Paint fading, 2002 Pro5, warranty up this Dec, under warranty?
 

Paint fading, 2002 Pro5, warranty up this Dec, under warranty?

Is paint problems covered under warranty? The roof of my Vivid Yellow Protege 5 has a matte look to it. The front and rear bumper, as well as the strip of molding on the hatch (where the keyhole is) is also like this. The sides of the car are glossy still.

Would this be normal wear or tear in the eyes of Mazda/Mazda dealer? Would a good wax job fix this, or am I screwed?

you would need to consult your warranty information given to you at the time of purchase. I believe mazda only has "rust through" warranty.

Try waxxing then buffing the crap out of it.

Lemme guess...you have no clear coat??? Our Vivid Yellow paint is thin enamel w/no clear coat which I never realized until I took mine in to have the black paint put on!!!

Well, it does have clearcoat, but the clearcoat is mixed in with the paint. I know this for a fact, since I contacted Mazda USA directly about this.

What do you mean "until I took mine in to have the black paint put on". Did you get your entire car repainted? Any pics? Who did it? How much?

My painter said I had no clearcoat and the yellow paint was so thin it just "came right off"...anyway, just click the picture in my sig and that will take you to my website. You can tell the difference where there is now clear on the hood and roof and not anywhere else.

unless you can prove that it was defective paint put on by mazda i doubt it would get covered... ford had a recal on paint for the probe, because a lot of it started developing crows feet REALLY badly, and if you brought in your car they would repaint the parts that needed it, but only because they admitted it happened because they used sub standard paint or something along those lines... i'd wash the car, and give it a nice wax, that restores some lustor to faded paint sometimes, hopefully it helps you out, good luck

- James

They used to have serious problems with Mazda's (and maybe Ford's too) white paint back in the mid-90s. I worked at a body shop and we had to do several warranty repaints. However, I think that a car that is only 2 & 1/2 years old shouldn't be fading unless you park it outside in the desert sun everyday (do you?).