Paint scratch on side of brand new CX-5

F

freelyfallin

Member
Hey all,
I have a 2015 soul red CX-5, which I recently took on a bunch of ski trips in Colorado, and did super well handling the snow.

I have been very careful about taking care of the CX-5, as it is my very first new car and I have had it for two months. My friend leaned our skis on the side of the car, above the rear right tire. I had no idea he had done this until I heard them come crashing down. A couple of days later once the car was cleaned off, I can see that about three scratches from from the skis falling damaged the paint in the trunk panel, the back door, and the front door, on the passenger side. In the rear trunk panel, the damage is maybe the size of a small pebble (smaller than a nickel) and I can see white, which must be the primer. In the back door, there is a gash perhaps the size of a quarter that goes all the way down to the metal. Finally, in the front door, there is a scratch maybe 3 or 4 inches long and very narrow, which goes as deep as the primer, and maybe deeper.

So needless to say, I am pissed about this. Leaning skis on a car is a dumb idea given the sharp blades on the skis. I want to get it fixed. I am planning on having a guy who owns this business, which has some very positive reviews on yelp, give me a quote for fixing the damage: http://www.innovativeautotech.com/

Any suggestions/ideas/things to look out for moving forward?
 
Touching up these kind of scratches is a type of art. It will certainly protect your car against rust.
However, even with the best person doing this, it is likely you will see the fixes if you look hard enough, especially the longer scratch, unless it can be buffed out, which it does not sound like it would be possible.
For like-new look, you'd need to do a proper paint job, which will be expensive.
 
ALafya said:
For like-new look, you'd need to do a proper paint job, which will be expensive.
Click to expand...

When you say proper paint job, what do you mean? Taking all the existing paint off the entire side of the car and repainting it? Or just repainting the scratches?

The guy who does this service says he mixes the colors himself and uses a squeegee that ensures the paint only gets inside the scratch, nowhere else.
 
Sorry to hear that.
You can try Dr.colorchip.
Bought this to fix scratches on my metallic grey CX5. There were three 2" long scratches which are deep enough to see the primer on my fender. And it turns out fine if you don't see it too close (like less than a foot distance). Other than that, you can't really tell the difference.

Chris
 
freelyfallin said:
When you say proper paint job, what do you mean? Taking all the existing paint off the entire side of the car and repainting it? Or just repainting the scratches?

The guy who does this service says he mixes the colors himself and uses a squeegee that ensures the paint only gets inside the scratch, nowhere else.
Click to expand...

I don't want to diminish from the work this guy can do for your car. Some of them are truly exceptional artists.
See this Youtube video for example.

If your damage can be buffed-out, i.e. there is no deep scratch (it might be possible even with a small dent) then your free and clear, this can be done for very little expense.
Otherwise, especially for longer scratches, this type of work will, at most, be very hard to notice so might be 'good enough', which is obviously subjective. Only a proper paint job, where much more of the surface is being painted and some blending will take place + new top layer will look like new and even if you look very hard, you'll not be able to see the area where it was fixed. This type of job will cost much more.
 
I feel your pain and would probably cry too.
Nothing wrong with going to see this guy and take a look at his work. Check out what's in his shop and see before / after.
There are a few companies up here that do hail repairs, door dings, small scratches, etc. that are not like a real body shops. But can do some amazing things. Buddy had his truck damaged all the way along the entire one side. No dents, but some paint right to bare metal, and had one of these shops do the repair. Filled in the scratches and some buffing. Not going to be 100% but overall turned out pretty good. Had to look real close to notice. Can you live with that on your new Soul Red CX5.?? Otherwise it's to the paint shop.
 
Alright folks, I have an update and need help figuring out what to do moving forward. Your guidance would be appreciated. I had the detail guy described earlier work on the scratches, and photos are below.

I have decided I would be ok with what Sekmor and ALafya described--being able to see the scratches from a foot or so away after it's repaired. However, I'm not sure that will be possible given where things are at now.

