As the OP got the car with 4 miles on could it be possible that there was a "mishap" with the car transporter and some remedial work has been carried out on the sly and not up to a very good standard?
Don't expect to walk into a dealership and say, "My car has paint chips on the hood, please replace it." and expect them to do it. They will laugh at you. I had zero contact with a dealership during this process of getting my hood replaced, I only dealt with Mazda corporate. Getting them to acknowledge the issue was a defect was a 2-month process. Getting them to replace the hood was another two month process. Expect to put in a lot of effort if you want Mazda to cover this, and don't waste a minute of your time at a dealership.
2017 Soul Red owner here. Also unhappy about the number of chips on my hood (and some on the side of the vehicle). About 2 weeks ago, Mazda NA sent me a survey to fill out, in which I described my chip problem. Mazda immediately followed up, asking for pictures and telling me to schedule a visit with my dealer. If Mazda didn't care, and assumed I simply followed other vehicles too closely, I don't believe they would have followed up as they have. Mazda may end up not doing anything about it, but in the meantime, I've taken the pictures and will schedule the visit. I've owned other vehicles many years older that have had less paint chips than my less than 1 year old CX-5. It was simply not within my budget after purchasing my CX-5 to do the clear bra thing on the entire front end of the vehicle. I certainly wish now that I had been able to do so.
They sent me to my local dealership as well. The service manager said it was all rock chips (which I don't think anyone can debate) and sent me on my way. I spoke with the Mazda corporate customer service rep over the span of a month, and she said there was nothing they could do for me.
When I told them that I was more frustrated that this paint problem can't even be fixed with a paint pen, as they've been on backorder for almost a year, she said she'd get back to me. 2 weeks later she called and offered me a $100 credit for my troubles... still no paint pen or acknowledgement of an issue with the paint on the car
It's not just the soul red or white colour, and it's not just the CX-5.Anyone experience issues with the White color?
Thanks!
If you really want to do something on your paint chips, you’d better do it before 3-year / 36K-mile new car warranty expires. Honestly I believe this paint problem could be batch by batch issue. My 2016 Sonic Silver has been holding up fine even though my salesman told me the reason why Mazda changed silver color from Liquid Silver to darker Sonic Silver for MY 2016 is because the old silver is having the “paint problem”.It's not just the soul red or white colour, and it's not just the CX-5.
My 3 year old 6 (machine grey metallic) is littered with small white dots on the hood and A pillar.
I only have 12,000 miles on this thing, and there are more chips on it than there are on my 18 year old Nissan Pathfinder.
I'm seriously pissed off about it, and plan to take it up at my dealer in the next few weeks.
This is a Mazda paint problem, and not a driver problem.
I live in the burbs, and the car goes to Costco and Walmart once a week. That's it.
It's ridiculous, and has really dampened my appreciation for my car.
I'm already thinking of ways to get rid of it.