I have a 2007 RX-8 with Stormy Blue Mica paint. I am finding my paint to be very fragile. Brushing my car door against a rosemary bush resulted in paint flaking off. Also, my car was the victim of a drive-by egging when I left it parked on the street outside my neighborhood and the impact points of the eggs have spider-web cracks in the paint and lots of spots where the paint flaked off to bare metal. Neither if these incidents left dents, or even scratches; and yet the paint flaked off.

My Mazda dealer has brushed me off, and pointed me in the direction of a body shop that wants a minimum of $1100 to fix the paint; and that is only if their paint tech thinks he can spot fix it. A friend of mine who is a serious car buff said that if the metal didn't dent the paint shouldn't flake off, unless the paint is having an adhesion problem.

Google searches show me that there have been lots of issues with Mazda paint in the past, but I haven't found anything documenting similar problems with Stormy Blue Mica. Perhaps that ie because it is such a new color. So, I'm posting here to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with their paint being fragile.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks,

-Chris

 

hmm.. paint flaking? do you have pics?

 

sounds like it sucks and would be a problem Mazda SHOULD cover. whether or not they actually will...

I would assume if its happening to your paint chances are its happening to someone else's too. Once a few more Stormy Blue's run into this problem, your situation might improve

 

That is not normal; paint should not just flake in that manner. Take it back to Mazda that should definitely be covered. That's a paint defect. Rubbing against a bush should not cause the paint to come off. If your local dealer gives you the shaft call Mazda USA themselves.

 

He's not a paint expert. Maybe it's really not flaking.
Anyhow eggs will do it. Eggs always do that.

Turn in to insurance and get the whole panel painted.

If you scratch a car to metal from a bush, one may call it flaking, but I wouldn't.

Nothing wrong with paint.

 

I don't see how paint could flake from a scratch from a bush? I've never seen a bush scratch all the way to the metal from a simple brush against it. I'm sure it could happen, but I have this image of flakes of paint coming off the car, maybe I'm just seeing the situation as worse than it really is.

 

that's why i'd rather see some pics before determining something

 

Chris, you are correct that there have been issues in the past with the fragility of factory paint on the RX series. While your the first I have seen with the 8, I personally had the same problem with my '93 twin turbo 7 within a year after I took delivery on same. It took some work to get it resolved under Mazda warranty, but eventually the regional rep from Mazda US agreed that it was a factory defect and was covered under warranty - he had a Mazda dealership in my area with the body shop capabilities to do so repaint my entire vehicle. I had no further paint problems after this was done.

 

Per the request of several people here, I have posted pictures of the paint crackling to my photo album. I will post pictures of where the paint flaked off the door later because it is raining right now and I can't take photos.

http://www.ghostwheel.com/merlin/Per...s.php?album=10

-Chris

 

You are correct, I am not a paint expert. Nor did I claim to be one. I simply described the situation as it appears to me.

I did take my car to the dealer, and the shop manager wouldn't even look at it. Instead he related to me a story of some relative who got egged and his paint crackled as well, and used that to dismiss my inquiry.

I have posted pictures, and given the URL to et to them in another post in this thread. Care to take a look and give your opinion, even if you aren't a paint expert either?

-Chris

 

Understand you have no idea who would egg your car, but that is vandalism. Why did you drive into a bush though? You expect Mazda to compnsate your bad driving?

 

Must be a wonderful thing to never have had to manuever your car around or park your car near something that comes in contact with it. Can't say the same for myself , but I've lost no paint to the occasional brush with a poorly groomed bush.

 

I always insist the bush is trimmed before anything rubs up against my car

 

"Brushing my car door against a rosemary bush resulted in paint flaking off." did not involve driving into a bush. It involved a tight parking space and a reasonable expectation that the paint would not ship off if I gently opened my door and carefully got out. Shrubs happen, and I agree with the guy at my friend's body shop that the paint shoudln't flake off to the metal if the metal didn't bend.

-Chris

 

Im a paint expert! HAHA!