Author Topic: Lousy paint and bird poo damage  (Read 10883 times)

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Offline Austin

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Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« on: July 02, 2018, 02:20:02 pm »
Hi Guys,

I’m getting really annoyed with how crappy the paint seems to be on my 2016 SportNav 175.  I’ve always loved Mazda’s and this is my third that I’ve been lucky enough to own since new.  I tend to buy new and keep them for about 10 years so keeping them tidy for a long future is important to me.  As others have said, this one seems to stone chip and scratch so easily.  I only do low miles so it spends most of it’s time on the drive but every day I check it for bird poo and carefully wipe it off.

I was away for a few days recently and got back to find a few bird poos. I did a proper wash with quality car shampoo, 2 bucket method, mitt, and microfibre clothes lie usual, but now it seems like these few bird poos, that were on for a few days, have knackered up the paint on my roof and eaten through. 

I am really annoyed by this. My girlfriends Jaguar XE is a year older, does loads more mileage, and gets hit by the same bird poos but her paint seems far more robust than mine.

Any thoughts on if I’d have any luck on getting the dealer to fix this or am I going to have to just live with this and invest in a decent polisher/compound/was set up and try and deal with this myself.

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

Aust

Offline aeroadster

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2018, 02:35:15 pm »
Sorry to hear the bad news.

[url]https://www.mazda.co.uk/buying-owning/buying/warranty[url]

You should be covered by the paint and anti-corrosion warranty.

I would recommend applying a hard wax at least twice a year, and ideally every 3 months.

You can't escape paint chips, it's often down to bad luck.  Even a good hard wax can't prevent the inevitable, but it can help.

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2018, 03:00:39 pm »
Thanks for the prompt reply aeroadster,

I guess my worry is that they’ll say this is not a corrosion issue, as in the bodywork metal has not gone rusty, and therefore fob me off.  I’ll wait and get a bit more feedback here before I then go and approach them.

And yes, you;re right what you’re saying about stonechips. No one can help those but depending on the thickness and quality of the paint and the topcoat, some paint will resist lighter stone attacks than others (a hard stone chip will of course penetrate all paintwork).  It’s this variability that concerns me.  I drive this car on the same few regular routes that I drove my last Mazda (and that my girlfriend drives her car on) but this particular car seems to be gathering damage at a far more noticeable rate.  This, and the bird poo damage, and other things I’ve read on here, is what makes me worry that they have just cut costs and done a really cheap paint job on recent cars (despite me still paying a lot of additional money (almost £600 I think) to go from white to black paint.

Thanks again for your reply. Fingers crossed that Mazda will respond well eh!

Offline Willpower

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2018, 04:13:05 pm »
Sorry to hear that you are experiencing these problems, but to be blunt Mazda will listen and then say sorry.   This is their line of defence taken from the following page  https://www.mazda.co.uk/buying-owning/buying/warranty/

New Vehicle Warranty for 3 years or  60,000 miles whichever comes first
Paint and Surface Corrosion Warranty on body sheet metal panels against surface corrosion for 3 years regardless of mileage
Anti-Perforation Warranty on body sheet metal panels against perforation due to corrosion for 12 years regardless of mileage The benefit of transferring the Manufacturer’s Warranty to subsequent owners.


I have previously had occasion to challenge Mazda over surface rust and thin paint.  ( and this is on a 2004  Gen 1 Mazda 3)   Despite my arguments they insisted that because the rust had quote "not perforated the metal"  then I could not claim against their warranty.
Look at life through the windscreen, not the rearview mirror.

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2018, 11:54:13 pm »
Thanks for the reply Willpower

Yes, I’m guessing that they’re going to try hiding behind the specific wording of the warranty but as far as I’m concerned, for me to have blistering through to the metal on an 18 month old car is totally unacceptable.  If this is from bird poo that has been on there for just a few days whilst I was away, what on earth am I supposed to do if I’m away longer?  They can’t honestly expect me to put a full cover over my car every time I’m away for more than 72 hours.  I didn’t have to on my previous 2 Mazda’s so I don’t see why I should just accept that my current car is going to look screwed as the years go on just because they wanted to cut cost on paint.

I’m taking in to Mazda Gloucester on Friday morning so I’ll let you guys know how I get on.

