problems with the paint

[victor_t]

I have some serious issues with the paint on my recently acquired 2007 mazda3

the car is that bright blue color and I find that the paint scratches very easily.
I have lots of tiny white spots on the hood (which I didn't see when I bought it) and also tiny scratches on the paint which I caused.

first time I washed it (myself, with a sponge) I noticed hairline scratches. they're very easy to see because they're white/light grey against the bright blue background.

the second time I washed I made sure there were no stones on the sponge and rinsed the sponge several times while I was washing the car (basically every time I would pass the sponge over a dirty area I gave it a little rinse so no dirt was accumulating on the sponge) and I still see new hairline scratches in the car.

I'm very pissed off about this. Does anyone else notice this?
I don't think it's normal.

my previous car was a 2002 sentra (green) and lately while washing it I really abused it (rubbed it hard to remove some caked-on dirt and tar) and while I could see that the clear coat was dulled (if I look at it against the bright sunlight), I was never able to actually remove/scratch the top layer of paint.

[Olestra]

Step 1, don't use a sponge.

[Donutz]

Your paint needs some tlc. Surf this site: http://www.meguiarsonline.com/ or autopia.

[victor_t]

OK, then what do I use?

at the moment I'll stop washing it manually, just use water to rinse off the dust, and wash it every once in a while at the gas station (no contact washer)

I was always washing my old car with a sponge and never had this problem.

[omalak]

mazda's paint is pretty cheap i find... yeah i'll get flamed.. but that's my personal opinion..

I'm going to try and give my car a nice wax and clay on the weekend, hopefully it looks a bit better than it does now lol

[Donutz]

I believe the proper wash mit is made from lambs wool (or something like this). The fibers open up when you dunk it in the bucket, releasing any particles the mit may have picked up. Personally, I use two microfibre mits per wash, and numerous microfibre towels to dry, and I never (ever, ever) scrub my paint with the mit or while drying.

What you need to do to fix the clear coat scratches really depends on how bad they are. Essentially, you need to use some type of abrasive compound (fine or aggressive depends on the damage to your paint). I'm sure Kaval can (will) correct me, but I believe you are looking at washing; claybar; some type of abrasive (single step; multi-step; cleaner wax; etc, etc); waxing; sealing. I don't use sealant, so I can't accurately say that this step comes before or after waxing.

Personally, I wash; dry; clay (x2 if necessary); cleaner wax; wax; wash; dry. On my fiancee's car I'll be using scratch x this year.

Post up some pics of your paint if you can. Maybe Kaval (or the gent from near Windsor) can give you some better advice. (I'm personally a bit of hack who is interested in detailing. This info is from my research)

[mazda lover]

mazda's paint is pretty cheap i find... yeah i'll get flamed.. but that's my personal opinion..

I'm going to try and give my car a nice wax and clay on the weekend, hopefully it looks a bit better than it does now lol

you won't get flamed because you are right. Mazda will blame it on the paint system and type of paint used-water bourne, single stage, one coat is good enough with the primer included, so no pre primer coat before the final coat..
I maybe wrong but thats what I heard as I used to work for BASF that supplies auto paints to the industry...

[yearoftherat]

mazda's paint is pretty cheap i find... yeah i'll get flamed.. but that's my personal opinion..

Then all of us will get flamed as its a general consensus for all the mazda owners.

[omalak]

Then all of us will get flamed as its a general consensus for all the mazda owners.

lol.. good.. glad i'm not the only one who thinks its garabage..

Maybe in a few years, i can get my car done in BMW black or something haha a nice hard ass paint

[Thrizzl3]

lol.. good.. glad i'm not the only one who thinks its garabage..

Maybe in a few years, i can get my car done in BMW black or something haha a nice hard ass paint

yes NERO! black ferrari paint

[Jeff0]

So how we gonna deal with this sh***y cheap paint???

[yearoftherat]

So how we gonna deal with this sh***y cheap paint???

Other than doing the routine exterior maintenance, you just have to live with it or sell the car.

[Jeff0]

Other than doing the routine exterior maintenance, you just have to live with it or sell the car.

Probably sell if I notice a slight rust is forming.

[Go_Habs_Go]

mazda's paint is pretty cheap i find... yeah i'll get flamed.. but that's my personal opinion..

I'm going to try and give my car a nice wax and clay on the weekend, hopefully it looks a bit better than it does now lol

You won't get any flaming from me (or others as you've noticed!!). The paint (or painting process) Mazda used on the 3 is C-R-A-P. I know it's an 'economy car' but c'mon Mazda, get your act together!!

A real blemish on an otherwise great car.

[Bean]

You won't get any flaming from me (or others as you've noticed!!). The paint (or painting process) Mazda used on the 3 is C-R-A-P. I know it's an 'economy car' but c'mon Mazda, get your act together!!

A real blemish on an otherwise great car.

I second that

[victor_t]

Other than doing the routine exterior maintenance, you just have to live with it or sell the car.

I'm not planning on selling my car, I just bought it and other than the crappy paint (which otherwise looks awesome when there are no scratches) I love the car.

I'm planning on doing rust protection treatments and I will try to pay special attention to the rear fenders. especially inside the fender, there is a lip where I can feel a lot of dirt accumulating. this dirt gets wet and could cause rust to start forming. I will basically clean the inside of the fenders and put some grease along this lip to keep dirt and moisture away.
is this a bad idea for any reason?

other than that, I was thinking of spraying some sort of grease between the fender and the bumper, where I saw some rust forming on other cars. does lithium grease do anything bad to the paint? is there some other kind of grease I can use on the paint, inside these cracks?

[victor_t]

I know it's an 'economy car' but c'mon Mazda, get your act together!!

I actually don't consider it an economy car. even if it's mazda's entry level car in north america, considering that we're getting a lot of stuff included even in the base model (all disc brakes, abs, curtain airbags etc) which at the time was not available in a honda/toyota unless you paid more for the option, I thing it's a pretty sweet car.