'01 Protege Broke Down - Just venting

[slavrenz]

Hey guys,

There's no real point to this post, I'm just writing about my frustrations with my 2001 Protege LX 2.0. So I'm on the road tonight and coming up to a stoplight I suddenly hear a loud thumping sound (like when you have a flat tire) that seems to vary with vehicle speed. I pull off the road and all my tires look good, so I keep on going. Pretty soon I start hearing some really nasty creaks and clunking noises occurring intermittently. I pulled of the road again and since I was worried that I might have further damage done if I kept driving it, I called my insurance company and had the car towed to a nearby repair facility (luckily I was close to a place I trust and I had towing covered on my insurance).

Anyways, it sounds like some suspension part went bad, but the weird thing is that I was just under my car a few hours ago and everything looked good. I was replacing an exhaust pipe gasket, but from looking under the car, the pipe was still together with all of the nuts and bolts. This is literally the only thing I touched, so I think it was just more of a coincidence than anything else.

I'm just pissed off because I bought this car used in January of '08, and it ran good for about a month. Since then, I have put close to $1500 worth of repairs into it (and that's just for parts - I do the labor myself).

I am seriously fed up with the lack of my Protege's reliability, and I will be very hesitant to buy another Mazda. Anyways, just needed somewhere to vent, thanks for reading (shrug)

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It sounds like the last owner beat the car.

 

[slavrenz]

I guess. I can't wait 'till I'm done with college and have enough money to get a new car - that way I know it's being treated right from the get-go

Ugh, the last owners of that car are definitely not on my Christmas card list right now. (gun)

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

what did you fix? 1500 is alot..without labor

 

[slavrenz]

- 2 ignition coils: both went out 150 miles apart $75
- 2 pre-cats: one ruined by first coil going bad, next one ruined by second coil (1 day after warranty on the first expired) $ 500
- 2 motor mounts (front & back were torn) $80
- 2 front struts (started leaking oil) $190
- 2 front sway bar endlinks $60
- 1 front CV axle assembly (torn boot caused joint to fail) $125
- 1 front control arm (torn ball joint boot caused joint to fail) $150
- 3 O2 sensors (2 went bad from ignition coils, 1 heater circuit broke) $300
- 2 front wheel bearings $100
- 1 valve cover gasket & PCV valve (valve got clogged, leaked oil all over engine). $40
- 2 broken wheel studs (asshole before me crossthreaded the lug nuts) $10
- 2 rear sway bar bushings - $25
- The joy of being stranded on a cold winter night after fixing all this crap - priceless.

I was lucky enough to find aftermarket converters instead of the OEM ones - otherwise that total would be double.

 

[slavrenz]

Not to mention all the time I've had to give up from school and my fiance to fix the piece of crap. And if I billed my labor hours at $80/hr, I could probably afford the new Mazda6 or Mazda3

 

[MAZDA_SPEED]

How much did you pay for the car?

 

[slavrenz]

$5,900

 

[slavrenz]

I also looked at a 2001 VW Jetta for $7500 - could have almost had it without all the problems with the Protege now

 

[rs39]

Bummer about your car being beat. But the sway bar stuff is very normal for these, and my 02/78k car has the front struts going soft also. But I can feel those coming and plan... and the rears are fine.

 

[slavrenz]

add to that list a new muffler and resonator pipe - mine's now shot. That's another $200.

 

[Bartron8000]

Man this sounds like my car when I bought it. I got my 99 with 114k on the clock, and the first year and half I spent replacing everything(All suspension except front sway bar, engine mounts, brakes, seat belt, clutch, and tires) I think Protege's get to a certain point where everything fails all at once. Good Luck.

 

[NCZ13]

i find it hard to believe the resonator and muffler went out simultaneously.

what are the symptoms? its probably one of them, but not both

 

[slavrenz]

I'm sure that both aren't gone, but the rear muffler does sound like it's on its last legs, and I'm guessing if the resonator hasn't already failed, it won't be far behind. Besides, I'm getting both for under $200 (technically $190 with express shipping, which is still less than the OEM muffler), and they are backed by Walker's lifetime warranty, so I think they'll work out well.

Besides, much as I don't like doling out the cash, I wouldn't mind replacing some of these badly rusted items on the vehicle. It's just that everything seems to be coming at once that's annoying.

On the bright side, I have noticed that the number of these "incidents" where something breaks are occurring less and less frequently, so maybe I've hit the "critical mass" of replacing parts and everything else will hold together

 

[slavrenz]

Oh, I forgot that when I called the shop on Monday, it turns out that a heat shield had just come loose in one spot and was banging against my exhaust. They spot welded it back on for $20, so all is good with that.

That's one reason why I'm in a little better mood now about the car

 

[Raymo853]

I feel lucky with my 00 ES. Bought it new and in 110,000 miles I have had to replace because of wear/breakage:
O2 sensor - under warranty @ 5K miles
tires @ 35K miles
heater fan switch - $25 @ 60K miles
brakes pads and front rotors $150 @ 80K miles
tires @ 80K miles
ignition coil - $100 @ 95K
sway bars/bushing/links - $300 @ 110K miles

$575 for nearly 10 years and 110,000 miles. Way cheaper than any of my friends Toyotas or Hondas.

I plan to getting a 2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback the day they come in.

 

[StealthWyvern]

OP,
Look at it like this all those things you replaced are one last thing you need to worry about! good luck with the car and I hope you don't have any more major issues with it. My old p5(same motor) had around 170k on it when I traded it in and the only issue I had was a wheel bearing, and oil pressure sensors go out(3 times @15-20 bucks a pop). It also didn't burn any oil except when the oil pressure sensors went out(leaked). It just sounds like you got a ragged out pro.

I feel lucky with my 00 ES. Bought it new and in 110,000 miles I have had to replace because of wear/breakage:
O2 sensor - under warranty @ 5K miles
tires @ 35K miles
heater fan switch - $25 @ 60K miles
brakes pads and front rotors $150 @ 80K miles
tires @ 80K miles
ignition coil - $100 @ 95K
sway bars/bushing/links - $300 @ 110K miles

$575 for nearly 10 years and 110,000 miles. Way cheaper than any of my friends Toyotas or Hondas.

I plan to getting a 2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback the day they come in.

Try removing the tires, rotors, and break pads... thats like complaining about changing the oil! Normal wear and tear items.

 

[slavrenz]

Yeah, thankfully in my case at least my engine has awesome compression and when I changed the tranny oil (probably for the first time) at 90,000 miles, the fluid was still pink and there were hardly any metal shavings in the pan. For me, the day one of those items goes out is the day I get a new car.

 

[Sly_Guy_03DX]

I actually had the same problem with the heat shield and the muffler....except i paid like 45 bucks how annoying.

 

[lilpoindexter]

I bought a 99 LX with 105,000 and a bad clutch for $2000. Ive put the clutch in, and replaced all sway bar links, and both front control arms, and done all the brakes for fun, and ive got a check engine light that wont go out, but im pretty happy with my purchase.

Tommorrow the new kyb's and lowering springs go in.

It does sound like you've gone through a bit of stuff on a car that new and that expensive, but im sure you are still cheaper overall than a new car.

New cars are a big scam, but we buy them because it feels goo.