Poor Condition of Mk 3.5's
Discussion
Evening all,
I've looked at a number of low mileage Mk 3.5 Sport Techs over the last couple of months. Just about all the cars I've seen have had some of all of the following.
1. Numerous paint chips, scuffs and scratches.
2. Badly worn leather seat bolsters on the drivers side.
3. Badly kerbed wheels.
I know that cars pick up stone chips and that these are unavoidable but I'm surprised that so many of the cars I have looked at have been in relatively poor condition bearing in mind the cars age and low mileage and the fact that very few mx-5's will be bought as company cars.
Are these problems normal or have I just been unlucky?
Do mx-5's suffer from soft paintwork?
I've looked at a number of low mileage Mk 3.5 Sport Techs over the last couple of months. Just about all the cars I've seen have had some of all of the following.
1. Numerous paint chips, scuffs and scratches.
2. Badly worn leather seat bolsters on the drivers side.
3. Badly kerbed wheels.
I know that cars pick up stone chips and that these are unavoidable but I'm surprised that so many of the cars I have looked at have been in relatively poor condition bearing in mind the cars age and low mileage and the fact that very few mx-5's will be bought as company cars.
Are these problems normal or have I just been unlucky?
Do mx-5's suffer from soft paintwork?
Ecosseven said:
Evening all,
I've looked at a number of low mileage Mk 3.5 Sport Techs over the last couple of months. Just about all the cars I've seen have had some of all of the following.
1. Numerous paint chips, scuffs and scratches.
2. Badly worn leather seat bolsters on the drivers side.
3. Badly kerbed wheels.
I know that cars pick up stone chips and that these are unavoidable but I'm surprised that so many of the cars I have looked at have been in relatively poor condition bearing in mind the cars age and low mileage and the fact that very few mx-5's will be bought as company cars.
Are these problems normal or have I just been unlucky?
Do mx-5's suffer from soft paintwork?
1. The paint is very thin on them. I've always been told that Japanese cars have thin paint, but I think it's more of a cost cutting thing these days. My Mk1 had much better paint.I've looked at a number of low mileage Mk 3.5 Sport Techs over the last couple of months. Just about all the cars I've seen have had some of all of the following.
1. Numerous paint chips, scuffs and scratches.
2. Badly worn leather seat bolsters on the drivers side.
3. Badly kerbed wheels.
I know that cars pick up stone chips and that these are unavoidable but I'm surprised that so many of the cars I have looked at have been in relatively poor condition bearing in mind the cars age and low mileage and the fact that very few mx-5's will be bought as company cars.
Are these problems normal or have I just been unlucky?
Do mx-5's suffer from soft paintwork?
2. The leather is cheap on the newer models than older ones - I've noticed the same in other marques. Cost cutting again. There is no wear on my driver's bolster after 5 years and 60k, so perhaps fat people are owning the ones you've looked at? (I'm not wide enough to strain the bolster
)3. People can't park for s
t basically. MX-5s may have a large portion of female drivers? Also finish on the alloys is not the best - mine are quite badly corroded, but have never been kerbed!My mk3.5 has been pretty stonechipped since about 6k miles, the paint is soft too, I've got a mark on the back bumper from what looks like someone brushing against the car.
The wheels on mine seem OK, but I haven't kerbed them and they have had wheel sealant on them from new so haven't rusted, although a few of the wheel nuts are starting to rust.
The wheels on mine seem OK, but I haven't kerbed them and they have had wheel sealant on them from new so haven't rusted, although a few of the wheel nuts are starting to rust.
To be fair, there is a lot of exposed paintwork on the front of the 5, and as has been said, water based paint is not that durable.
Regarding the leather, mine was worn on the o/s seat bolster when I bought it, imo, its the seatbelt rubbing on it.
Curbed my n/s/f alloy on week 2 of ownership, easy done !!
Regarding the leather, mine was worn on the o/s seat bolster when I bought it, imo, its the seatbelt rubbing on it.
Curbed my n/s/f alloy on week 2 of ownership, easy done !!
Gilhooligan said:
My mate bought an '07 mk3 with only 14k on the clock and it was pretty stonechipped up front. Even worse, the metal pillar on the door between the window and the small glass pane (no idea what its called) was rusting!
