Questions for Red CX-5 Owners

[Dermochelys]

I'm strongly considering getting a Soul Red 2016.5 CX-5 and I had some questions for those of you who have this color.

1) Does the color fade over time? Is it too early to tell because CX-5s haven't been around all that long? I know older 80's and 90's cars had this problem but I wasn't sure if it's still an issue.

2) I read some posts from early on that the Red color was almost impossible for a shop / touch-up paint to match, is this still the case?

3) Does the Red show dirty easily (like dark blue or black), or does it hide it better like silver? How about when it comes to showing swirl marks or scratches

Red looks great on the showroom floor, I guess I'm wondering if I'd still be happy with it 5, or even 10 years from now.

Thanks!

 

[mazdadude]

My parents who are also in Rocklin, have a soul red 2016.

There is not a problem with oxidation or color fade with the clear coated paints like there was with the single stage red paints of the past.

Any Pearl/multi layer paint process that is more expensive on the window sticker is most likely going to be more laborious to repair. However a proper shop with experience should not have issues...

As far as dirt, it will show the dust and pollen, but not as bad as the darker colors. When it is clean and kept waxed the soul red looks fantastic and shows off the curves. The New CRYSTAL Soul Red for 2017 Model looks even more special. I can not wait to see in person under the sun.

White and silver have always been easier to keep clean for me.

 

[brillo54]

I agree with all of mazdadude's points. Previous to my Soul Red CX-5, I had tan, gold, bronze, silver and gold. All were better at hiding dirt than the red but the red is better than my wife's dark blue Accord. I've had it for almost 2 years now and I'm still very happy with my color choice. A few extra washes are worth it to me considering how great it looks when it's clean.

 

[Moonlighter]

I also agree with Mazdadude. My Soul Red 2016 doenst show dirt too badly, my previous Cx5 was pearl white and it was better, but gee, it dodn't look anywhere near as good as the red!

Even the pearl white gets the attention of the spray painters - had to have a gouge/scratch that some idiot did in a shopping centre carpark and they remarked on it then, but the repair came up great.

I got mine home from the dealer when it was new and hit it straight away with a Meguiars Ultimate polish followed by Ultimate wax. Came up really good. Its due another treatment with the same combination now after 6 months.

 

[Paul-C]

Good day, my Soul Red experience covers touch ups to two entire doors being repainted due to a parking lot scratch. I didn't really want red but wanted the sand coloured leather so dog hair wouldn't show up and could only get that in red or black.

Having previously come from a black vehicle the red is much easier to keep looking clean - I don't wash it nearly as often as I would wash the black vehicle, but I may be getting lazier!

The red touch-up pen from Mazda is not very good - it will fill in the chip so it doesn't rust and it's red but certainly does not match. I have given up trying to keep up with the little chips on the hood. It is ridiculous, I am not sure if that is because I don't have a hood deflector or the quality of the paint. It's not worth it to me to spend any time on it anymore.

The vehicle was dented and scratched by some knob in a parking lot - it was very small dent, about the size of a quarter. The body shop had to paint both doors to blend the job even though it was the size of a quarter! Not sure if that is because insurance covered the $1200 cost for it.

The good thing with regular black (or any flat colour) is some spray paint fixes a lot of stuff but there is no way to easily fix anything yourself with Soul Red. The red looks great though and has different looks depending on the light.

 

[Dermochelys]

Thanks everyone, it sounds like day to day it's fine and not too much of a hassle, but if I damage a panel it might be more work than a normal color. My other option is the lighter blue color, but the red just looks so good it's hard to think of going with anything else.

 

[GAXIBM]

The rear glass in my GT gets/shows dirt much faster that the red paint.

 

[finch204]

The red touch-up pen from Mazda is not very good - it will fill in the chip so it doesn't rust and it's red but certainly does not match. I have given up trying to keep up with the little chips on the hood. It is ridiculous, I am not sure if that is because I don't have a hood deflector or the quality of the paint. It's not worth it to me to spend any time on it anymore.

This is absolutely true, the red touch-up pen from Mazda sucks. My wife scratched the hood on our CX-5 just weeks after ownership and we tried to use the touch-up pen to cover it up, but it didn't really work as expected. The color as stated, is a different red color that does not match the soul red paint. While it did sort of made the scratch less visible, you will still notice it if you're looking for it or if you look at it a certain angle. My brother described the scratch that was touched up with the pen as looking like a tree sap fell on the car.

It does look really really good though after you've washed and waxed the car, the soul red paint that is.