[chris17house]

Do any of the sedan owners have the problem of rocks chipping the paint off of the bottom rear doors, and especially the lip of the fender in the wheel wells?

Im thinking about putting some rubber pieces in these spots to help protect the paint when my car is repainted by the factory for these defects.

 

[ebhcr]

Um, it's not really a defect. Just slow down in construction areas, newly paved roads, or anywhere with debris/gravel...

 

[No Clue]

I beg to differ... I too think it is a defect,or at least something that the Mazda people should have seen that this was an issue.... Just my 2 cents but I think they either should have put rock guards or put some sort of coating to make this less of a problem. I am looking at repainting mine after less than 3 years of owning this car.

 

[Colostomy_Bag]

Griot's Garage sells a product that's a spray-on rubber coating that's supposed to be safe on car paint, and can be peeled off.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_2500&L2=L2_2520&SKU=20264

I question the long-term viability, as it would seem you'd start getting holes and pits on the coating (cosmetically unappealing), and how well does this stuff clean up when washing the car?

 

[chris17house]

Yeah i guess i should have re-worded "defect" to something more along the lines of "minor design flaw". I just know that from the 3's that i have driven and looked at, they all seem to have the same problem, i have not looked at the 3-stage paint on the velocity red though.

I was just throwing out a suggestion in the hopes that someone trys this and it works for them, and in the end saves them some tears when their paint gets chipped up.

Maybe we could even buy an invisible bra and cut it to shape and glue it on the areas in question. Tell me what you guys think. I cant do anything till i get painted.