General Comments:
It seems that a lot of Mazda Protege owners have experienced the ABS/Brake Lights and shaking problems. Send your concern to Transport Canada, I sent the below email of concern to roadsafetywebmail@tc.gc.ca
I owned a Mazda protege 5 with about 88,000KM, bought it in Feb 2003. In the last four months, I have had what I would consider a major issue.
1) The ABS and brake lights went on and wouldn't shut off.
2) Last week, as I drove to and from work, there had been occasion when I'm on a full stop that that the car will shake and die on the spot. This necessitate me to restart the car. At one point the engine light went on however disappeared the next day. I'm concerned that one of these day, the car will stop and I'll get hit from behind or worst. So I took it yesterday for tune up with my mechanic and he said he drove it around the block and unable to imitate the problem. He said with my KM, I shouldn't need to change the plug, it should be good for about 140K and the car doesn't need a tune up. However here's the funny thing, as I was leaving the shop, another mazda protege pulled in, my mechanic laughed and he said "This is my sixth mazda protege5 of the day, all having lights on problem".
It seems in reviewing the different websites on the internet and reviewing comments from owners of the same vehicle, have had the same problems as described in items 1 and 2.
As one consumer said, replacing an engine is not a cheap price to pay and if there's a lot of similar complaints from different websites, will this warranty Transport Canada to investigate for recall consideration?
24th Mar 2008, 14:05
Wow, I had the same problem with my 1994 Protege LX. I got to the point where I was petrified to drive the car cause I would never know when it would quit on me. The car would shut off when trying to make left or right turns, or one time I was waiting at red light, and then the car would start shaking, then when the light would change, it wouldn't go!! The lights would all flicker on/off, then it would shut off, but could be started again. Someone told me that I was because of the rain getting into the electrical or something. I sent it to the mechanic who ruled out the spark plugs and stuff, then he would take it for a test drive (one time to a city that's 1/2 hr away!) and it would work fine. Seemed like the stop and go of city driving was more risky then highway driving!!
Needless to say, I'm fed up and going to scrap the car, cause the cost to find and repair outweighs the value of the car.