Faults:

Weird problems with belts. they always squeak in the winter. The shop says you need a new belt and I put one one.

4th belt in 10k miles. If it is cold it squeaks.

Belt can last all sumer long if it is new.

Cracked the exhaust manifold. great design. Everyone has a new one listed for 80 bucks since it was a design problem.

Belts again. always the alternator belt. This time the motor got real hot. Hope it didn't die on me or I am stuck with payments on a dead car.

General Comments:

Car is small in the viewing area. The side doors dent real easy. Paint is easy to scratch.

Faults:

I needed to replace muffler and exhaust in Spring 2000 (55,000 miles)

The rear defrost stopped working in Winter 2000. (60,000 miles)

The windows have always fogged up quickly (especially in winter) and its difficult to clear them. It really makes for difficult driving at times.

General Comments:

I have been very pleased with this vehicle. The reliability is off the charts! Never once has it not started for me and that's saying a lot in northern Wisconsin!

The gas mileage is awesome - mid-30's. I love filling up my tank for $13 next to all those big SUVs and trucks who are paying $30 a pop!

My Mazda also has lots of zip compared to its competitors - its really fun to drive and I never have trouble finding a parking spot or getting out of tight spots.

Faults:

I've had to replace the muffler and exhaust pipe at about 110,000 miles. This compares to 3 times that I had to complete this with my Honda Civic DX.

The airbag light flashes intermittently. This is a dealer only repair... which I'm afraid to find out how much this will cost.

General Comments:

This car has been a model of reliability. 148,000 miles and I'm still driving with the original clutch... with no slippage. Even with the high miles, I'm still getting 38 mpg with highway driving. The car has not used any oil and always starts with the first turn of the key.

The 1.5 liter needs to go about 3200 rpm to travel at 70 mph. It is also weak when the air conditioning is on... especially if you are climbing a hill. Expect to down-shift in such a situation.

I'm currently shopping for a new car and the Protege is on the top of my list of small economy cars.

Faults:

Muffler practically fell off, though the car is driven through tons of salt every winter so I don't blame it.

For some reason that neither I nor my mechanic can figure out, the fan fuse goes every month or so and requires a 30 cent replacement. Made me fail an emissions inspection once, don't know how they were related, but so it goes.

The carpeting in the back seat tore from the body very easily.

General Comments:

I'll start off with the bad news. This car is weak and does not like hills whatsoever. You'll occasionally find yourself kicking off the overdrive just to go up a steep hill or to merge into traffic. I don't know if it's a fluke, but when I got the car, it took a couple of weeks for the carpeting in the back to rip off the body, which is quite ugly.

There is however, plenty of good news. I got the car very cheap after it was wrecked and abandoned. A buddy of mine who worked in the towing place fixed it up and sold it to me for very cheap. There was no internal damage, but the hood and one fender had to be replaced. After that accident, the car still runs quite fine and nothing outside the expected has gone wrong. The factory supplied speakers are better than any I've heard. The seats, front and back, are much more comfortable than seats in newer and more expensive cars. They are of the firm, but supportive ergonomic kind. That combined with a surprisingly roomy cabin (front and back) makes this one of the few small cars good for long trips. There is also a ton of trunk space. For someone looking for a relatively inexpensive (these devalue fast, for some reason), economical, and practical used car, this is a great choice. Don't buy that civic!