Engine bay corrosion and other questions

[HungryHorace]

Hello. Current Mazda3 owner looking to get a CX3 as the other car in the family.

Went to view our first example today and have a trio of questions on the back of it which hopefully someone can help with.

1. Does the non Bose boot have more space?

2. Is the soul red paint especially weak. The one we saw had more stone chips than my 3 despite being much younger.

3. Main question: in the engine bay there was a suspicious amount of corrosion. Bolt heads, hose clips and some deeper parts of the engine bay (possibly gearbox where the sensor attached) has quite a bit of orange/brown rust. Compared to my 3 which is 2016 and done 80k it was noticeable (this was a 19 with 23k).

Is this something particular to the CX3 or was I right to walk away?

Thank you.

[TEB]

Mine has Bose, but I believe non Bose does have slightly more space as the floor is not built up as much with polystyrene inserts.

Ours is Machine Grey, chipping seems average, though the paint appears quite thin when it does.

Had some issues with corrosion with our late 2018 example, mainly bonnet and boot, needed a respray, as corrosion appeared around the rear number plate lights. Also found it on the underside of the bonnet around the front bump stops, treated this with lanoguard, as I have with the suspension and rear wheel arches (linings removed obviously).

Would say the paint and corrosion resistance is not as good as that of a relatives 2015 Mazda 2, but not the worst I've come across.

[HungryHorace]

Thanks for that. My 3 is machine grey. Any idea where a good place for touch up paint is? Dealer near me says they don’t do it.

Have since put a deposit down on a cx3. Pre-facelift but happy with the price and the changes don’t seem massive so hopefully will still be happy with it. Becoming a double Mazda home…

[SeeXthree]

I actually looked for a low mileage pre facelift intentionally. If anything else I didn’t want an electric handbrake.
As for corrosion, mine is 2018 and has some signs of surface rust in a few spots behind bumper etc. but nothing evident on visible panels.
The rear bumper paint is shocking though. Mine has begun peeling away quite badly where the sprayed top meets the unpainted lower section. It looks awful and to say I’m let down after 3 months of owning an approved used main dealer car is an understatement. They couldn’t have been less bothered about it as my warranty is mechanical only

[HungryHorace]

Disappointing / frustrating about the paint on yours. I’ll have to keep an eye out for it.

[TEB]

I was lucky with the boot lid corrosion, as I noticed it just under a month after picking it up from the main dealer I bought it from. They covered it under goodwill, as the car was by then over 4 years old and well past the end of the 3 year paint warranty.

No problems as yet with bumper paint mind.

Oh, I bought touch up from Chipex.