For reference, here's a few before photos. First, a before photo showing some of the lighter scratches above the back right wheel, including two small white spots where the primer is showing:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42NFprSUJDSkhaMzlBSFNCMkxsVmlnZHJHMjNz/view?usp=sharing
Next, the "gouge" on the right back door which goes all the way down to metal:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42YmdDZVZNc3h1TzBsS0ZpSmw4OVFfbWVVdFgw/view?usp=sharing
Third, the scratch on the right passenger door:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42UFVfVnhETGtUQW1BekFReTFtNmpERGxaTGtN/view?usp=sharing

The scratch repair guy wasn't too optimistic about these scratches when he saw them, and charged me $120 to buff the lighter scratches you can't see, and repaint the ones you can. If I'm not happy with his fix, I think he will give me my cash back. He was unsure if paint would stick to the second scratch since it went down to metal. Here's an after of the same scratches after he worked on them for about an hour. It was cloudy today, and the paint/scratches were more visible to me than they were to the camera:
First, a touched-up closeup of the scratch on the back:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42S2o3UlVhd1dOS3ZZV3JpV3BJRGdBdG1haHN3/view?usp=sharing
Next, the touched-up scratch on the back right door:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42MGlyVVdwdVVObDllOUlkSW5aNVphS3h6NFpJ/view?usp=sharing
Here's a zoomed out photo of the same scratch with the whole door showing:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42VjJSYVpRX2ZQbDBUQjZSN2lEQXBfQmx6NFFB/view?usp=sharing
Front door scratch after being touched up (with some rain in the same area):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42ZXp2eHJjWjFqMzdRSThKdEZrR0plX1gtdzBj/view?usp=sharing
Zoomed out front door:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DMDxsayy42ajRoYUZaeWw2b0dzeWx2bmcwV3pTRllkODlN/view?usp=sharing

The touch-up guy was not happy with how it looked after he worked on it. In his words, the scratches were potentially more noticable after than before. He told me he had some new paints being ordered this week (including a red with some orange in it, that may be similar to the Soul Red), and wanted to see if they may be a better match. I should also note I am surprised about how good the after photos look. The scratches are definitely still noticeable from at least 5 feet away.

Any reactions to this generally? Note that my car is still sporting pinstriipes the dealer decided to put on. I know I didn't include a quarter or something to give these scratches a sense of scale--let me know if you're having trouble figuring out how big the scratches are. At this point, I have the sense that even if the touch-up guy finds an exact color match, the scratches will still be pretty obvious to see, at least to me...
So some questions:
1) What would you do if you were in my situation from here? Would you be able to live with this fix, or not?
2) Is there any harm in letting the touch-up guy see if he can find a better color match? I was also thinking of asking him if he can apply a clear coat on top of the scratches--he didn't offer this and I'm not sure why. I wonder if since they are lacking clearcoat, they are more visible.
3) Any idea about how much it would cost if I were to get these two scratches (which I think would essentially mean, the entire right side of the car) professionally repainted? If I were to do so, do you know if it would be covered by insurance? Remember, it was my friend who caused these scratches when he leaned our skis against my car.
4) I have heard that "the best paint a car will have is the original factory paint." Is this true? If the car was professionally repainted by a reputable place, could I trust that they would be match the Soul Red color, and make the car look new?
5) Generally, how do you all deal with damage to your CX-5's? It's a good looking car, and I hate to have the good looks be messed with because of a careless friend. I'm not sure if this type of thing deserves an expensive fix, or is inevitable and I should just get over. An ex-gf of mine messed up my bumper of my old Mazda 3 when she wet over a curb. So when I got my CX-5 a mere TWO MONTHS ago, I decided to be very careful with it to not let something like that happen. Now when I see these scratches, I get angry...

Thanks for your help!
 
Last edited:
Thank you for sharing the results with us!

