Anyone with a Vivid Yellow Protege 5 have paint problems?

[PAINT4CARS]

Fading Yellow Automotive Paint

I have a 2002 Vivid Yellow Protege 5. I love this car, but the only gripe I have is the paint job. My hood has lost its shine, and the side mirrors and rear bumper are very faded and discolored.

Ive tried polishing/waxing over the years, but it never helped much. Most of the time yellow comes of onto the cloth im using the apply the polish/wax. During the second year of ownership, I contacted Mazda USA about the yellow coming off. They said it was normal, since the clearcoat on yellow cars is mixed with the paint. I never had fading problems until about a year ago, after my warranty was up.

Anyone have any tips/suggestions? Would waxing/polshing help even though more yellow (paint) would come off? Last, since I love this car and I only have 60k miles on it, what a resonable price for a good paint job cost?

The paint is coming off when you polish it because its a single stage paint and has no clear coat protecting it. This fact plus because its a yellow color is contributing to the fading. The yellow and red family of colors are notorious for fading even when is high quality basecoat/clearcoat. The problem with single stage is it has very few UV blockers.

Now, it coming off when you polish is normal and actually aids in making the surface shine. But shame on them for telling you the clear is mixed in for yellow colors which is entirely untrue and is just more evidence that you can't trust stealerships or the car company to tell you anything useful about automotive paint. I would speak to an automotive refinsihing and paint specialist. Since they sell the paint and materials to actual bodyshops they have to know everything there is to know about automotive paint and its applications.

Lastly, cost will be determined by where you live, what color you want, and what shop you go to. A yellow or red color, in L.A., at an "A" grade shop, will be much more expensive than the same job in Idaho at a "B" grade shop. So its all relative but being from CT I would expect to pay about $4 - $5k for an overall paint job of that color.

-Mike

 

[mnkyboy]

The paint is coming off when you polish it because its a single stage paint and has no clear coat protecting it. This fact plus because its a yellow color is contributing to the fading. The yellow and red family of colors are notorious for fading even when is high quality basecoat/clearcoat. The problem with single stage is it has very few UV blockers.

Now, it coming off when you polish is normal and actually aids in making the surface shine. But shame on them for telling you the clear is mixed in for yellow colors which is entirely untrue and is just more evidence that you can't trust stealerships or the car company to tell you anything useful about automotive paint. I would speak to an automotive refinsihing and paint specialist. Since they sell the paint and materials to actual bodyshops they have to know everything there is to know about automotive paint and its applications.

Lastly, cost will be determined by where you live, what color you want, and what shop you go to. A yellow or red color, in L.A., at an "A" grade shop, will be much more expensive than the same job in Idaho at a "B" grade shop. So its all relative but being from CT I would expect to pay about $4 - $5k for an overall paint job of that color.

-Mike

I havent had a chance to polish/wax it yet since its been rainy/cold, but how long do you think a good wax would keep the shine on my car?

 

[s6m1l88]

here's something even more confusing.

the mica paints i was told by mazda do have clearcoats.

Ok, so Mazda has confirmed that the mica paints DO HAVE clearcoats.


When talking about the Vivid yellow having a clearcoat, you say

thats not right...warranty rep and numerous paint shops i deal with have all confirmed its [Vivid Yellow] single stage with no clear coat

Now try getting it sorted out... heres the window sticker from an MP3.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

here's something even more confusing.



Ok, so Mazda has confirmed that the mica paints DO HAVE clearcoats.


When talking about the Vivid yellow having a clearcoat, you say



Now try getting it sorted out... heres the window sticker from an MP3.

the HZ code Vivid/Sunburst Yellow is not a mica (metallic) paint, so I dont know why that would be on the sticker.

 

[YellowMP5]

yeah, that's weird. what captain said is correct. the vivid yellow protege5s are not mica

before i bought my car in the summer of 01, i was doing a lot of research and the most info was available on the edmunds.com forum. and i specifically remember someone saying that mazda had trouble with the yellow where the clear will not stick to it. i don't know who the person was or how they came across this information but appears to be true. looks like they just gave up on the clear coat. the only clearcoated part on my car is the spoiler and the clear has started to peel. (hand)
phreaking mazda, i am starting to get pissed at them.