New 3 Sport GX with paint blemish covered up by dealer, what to do?

[crabnebula]

Hi,

I'm in Montreal but have been reading here quite a bit before deciding to purchase my first Mazda (had nothing but VWs before) and have found lots of valuable info.

I just took delivery of my new Mazda 3 Sport GX in graphite mica.

Unfortunately when I got home I noticed that the dealer had covered up a patch of missing paint on the driver's side door sill. It is about 2.5 x 0.5 inches in size and touch up paint was applied to dissimulate it.

http://wnp1ow.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pDHoaGCFx0z14kMkUvXmlQxoKXTHbCFBYLCOGcxZRKKQyIoA yjVsavXcS2UC49eHvQQrWid29E0hlviKBImsOP2hTa5sfReI3/DSCF3373.jpg
http://wnp1ow.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pXyJFzM3P2EVTz0Rz1XnT6Q2MlTbas376SZ9Oms8i2GNmIhw v9f6tcRK5oUdVFGlnVy5m2xZqLyEUaj9ZE6mILPYYJrYRl9m9/DSCF3380.jpg

What would you guys do?

I'm not sure what I should ask of the dealer in terms of repair and am concerned that a repair won't be as resistant to rust as the original paint. I'd appreciate any advice.

Thanks.

[PCLoadLetter]

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about the touch up job. The shitty part is the dealer probably won't own up to it when you bring it to their attention.

Excellent choice in colour though!

[Noisy Crow]

That's really shady.

I would straight up tell them to fix it. Shouldn't be any rust issues at all.

Be prepared for them to argue that it's not visible because the closed door covers it.

[crabnebula]

Thanks, I see we have similar tastes. :-)

Well I brought it back to the dealer and they acknowledged it wasn't normal. They said they'd fix it, but might not repaint... I'll have to see exactly what that means next week, but am wondering what I am entitled to expect in a case like this.

[CFX]

I had scratches in the same area when I picked up my car, minus the glob of paint they used on yours.
I wouldn't be concerned about rust in that area, it's already covered it with paint. Depending on it's actual location on the sill, consider door sills to cover it up the imperfection.

[J_man]

Welcome to TM3. I wouldn't worry too much about that rusting and I'm sure the dealer will say it wasn't their fault. It's unfortunate, but if I were you I would do my regular service elsewhere because I wouldn't trust that dealer anymore....

[DualSoul]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your purchase!

I'd bring the shoddy job up to the dealers' attention, as I'm not sure how they could weasel out of it considering you just picked the car up. At the same time though, not sure how much they can fix it without a repaint. Good luck though.

[crabnebula]

Thanks for all your advice. I'll keep you posted about what happens.

In the meantime we're enjoying the car quite a bit and don't regret moving away from VWs.

[crabnebula]

Just wanted to follow up on my story.

The dealer took the car in and repainted the door sill. The job isn't perfect but it's barely noticeable now, so I'll call it a happy ending.

We're very happy with the purchase. The 3 is a great car for the price.

Thanks again for your advice.

[zakman]

nice to hear they fixed it for you. love the color by the way.