5th Jun 2007, 19:41
Do you live in Montreal by any chance??? My car has never been bumped so much since I moved to Montreal, and I've had it for 5 years now!
18th Jun 2007, 09:23
I bought my 2002 Protege5 new and it now has 120,000 miles on it. In the first three years I owned it I put about 30k on it a year, but more recently I'm doing more like 10-15k. I have yet to have any problems with the car, just routine maintenance.
I feel like the brakes don't last as long as I would have expected (30k or so) and the tires are hard to find, expensive and don't last too long, but other than that I love the car. Road noise is a bit loud and my wife doesn't like the road feel (which I love), but that about covers it.
My parents have the same car and just (after five years) had to have the sway bars replaced. My sister has a '99 Protege and the only thing she has had done outside of routine maintenance was the water pump and she's got 150k miles on hers. Overall, we're a family of very satisfied Mazda owners.
17th Aug 2007, 16:09
I just wanted to throw in my two cents about my P5. I love it. I bought my 2002 P5 with 62K and now have 87K on it. I have not had any problems with it, but I have also been religious with maintaining it.
I have only two complaints about the car though. As mentioned in previous posts, road noise is a little excessive. I bought a couple cans of spray on under rubberized undercoating and coated everything that I could underneath. This helped the road noise a little, I plan to also line the inside of the door panels with sound deadening mats in hopes of lessening it a little more. My other complaint is that I wish it had a little more power. But I'm not going to complain about it too much cause if I drive carefully, I can get 39MPG out of it, which compared to any other car (except the new hybrids) that can get that kind of mileage, the P5's 2.0 has a lot more power.
I have enjoyed the car so much that I plan to order a new Mazdaspeed 3 hatch this fall. That should solve my power issues. Does anybody out there own a Speed 3 hatch? Due to the limited production numbers, there is no way that I can test drive a new one and I haven't been able to find a used one for sale.
Thanks
Brian.
8th Sep 2007, 13:11
My two cents... I own a 2003 Protege 5 in Montreal, so it suffers terrible winters & cold, which is considered heavy use by Mazda.
My brother in law has a 2004 Mazda 3 GT, a good friend has a 2002 Protege 5 2002, and everyone is happy with their cars.
I have not put a penny on my car in almost a year, the tranny is automatic with the manual shift option, and I have fun with the car with no issues.
As with ANY car, maintenance is key, and if you are unlucky enough to buy an unmaintained car, you will pay the price for it.
Also, brakes, rims, tires are just wear & tear, not issues with a car.
Always do as much research as possible before buying a used car. Try to find the selling dealership, as the car was most likely maintained where it was purchased.
To the guy with the 5 accidents, that may be part of what's causing all your issues. Go on the NHTSA - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (http://www.nhtsa.gov/) site and check recalls and complaints on the Protege; there are very few.
Overall, great cars!
5th Oct 2007, 13:42
I purchased a Prote5 in 2002 and haven’t had too many problems with it. It now has 118,000 miles on it and I think its in need of new spark plugs, but other than that have not had any problems. I agree that the tires are somewhat difficult to find, but I typically purchase mine on line, have them shipped and then put on at Wal-mart of some other cheap place. Saves a lot of money in the long run. Online I can get 1 tire for about $55, while at a dealership or repair ship they range from $100-150 dollars each... craziness!!
11th Oct 2007, 08:59
I have a 2003 Mazda Protege 5 which I have owned for over a year. My only problem with the car is with the stupid low-profile racing wheels/tires (not my choice - came with the vehichle). I have been through so many tires this year I have stopped counting! Apparently they eat away at the inside of the tires where you can't see the damage. And yes, I do check the air pressure religiously!:)
It has come to the point that I, as a 39 year-old Southern Woman, will have to replace the wheels to get a regular profile tire that won't disintegrate on the interstate.
Other than that, I love my Protege!
16th Oct 2007, 23:02
Hi there..
Just wondering if anyone had had any problems with the ABS and brake lights permanently staying on.. most likely due to sensor issues. Both myself (I have a Mazda Protege 5 2002) and my friend (who has a 2003) are having the same problem. I'm just trying to see if this is coincidence or if this is a common issue.
Thanks!
26th Oct 2007, 15:22
Hey there:
I bought a 2003 Mp5 in 2005 (beautiful color black mica) and have had it for 2 years. The car came with low profile tires, 20 inch Kruz K10 rims, 3% tint on all the windows and 8 inch drop tint on the front windshield (yes, Georgia State Patrol love getting me for my tint), Cherry bomb catback exhaust system, and an aftermarket cold air intake. It had 96k when I bought it; now it has 123k and the only problem I have with it is the transmission seems to be slipping when I go into 3rd gear... and it's a Automatic 4 speed. I've flushed the transmission and changed the filter, but I can't seem to find a way to make it stop; and with all the complaints by people going to mazda and getting charged a ridiculous amount of money, I'm wondering if anyone would know or could give me some hints on some cheap websites that have Mazda parts? Other than the transmission, I have just replaced the intake with K&N Typhoon Cold air intake, and the motor runs great. I love that MazdaZoom when my Mp5 hits about 5000-7000rpm... and after I fix this trany problem I plan on giving this car to my wife and getting a 93Mazda Rx-7, and will always keep a mazda in my garage.
23rd Mar 2007, 05:18
Respectfully, allow me to comment on some of your issues.
As a fan of Mazdas, and not for silly reasons like cult-fellowship, I think some of your problems aren't to be interpreted as unreliability on Mazda's part. EGR valves are sensitive pieces of equipment; they fail even more frequently on more sophisticated and expensive cars.
Infrequent driving and short trips destroy batteries. I happen to have been lucky with my exceptionally long-lived battery, but it's not at all unreasonable to have to replace a battery every few years.
Spark plugs must be replaced regularly. I replace mine every 30K miles, but certain driving styles require more frequent replacement. Spark plugs are cheap, and are not to be considered a reliability-related issue unless you have to replace them unusually frequently.
When you mention "front links" I assume you mean the same front swaybar links that I've had to replace. It's an unfortunate design problem, but not one that effects safety or drivability. It's a nuisance, and as it's fairly cheap to fix anyway.
The only notable issue that you have with your Mazda is having to replace your water pump. This is highly unusual, and I've not had to replace mine even after 95K miles.
Perhaps you've owned more reliable cars in the past. perhaps not. either way, I encourage you to rethink your evaluation of the Protege because nothing you've experienced, except for the water pump, is out of the ordinary for today's cars.