Is a high-mileage Protege5 a good buy or a recipe for disaster?

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Protege2886

Member
:
'99 Protege
Let me preface this by saying that I recognize the life of the vehicle will depend greatly on how well it was maintained and treated by the previous owners.

Hey everybody,
My girlfriend is in the market for her first car. She's going back to school and needs a ride that can shuttle her between home and school and be suitable for errands.
She's pretty fond of the Mazda3 hatches (I swear I had nothing to do with it) but I'm trying to keep her budget as low as possible to minimize any financial strain.

With that in mind, I showed her the protege5. She likes them and there are a decent amount to choose from. I know that quarter panel rust around the wheel well is a guarantee but aside from that, I'd like to know how these cars behave as they get older. A particular example I'm looking at is a 2002 with 157k miles on it (252k km). Timing belt has been changed. Struts, springs, endlinks, swaybars, and front LCAs have all been changed and it passes emissions (stupid ontario).

Are these vehicles to avoid once they get up in mileage or will a properly maintained one for a fair price be a smart buy?

Thanks,
Jeff
 
mazdas are notorious for rust in your region and canada as you've already stated. the protege isn't the most refined ride either. i bought mine as close to new as possible (< 6000 miles on the clock) and the highway noise was the first thing i noticed. there are far more comfortable cars for the money, but unfortunately none as practical or fun to drive for the same amount of money.

reliability wise, once i hit 100k miles, i started needing little repairs here and there. end links, clutch cylinder, faulty rear brake caliper, and a host of tiny little fixes that aren't expensive or major, but add up quickly. i'm tackling a rear ABS light right now, a check engine light (EGR valve), burning oil -- its drinking a quart every 1000 miles, but otherwise, as long as you maintain it, i haven't run into MAJOR issues.
 
We bought ours with almost 170k on the clock (miles not kilometers). Overall it's been fine, it needed a clutch and a few minor things. Most of the expense has come from me modifying it. If you can just leave it alone, it should be a pretty cheap ride to maintain.

That being said, if you're really wanting to minimize cost just buy an older civic. They're damn near impossible to kill and parts are as cheap as they come. Find one that hasn't been "tuned" by someone with an 8th grade education and you'll be in good shape.
 
mp5la said:
We bought ours with almost 170k on the clock (miles not kilometers). Overall it's been fine, it needed a clutch and a few minor things. Most of the expense has come from me modifying it. If you can just leave it alone, it should be a pretty cheap ride to maintain.

That being said, if you're really wanting to minimize cost just buy an older civic. They're damn near impossible to kill and parts are as cheap as they come. Find one that hasn't been "tuned" by someone with an 8th grade education and you'll be in good shape.
Click to expand...

Honda is the back up plan. Neither of us are really fond of the idea but we know that they are a dime a dozen and run on Walmart budgets. Thanks for your feedback!
 
Mine had high miles, but wasn't maintained very well by the previous owner, so I was kinda hosed from the start. It's really a gamble. Some last forever with very little work. Others can be a headache. Mine was good until Ohio's generous use of salt in the winter ate it away.
 
The particular example I'm looking at is $1500 so there's no issue there. I've owned, modified and tracked a protege for the last 9 years so I'm familiar with the car and I have all the tools but that doesn't mean I want to be under it all the time.

My question was meant to be a high-level question regarding the overall reliability of high-mileage P5s and whether it's worth picking one up.
 
Protege2886 said:
The particular example I'm looking at is $1500 so there's no issue there. I've owned, modified and tracked a protege for the last 9 years so I'm familiar with the car and I have all the tools but that doesn't mean I want to be under it all the time.

My question was meant to be a high-level question regarding the overall reliability of high-mileage P5s and whether it's worth picking one up.
Click to expand...

OK,... Well one thing that seems to come up with a lot of owners is the P0300-P0304 engine misfire code. It can be a pain in the A$$ trying to track it down, throwing time and money at it. Some people here have been dealing with it for over a year. (coils, wires, EGR valve, injectors, PCV valve, fuel quality etc. etc.)

My car is an Ontario car with 214,000 kms on it and runs great without burning a drop of oil. I've done front bearings, control arms, calipers (all four) T-belt, water pump, alternator and yearly Krown rust prevention.
 
