2016 CX5: Dangerously Paper Thin Factory Paint!!

[richy]

I have been really blessed with out of town customers this summer. This was my 5th customer to come from as far as 4 hours away; this one came from 2 hours away. He had just taken delivery about a week ago or so of this brand new Mazda CX5. It was booked for a 2 stage light compound and polish (he wanted it to look as positively good as possible) and then coat with CQF. It was also getting the mats and carpeting protected with 303 Fabric Guard and the seats with CP leather coating. The trim was to be done with DLux as well.


Here it is after the 2 hour drive:





























First up was to wash the wheels and wells.

The barrels were cleaned with Tarminator followed by Zep Citrus.
The faces were shot with Zep Citrus and then cleaned with a demoted wash mitt and Megs HW.
The tires were cleaned with Zep 505.
The wells were cleaned with LATA.

After cleaning, I shot the plastic portions of the wells as well as the barrels with Aqua Bead (a Hydro copy). I did that for free for the customer.

Next up was to wash the car with Megs Hyper Wash followed by a decontamination wash using IronX paste. It was then brought inside and clayed using the CP clay towel. It was then blown off using my Master Blaster.


Now my favourite time: playing with paint. I call it playing b/c I have fun doing so...it hardly seems like work, especially with a cigar burning and the music in the background! This time, I was in for a severe shock. I almost didn't take any paint measurements b/c there was only some very minor micro scratches to remove. Habits are hard to break and when I took some measurements, I was shocked. The hood was terrible:





Are you kidding me? On a brand new car!?! Anyway, I did the 2 step process I promised to do, but was very cautious with my technique. I still used my black TB wool pad which I describe as bringing a clarity to the paint. I used M100 and my Rupes 21 with that. That was followed by M205 + white B/S pad + Flex 3401. I compared many times measurements before and after and I was not affecting the thickness of the paint, so I continued to do that combo. It was definitely improving the paint, and the metallic was popping.

My next shock came when doing the roof. This was one measurement and the lowest I saw was 70 microns:






I'm sorry, but that is not acceptable for a brand new vehicle. That paint is paper thin...Hell, Rice paper thin!! The only saving grace is now a double layer of CQF on there to protect it.

There was one small chip in the driver's door that needed filling:






The paint, head, tail lights and wheel faces all got a double coat of CQF. The trim was coated with Dlux, other than the trim at the doors and by the back hatch, which were done with CQF. The interior was vacuumed (although it was mint) and then the carpet mats were removed and sprayed heavily with 303 FG as was the rest of the carpeting, including in the cargo area. The seats were sealed with CarPro Leather coating and the driver's seat was given a double coat upon request. The plastic was treated with Ultima Interior Guard. The tires were shot with Opti Bond from my air gun. Here it is all done:








Love the metallic in this paint:















Check out the barrel:






I shot this twice with 2 different focal points: The first shot is focusing on the reflection of the trees and the second is highlighting the flake:



























Thanks for looking. Comments appreciated as always.

[Pureshine]

Great work as always bro!

[richy]

Great work as always bro!

Thanks Todd!

[1600CC]

Gorgeous work! Not only was the coating an improvement but with that paint a necessity too it seems. Goodness knows why manufacturers put such thin paint on their vehicles.

[Shinyrex]

Richy,
Bringing this back from the dead but, thanks for posting this. My wife bought the same car last December (even the same color) and I am putting CQUK on it this weekend. I am amazed at your readings and equally amazed at the hardness of the paint on mine. I had to compound a few areas where there were scratches when we got it but even the standard light swirls took a lot more effort than the paint on my Subaru.

[richy]

Richy,
Bringing this back from the dead but, thanks for posting this. My wife bought the same car last December (even the same color) and I am putting CQUK on it this weekend. I am amazed at your readings and equally amazed at the hardness of the paint on mine. I had to compound a few areas where there were scratches when we got it but even the standard light swirls took a lot more effort than the paint on my Subaru.

Glad it could help! I've never worked on a Subie, but I hear the paint is very soft on those. I was just out to make the paint pop and didn't have to chase any imperfections, so I didn't have to dig into the thin paint. Be careful with yours.