Hi, Im considering buying an ND2 RF, (2019 - 2022 years) as a weekend/summer only toy, but need a bit of advice regarding colour in terms of owners experience of chips, matching, best for resale etc. Heres my thoughts thus far. Of the colours Im interested in:
Arctic White: boring but a solid (not metallic) paint finish as far as I understand. Im guessing this is easier to touch up/match, in repair terms than a metallic. However, having ‘watched’ sales progress over time of various white ND2’s they seem to be slower sellers than other colours. Shows dirt and marks.
Silver: Nice light colour which shows off the cars lines etc, without being quite as boring as white. Not sure how these resell but Silver doesnt usually offend buyers too much, and seems to be a rarer ND2 colour than other shades. Would similarly show marks and dirt.
Soul Red: Absolutely beautiful; stunning, but Ive heard repeatedly about being prone to chipping. I know that Mazda paint on their MX5’s is super thin and water based, but from what Ive read the chipping seems worse with the Soul Red cars. My other concern would be that sunlight does strange things to reds over time. Im assuming no resale woes with this shade though. Dont know how easy a paint match is for touch up etc.
Machine grey: Looks well enough, not sure to what extent it shows dirt and marks. Also not sure how easy it is to paint match. Also wondering whether its a little too dark to really show off the cars lines. Im guessing its not gonna offend potential buyers.
(Light) blue (not the darker deep crystal blue): seems like a good compromise; not too dark, not too light.
Key additional question: Are all the above ND2 paint finishes prone to chips or are some worse than others?
Would really appreciate any feedback on the above but based on actual experience of owning one of the above colours, rather than supposition or conjecture; I can do that myself, as above lol.
Unfortunately all colours chip very easily. I would not worry about it and chose the colour YOU like the best. The Mazda touch up paints all match very well, success is down to how much care you take so once again don’t worry about it.
My favourite colour is the Arctic White, it contrasts well with all the other colours you find on the car and I found ours relatively easy to keep looking clean.
I have a Soul Red ND1, so it’s slightly different to what you would be looking at (Soul Red Crystal). I think that the challenges are the same, though.
Compared to my British Racing Green 2018 Mini JCW, the paint on the Mazda is a state and seems to have damaged very easily (I’m the second owner of the car; it’s a 2016 Sport Recaro). I’ve had it Gtechniq ceramic coated now and the detailer thinks that the ceramic coating will be harder than the lacquer already on the car.
I have some damage to the car that needs repairing and am waiting for a recommended paint guy with a body shop to become comfortable that he can do a good job. He’s been repairing his own, crash damaged Soul Red MX-5 and as in the process of perfecting the colour matching. From what I understand, it’s a three layer paint (pink coat, main colour coat, and lacquer), and the lacquer is a bit unusual as well.
All that said, Soul Red looks amazing and I would still have one as it’s my preferred colour. If you get a really clean example (of any colour), you want to keep the car for a length of time, and it will bother you if it chips easily, then at least look into ceramic coating. If you are really serious a clear PPF wrap is probably the way to go. A member in my area has a 30AE that had PPF applied when new (at high cost) and it looks incredible still.
I have a soul red crystal RF and it has chipped incredibly easily. There are thirty or so chips on the front of the car and I’ve not driven in a manner which would tend to cause excessive stone chipping.
I had a blue mx5 nd before this and it didn’t chip half as badly. It did chip, though, as I said not anywhere near as badly.
That said if you are buying a new car and are willing to protect the paint somehow then it is a stunning colour!
You may find a recurring theme crop up but would like to add my experience too. I had a 2021 soul red crystal from 100 miles on the clock. It was truly stunning but was by far the worst car for chips and then trying to improve. There are also many, many bodyshops that will either struggle to match or even refuse to do any work. If I had my ND time again (hopefully I will) I would regrettably not have another one. That all said it depends on you and your tolerance for chips. Most people would comment on how stunning my car looked but in reality it really did drive me mad and cause me to lose some love for it. My next preference would be machine grey as I think it looks great but have no experience of that for wear.
Sounds like you’re getting a white ND then. if you’re concerned about paint chips/touch-up colours. Even if it is as ‘you’ say boring and take a long time to sell.
But having been to a few local MX-5 meetings, the white ones are in the minority as everyone seems to buy the Ltd. editions. Which makes the standard white ones quite rare.
I discussed this very topic with my local SMART repairer last week. He said that Soul Red was a nightmare to repair and just a scratch can need the whole side done to achive a perfect result.
Mica colours were simpler to repair.
Machine grey was particularly expensive to obtain the special metal additives though.
So I have ruled out Soul Red, leaving my preference as Dark Crystal Blue, Jet Black or Machine Grey.
If I do get a new one, I would certainly get it ceramic coated by a local detailer (not the Mazda dealer) - I bought a new Fiesta is 2020 (magnetic grey) and it still looks brand new thanks to that treatment.
Colours I don’t like anyway include Zircon Sand, White and any other light colours.
Philip - I agree! Soul red crystal metallic. The availability of that colour is one reason I decided to trade in the silver 14 year old NC (with electric roof) I’d had from new and which had been 100% trouble free for a new ND2. I’ve had it over 2 years now and I still go to the window just to look at it on the drive.
It’s the sexiest car colour ever.
Everyone comments on how stunning it looks.
And we’ve just bought a new CX-30 for my wife - in Soul Red Crystal Metallic!
Some good advice here from lots of people. For my money, Machine Grey is a great bet. My ND1 has had paint at some time but has been matched very very well (and I’m fussy). It has a few stone chips but nothing serious.
Consider having the front of your car PPFd, it may seem expensive initially but you’ll never be bothered by minor stone chips again…
I’ve had Soul Red and Soul Red Crystal. Wash using the two buckets method for the first two years - the lacquer eventually hardens - and both are fine. Don’t let the supplying dealer wash the car as part of the PDI, as this is where most of the swirls came from on my new Mazda 3 - not all of them are careful.
Outstanding job. Did you use polishing compound or the fibre glass pad installed in the cap of the colour coat bottle on the final laquer coat to level it off?
There has been no mention of the “Racing Orange” as used on the 30AE edition. Because this is non-metallic i.e. just a solid colour I would have thought that it would be very easy to touch up. Also most of the examples I have seen seem to relatively chip free.