1) For the small white spot, I'd probably be fine with touch-up. For the longer scratches, I'd probably be pretty upset with my idiot friend, go with full paint job. But this is me, you need to live with the decisions you make, not necessarily alienate your friend. Everyone have different 'good enough' standards.
2) Clear coat: not an expert, but what I saw on YouTube, these guys usually mix it all together, then apply.
Basing my feedback on your pictures (and I know getting them right is difficult, white balance / color reproduction of the camera is also subjective), I think that for the wider scratch, it is pretty obvious the color match is not right. I'd let the guy try a better match.
3) You have damage on multiple panels, which is why it will probably cost quite a lot. In the many thousands in my guestimate. You can get an estimate for free from a good collision repair shop. Comprehensive insurance will cover it typically, but you may need to say you (or family member) caused it or the insurance company might go after your friend.
4) Yes, absolutely. Not sure about this specific paint, but in my experience, good shops will look very good to the point where non-professionals like us will not be able to tell it was painted. The telltale signs are very minute.
5) This is your decision to make. In general, it is hard to keep cars without any kind of mark at all, but your longer scratches are pretty long ...
If you'd be able to live with your self with this kind of fix, then definitely stay with it. But, if you'd feel that your car has been defaced and hate your self for not painting it properly, then consider the more expensive job.
 
ALafya said:
Thank you for sharing the results with us!

1) For the small white spot, I'd probably be fine with touch-up. For the longer scratches, I'd probably be pretty upset with my idiot friend, go with full paint job. But this is me, you need to live with the decisions you make, not necessarily alienate your friend. Everyone have different 'good enough' standards.
2) Clear coat: not an expert, but what I saw on YouTube, these guys usually mix it all together, then apply.
Basing my feedback on your pictures (and I know getting them right is difficult, white balance / color reproduction of the camera is also subjective), I think that for the wider scratch, it is pretty obvious the color match is not right. I'd let the guy try a better match.
3) You have damage on multiple panels, which is why it will probably cost quite a lot. In the many thousands in my guestimate. You can get an estimate for free from a good collision repair shop. Comprehensive insurance will cover it typically, but you may need to say you (or family member) caused it or the insurance company might go after your friend.
4) Yes, absolutely. Not sure about this specific paint, but in my experience, good shops will look very good to the point where non-professionals like us will not be able to tell it was painted. The telltale signs are very minute.
5) This is your decision to make. In general, it is hard to keep cars without any kind of mark at all, but your longer scratches are pretty long ...
If you'd be able to live with your self with this kind of fix, then definitely stay with it. But, if you'd feel that your car has been defaced and hate your self for not painting it properly, then consider the more expensive job.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughtful reply ALafya! Obviously the timing of this scratch is playing a huge role in how I feel about it. I am 29, and will likely have this car until I'm 40! That's a long time to look at that blemish. One idea is that I might wait until the end of ski season to see if I encounter any more damage to the car, as I'll be navigating mountain passes etc.

You think it would cost multiple thousand dollars to fix via a body shop? Holy hell. Around a grand was the high end I was imagining. Do you think I have jeopardized my ability to use insurance on this given the fact that I tried to get it repaired via this scratch guy? Luckily, I could say I caused the scratches honestly because I did sit down in the rear, causing the skis to get knocked over potentially, even if I didn't put them there. Is there a time limit in which the insurance company would want it to get repaired after the incident occurred?

Also, any thought on whether to use a Mazda dealer for repairs vs. an auto shop? The only reason why I'm thinking about Mazda dealer is because they might have better access to the Soul Red factory paint? I say this even though the two Mazda dealers nearby seem kind of lame. I would be terrified to get the car repainted and have the paint not match.
 
Last edited:
There is a lot of prep work which goes into professional paint jobs. For example, they would disassemble part of the door before painting it, then reassemble it back. So, if multiple panels are affected, then they need more prep work and reassembly.
Perhaps this is just the area I live in, but for the most insignificant damage, the bill is at least $800.

Yes, it is possible your insurance will give you trouble since you already tried to fix it. They will have someone take pictures of your damage and I am not sure what they'll do when it will look like it was fixed. Not sure about time limit, it is probably in your policy.
Mazda dealer will most likely outsource the work to a real body shop, unless they have the equipment and trained employees, they will have to give it to shop which has it. However, you can definitely acquire touch-up paint from your dealer (which can be used for touch-up jobs).
I don't really know about color matching. This has never been an issue for the vehicles that I had fixed.
 
This is such a frustrating/irritating situation. Thanks for the response ALafya. Any other input/perspectives/similar experiences welcome!

What cosmetic damage does your CX-5 have that you decided you could live with? What did you decide to fix?
 
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