Faults:

Front brakes were not working when I bought it.

Rough idle.

Water in the muffler.

Rad had a hole in it.

Seats were bad.

Rad fan didn't work.

All the springs in the car had cracked and broke.

General Comments:

After fixing all the problems and slightly modifying it the car was surprisingly quick.

I abuse it a lot by racing it takes it and slams me into the back of my seat.

Faults:

Stalled out daily for a while.

General Comments:

Had pop for the money.

However, the black interior and exterior caused it to get very hot during the summer.

Other than a brief stall-out period, the car had spotless reliability.

The Engine was a bit noisy at idle, though.

Faults:

Timing Chain went at approximately 125,000 KM. I have had to replace the CV joints in the front (left and right) a few times now. The exhaust assembly has been replaced once and now the down pipe and middle pipe need replacing. I replaced the Clutch at 175,000 KM. The power windows roll-up very slowly. The radiator needs to be replaced, it has a hairline crack. The air intake hose has cracked and was fixed by duct tape (the same duct tape has held for almost two years now).

General Comments:

The car handles well, it has a great turning radius and hugs the road nicely. Being a lightweight 4-banger this car can really pick-up some speed. The stiff suspension can compromises comfort for handling, but the trade-off is good. I've had this car for about 8 years and every year I need to pour ~$750 (Canadian currency) for repairs, not bad, but not great either.

Faults:

The only thing I have replaced in the car is the radiator. It had a hairline crack in it and because it was plastic they couldn't fix it.

General Comments:

I really like this car. This is my first car and I'm glad I bought it. The first owner took very good care of it. The only thing I don't like is going 60mph the rpm is up at 3000. I have been in other proteges where the same has happen and have read different reviews and I'm not the only one. This car rides really smooth at 70 mph. My sister owns a 1992 protege and she loves hers to. Her protege has 170,000 miles on it and runs great. Hers is a Dx and is an automatic. I really recommend this car if you are a young teenager.

Faults:

The first thing to go was the clutch, only due to the fact that it was misused and over abused.

The seat belt indicator beeping sound had to be disconnected, the light always stays on.

The timing belt broke at 80k miles (previous owner, see below) and had to be replaced.

The radiator, thermostat and exhaust system (from the manifold on down) were replaced at 140k miles. Exhaust rust started at 130k miles.

Right front axle bearing assembly had to be replaced at 130k miles (due to broken boot).

Currently there is some shaking during hard braking. Front disk rotors are getting warped.

General Comments:

This was a hand me down from my brother, so I have had a relationship with this car since 1999, and I absolutely love the car!

Great gas mileage, at around 30mpg!

Most of the faults of this car are due to the poor thing being beaten to death my my crazy brother and myself (emergency brake spin outs, snow bank ramming, peel outs at every light). However, there was a reason to our insanity...

Superb engine performance (manual transmission). Capable of spinning the tires in second gear every time, can pass anything on the highway in seconds. Car has great handling, however the rear is starting to slip.

Have gotten compliments from friends borrowing the car: "I can't believe this thing has such pickup!" "I had a great time zipping around the city."

Interior comfort is great, the rear fold down seats make moving anything possible. However, windows fog up in the rain and can be an annoyance sometimes.

The car's age and hard life is starting to show. I would recommend this car to anyone (as long as it was taken care of), and I'm thinking of getting a newer model!