Paint failure? 25+ rust bubbles on roof after winter - 2019 CX-5

[Christian.F]

Quebec Canada - 2019 CX-5

Spring is just taking hold and everything is melting. Went to wash the car and noticed today a fairly large area where the paint was bubbling on the panel between the windscreen and the roof. Went up to investigate further, and there are a good 25-30 other spots of paint bubbling or rusting of various sizes.

Is this a result of a factory paint failure on this panel? We are in an urban area, not driving on gravel roads. You have the regular small stones that pop up on the highway, but I've never encountered a situation where it seems like any little chip begins to rust like this.

The car is less than 4 years old. Hoping for some more educated opinions on this to assist in how to proceed, and if this is something I should push with Mazda to fix as it seems abnormal on a car of this age.

 

[ch3no2]

Did the vehicle get cought driving behind a gravel train?

 

[Christian.F]

Did the vehicle get cought driving behind a gravel train?

No, which is why I find this odd. Regular city driving. And well the hood has a few small dings from gravel/debris, nothing to the extent on this panel and none of them are rusting or look like they've gone that deep.

Just this one area that it seems any slight rock hit is penetrating the clear coat/paint down to the metal and bubbling up with rust.

 

[Buzzman12]

Machine grey, right?
Exact same thing happened on my 2017 Mazda 6 GT, two years ago.
Took it to Mazda dealer, and they didn't hesitate to take responsibility. It's a defect. It's not stone chips or any other such nonsense.
They sent me off to their preferred body shop, and was approved for warranty repair right away. Car went into the shop a week later, and the entire roof was repainted.
I was hesitant and skeptical at first, but these guys did a super job.
Perfect paint match and flawless finish. Still looks shiny and new today.
Take your vehicle in to the dealer right away. There is no reason that they should hesitate for even a second when it comes to repairing it.

 

[ceric]

Machine grey and Soul red paints of Mazda seem to be too thin.

I have a '14 Soul Red Mazda3 myself. Mine seems to be fine so far.
Fingers crossed.

Problems We Have Found With Mazda Soul Red Crystal Chipping Paint: Information For St. Louis Drivers - Hunter Auto Body

If you are the owner of a Mazda vehicle with the Soul Red Crystal paint, you may or may be aware of the major problems owners with this colored Mazda are facing across the country. We all know looks can be deceiving, which is why we at Cherry Hill Collision are here to explain the problems we...

hunterautobodyinc.com

 

[Christian.F]

Machine grey, right?
Exact same thing happened on my 2017 Mazda 6 GT, two years ago.
Took it to Mazda dealer, and they didn't hesitate to take responsibility. It's a defect. It's not stone chips or any other such nonsense.
They sent me off to their preferred body shop, and was approved for warranty repair right away. Car went into the shop a week later, and the entire roof was repainted.
I was hesitant and skeptical at first, but these guys did a super job.
Perfect paint match and flawless finish. Still looks shiny and new today.
Take your vehicle in to the dealer right away. There is no reason that they should hesitate for even a second when it comes to repairing it.

Black actually, but I'll see what the dealership says about this and escalate if needed. It seemed unusual that so many would pop up over the winter.

 

[Buzzman12]

Black actually, but I'll see what the dealership says about this and escalate if needed. It seemed unusual that so many would pop up over the winter.

Escalate for sure. This is a defect that should be repaired before the rust starts to spread.
Don't wait. It won't go away, that's for sure. Like I said in my case, there was no hesitation on Mazda's part.

 

[madar]

Same thing happened to me with my 2014 gray CX5. Looks like you already have bubbling and rust. Down here in the states Mazda refused the claim, said it was road damage, had to get it repainted by putting in a claim with my insurance co.

 

[sm1ke]

The fact that it's only on the leading edge of the roof and not the rest of the roof is strange, especially when you consider that the hood doesn't have this damage. Seems like the roof paint is definitely defective, being more susceptible to rock chips than the rest of the car. Hopefully you can get this repair covered.

 

[BWJ]

Maybe starts as......

 

[madar]

The fact that it's only on the leading edge of the roof and not the rest of the roof is strange, especially when you consider that the hood doesn't have this damage. Seems like the roof paint is definitely defective, being more susceptible to rock chips than the rest of the car. Hopefully you can get this repair covered.

Not so strange ,that's where any road debris will hit it first, it doesn't mean the hood has to have the same damage.

 

[sm1ke]

Not so strange ,that's where any road debris will hit it first, it doesn't mean the hood has to have the same damage.

I drove on major highways behind some landscaping trucks for about a year, and earned some rock chips in my hood and a slightly pitted windshield as a result. If the roof is where road debris would hit first as you say, why are there no rock chips on my roof?

