Just noticed this when I was washing my car the other day. There is a black sticker or something on the front-bottom portion of the rear fender (hope this makes sense) - what is this for? It's annoying for waxing as the was gets caught on the outline of the "sticker" or whatever it is.

 

its there to protect the car from rocks









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It's not black, it's clear.

 

Old trick. Use an old toothbrush to get wax out if cracks and around emblems, etc.

 

or a piece of paper/drivers license

 

No offense...but isn't it obvious what it is?

- Irish

 

it is his pocket protector...fell out of his pocket and got stuck to the side of the car...

happens all the time...sheesh

 

no i didnt notice it till i finished test driving. i thought they were bsing me and then i asked fellow owners and they said they got it also. its no noticible int eh pics mazda has.

 

Some black car have black ones... like.... mine

 

And the damned thing costs $49 if you want to replace them with OEM equipment. I had my car scratched and when the body shop repaired it they had to order it from Mazda (actualy they wanted to leave it without it but I bitched that they had to leave my car "just the way it came out of the dealer!!" ) so they had to order it. I have the left one still, they didn't use it.

 

I really don't know how effective they really are since one of them is located in front of the rear wheel behind the rear door.

Didn't know that this area was prone to stones, maybe when you reverse quickly over gravel?

 

It's the Front tires kicking dirt/water/debris/rocks back to the rear side panel... It will kick it that far back.

 

Hmmmm.....

Still dubious of their benefit though.

 

judging by the amount of road oil, tar and other crapola that collects on the YELLOW ones on my car, I'm thinking they are effective.

 

StewC625,
Maybe our roads are cleaner than yours (hard for me to believe) but my Yellow stays incredibly clean from week to week. I don't remember what if any finishing/protecting you've done, but a good claybarring followed by something like Zaino will keep nearly anything from sticking. Way better than any wax I've ever used.

 

Sorry, but how did you Black owners determine that those were black, and you Yellow owners determine that yours are yellow? If they're CLEAR, wouldn't they look just the same to you as if they were body coloured?

FWIW - yeah, that area is subject to wear from road grit on many cars, and many cars have the same sort of CLEAR protector applied (it's similar to the CLEAR vinyl material used for clear bras). You can also look at old Shelby Cobras, where a piece of aluminum was used on the front of the rear wheel fender to take the damage, or on early Porsche Turbos, where a black plastic add-on was placed there to take the damage.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Nothing really sticks, but after a week on the road, there's just a lot of noticable crud on the car - that all washes right off ...

That said, the yellow stays cleaner "looking" longest I've ever had ... because the underlying color is so bright.

Actually my point here is that obviously that spot sticks out based on the **** that collects on it ...

I use Malm's ... and wax it monthly, clay bar it once a year.

 

I agree with Gord -- I'm not at all convinced any of them are anything but clear. How would they match the color to the paint on those two very different materials?

 

Does it matter what color they are???????

Man, talk about majoring in minor details ...