KGruben

I purchased a 2001 ES in October 2001, and I am generally pleased with it except for one thing: the paint on the hood seems to be thin and chips easily. I have about 6 paint chips on the hood where I can see the grey primer and the paint seems very thin. What I mean by "very thin" is I can't see any depth in the paint, like the primer is on the same level as the paint. By comparison I have another chip on the right rear panel and it has depth! I don't drive on any gravel roads, I drive in the city and on the highway.

Has anyone noticed this on their Protege? If you'd care to venture an opinion, do you think this is a defect?

craigrrrp

mine does the same ****.....its okay though im eventually going to get it painted...but yea it sucks

KGruben

Did you every try to get it fixed by your dealer/Mazda?

craigrrrp

no i have allways heard that mazdas paint is not the best...so i just figured there was nothing i could do about it but ...maybe there is a problem with the paint maybe i will have to check up on that...hmmm

njaremka

one thing i did hear about the protege is that almost the whole body is galvanized before painting to inhibit rust, even if it does chip. i know it probably doesn't make you feel any better when you look at your pock marked hood, but it should make you feel better knowing that if you can't get touch up paint on it right away that it won't rust!

sandman

90&00 Protege, in another thread you were mentioning 3M Rock Guard Film.

Explain? I thought that was the crap you spray under your car and in wheel wells and stuff??

njaremka

the 3M rock-guard film is the clear plastic bra stuff, right? it goes on like a decal, but it is clear so you can't see it.

sandman

Didn't know if you preferred your name or your nickname. Some people are touchy about it... Richard it is!

Excellent! I popped by there last weekend to get some pricing info, but they were already closed for the day. I'll have to wait till my next day off to check it out. (who closes at 1 on the weekend!??!?!)

Good to know they do the rock film too. Probably get it all done at once!

Is the rock film permanent or does it need replacing periodically? It won't peel up or anything?

sandman

I get every 2nd monday off from work, so I'm thinking it's a safer bet to just head down there on my next day off. I think i'll definitly get that rock guard put on too. Don't know if I prefer salt or gravel!!! At least salt won't chip my paint!!!

I'd like to see what kind of choices for tinting I have. Maybe get a dark blue tint instead of black for my P5.

Oh, my fiance is living temporarily on the south side right now so i'm there on a fairly regular basis for the time being!!

KGruben

Have any of you ever tried to take the shoddy paint job up with the dealer?

steve00ES

I have a 00 ES Protege. After driving the car for about 6-7 months I too had numerous paint chips on my hood. After a careful examination of the paint job on the hood, I noticed a small area with what appear to be tiny bubbles or dirt under the paint. I took it to my dealer and they painted the entire hood under warrenty(as well as blending on the fenders.)

My advice to you is to take a real close look at the paint job on your hood. Look for small bubbles or imperfections and, if you find some, take it to your dealer and ask them to fix it. Once they fix it, get a bra. I did and I haven't had a chip since.

Hope that helps.

Kicker

I need some advise about a paint defect.

When I took delivery of the car I noticed (and mentionned it to my salesman before leaving with the car) what appeared to be a stone chip on the trunk lid. After a closer look I noticed that it is a paint defect, you can see kind of a 1/8" ripple in the clear around the chip. Now i still have to book the appointement for this.

The salesman tells me they are going to sand it down lightly and then apply paint on that spot and buff it down. When I mentionned the deffect to my buddy who works in a body shop. He told me they would probably fix it and then repaint the trunk lid. I was thinking of calling Mazda canada and ask them how they usally deal with that ****.

Other then that no deffects but a brake rust concern (the car was sitting in another dealers yard for a while) but that is for another thread.