Faults:

- Intake manifold gasket cracked/leaking at 100 000km

- Battery died at 120 000km,

- Mass Airflow Sensor needed cleaning at 100 000km,

- Water leaks into trunk from rear bumper mounts at 80 000km

- Exhaust pipe flange failure at 130 000km

- Front anti-sway bar links failure at 75 000km (passenger) and 100 000km (driver)

- front engine mount failure at 90 000km

- EGR Valve needed lubricating at 120 000km

- Alternator failed at 130 000km

- Cold front strut noise (over bumps) starting at 80 000km.

General Comments:

A few things have failed, but gives me an excuse to replace with upgraded parts (in many cases the Mazda part itself has been strengthened as in the engine mount and intake manifold gasket).

Performs very well, and has never let me down. With the right tires, handles amazingly.

Acceleration isn't great with the A/C on (when it cycles can cause the transmission to shift unexpectedly if you are on the threshold of a shift), but accelerates great when cold.

Faults:

Mass Airflow sensor was replaced under recall.

A/C smells musty sometimes when first turned on.

Nothing has gone wrong with it.

General Comments:

Very roomy for a compact car.

More exciting to drive than Honda or Toyota.

Excellent fuel economy.

Could use a little more power, but that's what happens when you have a 1.6 liter engine.

I love my Protege and would definately buy one again. I haven't had to do a thing to it except for change the oil.

Faults:

Exhaust had a leak.

Door lock flap needed to be replaced in 2002.

General Comments:

This is a very cheap car. But it is very reliable. But it is not very powerful.

Faults:

Both taillights dimmed, one at 18000 km., second at 28000. It was not expensive and easy to fix for me. However, I see Proteges with the same problem all the time.

One clamp one the exhaust system rusted through, I replaced it myself. I could still run the car with old clamp, but it was making metallic noise.

This is all in five years, not counting small things caused by my and other people negligence.

General Comments:

I like my car very much, this reliability is hard to find. It just runs, that's it. All repairs in five years cost me $18 Canadian, except of maintenance.

Below are the things "beyond average". I do not count smooth transmission, it should be. Here are all extras:

Very sensitive brakes.

Possibly the best fuel economy.

Solid suspension, and overall too.

Roomy interior.

Comfortable door handles. Yes, they can be.

Quiet engine, at high speeds, 100...140 km/hour.

Downsides:

Loud engine on acceleration.

Not the best resale value.

Faults:

Nothing. I was just taking this car out for a spin on account of my driver school.

General Comments:

This car turns nicely, steers nice and stiff, accelerates smoothly as well as many others.

I drove this car for two hours because I was on a driver's ed course. I know cars already so I knew how to drive and what a car should drive like..

The headlights deliver a nice bright light in the darkest of dark and you can see well ahead.

The engine has a bit of pep to it and accelerates smoothly and nicely. Gets good gas mileage as I noticed on the tachometer.

The transmission shifts smoothly and delivers strong performance..

My gripe is that the seats are a bit too low.. I don't particularly like low lying seats because they don't give me enough visibility or comfort. This car made my right leg feel fatigued and because of the position, I tend to rest on the gas, making it go faster.

Other than that it is well built and drives nicely. I would recommend it for the average driver or any driver.

From what I have heard, not only from this site and consumer reports, but from my some of my friends who own these cars, that they are reliable and age well.