Just picked up my 2003 Protege 5 yesterday from Chicago

[cheungms]

Hey everyone, just picked up my Pure White 2003 Protege 5 with 72K miles from Chicago yesterday for $6200. This will be my DD and is my second Mazda (had a 2004 Silver Mazda6 as my second ever vehicle).

The car has some small cosmetic flaws, but overall I'm *still* pretty happy with it. I was in the same boat as some others...thought about getting a Subaru Impreza wagon / Mazda3 wagon but this was such a bargain that you can't really pass it up.

One issue though: the driver's side rear caliper is not engaging the rotor (therefore, tons of rust). Would I be able to just replace the caliper (I presume it's seized) or would the rotor have to go as well? Is there a good online source to purchase this or is it not really worth it and I should just hit up my local Advanced Auto Parts? Any common issues I should address while I'm jacking the car up?

What are good modifications that everyone does to these vehicles? I have browsed the mods list page but wasn't sure if everyone does all of those...it's just a DD for me.

Looking forward to contributing where I can to the forum!

 

[sephiroth]

Rotor should be resurface able if there isn't a lot of wear on it. $15-20 should all that it should cost.

 

[cheungms]

Sounds good. I don't think there's any major issue with it being seized (it's the rear brake after all) for the time being as I drove it >150 miles to come home. I'd like to get it taken care of it though so I be sure to take it to the local autobody shop to do as I don't have any resurfacing equipment.

Is there a reason why the engine / surrounding components get so rusty? Any good way to fix the body rust in the wheel wells?

Here's a pic - enjoy

 

[sephiroth]

Sounds good. I don't think there's any major issue with it being seized (it's the rear brake after all) for the time being as I drove it >150 miles to come home. I'd like to get it taken care of it though so I be sure to take it to the local autobody shop to do as I don't have any resurfacing equipment.

Is there a reason why the engine / surrounding components get so rusty? Any good way to fix the body rust in the wheel wells?

Here's a pic - enjoy

because it's a northern driven car and they salted the s*** out of the roads. Salt+snow=rust.

 

[jdmdikk]

mines has rust on the bay and on the brackets also and mines was from NY,i live in CT,.mines has alot of stuck salt on the motor and the block looks real rusty lookin,..i guess its a normal thing for these mazdas or something

 

[cheungms]

I wonder how much of a job it is to respray the engine block / surrounding components with some paint to protect it. Probably not worth the effort but eventually I'd like to clean some of it up. Glad to see I'm not the only one though.

 

[sephiroth]

I wonder how much of a job it is to respray the engine block / surrounding components with some paint to protect it. Probably not worth the effort but eventually I'd like to clean some of it up. Glad to see I'm not the only one though.

you could DIY with some rust converter. however Salt damage is difficult to fix correctly and permanently.