it. Can anyone tell me what the best wax is for protection? synthetic or carnuba? OP, sorry to hear of your mishap.

Sterg said:

I only have about 4500 miles on mine, deep blue, and already have little chips in the hood and blemishes from bird crap. I wanted to wait to clay bar it. Can anyone tell me what the best wax is for protection? synthetic or carnuba? OP, sorry to hear of your mishap.

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I've been really happy with this product. In the past, I've used all sorts of other stuff. This is my go-to, now.

Sterg said:

I only have about 4500 miles on mine, deep blue, and already have little chips in the hood and blemishes from bird crap. I wanted to wait to clay bar it. Can anyone tell me what the best wax is for protection? synthetic or carnuba? OP, sorry to hear of your mishap.

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A good wash and clay bar is all that the detailer should've done to the OP's car...

Sterg,

Nu Finish NFP80 was rated best for wax for durability; not so great for gloss by Cons. Reports - they didn't test every wax or glaze on the market of course

Meguairs told me their Ultimate is the most longlasting product they make

Unobtanium said:

I've been really happy with this product. In the past, I've used all sorts of other stuff. This is my go-to, now.

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Thanks Unobtanium.I hear its good on the black trim too?

NelsonLewis said:

A good wash and clay bar is all that the detailer should've done to the OP's car...

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I agree. I asked the dealer how long I should wait to wax mine and he said "Why wax it?" One extreme to the other,lol.

ralf11 said:

Sterg,

Nu Finish NFP80 was rated best for wax for durability; not so great for gloss by Cons. Reports - they didn't test every wax or glaze on the market of course

Meguairs told me their Ultimate is the most longlasting product they make

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Thanks ralf11. I may it a try. I am a big fan of Maquires, so maybe the ultimate. That's a synthetic I think.

Sterg said:

I only have about 4500 miles on mine, deep blue, and already have little chips in the hood and blemishes from bird crap. I wanted to wait to clay bar it. Can anyone tell me what the best wax is for protection? synthetic or carnuba? OP, sorry to hear of your mishap.

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Wash, clay bar, Car Pro Essence Xtreme, and Meg Ultimate looked great on mine (I normally use expensive Pinnacle). Washing was easy, seemed to take longer to get dirty, and I refreshed with Quik Wax (now Beadmaker because I ran out)...

Plan is to redo it all and hit it with the ceramic coating I have when it cools down in the Fall...

Unobtanium said:

I can tell you it's not a waste of money with a CX5, the way the hood is shaped. Do the whole hood. On something like a Jeep Grand Cherokee, etc? They have more "flat" hoods with less rake. Much safer not to.

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I agree.

I've never had any protection on my car be it a bra, PPF, whatever. You can tell too. Sure the front of the hood has the most rock chips, but they go back.

NelsonLewis said:

A good wash and clay bar is all that the detailer should've done to the OP's car...

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Agreed. Unless you bought a car that had some horrendous dealer installed scratches (first, don't buy any new car looking like that), more so than simply swirl marks which a polishing should take care of, but you really shouldn't even have that on a new car unless it went through a dealer car wash, there is no reason for detailer to be using a heavy cutting compound to the point they are burning through the paint.

Really wash and clay would have been sufficient with a light polishing if it needed it. The fact the detailer was doing anything that burned through the paint on a brand new car screams amateur hour to me.

ColoradoDriver said:

Agreed. Unless you bought a car that had some horrendous dealer installed scratches (first, don't buy any new car looking like that), more so than simply swirl marks which a polishing should take care of, but you really shouldn't even have that on a new car unless it went through a dealer car wash, there is no reason for detailer to be using a heavy cutting compound to the point they are burning through the paint.

Really wash and clay would have been sufficient with a light polishing if it needed it. The fact the detailer was doing anything that burned through the paint on a brand new car screams amateur hour to me.

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Yea, lightly by HAND. Common sense I tell ya, lol!

The Car Pro Essence Extreme would*ve worked well here if a polish was needed, once again with a microfiber pad by HAND!

Too bad they don*t sell prepainted panels because that dumbass would be buying me a new one...

After clay barring my 16 Honda I can say all the *streaking* I always got from waxing cars went away. The wax was way easier to remove afterwards also. I agree with what*s been said about hand buff at best and clay is probably enough. Some good leads on wax so thanks all for that. The dealer washed it on my first service and after reading threads from here I won*t have them wash it again.

Sterg said:

Thanks Unobtanium.I hear its good on the black trim too?


I agree. I asked the dealer how long I should wait to wax mine and he said "Why wax it?" One extreme to the other,lol.



Thanks ralf11. I may it a try. I am a big fan of Maquires, so maybe the ultimate. That's a synthetic I think.

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I tried the Ultimate. I prefer the turtle wax I linked. NuFinish gets a bad rap over on BITOG, so I never tried it. The TW has done amazing so far.

I dont use it on black trim, but overspray.doesnt cause an issue on it.

UPDATE: Perhaps the best ending I could hope for.

Hey Fellas.

Thank you all for the updates and feedback...I've not read everything yet, it's been a hell of a day. Wife as very upset (understandably) and I got my to hear her "feedback" 3 different times. Detailer was very apologetic, swears this has never happened on any car or truck he's done. We drove to Mazda dealer together and by chance, the touch up guy they use was there (once a week visit). The guy explained there was no good way to touch up the spot and he referred me to the "best place in town". I hung out at the dealer for about 45 minutes after this talking to the sales manager and got the name of the place the dealer sends bigger paint/repair jobs to and he offered to give me a rental and said they would coordinate the repair, which I was happy with, but then read the reviews for the place they use and wasn't thrilled with what I read....Decided to drive to the place the touch up guy mention and I was on my way there (rather disgusted to be honest) when it occurred to me this was going to be no less than $1K job and likely more. What also occurred to me, is the dealer has a 5 day return policy and 4 other vehicles identical to my wife's car we bought Sunday. I called the dealer and they agree to immediately to swap the vehicles!! The sale manager even apologized and said he should have thought of that sooner. We went tonight and got another brand new, still wrapped in plastic CX-5 with exactly the same options, msrp etc. We were in and out in less than 50 minutes. All the same numbers, no surprises or changes in anyway...just the new VIN nuber.

The sales manager said he still needs to confirm with the GM of the dealership tomorow (they've never had this happen before), but suspect we will be all square because the damage is small...even if they come back and say they want another $1K, I'm fine with it and will ask the detailer to cover the cost as it would be less than a respray.

For now, I am cautiously optimistic this all works out. We've got the new car and they have the damaged one. Once I know IF more $$ is needed (and how much), then I'll work on finding another detailer and schedule the PPF to be installed.


Here's a pic of the burn through.

Lol wut!? Why the hell was he polishing THAT so hard? Also, awesome deal!

Glad you were able to get the new car!

I've done quite a bit of machine polishing and am curious as to how anyone could screw-up that badly. Glad you got your situation rectified. I wonder how that car is going to look after they get it "fixed".

Bluebird said:

I've done quite a bit of machine polishing and am curious as to how anyone could screw-up that badly. Glad you got your situation rectified. I wonder how that car is going to look after they get it "fixed".

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Agreed.

Seriously OP, I'd appreciate you following up and letting us know!

Also, dude...don't let that idiot near any of your cars again. He's not a pro, no matter what references claim. This is NOT the fault of Mazda's paint.

That was a heck of a deal! I probably would make a fuss at the detailer's and just put some red touch up paint on it and called it a day. People should buy their cars at your dealership.

Wow, unexpected outcome.

Definitely don't let this detailer near your new one!