Just how bad is the 93 paint?
 

Ok guys, I'm looking into purchasing my first fd. I've read a lot about problems with paint adhesion especially on 93 models. I've done some searches and most threads just say the same thing..."paint sucks." The car I'm looking at is very low mileage, like under 25k (car is a red 93 if it makes a difference), and the original paint is near perfect. So it's obvious that the original owner has not taken the car out much and it's always been garaged and cared for. I would plan on driving the car much more, therefore it would be exposed to the elements quite a bit more. So how bad is the paint? If I buy this car, would I be looking at a repaint in a few years or another 30-40k on it? Does peeling actually occur? Is it due to exposure to sun or just age? If age, I would think if something was gonna happen, it would have happened by now. Any information would be helpful. This is what's really holding me back from buying an fd. Is there reason to this be cautious? Thanks!

Mine never peeled; it was just really prone to road debris/stone chips. All it took was a hard stare and the paint would chip.

It isn't that bad and pretty much applies to the Touring model only.

Peeling typically hits the silver cars the worst.

I've had several FDs with original paint, red, black and white. The paint chipping isn't that bad.

i have a 93 red and paint was on fine but faded so bad it was pink and almost white in a lot of places like rear deck lid, roof and hood. Painted it black looks 100 times better and get complimets everytime I drive it.

True. I have a 93 VR touring and the paint is holding up pretty well. Minor chipping here and there. :)

My 93 touring is really bad... Started as a small pinhole and now it's just out of control!

On my '93 BB touring it was. I don't exactly follow construction trucks around, and the freeways in SoCal are fairly clean; yet my hood, bumper, and even roof began to amass a large number of chips in the paint, and they would often grow larger after the initial chip. I finally said "enough", and had the car repainted. Six years and many thousands of miles since that time, there are no chips (knock wood) whatsoever.

On the other hand, my car may be an isolated case. And it wasn't horrific or anything, like the car was falling apart; just obvious that the paint was pretty fragile.

:bigthumb: I quess the previous owners took a lot of care of mine. Everytime I find one on mine I touch it up. I'm so anal about my ride. :D

My car has about 115,000 miles and the paint looks like shit. It is a Vintage Red base model(I think). The paint on the hood is so faded that it looks like I waxed it and never took the wax off. Milky is a good way of discribing it. The roof is another area for concern. It looks as if the clearcoat is gone on both sides right above the door in a long large oval that contours with the door. The paint underneath is super shiny and looks as if there is a "milky" halo around it.
The chipping was pretty bad but only on the front bumper. I replaced it with an aftermarket bumper and sent the old one to the dump.:D
It will be getting new paint in the spring.

I have a 93 and I am a very aggresive driver, highway and the track and I have a decent amount of chips on the fenders, hood and bumpers but that's it.. Nothing to be concerned about.

I also read about the paint chips before I bought my car. When I purchased it there were only two or three chips I could see on the bonnet that had been professionally touched up.

I've owned it 9 weeks and had only big stone chip on the bonnet, which I touched up. There are a few smaller ones popping up here and there, but nothing like some of the more serious chipping I've seen photos of on the internet.

As it is the paint on my car is in good condition ,a little pinkish on the rear spoiler and side mirrors but a wash and wax leaves it looking awesome. In a nutshell, despite a few nicks here and there the car doesn't at all look it's age.

However, I did buy the car with a repaint in mind in perhaps 3 ot 5 years if the chipping gets out of control.

On my 93 BB R1, I never had any paint chipping at all. The car was discounted at the time of purchase because of "acid rain damage". Along with the discount was a waiver on the paint warrantee. But the car never had a problem with the paint except for the loss of shininess. This and the fact that I got tired of the black color led me paint my car a different color all together about 3 years ago.

paint on my '93 VR Touring still looks great thanks to Zaino but there are quite a few chips near the fender wells, especially in the "high reflex" paint areas lol

I have a silver 93 touring with 63k miles on it and the paint is ok. There are some rock chips on the hood and roof but the bad part is on the bumpers (front & rear) where the paint has spiderweb cracks in it. Not too noticeable unless you get really close. I plan on repainting in the next year or two. No rush.

I have a 93 VR touring... paint is as glossy as it was with 10 miles. I now have 101k... no issues.

I have a 93 BB Touring with 28,000 miles with no chipping what so ever (knock on wood).

-Alex

Mazda paint in general sucks ass through a straw.

Ever noticed almost all older Mazdas look like chalk? Miatas, MX3's, RX7's. It pathetic. Just budget for a respray, unless your car was garage kept since the day it was born, meticulously cared for, rarely driven, and never saw weather.

I think the bottom line is that you're not likely to find many other FDs as pristine as that one. If you want one and you're willing to take good care of it, you should get that one. If you're going to abuse the car or hack up the car with a wide body kit or somesuch, you should buy a less pristine example and leave that one to a collector.

I have a '94 and I don't think the paint is that much better than the '93s. It still chips easily. That said, it could be much worse (as in clear coat separation like GM products of the 80s and 90s).

So let me get this straight... You are worried about factory paint chipping on an 11 year old car? Especially on an FD...

Dude if this is what is holding you back maybe you should look at another vehicle. Paint chipping is the least of your troubles.

Word.

I have a 93 Silver Touring and the paint's in great shape. Maybe I'm just lucky :bigthumb: ?

i agree with montego

Wrong thing to be so worried about. As montego said, look into a different vehicle.

Damnit! Mine silver 93's clear coat was peeling off prettyy bad in 2" sections before I had it repainted... Chipping was also pretty bad. I wonder why silver faired worse than other colors?

i had a '93 VR that was faded so bad on the mirrors that the paint was basically non-existant, it was rediculous... the hood and front bumper also had a rediculous amount of chips in it. We actually tried contacting Mazda about it but it would have required a lawyer to go through with it and actually get a new paint job out of it. Simply wasn't worth the trouble.

My current Black '93 had one hell of an oxidation issue that I just recently took care of with some strong buffing compounds. Didn't fix the chips though.