Learn me - last gen Protege

I searched and didn't find a general overview of the last Gen Protege so.....

Oh wise and brainful GRMers what can you tell me. I just need a DD as a companion to the Miata. I do lime the ES trim.

Thanks n junk

I had one and was overall disappointed with it. I'd had a '94 Escort GT years prior, and was expecting my '03 Protege to be similar. It wasn't. At all.

I found the engine to be a bit thrashy, lacking the willingness to rev of the BP, but not really feeling much more powerful either. The interior was adequately utilitarian, but not much more. It seemed like I was constantly finding stock parts like motor mounts, end links etc. that needed updated to prevent repeat failures. And it was starting to rust when it was 4-years old.

I honestly like my '07 Accent now much better than I did the Protege at the time. Maybe I was expecting too much from the Protege?

Yikes....

Here's a review of a P5 that might be of interest;

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/review-2003-mazda-protege5/

When my ex was car shopping, I got her into a 2000 Protege ES, with the short lived F-series 1.8 engine and a stickshift. I loved wailing on that thing. Eager to rev, torquier than I expected, somewhat softly sprung but fun to toss.

But like several that we test - drove (including a Mazdaspeed) it ended up getting a clunk from the rear suspension. Never did figure out what the problem was before we broke up. Might've been bad bushings, now that I think of it.

Great companion vehicle to a Miata, btw. If you get a slightly earlier one with four lug wheels, you can swap them back and forth. I gave her my snow tires until I found her a newer set.

They rust. A lot. Without sitting here thinking about it too hard, I can't think of another modern car that's worse about that.

Yeah, it's strange that they've rusted so much. I'd really want to go over the thing pretty hard with a mirror and such before buying. And I've no idea how to stop the rust; smear the underside with cosmoline every year?

All I know is I wanted a Protegè 5 really bad in college. Hell they still look good, but I have never seen one with a manual.

belteshazzar wrote: They rust. A lot. Without sitting here thinking about it too hard, I can't think of another modern car that's worse about that.

2000-2003 Ford Focus. They rust just as bad as a Protege.

I wouldn't touch one that hasn't been rustproofed yearly. This was a very popular car around here. There are tons for sale right now for LeChump budget. Might be my next winter beater. They all have the same description: Works great, a few clunks in the suspension, rusted bad.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: All I know is I wanted a Protegè 5 really bad in college. Hell they still look good, but I have never seen one with a manual.

I wouldn't own mine with a Manuel transmission.

With my Mazdaspeed springs, GR2's and decent tires, it'll corner REALLY well.

cars.com lists 18 P5's in the country for sale with manual transmissions. The nearest one from me is over 500 miles away. So they're out there, but they're a bit rare.

ebonyandivory wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: All I know is I wanted a Protegè 5 really bad in college. Hell they still look good, but I have never seen one with a manual.

I wouldn't own mine with a Manuel transmission.

Why's that?

Maybe he just loves the feeling of a small-displacement n/a engine hooked to a tight torque converter and tall gears.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/review-2003-mazda-protege5/

Maybe im a 'good writing' snob but i didn't make it very far into that before snorting and closing it.

Oh crap! I meant withOUT a manual.

I would NOT own it with an automatic.

Fixed!

I hope Mazda got a handle on their rust problem with these new "SkyActiv" cars.

My brother had an '01 Protege ES with a manual. I liked it pretty well. The motor had a torquey feel to it. But it did have the mystery rear suspension clunk. It got totaled by a hit and run before the rust began.

I've owned an '01 ES (2.0L, 5 speed) for about 7 years now. Currently has 167K miles and it's never left me stranded. The engine/transaxle has been quite reliable. I've kept up on normal maintenance stuff (belts, fluid changes, etc.). Did an O2 sensor, control arms/ball joints and outer tie rod ends all in the last 5 months, but those were all original parts.

Yes, they rust. Sway bar end links do not last long. Mine developed the mystery rear suspension clunk a few months ago. And '01s (it seems moreso than other years, or at least mine) have a problem with rear brake calipers. I've never gone more than 16 months without replacing a rear caliper. Sometimes the slide pins seize, sometimes the piston seizes. I've purchased OEM Mazda calipers, remans from NAPA, remans from Rock Auto, replaced them myself, had them replaced by the dealer, had them replaced by a trusted indie mechanic. No matter. Fourteen to 16 months go by, and it's time to replace a caliper again. In fact, that's a job I will be doing this week.

I do like the car a lot though. Great brakes, great steering, good all around feedback and tossability for an economy car. A/C still blows ice cold. I like it more than the 2009 Civic that my roommate owns. As mentioned above, the engine is decently torquey, but does not love to rev like a Honda motor. Perfectly happy in the 3K to 5K range.

For what the car is, parts are expensive (OEM from the dealer will make you cry, and reman stuff from NAPA and the rest is still painful). It will not wow you with fuel consumption either. I'll get 27mpg highway (3300 rpm in 5th gear at 70mph), 22 around town, though I don't baby the gas pedal.

If you find a relatively rust free example, it's well worth a test drive. Get the 5-speed though, the automatic absolutely kills the appeal of this particular car.

ebonyandivory wrote: Oh crap! I meant withOUT a manual. I would NOT own it with an automatic. Fixed!

I was wondering

I have a 2002 P5 that I purchased new in October 2001. I love it to bits, but unfortunately I hate its guts at the same time. Perhaps I should explain.

It is a riot to drive. Most fun and most useful DD I've ever had. Gobs of room to haul things, Five seats to carry people. Properly outfitted, the rack on top can carry four bicycles. Great in snow with winter tires. Cool-looking too! Looks a lot like an Audi A3. As an occasional track car it is rather impressive. Easily more capable than its driver in this case. It seems very at home there.

But it has a dark side too. Calipers, rear calipers. Damn those calipers. I have never had a car that had more problems with sticky calipers. About every year or so one or the other rear calipers would seize up in some way or another. Sometimes it was an easy fix other times not. Front brakes were superb. Also, very sensitive to fuel. It throws code fits when anything but TopTier gas is used.

It was on the last track day I did with the car that things started going down hill. The car takes 3.4 quarts of oil and all fluids including the oil were topped off. On thestreet there is a road on my way to work that "requires" i brake hard from 65 down to 40, clip the apex and get back on the throttle. Everytime I did this, the engine would knock like it was out of oil. I always backed off until gravity regained control of the oil supply. It had oil, but I now think it had very poor oil control and a small reservoir of oil to draw upon. Anyway, after the last track day, it began making the "I'm all out of oil" racket everytime I started it. It got worse and started making the noise when it was idling and grew to a point where a year and a half later a connecting rod escaped the engine. I think with the helmet on and the windows open as required I couldn't hear how bad I was hurting the engine and I dealt it a fatal wound. I still have the car. I like the car. And if I can find a reasonbly priced core, I'm going to put an engine in it. Not sure what to do about oil control right now. I hate to think that I would do all that work and then have to redo the brakes every year again.