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I put around 60k miles on mine before it became really bad. I would say that if it seems mechanically sound as is, then all you should have to be concerned with are the normal maintenance items. My car had issues, but never stopped running or driving.
 
Owned mine since 115k, now has 200k, and have had to replace only normal wear-and-tear parts (calipers, tie rod ends, bearings, struts, strut mounts, endlinks, water pump/timing belt). The rust spreads quickly, however. Body integrity will be what limits the life of my Protege, not mechanical problems.
 
I bought mine at 106K and I'm at 221,500 now. The only real repairs I have had to make are crappy aftermarket parts that failed. i.e timing belt tensioner and idler pulley. Like the previous poster stated, I think the biggest issues will be the integrity of the body/chassis. Is there noticable rust on the body? if so it will be way worse on the underbody I'm sure, making any simple repairs that much more complicated.

Otherwise with good maintenance the P5 is perfectly reliable. Mine doesn't smoke, overheat, a/c still works, no rust, doesn't burn a noticable amount of oil, and I haven't changed the clutch. just timing belt, water pump, plugs, coils and struts. Other than the Florida sun destroying the clear coat its still a pretty nice car for the mileage.
 
Mine was horribly maintained I know it went 17k miles without an oil change, atleast once.Just rolled over 180k original motor trans and clutch. Drinks a qt every 600 miles and smokes on cold starts also went 3 years with a bad o2 sensor. 180k and still runs fine other than oil drinkage

As far as normal daily driving the motors hold up surprisingly well even with horrible maintenance . But for $1500 you can add $1000 and get a brand new motor or have that one rebuilt.

Other than wear and tear stuff I haven't had a while lot of issues with it other than a few odd ball things I'm even on my original front tokico blues and front driver caliper and endlink after 180k which is rediculous
 
1500 for a protege5? Maybe you should consider just spending ~1800 on top of that and getting an engine transplant (assuming the tranny is in good shape) and sleep easier at night? Other than that, you'd have to worry about the suspension system (end links, shocks, engine mounts, etc), which are doable and easier. Since you know the protg, you can do a pretty good examination of the state of the car and identify the known potential problem areas (VTCS recall and such).

With that in mind, I would have trouble recommending a high-mileage protg to someone that doesn't want to or isn't capable of making easy-moderate repairs themselves. Like someone else said, the repairs aren't that expensive but can add up. If you do it yourself, a significant part of the cost can be absorbed. If it's a typical "college student that just needs to get from point A to B", but doesn't want to put up with the "idiosyncrasies" of the P5, then I would recommend the dreaded but ever dependable and robust COROLLA :)

just my two cents.
 
217,000 miles on mine. I got it around 200k. Have done oil changes regularly and it runs fine has an EGR code. I bought it for 1700 and it needed front wheel bearings and hydraulic line for the clutch. Has been great. Just ordered a timing set and going to make sure its fine for another 100k. But we only sand our roads so salt is minimal and I still have rust spots from chipps in the paint and salty air.
 
Go for it!

.25M miles on mine (and still going strong with the next owner... )

I found it quite reliable.
 
Mines got 86k on it and gets me from A to B. Only issue I have is the lack of powwaaaa it makes but that's good for me cause I'd probably have tickets... I rebuilt the engine (somewhat poorly I'm guessing) but it doesn't smoke in startup like it used to. There's a decent amount of rust all around which I might try and bondo myself. I think it burns a fair amount of oil but I haven't really looked into how much over how many miles... Again, my own fault. With proper care, there's absolutely no reason it shouldn't just gobble up the miles. I'm contemplating buying another one and keeping that stock and tinkering with mine but I'm off to college soon so tinkering really means looking at it sit.

Just check it out and the frame and stuff. The seller ran mine before the test drive which is why I didnt notice the burning oil bit...
 
got mine with 140k, now 213k, never seen a tow truck, got timing belt service and all fluid change, new battery. headlight bulb.... other then that pretty strong, make sure all the correct fluids are used. check the compression on the cylinder. expect some oil burn on an engine with this mileage
 
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