Soul Red Crystal paint chipping issues
 

Is anyone else experiencing an obscene amount of chipping on their 2018+ soul red crystal paint? My 18 Mazda 6 has a ton of paint chipping from road debris on the front hood, side fenders, even towards rear fenders. I've never experienced this bad of chipping issues with any of my 4 previous Mazda's, this is the worst I've seen thus far. With any vehicle I've owned frankly.
I took it to the dealer and even they said it's pretty bad. Service manager mentioned that because of this 7 stage paint, it's seems that this paint is more brittle than previous soul crystal red formulas in the past. He said I'm the second person to bring in their vehicle because of this. Just curious if anyone else has had similar chipping issues.

Agreed. I saw others on here now with similar issues. I dropped my car off at the dealer and they said they're going to take it to a body shop for photos and an estimate on a complete respray, then submit to Mazda for review. I have a few concerns. One being that they won't match the factory paint 100%. Second, what will they do to prevent this from happening again? I even opted for the Xillon when I got the vehicle and that didn't really protect much. I think the only thing I think that can really protect the paint at this point is ceramic coating on the entire vehicle, but that will be pricey.

Mazda CX-5 2018 Soul Red Paint chipping
 

I am also experiencing substantial chipping of the paint on my 2018 Mazda CX-5. I have only had the car just under 5 months (brand new) and under 5000 miles driven. It appears as though the paint is not bonded with the metal underneath the paint. Or that the layers of paint are not bonded. My recommendation to everyone having this problem is to file a complaint with the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) at https://www.nhtsa.gov/.

They work with the auto manufacturers to determine recalls. If they receive enough complaints on this topic, they will recommend that the Mazda recall the cars to remedy the problem. Every complaint is passed on to the auto manufacturer.

Soul Red Paint Chipping Respray
 

Hey all I have also had this problem on my Mazda 6 that I purchased in October 2018, so I contacted Mazda HQ and they are sorting it out. I had to take it in for photos a few times but thats cool I am on the list. Get yourself on the list.
They are working through a huge list all over Australia. I am waiting my turn.
I have been assured they will again when I drop it off take pictures and give me a loan car for the entire time they have it for respraying. It is most panels on the car at this stage so they will repaint all the bad panels and the others will have a special coating applied.
They have taken since February as they have been trying to make sure this will work and not happen again. As it is costing them heaps. I am sure that the new ones sold have a different coating on them to ensure this does not continue.

Don't do nothing contact Mazda..... You are all correct this is not good enough so make sure they fix it.

I had the exact same problem and Mazda fixed it for me for free, I think it was due to missing compound in the paint from the factory. The new paint they put on was not so brittle.

Soul Red chips
 

I also have a 2018 Mazda 6 Signature in Soul Red with severe paint chips. Have been in contact with Mazda customer support and had an appointment with the body shop yesterday. I am waiting to hear back from Mazda as to what their plan is. Every body panel needs to be removed and repainted so this goes beyond just road debris.

I found a tube of Soul Red touch paint on Amazon, well 2 tubes . The first one was 41V paint code from Mazda but ended up way to light. I then spent 20 minutes going through all the touch up paints and finally found my 46V paint code paint. The tube has clear on one end and the soul red color on the other end. I have done the first coat and when I get time I will do another coat and then clear it but even with only the one coat applied it looks a lot better. I am selling my car (trading) because of how bad the chips are on a 2 year old car! BTW the touch up paint comes from a Mazda dealer and made for our cars just 17$ !

2021 cx-5
 

I wish I had learned about this forum before I purchased the Red Soul CX-5 on Wednesday. I could have easily purchased the blue or grey. We had an ice storm and instead of brushing off the ice/snow we left it to melt on its own so that we would NOT damage the paint. Who would have thought that ice melting off a car would cause a 3" and 6-7" scratch down the hood. The car has less than 8 miles on it and I've driven it once...home from the dealer. Seems that Mazda is aware of this issue and yet STILL charges an excessive amount of extra money for the paint color. What a total disappointment. I was truly looking forward to driving this car but now I'm stuck with a car that is damaged and will need to be repaired. Everyone knows repairing paint on a car is never the same. It will eventually rust....
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...0ec719ed20.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...1334dad674.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...c0c3f5ba0e.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...b70bacb5f5.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...132553e096.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...ac3f8a6859.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...3c0f926270.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...42d104f4d7.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.maz...f065114b88.jpg

Mazda did pay to repaint my car. Had some issues with the dealership that has been addressed by Mazda but overall Mazda took great care of this issue!