Mazda MX5 (1998-2005) - Paintwork Quality

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Tue 9 Oct 2007 00:01
Paintwork Quality - BobbyG
I am in process of valeting my 30 year old female cousin's MX5. It has done about 55k miles and is a Y Reg.

Now I have owned and washed many cars in my day but I have never seen one with so many stone chips and rust spots as this! Is this just a feature of "sports cars" and their relative height on the road?

Between the windscreen and the convertible roof, 6 rust spots and blistered paint.
Bonnet covered in stone chips. Front covered in stone chips.

Now she is not an enthusiastic driver and certainly not an enthusiastic cleaner of her car (I found Safeway receipts in it - they closed down over 2 years ago!), but I was totally shocked at the state of the paintwork.

If she had to trade it in (which she is thinking of doing) I think it would be sent straight to market and whoever bought it would be prudent to arrange for all the rust to be sanded and treated and then the car re-sprayed!

Are all low-height cars like this? Or are Mazdas particularly poor when it comes to paint thickness and quality?
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Tue 9 Oct 2007 08:33
Paintwork Quality - Falkirk Bairn
Are you sure it is Mazda paint?

I mean that the car may have seeen the wrong side of a hedge at one time - new bonnet/quick respray? That and lack of general care may be the answer.

I have a 9 yr old Mazda (not MX5) and apart from1 x rust spot on the wheeel arch (now tended to) it is almost perfect apart from a few stone chips. In general Mazdas seem quite resilient on the paint side
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Tue 9 Oct 2007 10:05
Paintwork Quality - mjm
My son has a 1998 MX5 with about 47k on the clock. It is used as his everyday transport, all weathers. Colour is "Racing Silver" metallic and the paint is unmarked.

It sounds as if someone has been following the car in front too closely :)

I don't think the height of the vehicle makes a lot of difference, tbh.
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Tue 9 Oct 2007 10:19
Paintwork Quality - Clk Sec
>>>Or are Mazdas particularly poor when it comes to paint thickness and quality?


No problems whatsoever with the paintwork on the Mazda6 I?ve owned for the past 5 years.
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Tue 9 Oct 2007 12:32
Paintwork Quality - Vansboy
Judging by the number of ancient Mx5's around, that need a bit of a polish, on close inspection, even on badly faded examples, it appears that is all that would be needed, to make 'em shine again.

There are quite a few later ones I've seen that do look worse than they should. Might be worth posting on www.m5oc.co.uk if you wanted to find out more.

VB
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Tue 9 Oct 2007 12:46
Paintwork Quality - martint123
Mine is a 1990 model and hasn't suffered as yours appears to have.
There were a couple of stone chips on teh nose, but thats plastic and only need a tiny touch up. The metalwork is certainly treated and doesn't seem to rust. There are two places to check for real rusting - the seam where the rear quarter panels join the sill just below the rear of the door and the inside lip of the rear wheel arches (but only if neglected).
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Wed 10 Oct 2007 16:11
Paintwork Quality - BobbyG
Well going by the comments so far it would definitely seem that she is a "keener" driver than I thought!!

The rust on the roof just at the windscreen as a result of, I assume, stone chips is very concerning though. I remember my 97 Saxo had various stone chips on it that had exposed the bare metal and even when I sold it last year, there was still no sign of them rusting.
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Wed 10 Oct 2007 17:14
Paintwork Quality - DP
I can't say I noticed any paint quality issues on ours when we had it (2000 X reg in black)

Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Wed 10 Oct 2007 17:43
Paintwork Quality - Blue {P}
My TF has about four blisters that I've found whilst cleaning, the paint is actually of a pretty good quality from looking at it, it seems even and not too thin. Unfortunately the last owner was never that hot on touching up stone chips.

The reason I can be so precise is because I have just finished spending 3 hours washing, claying, polishing and waxing the TF all so that I can put her in the garage for the upcoming winter months! I'm going to use a dust sheet for the first time in my driving career to try and see to it that she is as shiney when I put her back on the road as she is today!

Blue
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