Offline apav

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2018, 06:02:11 am »
If it is blistering, they will fix it.

What I have noticed on mine that all this bird dirt, just makes the paint less shiny at that section. It may go away with paint care products. If you wash the whole car, it does not appear to be that noticeable.

If it turns out to be only cosmetic, then you have to live with it. When the car becomes 10 years and want to sell it, the paint will not affect its value.

Offline Willpower

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2018, 06:14:11 am »
Look at life through the windscreen, not the rearview mirror.

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2018, 06:30:36 pm »
Blistered for sure.  A number of places are like this.  I can’t believe that it was fine this time last week. Fingers crossed for when I see Mazda Gloucester later this week.



Admin Note  :   Please read this    http://www.mazda6forums.co.uk/index.php?topic=1846.0   Specifically the 1st  reply       Thank you  :)
« Last Edit: July 03, 2018, 07:52:44 pm by Willpower »

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2018, 05:32:24 pm »
Sorry Admin! I only joined a few days ago so I never saw anything prior to this about not uploading photos.

I did join just to get help with this issue but I can see there is a lot of useful stuff on here and it seems like a decent bunch of guys (and girls presumably) so I’ll keep using this site.

Have a good evening everyone  :)

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #9 on: July 24, 2018, 09:36:13 pm »
For anyone who may still be following this post, Mazda have told me (after being ignored by my local dealership and having to chase them up) that they are not interested and that they don’t consider this a problem.  Apparently bird poo destroying paint and going though to bare metal after just a few days is classed as an “external factor” and has nothing to do with the quality of the paint job.

Paintwork should be “fit for purpose” just like anything else that has been designed and manufactured to a specification for a reasonable design life. 

Well done Mazda, I hope you are proud.  I have bought 3 brand new Mazda’s and spent the last 20 years telling people how great they are but how can I possibly do this after this incident and poor service?  I will now tell everyone who will listen about this and will never ever buy Mazda again.

Offline apav

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #10 on: July 25, 2018, 08:58:49 am »
You are upset, but poo proof paint has not been invented yet. You only keep your cars for about 7 years. So, keep an eye on the damage and if it penetrates the metal, then you can contact Mazda again. But I think it is only cosmetic.

I have the second generation car and these get very nasty on their roof. The paint shrinks somehow and looks like wrinkles. But it has not done any more damage. It is just that the paint did not give enough protection for all the things that hit the car while moving. Mine is now 9.5+ years old and I doubt it will get any worse.

The average scrap age for UK cars is less than 14 years. Plus the average mileage for UK cars is less than 8K miles. Mazda adds these together and has as life expectancy something like 100K miles. This is a very low figure. For example, second generation timing chains do not even manage to run for 100K miles. If you buy a brand new car for 23K they sell it, it will cost you 23p per mile to do these 100K miles. This is almost the mileage allowance just for the car. Even if you buy a nearly new for 16K they go, it will still cost you 16p per mile. And then it is the general rust because Mazda really knows how to make a car that rusts.

So keeping all that in mind, try some poo treatment for that section, and it will smooth out. Try to touch it up with some paint for the bare metal and then just polish it. You cannot do anything better than that. If the bare metal section is huge, you will need some professional painting, but usually these things are just a milimetre or so.

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2018, 10:00:56 am »
Yeap, I am upset.  Paint job quality can vary significantly between different cars/manufacturers.  I’m not asking it to be bird poo “proof” as in just leave it on there and nothing will happen but I am expecting it to resist it for atleast a few days, just like my previous cars did, just like my girlfriend’s Jag does, and just like my neighbours cars do.  I have over 15 years experience as a manufacturing engineer and I know all too well that every single product produced is made to varying grades of quality.  Paintwork will be no different.  To have this damage on a very well looked after car that is just 18 months old is a significant deviation from the norm and that is what I am so frustrated about.  I saw 4 independent body shops to get second opinions and they all said the same when they saw the damage.  Rather unsurprisingly the body shop that Mazda told me to get a quote from said they would charge £900 to fix it.  Yes, £900 to respray a single panel.  Twice that of all of the non Mazda bodyshops so it’s no surprise that head office then choose to reject it.

It’s a shame we can no longer post photos on here for me to convey the damage. Bird poo treatment is not going to smooth this out.  I have a few patches, around the size of 5 pence coins that are totally white blisters due to the white primer showing through.  This is in no way acceptable on an 18 month old car that is washed every fortnight.

