Clearcoat Issues on 20" Rims

I am lost at who else to go to on the issue. The Mazda District Rep. for the Eastern division and her Tech Advisor at Mazda Corporate and telling me they won't cover. I also have spoken to the head of Mazda customer service and they will not and cannot overide a District Rep. If anyone else has gone higher and had success on an issue please let me know and steer me in the right direction as I am not ready to give up.

As far as wheel cleaners I use a mild wheel cleaner with no harsh chemicals and is clearcoat/painted/chrome safe.
 
If I were you, I would read through the warranty coverage booklet to see the coverage on wheels.
After all, I believe that you did nothing wrong to it. The basic b2b warranty should cover wheels if they were not damaged by external force. If I am in the right, I would also ask the district rep "why not covered?". I would ask him to cite the text in the booklet to tell me where it says that wheels are not covered because of so and so...

Does the problem show on all wheels or just some of them? If all, you might want to take a second look at the detergent you used. If not, you have a stronger case.
 
District rep said "no" to the dealer when I took it in. However, I continued to complain and am meeting the District Rep in a few weeks so he can see the wheels. I've owned a detail shop and know how to care for my wheels. It's a defect in the wheels that Mazda needs to step up to the plate to fix. I will take this thru arbitration if Mazda doesn't replace the wheels. I'll keep folks posted.
 
That looks like damage from cleaning. The wheels are painted and clearcoated, just like the body. I would never use anything for standard wheels on these. Just mild car soap that's safe for clearcoat.
 
Kaos: Sorry to hear they are ignoring your complaint. Hopefully you can make some headway as you move up the chain. As far as my damage it has nothing to do with what I currently use for wheel cleaner. The cleaner I use is mild and I spray off immediately after cleaning. Everyone else that has seen my wheels agrees it is a Mazda defect. I even spoke to a wheel specialist who refinishes and fixes damaged wheels. He is used by a variety of dealers over here and he said he fixed a full set of CX9 rims a while back for a dealer on a 2008 that had the same issue. I may end up having him redo mine. Total cost would be $600 for him to refinish but he can also add another clearcoat top coat for added protection. Cheaper then buying a used set of 20" rims. I will probably wait until spring and have them done at that time as there is no need to get them nice and shiny again for winter.
 
I am having the same issue. I wash the wheels with the same soap that I wash the vehicle with - I just do the wheels last so the brake crap does not ever touch the vehicle paint.

I have not addressed it with my dealer yet, but I would like some ammunition before I go there. Does anyone know if there is a TSB for this issue? How many have successfully gotten the wheels replaced and how many have been shot down?
 
Wheel Staining

Does anyone have connections/contacts/email to a ranking individual (director/VP) in Mazda Customer Service either USA or Japan? I have gone round and round with the dealer, district manager, and Mazda Customer Assistance on trying to get my stained wheels replaced under warranty to no avail. All I get is the hand job and the statement that "we have determined that according to the TSB, your wheel staining was caused by the use of harsh chemicals" When asked what material analysis did you perform to prove that a harsh chemical was used on the wheels, I got "none" as the answer, " we just looked at the photo's". I am vowing to not let this drop and am looking for any leads into the Mazda infrastructure that I can write/email to get someone with some interest in helping me get this corrected. Thanks for any help.
 
I have had the same complaint for a year now on one of my rims on my wifes 07 GT. It still has less than 24k and I use winter rims/tires since the 2nd year. The Mazda dealer said no, the district rep said no and I called Mazda and they said no. None of them can tell me why it is not covered other than stating it is "outside" issues that caused my problem. Again, nobody is willing to discuss this matter or give me a better explanation as to why. They will not allow me to speak directly with the district rep and I asked Mazda corp for a supervisor or manager. A supervisor was to call me within 24 hours and that was over a week ago.
 
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