Front quarterlight rust is a fairly common issue by all accounts, I was lucky enough to get mine done under warranty. Just about to tackle some corrosion to the bootlid. Sadly, corrosion seems to be a recurring theme with all mx5's hopefully less so with the mk3.I had similar experiences to the op when I bought my 07 car back in 2009, plenty of cars that had clearly been thrashed within their first 2-3 years and many on main dealer forecourts, I was lucky to find one as a p/x at a mini dealer and was trading a mini in, happy days!
mx5cl said:
Front quarterlight rust is a fairly common issue by all accounts, I was lucky enough to get mine done under warranty. Just about to tackle some corrosion to the bootlid. Sadly, corrosion seems to be a recurring theme with all mx5's hopefully less so with the mk3.
I had similar experiences to the op when I bought my 07 car back in 2009, plenty of cars that had clearly been thrashed within their first 2-3 years and many on main dealer forecourts, I was lucky to find one as a p/x at a mini dealer and was trading a mini in, happy days!
Yeah my mate got the dealer to sort his before he bought it. Will be interesting to see how long it lasts...I had similar experiences to the op when I bought my 07 car back in 2009, plenty of cars that had clearly been thrashed within their first 2-3 years and many on main dealer forecourts, I was lucky to find one as a p/x at a mini dealer and was trading a mini in, happy days!
There was a fair amount of corrosion going on underneath too with the wishbones and subframe etc.
Makes me feel better about my mk1 and its slightly ropey sill anyway haha.
The leather on my 3.5 is virtually unworn at 2.5yrs old and 22k miles, and the interior still has its 'new' smell.
Paint at the front is a little chippy, but the worst is it's swirled (has been from new) and to look 100% mint needs correction. All the black ones I've seen are exactly the same. It does scrub up well to the non-detailers eye though. Oh, my alloys are unmarked but there are little rust dots starting to appear on the wheel nuts.
A lot of 3.5s I've seen have badly rusted calipers, hub centres and stone guards, all of which I painted to prevent rust.
Paint at the front is a little chippy, but the worst is it's swirled (has been from new) and to look 100% mint needs correction. All the black ones I've seen are exactly the same. It does scrub up well to the non-detailers eye though. Oh, my alloys are unmarked but there are little rust dots starting to appear on the wheel nuts.
A lot of 3.5s I've seen have badly rusted calipers, hub centres and stone guards, all of which I painted to prevent rust.
hornetrider said:
Paint at the front is a little chippy, but the worst is it's swirled (has been from new) and to look 100% mint needs correction. All the black ones I've seen are exactly the same. It does scrub up well to the non-detailers eye though.
Mine's black and it is more swirly than a swirly thing. That and the front end full of chips (previous owner was heavy motorway user), other than that it's mint!Craikeybaby said:
Craikeybaby said:
That reminds me that there's what looks like tape flaking up from around the quarter lights - maybe an attempt by Mazda to fix this...
It's kind of hard to see, but this is where the tape is flaking up, has anyone seen this on a mk3 or mk3.5 before?
Mine look like they might be just starting to go again and having just sorted some corrosion on the boot lid its one of the tasks on the longer term list after a rattly roof latch (although downloaded some instructions for that off miata.net)! Maybe if I could get hold of some paint protection film when the time comes it might be a longer term fix, I guess it might be too early to tell if this tape has done the job on mk3.5's?
Edited by mx5cl on Monday 29th October 22:28
I took it into my local Mazda dealer and they said they've seen another one like this, but as the owner just asked them to pull the tape off they didn't dig further, but they have taken photos and sent them to Mazda to see if there's an official fix for when I leave it with them tomorrow. I'm guessing the official fix will be "Reapply tape and fob owner off until car is out of warranty".
hornetrider said:
Craikeybaby said:
I've got the rust spots on the wheel nuts on mine too, so will mention that when I take it back to Mazda.
Yeah was thinking of doing the same before the warranty runs out. Would be good if they replaced them.Went to look at another sport tech at my local mazda dealer last weekend. Drivers seat bolster badly worn and the car had only done 9000 miles! I'm guessing that Mazda have really cut corners on the quality of the leather seats in the Mk3.5 as I've only seen one sport tech that didn't have a badly worn drivers seat bolster.
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