1 month before you bought your Protege
- Thread starter jflo
- Start date
When i first saw the WRX when it came out thats the only car i wanted and nothing could change my mind, except my dad. He was the one helping me buy a car and said it had to be used and under 10k. Me having no credit and low income i had to comply. So looking around at different car sites i saw wings west protege and i fell in love. I realized that no one around here has a protege with anything done to it and so i wouldnt be driving just another civic or just another integra sence thats all you see around here so i decided id go with a protege. I had a hard time finding a 5 speed protege around here, and then i found a 2000 blue 5 speed LX with power everything, moonroof, and for a good price and now im getting sponsored. i doubt id of gotten sponsored with the wrx. So in the end i had to sacrifice speed to make a show car. For my first car, ill take it!
One month before...
I was deployed in the Persian Gulf. Around that time I was probably sweating my ass off North of Africa.
I was dead set that I was leaving the Honda family to get back into a Mustang. I had found a 98 Cobra (last year of solid rear axle
). It had like 36,000 miles and had been garaged it's whole life. Being that was what I thought I was going to get I was a member of stang.net. Man you think people flame here, try going over there for a while.
Anyhow, I got back to the states and went to test drive the Mustang. Looked good so I went in to apply for a loan. Credit Union said thanks, but no. (Came to found out later it was because they had entered it as a loan for a 1998 Mustang base model.)
So, I was screwed. I was living in VA with no car because my Del Sol was in IL and my parents who were visiting and my source of transportation were heading home. So, after they left I had a buddy drive me to the Mazda dealer because I had seen some pics of the MSP and I was a huge fan of the MP3, so I figured I'd take a look.
I got there and saw no MSPs on the lot. It was a Sunday, so I figured the place was closed. So, I looked at some P5s and figured I might come back and check one out later. Then out of no where the salesman comes up (they were open). He asks if there is anything he can do. I asked him if they happened to have any MSPs. He says that they have the last one in the county until the 03.5s arrive, but that it's Orange. I was like oh yeah, that's the color I was looking for. He looked shocked.
He took me up to the show room where it had been sitting since they got it in. To say the least, I was in love. She just looked so hot sitting there, doors and hood open on the little imitation Diamond Plate mat that said MazdaSpeed on it. A couple of hours later, she was mine.
Funny thing was they had tried to sell it to everyone who came in asking about the MSP, but no one had wanted the Orange.
I was deployed in the Persian Gulf. Around that time I was probably sweating my ass off North of Africa.
I was dead set that I was leaving the Honda family to get back into a Mustang. I had found a 98 Cobra (last year of solid rear axle
). It had like 36,000 miles and had been garaged it's whole life. Being that was what I thought I was going to get I was a member of stang.net. Man you think people flame here, try going over there for a while.Anyhow, I got back to the states and went to test drive the Mustang. Looked good so I went in to apply for a loan. Credit Union said thanks, but no. (Came to found out later it was because they had entered it as a loan for a 1998 Mustang base model.)
So, I was screwed. I was living in VA with no car because my Del Sol was in IL and my parents who were visiting and my source of transportation were heading home. So, after they left I had a buddy drive me to the Mazda dealer because I had seen some pics of the MSP and I was a huge fan of the MP3, so I figured I'd take a look.
I got there and saw no MSPs on the lot. It was a Sunday, so I figured the place was closed. So, I looked at some P5s and figured I might come back and check one out later. Then out of no where the salesman comes up (they were open). He asks if there is anything he can do. I asked him if they happened to have any MSPs. He says that they have the last one in the county until the 03.5s arrive, but that it's Orange. I was like oh yeah, that's the color I was looking for. He looked shocked.
He took me up to the show room where it had been sitting since they got it in. To say the least, I was in love. She just looked so hot sitting there, doors and hood open on the little imitation Diamond Plate mat that said MazdaSpeed on it. A couple of hours later, she was mine.
Funny thing was they had tried to sell it to everyone who came in asking about the MSP, but no one had wanted the Orange.
