Paint Issues-Copper Red

[09sxy9]

Hi there,
I have a 09 CX-9 in Copper Red which I love everything about it, EXCEPT, it has a very poor paint job. Don't get me wrong, it look(ed) great when purchased, but scratches incredibly easily. Looking at the car wrong will put a scratch in the paint down to the white. Has anyone else had this experience? At first I thought, a few door dings, okay, and I go out of my way to park away from others. And, I have two kids, so scratches are inevitable, but you can pretty much put a finger nail up to my paint and it will scratch! If any of you have had experience like this, please let me know. We figure we will have the car repainted in a couple years, but at one year old, it looks much more weathered! Thanks!

 

[SeCX-9]

Yes, my blue 08 seems to be the same. The paint seems to be 1 or 2 microns deep and scratches incredibly easy.

Luckily the wife's 09 CX-7 is white already, so she can scratch it until the cows come home and no one will notice!

 

[sjg]

incredibly poor paint job

Thanks for bringing this up. I use have copper red and the paint job is bad. Orange peel is visible in some light conditions. Chips very easily on door edges at the slightest touch (and the doors are so large that they often touch something). Scratches incredibly easy. I put in one myself while drying the car after a wash. Saw a long thin scratch as I wiped a towel and immediately thought I must have had a rock in the towel. I looked underneath and there was the smallest little piece of a twig (I can't emphasize enough how small. and soft it way) but it was enough to put in a scratch.
The paint job definitely could use an upgrade for the next generation. They charge a bit more for the white paint which my salesman told me was because white gets an extra coat. Interested to know if that helps.

 

[sbmrinaldi]

My wife has an 07 and the paint still looks almost new, but I always detail it at least 1-2 times a year and put multiple coats of Zaino polish on it in between. It is far from the best paint job.

 

[09sxy9]

Thank you for replying. We are contacting our local Mazda dealer to see if there is anything that can be done. We want to know if it was a bad batch of paint for the '09 Copper Red or if it is a manufacture problem with all paint application. We'll let you know the outcome! Thanks!

 

[dcarlsen]

We have same issue with 2010 Copper Red

We just brought home our car about 3 days ago. It had some scratches on it at the dealer. They buffed most of them out, but then I noticed another one in almost the same area and I don't even remember touching the car there. It seems to be incredibly sensitive to scratching. So it looks like this is still an issue with the 2010's and I'm guessing other colors are affected as well. I may have to keep a good supply of wax or polishing compound handy to keep the scratched under control.

 

[guyliaf]

I have 2012 grey cx-9. The paint is of very poor quality. Too soft, every small scratch is immediately visible. Just hate it. Nothing changes, they haven't changed the quality of paint in 5 years. Is it the same with 2013?

 

[DDDonkey]

The paint job on mine looks good other than you can look at it and it too will scratch. I think the dust in the air scratches it while driving the cx-9.

 

[table5511]

Welcome to Mazda. All Mazdas have really thin paint, and it scratches reeeealy easy, shows white primer underneath. Wash often, wax too if you can.

 

[IgoZoom]

They charge a bit more for the white paint which my salesman told me was because white gets an extra coat. Interested to know if that helps.

The charge $200 extra for the Crystal White Pearl on the CX-9 because of the additional layer/coat required to achieve the "pearl" finish. I originally planned to get the Dolphin Gray but when I saw it in person and under fluorescent lighting, it was just too 'green' for my taste. So I got the Crystal White Pearl by default, not because I really wanted it. But I am very happy with it compared to many darker color CX-9s that I've seen.

I also have a 2006 Mazda3 s 5-door that I bought new 8 years ago. It's Titanium Gray, spent the first 7.5 years of its life parked uncovered/outdoors in the Georgia weather extremes and hasn't been washed or waxed nearly as often as it should have been. Several months ago, before it really got cold, I had a local guy do a major detail and I expected some minor oxidation and/or other paint issues. I was AMAZED that it looks almost as good as it did 8 years and 100k miles ago! I actually cleaned out my garage and started parking it inside next to my CX-9! How or why the paint has held up so well on it is beyond me...

Mazda has a new color called SOUL RED available on the 2014 Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5 and it costs an extra $300. Dupont Automotive Finishes actually did an analysis of the processes required to achieve such a deep, high-quality finish. They claimed that Soul Red was easily costing Mazda at least $500 more than the $300 surcharge for that particular finish.