I would love to see THAT after a few years... Seems like a bad idea to do the protection only 10 inches into such a large area... If it protects against UV and such, I wonder what kind of visual difference there will end up being and how long it would take to show the difference.

 

Until today, I'd never seen a hood covered completely with PPF; they all stopped some 10 or 12 inches back from the leading edge. My new Subaru hood has PPF on only the first 10 inches. So the roof would be no worse than a partially covered hood.

 

For how long? I'd be concerned about weathering and any sun damage compared to the protected part over time.

 

Appreciate that this thread is about Soul Crystal Red, but agree that there are also issues with the older 2016 Soul Red. The paint is VERY thin, approx 70 micrometres compared to the 140 micrometres on my European car. My bonnet is covered in chips and I actually have rust appearing on the roof from chips that have suddenly appeared (they can't be more than two weeks old). Mazda have refused to help. I'm fastidious about keeping the car clean and touching up chips as I notice them. I'm on the way to a dealer this morning to get rid of it before the value plummets.

I note that Mazda industry press releases are praising their paint tech for allowing thinner coats, thus reducing VOC and weight.

My "insider" has suggested that all '+' models from Aug 2018 production onwards have resolved the Soul Crystal Red issue, but we will wait and see.

What are people's experiences with Artic White?

 

I've similarly been put off the Machine Grey as an alternative: apparently this paint is extremely expensive, being a similar formulation to that used on certain Rolls Royce colours, although slightly easier to work with compared to Crystal Soul Red.

 

The method of applying film also requires the use of a very sharp knife in proximity to the car body to cut to the exact shape and profile of the panel. Unless you have a highly skilled and patient technician, do you really want to risk barely perceptible knife cuts in the paint that could ultimately rust down the line?

 

As I suspect, the "original" Soul Red Metallic is generally accepted to be not fit for purpose. The paint does not stand up to normal day-to-day and environmental driving conditions. Any attempt to quantify the extent of the damage should be related to the milage covered by the car. That is, at 10,000 miles my car had 14 definite chips through to the base layer. At 15,000 miles it had 25 "chips". Extrapolating to 30,000 miles I would envisage there being in excess of 50. Given that there are another two winters before I reach 30,000 miles, and that I first noticed the chips after last winter (possibly related to the paints performance in cold weather/ salt covered roads) I expect the damaged may be much worse. Even at 30,000 my car will still be under warranty. I have logged this issue with Mazda UK and with the manufacturering plant in Hiroshima. No luck with either at the moment.

 

Of course, it's not just the aesthetic issues of having chips: once they are formed there is always the risk of rust even with a touch-up as water may have already penetrated the surface. This is my problem with the slightly off-topic Soul Red on my 2016 Mazda 6: rust on the roof from chips even after repair

 

In my fourth week now of them having my car, no contact yet from them. Fun fun fun...

 

Week 4 started for me today. Spoke with my dealer's service adviser today as well, he said the painting will start on Thursday, implying it took them 3 weeks to take the car apart. Also confirmed that only the panels with the chips/flakes will be painted, and the adjacent unaffected panels will be blended in. I assume that means I will have a partial Mazda warranty on the unpainted panels, and a partial body shop warranty.