THEGOLDPRO
Member
lets see i month before, i was in boot camp, got out of boot, went car shoping, tested everything, from mitsu's, golf vr6, maxima,some hondas, went with the pro, cause it was used, fairly cheap, only had like 20k on it, and i was poor, lol
- :
- 92 & 16 Meyatas
drivin a 94 isuzu pick up (still have it) was tired of the trek to work in a vehicle that had no ac working, couldn't adjust the seat back, boring to drive, and so on(rant)
saw the zoomzoom commerical and bought the protege 5 the next day!! (thumb)
saw the zoomzoom commerical and bought the protege 5 the next day!! (thumb)
spending too much money on that pita dsm, trying to get it working right and saving money to replace the whole suspension (original from 1990), suspension bushings, torn motor mounts (even the sides were torn), and exhaust. it was decently quick on the highway, but launching i think the motor would've juse hopped out
Stormtrooper77
Member
- :
- 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege
A month before the MSP I was driving a 94 Eagle Summit ES. I had big plans for the Summit (4G63T engine drop in). But then a ball joint started knocking and then I started contemplating whether it was wise to keep it or not. Then I get a big raise and the rest is history. It took about 2 weeks of test driving cars and gathering information.
Cars considered:
RSX-S (I REALLY wanted this - just a tad out of my price range)
GTI
SVT Focus
Civic SIR
Mini Cooper S
Neon R/T (I have no idea why)
SpecV
.
.
.
list goes on along with many comprable used cars.
To me, the MSP had the best performance/handling out of the bunch. I liked the looks and it was limited (somewhat).
Cars considered:
RSX-S (I REALLY wanted this - just a tad out of my price range)
GTI
SVT Focus
Civic SIR
Mini Cooper S
Neon R/T (I have no idea why)
SpecV
.
.
.
list goes on along with many comprable used cars.
To me, the MSP had the best performance/handling out of the bunch. I liked the looks and it was limited (somewhat).
rubixcubix
Member
- :
- 2002 Protege ES Sunlight Silver Metallic
A month before the protege I was just starting my second semester senior year in highschool. Got the letter from USC saying they were giving me merit based scholarships worth around $80K, so my dad had to deliver on the "you get the scholarship you get a new car" deal. The stipulation (based on my older sister who also got lots of free money and therefore a car) was that I pick the base model for a manufacturer and load it with options and keep it around 15K. Looked at used GTI's, 1.8T Jettas, and WRX's. I couldnt stand the thought of being just another honda on the road despite my girlfriend's proding, and I hated the high stance of the matrix and vibe, i had been driving a 1991 Chevy S10 Blazer and wanted something low and quick. was really looking for a tight handling car and so the parents saw the handling and reliability ratings of the protege and told me to look at it. Built it up online (the MP3 price was too high ) and went to 3 different dealers before they found the one I wanted, 5 speed ES sunlight silver with moonroof, abs, side airbags. Because the silver was so hard to find my parents actually tried to get me to bend on that issue and get one of those sand-collored-tan-my-grandmother's-car-is-this-color proteges and i refused. "if you arent willing to compromise we wont get a good price" they said. "we'll get the car i want and a good price or we will leave" i told them. Finally we found it, and its been my baby ever since. Moves me back and forth to LA, its a blast to drive on the twisties, good looks inside and out (all my friends are jealous). It ended up a little pricer than my sister's focus but i havent had to deal with 6 recals or the ugliness that is the focus =)
Everyone thinks im crazy because of how much effort i put into keeping it clean, i think they are crazy for not caring about their own car the same way. I'm going to have this car for a long time (7 year warrenty) and I want it to look and feel brand new if and when i trade it in for something new after grad school.
Without the forum community i would never have known that clutch chatter was an actual problem and wouldnt have gotten a new clutch after 26K miles on the car.
But having this car made me realize that my passion is cars and I've since changed my carrer path from law related engineering, to electrical engineering with hopes of getting into the automotive industry (dont tell me i should be mechanical, look how many friggen computer chips are in your car!).
Everyone thinks im crazy because of how much effort i put into keeping it clean, i think they are crazy for not caring about their own car the same way. I'm going to have this car for a long time (7 year warrenty) and I want it to look and feel brand new if and when i trade it in for something new after grad school.
Without the forum community i would never have known that clutch chatter was an actual problem and wouldnt have gotten a new clutch after 26K miles on the car.
But having this car made me realize that my passion is cars and I've since changed my carrer path from law related engineering, to electrical engineering with hopes of getting into the automotive industry (dont tell me i should be mechanical, look how many friggen computer chips are in your car!).
TXMazdaSpeeder
T is for Turbo
- :
- 2003 Black Mica MSP #566
one month before the mp3 i was driving a 1991 Camaro Z28 and shopping for a 98+ camaro SS or 98+ trans am WS6, im really not sure why i bought the mp3 but i've loved it ever since, really kinda hate to get rid of it now.
