Got the same problem...went on first "road trip" this week. Ended up with about 4 chips in 3 days of travel...580+miles. Not just a P5 problem. Today was my free oil change so I got to talk to the dealer. He at least offered to send me another free bottle of touch-up paint.

 

Yea I have chips in my hood and front/rear bumpers from highway driving and all around living out in the shittiest country town in the world where they have no clue how to make roads Nothing like going down a perfectly newly paved road and having rocks and **** slung at your car, you would think they would have cleared the excess crap off the road, nope!

 

The paint on the yellow P5's is 3 mils thick. It is much thicker on the other colors. If you own yellow be carfull. I hand rub my car when I wax it. My car is wiped down every time I go to drive it. My 1989 Mazda Mx-6 turbo still looks like it just rolled off the dealer showroom floor. it was taken care of the same way. The paint on the yellow P5 sucks. My friend is the customer service manager at Mazda and told me that was the reason for the yellow color P5 was so hard to get. Mazda couldn't get the yellow paint right. I love my P5, just not the paint job. I see thick yellow paint in it's future. And that's all I have to say about that! Thanks for listening to my bitchin!!!!

 

hmm...possibly Silver or Black for me now hehe, I don't want a coat of paint that thin..especially with all the highway driving I do..

 

Travis.....if Yellow is the color you like...get it and just invest the $100 and get the factory bra......put it on for your highway driving and take it off for cruisin aournd town....

That is what I am going to do...not to mention it will certainly help with the damn love bugs.

 

The bar is only $100? hmm..another option I do love that yellow..

 

yep....I am going to call my dealer monday and see if they got one in stock...and if not....order it so I can go up there on the weekend and pick it up.

 

awesome, Take me a picture

 

I have a yellow P5. I was planning on waxing it soon, but after reading some of these post, im scarred to . Does it really take the paint off? Shouldnt the clearcoat stop this from happening?

Any recommendations on the waxing? Should I wax it? Ive only had it for 5 months. Please help, tnks

 

for starters...our yellow cars don't have a clear coat......and as long as you are waxing it with a quality wax, that is in itself a wax and has no abbrasives it in...and you do the job by HAND and do NOT use an electric buffer....you have no fear of taking your paint off......go for it.

I have used a protectant on my cars many times....and I have only had them since the end of december...and I have NEVER seen a single drop of paint come off on the rags I use.

 

This is NOT true. I contacted Mazda Usa a couple of months ago to confirm this, and they emailed me back telling me that the Vivid Yellow DOES have a clear-coat.

Here is the email I sent to them, and their response:

From: "MM" <MM@mazdausa.com>
To: <XXXXXXX@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Your E-mail to MyMazda.com
Date: Monday, March 18, 2002 5:25 PM

Dear XXXX,

Thank you for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I appreciate
the opportunity to respond to you.

You've inquired if your 2002 Mazda Protegé5 in Vivid Yellow has a
clearcoat. I have verified with our Product Support Engineers that the
Vivid Yellow paint on the Protegé5 does, in fact, have a clearcoat.

I hope this information is helpful.

Again, thank you for contacting Mazda. It has been my pleasure to
assist you. If for any reason this response has not completely
satisfied you, please feel free to reply to this message. You may also
contact our Customer Assistance Center toll-free at 1-800-222-5500.

Please take a moment of your time to give us your opinion about our
e-mail service. Click the link below to complete a brief, online survey.


Regards,

Lisa Lasky
Specialist, Customer Assistance E-Business


"Want a bit of Miata-like sportiness in something that can handle
home-improvement-center runs, a stroller, or a few golf bags? Consider
the Protegé5." - Motor Trend

Original Message Follows:
------------------------


Form Message

Year: 2002
Model: Protegé5
Message Body: I have a Vivid Yellow Protege 5, and I have been told
that the paint DOES NOT have a clearcoat on it. Is it true that the Red
and Vivid Yellow Protege 5 has no clearcoat? Without a clearcoat,
wouldnt the car have no paint protection? If it doesnt have a clearcoat,
why not? What would you recommend for paint protection? Can you please
verify this information. Im sorry if I seem angry, but im shocked to
find out that my paint may not have a clearcoat on it. Thank you.
XXX XXXX
First Name: XXXX
Last Name: XXXX
Profile Address: XXXXX
Profile City: XXXX
Profile State: XXXX
Profile Postal Code: XXXX
Home Phone:
Work Phone:
Email Address: XXXXXXXX@yahoo.com
Profile VIN:
Profile Mileage: 210
Phone At: HOME
Phone Time: PM
Mazda Update: No-Check
Subject1: My Mazda
Subject2: Technical
Subject: Your E-mail to MyMazda.com

 

I have close to 15 dings in my paint job. From the front to the back spoiler. That's one of the first things I noticed. Thats why I got my magnabra.

 

Hey MnkyBoy...that is totally cool!! and here I thought my car didn't have one....guess the RED has a clearcoat too then....

well GOOD....that is just that much more protection for the actual paint then....

SO....I would STILL wax that baby up.....just do it by hand...and use a quality wax. NOT a polish.....a true polish has abrasives in it....ever so fine as they may be....so do GLAZES...they are the finest of the polishes......ensure what you are using is a true WAX.

 

Sir Nuke, yea, i was happy that they said it does have a clear-coat. I was thinking about using Maguiers 3 Step System. Cleaner, Polish, and Wax. Is this a good system to use?

 

Maguires makes good products.......I have used them before...in fact I have some Mirror Glaze for removing very small scratches.

I can't imagine why, with a car as new as yours is, that having to do the cleaning, polishing and then waxing would really be required. you just really need to be careful with TRUE polishes....I would NEVER reccomend using an electric buffer though. Its just way to easy to mess up your entire paint job. People tend to get carried away with them.

maybe what you should do is find a very reputable detail shop and talk with a real expert......and not rely on the opinions you may find here. ME, I tend to be VERY conserative.....others may not.....but in the end....its YOUR decision....and its YOUR car. Just be careful with it......we all love our cars.....after all.....if we didn't, we wouldn't be here talking to one another about them.....we would all just be like the OTHERs just seeing a means of transportation...