 

[madar]

I'm not saying debris will hit the roof first versus the hood. I'm saying debris will hit the front edge of the roof first leaving the rest of the roof unscathed, that's why you see the most damage on the roof in that area. I drive down highways everyday and stuff bounces off the roadway from vehicles that are dumping it.
Sometimes the bounce just misses the hood entirely. It just takes one time of debris spray to do damage in a certain area.

Second point is that TBS addresses stains. That looks like perforation to me and rust as a result, same thing that happened to me.

 

[sm1ke]

I'm not saying debris will hit the roof first versus the hood. I'm saying debris will hit the front edge of the roof first leaving the rest of the roof unscathed, that's why you see the most damage on the roof in that area. I drive down highways everyday and stuff bounces off the roadway from vehicles that are dumping it.
Sometimes the bounce just misses the hood entirely. It just takes one time of debris spray to do damage in a certain area.

Second point is that TBS addresses stains. That looks like perforation to me and rust as a result, same thing that happened to me.

The way it was written was confusing, sorry if I misunderstood.

 

[madar]

No problem, saw that as well.

My story only the photos are gone:

https://mazdas247.com/forum/t/rust-bubble-on-roof.123842116/

 

[Buzzman12]

Not so strange ,that's where any road debris will hit it first, it doesn't mean the hood has to have the same damage.

Can't agree there, given my personal experience with my car.
The bubbles I first noticed on my roof were coming from underneath, not from the outside. Some of the bubbles I saw hadn't "burst" yet. There was no way these rust bubbles were caused by road debris.
As mentioned earlier, if this was due to outside causes, why was/is the rest of my car still good?
I have a few tiny stone chips on the hood, but they are completely different from what I had on the roof. Those hood chips have not rusted, as they didn't go through to bare metal. They only exposed the white primer underneath. A little dab of touch up paint, and all is good.
My roof was rusting, plain and simple, after only 3 years and 20,000 Kms (12,000 miles). The car is always garage kept, and not driven in bad weather in winter. Mazda took full responsibility, as they should.

 

[madar]

Can't agree there, given my personal experience with my car.
The bubbles I first noticed on my roof were coming from underneath, not from the outside. Some of the bubbles I saw hadn't "burst" yet. There was no way these rust bubbles were caused by road debris.
As mentioned earlier, if this was due to outside causes, why was/is the rest of my car still good?
I have a few tiny stone chips on the hood, but they are completely different from what I had on the roof. Those hood chips have not rusted, as they didn't go through to bare metal. They only exposed the white primer underneath. A little dab of touch up paint, and all is good.
My roof was rusting, plain and simple, after only 3 years and 20,000 Kms (12,000 miles). The car is always garage kept, and not driven in bad weather in winter. Mazda took full responsibility, as they should.

That's a totally different scenario. If there's no visible break in the paint, then yeah it's on Mazda. They painted over rust or some contaminant. As far as I can tell from the OP pics there appears to be a break in the paint, doesn't look like blistering starting under the paint with no external cause.

 

[Buzzman12]

I might try and find the pics I took of my roof when I saw the rust spots. Hopefully I can figure out how to post them.
Also I took another look at the pics from the OP, and that's exactly how my roof looked, although some of his spots are more advanced than mine were. That is definitely a paint defect, and not road debris.
When I took it to the body shop, the manager there was quick to agree that this was a Mazda problem. He was very supportive. Apparently mine was not the first Mazda that came through his shop with this problem. This is on Mazda. Hopefully they do the right thing

 

[GTEyes]

I might try and find the pics I took of my roof when I saw the rust spots. Hopefully I can figure out how to post them.
Also I took another look at the pics from the OP, and that's exactly how my roof looked, although some of his spots are more advanced than mine were. That is definitely a paint defect, and not road debris.
When I took it to the body shop, the manager there was quick to agree that this was a Mazda problem. He was very supportive. Apparently mine was not the first Mazda that came through his shop with this problem. This is on Mazda. Hopefully they do the right thing

I had one spot that was like these on my 2018 Mazda6. It was traded soon afterwards so I didn't pursue.

 

[Buzzman12]

I had one spot that was like these on my 2018 Mazda6. It was traded soon afterwards so I didn't pursue.

Ya, as much as I enjoy the looks of the car, and the way it drives, I feel that Mazda has a paint problem. It's too thin, prone to chipping, and as we have seen, poor prep at the factory before applying paint, resulting in rust bubbles within 3 years of ownership. If anyone on here has paint problems, I would not hesitate to chase Mazda down for a fix.
I think they know they have a problem, and like any Corporation is wont to do, they will try and avoid having to pay to fix it.