Thaumaturge... the reason I bought from the distant dealer is because none of the other regional dealers were willing to price match their offer: $38,688 for a Signature, which was too good of a deal to pass up. Closest I could get from other dealers was $39,736. Obviously, if I had thought that accepting a low price would have meant that I was compromising on the condition of the vehicle, I would not have done it.
It looks like this is going to move forward with Mazda. I took the vehicle to Putnam Mazda yesterday, which actually worked out because I had to drop my wife off at SFO. General Manager and Service Manager inspected the vehicle and stuck to their line of "we didn't do anything to it." I told them, "I don't care who is responsible, you or Mazda, I just want it fixed. So, if you didn't do anything to it, then it's clearly a factory defect." Response, "Yep, factory defect." (rolleyes) Who knows, maybe somehow it bizarrely was, even though my BS detector says otherwise. In any event, they submitted a work order to Mazda noting that the paint is "faded" and I called and notified Mazda corporate that Putnam had inspected the vehicle and found the paint to be defective.
Mazda is sending out a factory rep to inspect the car when I get back from vacation to figure out how to proceed with the repair. I asked Tracy Mazda if it's "standard procedure" for Mazda to send out a factory rep to look at the vehicle when there's paint issues, and their Service Manger said, "Pretty much, yes." I have a good vibe from Tracy Mazda and feel like they're advocating for me... they seem genuinely concerned even though I didn't buy the vehicle from them. I'll definitely be taking it there for all service issues.
I'll provide an update after I get back from vacation and meet with the factory rep.