Hi,

I just bought a new 03 P5. Since I do 100 km hwy driving everyday, and hearing how the paint chips real easy, I went to the dealer and bought a plastic hood deflector.

My Question, The demo car in the showroom had one that was installed with 4 screws under the hood and 2 rubbler clips on the edges. That looks simple enough.

I get the thing home an it has only two mounting screws on the bottom, 4 rubber clips (2 at each end) but the part that concerns me is I have to stick 7 rubber bumbers to the paint side of my hood!!! The one in the showroom did not have any of these buttons on the hood. The deflector is made by "perfect fit" for Mazda.


Question 1)

If I decide to take this thing off will the two sided tape leave marks on the paint.?

Question 2)

It says in the install manual not to use Automatic Washes. My guess is that the pressure sprays with pop out these rubber buttons. In winter, touchless car wash is only way I
wash my car. Anyone have problems?

Question 3)

Are these rubber bumpers necessary? Only 2 plastic plug/screws holding the thing to the hood.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I had my deflector installed by the dealer so I can't realy give you any advise in that regard, nor do I inted on removing it but I can forsee that if you do decide to remove it somwhere down the road, there will be a colour differance due to the fact that the section covered by the deflector is shielded from the sun. It's like taking a bra off a car after its been there for a while.

As for the rubber bumpers, the reason they are there is to stop the delector from being bent back from a large stone and a) Chiping/Scratching the hood and b) Breaking/Cracking the deflector.

Some Touchless washes have a Button or an option for cars with deflectors. Basically it stops the front dryer from coming down and riping it off. You still should use cation as I found some of the deflectors (they are not standard from Mazda, I've had two different styles from my dealer) are pretty flimsy and will flex quite a bit from the pressure of the side dryers. It gets into the sides and bends the deflector up.

Just make sure the car is dry and warm, if it isn't the bumpers will never stick. In my opinion I feel the deflector is worth it as my buddys hood is chiped to **** from highway driving where mine is relativly clean. If its something you think your going to be taking on and off all the time, you might want to invest into a "Magnetic Bra" Some of the people on this forum can tell you about it as I've never seen one used.

Cheers

 

Another option is this paint saver from 3M. It's a clear film, kinda like window tint that can be applied both to your hood, as well as your headlights to keep them from pitting/cracking.

Here is some info on it from Solar Gard:
http://www.solargard.com/Products/Paint_Protection.htm

 

On my P5 I have the hood deflector you saw in the showroom, that attaches with four screws under the hood and with the two rubber clips at the ends. It came with two clear plastic bump stops that attach to the hood to keep the deflector rigid. The brand name on it is Form Fit. Originally I had had in mind that I'd be taking the thing on and off as needed, but the way it's attached and especially considering the non-removable bump stops I realised it's meant to be more or less permanent, although I've taken it off once to wax underneath. Sure am glad I have it now. After a year of driving I have exactly one stone chip in my hood.

I don't use automatic car washes at all so I can't comment on how the hood deflector stands up to those, but I would definitely say the bump stops are necessary. Seven of them seems like overkill, however.