We purchased a 2018 Soul Red Crystal Metallic Mazda CX-5 in March. We have the same issue as others. About a month after our purchase with less than 2,500 miles, we went to the dealership to have it reviewed for a possible defect and they brought in their paint specialist. The paint specialist examined it and said that it just takes getting behind the wrong truck to make that happen. He said the paint wasn't defective because there was no peeling. He said that if we didn't get it painted it would rust. He also suggested we turn it into our insurance to see if they would cover it.
We did get a call back from the dealership saying that they have had another report and we should come in and have the photos taken. We did that, their review showed over 30 paint chips with less than 2,500 miles on our car. In June we called Mazda Customer Care. She told us that our car had been approved for repairs and to contact my dealer to proceed with the repairs. After multiple calls to the dealer, we were told that the repair process would include hood replacement, and repair with repaint to the front bumper. We asked a number of questions along the lines of why wasn't the whole car being repainted when the paint was defective, how would other parts of the car be fixed when paint chips develop and other questions about the warranty of the pieces being repainted. The dealer was unable to answer the questions and directed us to Mazda Customer Care.
In July, we contacted Mazda Customer Care and spoke to a representative who simply stated that "we should be fine" once the initial chips were repainted. We did not find much comfort in his words, and requested to speak to a supervisor. A supervisor eventually came on the line and said that the repaint process would include an additional layer of topcoat, she also acknowledged that Mazda was having weekly meetings to discuss the issues with the paint and they would take care of the issue. We requested whether any options were available besides the repainting and she said we could visit the dealer to find out about trade in value.
We went to the dealership and were given a kbb.com trade-in value of $26,000 for our Soul Red Mazda Grand Touring with the premium package (which has a MSRP of over $33,000). When I pulled out my phone and showed him how kbb.com had a $28,000 trade-in value, he tried telling me that they also go by comparables and there weren't many trade-ins with that low of miles. The best quote they could give was for us to pay $4817.79 more to purchase a different color 2018 Mazda CX-5. We emailed the price quote from the dealership to the Mazda Customer Care supervisor and stated our unhappiness with the quote.
The Mazda Customer Care supervisor researched the trade in quoted and stated that the dealer "lowballed us". After explaining the few interactions with the dealer and our lack of confidence in the dealer (we were told the paint chips were our fault and they did not give us a fair offer for our trade-in), the Mazda Customer Care supervisor said Mazda would rectify the situation and would take "full responsibility" for the issue and that we would be able to work directly with the manufacturer instead of the dealer and that they would set us up with a specific vendor for the repainting. She also offered to let us speak with another corporate person who was handling all of these paint cases.
Later in July, we spoke to the person handling all of the paint cases. We started out the conversation by indicating that we had concerns about the paint process and that we would feel more comfortable if a lifetime warranty were offered to correct future paint chips. She said with any concerns, "there are never lifetime warranties". She confirmed that the Mazda approved painter would be the same person that originally said the paint chips were our fault. She said the paint work done by the approved painter would then be covered under his warranty. She also said that any new chips would be reviewed by Mazda to determine if they were caused by the paint defect prior to repair she also said "we aren't able to predict the future" when asked why only part of the car was being repainted. Based on our initial experience with their recommended paint shop indicating that the paint chips were not due to a defect, we do not feel confident that future paint issues will be recognized as a defect.
We've left messages for Mazda Customer Care supervisor to try and get clarifying answers to some of the open questions. It has been over a week and we haven*t heard back. Our customer experience with this purchase has been horrific. It feels that Mazda is making a minimum amount of effort to rectify an issue that they caused and are not willing to commit to making us whole on this purchase.
We traded in a 2015 Mazda CX5 when we purchased this car. We had no issues with the 2015 car. It was a different color. We loved the redesign. However, it is not worth the headache we have had dealing with Mazda. Mazda appears to be only offering a partial solution (painting part of the car) and putting the onus on its customers to monitor the car for future issues, and then to only fix them if Mazda feels it is necessary. I assume the paint is under the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty. What happens if chips show up in year 4? What happens if we have issues with the repaint? Mazda is telling us any issues with repainted sections will be passed of to the paint specialist and handled under his warranty.
Does anybody here know the answers to the following questions?
Was the paint itself an issue or the paint process an issue? We have not been able to get a straight answer to the defect cause.
Has anybody gotten a different answer on how long Mazda will warranty the defective paint that they choose not to fix?
Has Mazda also told you that they would not warranty the repaint?
The dealership also hinted that they could identify the affected cars by VIN. I am not sure that they weren't aware of the issue when they sold us our car.
