Faults:

Bought new... In the first year;

The Rack (Direction) did a weird knocking noise when turning the wheels - had to replace it. (Thank god it was under warranty 'cause = 1500$ job)

Front Wheels bearings broke down.

Weird noise from suspension - Still not fixed (Mazda didn't find the problem)

The car must be made with very cheap/thin metal because it was in a hail storm and it was the only car on the street with damage.

3rd year;

The shifter bushings had to be changed (350$ job) - I know this is a common problem with Proteges.

The battery is already leaving me, but, not as frustrating as other problems listed above.

General Comments:

I had small cars before; 1987 Corolla, 1992 NX-2000, Volkswagen, Chevrolet...

And it is by far the most UnderPowered car of all. It's like driving a car from the 30's. I tryed the 2L Engine and it is just as bad.

Overall reliability is average.

The service in Mazda dealers is really poor and they take a lot more time to fix the problem than regular garages.

Comfort is average too. I enjoy the quality of the dash board. Definitely a +.

Handles very very well in snow. I never got stuck with it, and it endures Abitibi/Québec snow falls.

Handling is very fun when the car is new, but it gets old fast.

Faults:

Transmission gave out at around 120,000 miles. Had a new transmission put in, but that too gave out just with barely 6,000 miles put on it!! What a pain to deal with!!

General Comments:

The car was nice when I first bought it, but now that it has given me major problems (transmission)...I hate it! Should have just purchased a Honda or Toyota!

Faults:

Nothing major has gone wrong with the car, although the brake calipers tend to rust really quick on these cars. Mine got to the point that they looked like a ball of rust. But than again, I did not have the car for long enough to experience any problems.

General Comments:

The handling on this car is really superb, although a bit on the stiff side.

Fuel consumption is quite good if you keep your speed below 100km/h; anything past that, and the car has some serious appetite.

Overall, I was really disappointed with this vehicle. The car is really loud on the highway at anything above 100km/h, and the engine sounds like it's about to explode! I have no idea why Mazda does not do anything about it... but the engines on these cars are very, very noisy, to the point that on a long trip it gets really annoying, not to mention the wind noise!

Another problem is the rust! I had one of those electro-magnetic rust modules installed, and the car was already beginning to show signs of rust, especially on the welds.

On the plus side, the seats are comfy and the cabin has a sporty touch to it. But this was not enough to convince me to keep the car, and I got rid of it just after 3 months!

If you get this car, be prepared to invest in some serious ear plugs or a big bottle of Tylenol for your head-aches!

Currently I purchased a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder, and I absolutely love it!