You said that I only keep cars for 7 years.  I assume you mean “people on average only hold onto cars for 7 years”.  I keep my cars for longer than that and therefore expect them to be fit for purpose for atleast 10 years if well looked after.

I have zero faith that I can simply go back to Mazda if it penetrates the metal as you suggested.  They have already made it quite clear that they are not interested in damage caused by bird poo.  If they won’t look after me when the car is 18 months old, why would they then look after me years later?

I appreciate your answer and I apologise for my tone.  But I am right to be upset about this.  This is not something that will quick fix and is clearly an indicator that I have more damage to look forward to in the future.

Offline Willpower

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2018, 10:38:08 am »
It’s a shame we can no longer post photos on here for me to convey the damage.

Yes you can... I corrected you in reply#7  because you should not be using the attachment facility to post pictures. But if you continued to read down through the thread previously linked   

http://www.mazda6forums.co.uk/index.php?topic=1846.0

you will see that in reply #3   I have offered alternative routes to post pictures in the forum. 

If you have any problem or queries about this then please contact me by  PM.  I will assist where I can


Willpower
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Offline apav

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2018, 12:34:07 pm »
Yes you are right to be upset. You tried to put it right and they refuse to cover the costs. I do not know whether you can claim on your comprehensive insurance for that. Any damage in a newish car will show up easily and you want to make it right. But I do not know whether that will be value of money.

For the paint and the poo, maybe they used cheap paint, you have to check second generation cars like mine and find out how poor the paint is. You check them from a distance and they look great, you step closer and you ask yourself how that is possible. Every chip stone is different that the other and every poo will be different than anything else but yes they could have put some effort to make the paint a bit more robust to cover the majority of the expected damage.

I thought the 20 years for 3 cars meant a new car every 7 years or so. Mine is 9.5 years now and it is bad how the paint has turned out where it has been attacked, i.e the whole front part of the car, the areas hit by the water the wheels spray and the notorious roof on the second generation cars, but if £900 is what they ask for each panel, that is the part exchange value the dealer pays for these old cars. So it is not worthy. I think gradually the third generation cars will age better than the second generation cars because there is a difference in quality between the two. So in that sense, I would worry that your car will get really bad but it will start showing old sooner or later. The less you drive it, the better it will look though.

Edit to add:

Despite what the damage is, I would not like to respray any part of the car, especially if it is a whole panel. Maybe you could try to get some advice from quick fix easy repairs shops that do not respray things and find out whether that paint correction can happen in that way. Maybe professionals in cleaning/detailing they will know more. But a 18 months resprayed car may look worse than the current 3 5p coin bits not being perfect.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2018, 12:38:26 pm by apav »

Offline Austin

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Re: Lousy paint and bird poo damage
« Reply #14 on: July 28, 2018, 12:33:19 am »
Thanks for your reply Apav and I agree with everything you have said.  I am not going to get the roof resprayed because, as you rightly suggested, this could carry more risks of the car ending up not looking quite right compared to a few patches of touch up paint.

The 3 cars in 20 years relates to that fact that I have just (well, 18 months ago) bought the 3rd of those 3 cars. So it’s roughly 10 years per car.  The previous 2 (a black one and then a red) stood up pretty well paint wise and that’s when I was doing over 10,000 - 15,000 miles a year.  I am now only doing about 5,000 miles a year so hopefully it will atleast mean less stone chip damage.  I’ll just have to continue checking the car every day when I am home to immediately wipe any bird poo off and just hope for the best on the occasions where I have to leave it unchecked for a while.  It’s going to get 17 days of seagull action in a south coast car park soon so god knows what it’ll be like when I wash it upon my return :-(

Yes, I was hoping that somewhere would offer a professional touch up service and I would have taken them up on that. But every independent body shop/scuffs type place I went to said that due to it being right in the eyeline and how metallic it was, it would need a full roof respray and so no one was willing to do just a localised repair.  I’ll just have to use touch up paint, give it a polish, and hope it’s not too noticeable.  It’ll certainly be an improvement on how it looks now (which is like a chimpanzee tried carving some circles into the paint with a nail).  Ho hum.

Thanks again for taking time to respond. I appreciate it.