1 month before you bought your Protege

[jflo]

where were you ? what kind of car did you have in mind to get ? and could you imagine where you would be now if you had the car you were thinking about getting (i.e. forums/friends/life) ?

for me, since the miata was going strong, but my parents being worrysome about having to drive a 100K+ miles car to college, decided that a new or newer car would be better. before deciding on the protege, i was originally looking at supras (yeah i know dream on retarded 17 year old), used WRXs, used BMW 325/330Cis, Integra GS-R/Type R, and cars of that sort. that is until my dad showed me an article on the MSP, i slowly gained interest as i read up more about the car, and when i finally got to the dealer to test drive one, i was sold. not to mention that the cost of insurance was fairly low since the car was known to the insurance company as a mazda protege.

but yeah, what were you considering before your protege, and where would you be if you had a different car ?

 

[FunkyBuddha]

One month before, I was test considering the Acura 1.7EL, 1.6EL used, 96-99 Accord, Mazda 6, Corolla S, Matrix Xrs

 

[protegemp52000]

1 month before, I wasn't even considering a new car. I was going to drop a v8 into my '79 Datsun 280zx. Still might one day... (drive)

 

[cbcbd]

I had just gotten my first job out of college, and that had taken a little while. I had about 130k miles on my old Mercury Sable and the thing was slowly dying - I got $50 on the trade in.

I was tired of sedans and wanted a wagon or something with more space to at least be able to carry my drumset without having to take up the front passenger seat - I took my bass drum to test drives and tried fitting it into the trunk of every car.

I really wanted:
Audi Allsport

I could afford and looked at:
-Matrix - great interior, lots of space, exterior was eh and no one had a freakin manual for me to test - Toyota dealerships suck, very shifty, would not give me a straight up price answer - bass drum fit with plenty or room to spare
-Subaru sport wagon - interior not attractive, didn't like the look, driving it didn't impress me - bass drum fit just barely.
-PT Cruiser - roomy interior, small windshield and windows, comfortable sitting position, alright drive - bass drum DID NOT fit in trunk!!? yeah, that was a surprise

And the the P5 - saw a silver one on the highway on the way to work, found out what it was. Test drove the yellow and I just loved it. Even with 3 other people along for the test drive I liked the way the car felt.

I was smiling the whole time, such an easy target for the salesguy. Whatever rationality I would give myself to rate the cars I looked at went out the window (I made a list of points to compare with each).

Yeah, this forum has done both positive and negative to my life - the negative is just that I don't do any work when this thing is up But it's 90% positive - have met some great people here and learned a lot about cars.

 

[jersey_emt]

One month before I was driving a black 1996 Chrysler Cirrus LXi. V6, sunroof, leather, loaded.

Test drove nearly every car in my price range, and several of those that were not

Final 4 were: MSP, SRT-4, RSX-S, Saab 9-3 Vector.

The handling and 'complete package' the MSP had made my decision for me.

 

[dosle]

where were you ? what kind of car did you have in mind to get ? and could you imagine where you would be now if you had the car you were thinking about getting (i.e. forums/friends/life)?

i was working in a similar job. i had only a mazda p5 on my mind, knew at first sight . if i didn't have this car, i would have moved out with my highschool friends a long time ago and i think i would be better off financially, sometimes i feel like the only way ahead is to sell it. oh well, live and learn right?

i met a lot of awesome people that i wouldn't have otherwise, all of mazdateam... and you forums people i get to know are cool too.

matt

 

[SpicyMchaggis]

before the mazdaspeed i was all about a GTi..I should of bought the GTi..Buttt....bills have a funny way of breaking you and the msp turned into a explosion happy dx..suicide anyone?

 

[protegeV]

I used to won a saturn...Had to get a new car though and wanted a WRX...couldnt afford it so i looked at MZ3s. I liked the P5 better and it had more options for less money so i went with it

 

[sundevilMP5]

holy cow cbcbd...$50...i thought i was the lowest...i got $100 for my '85 Olds (i miss that car)...mainly i was looking for a 98-01 impreza rs coupe...one of the harder cars to locate in az...also took a look at eclipses...

 

[Dr.Sound]

month before MSP:
was driving my 2000 Si.
loved it, untill it got stolen.
considered 2003 Si, then found out that with Jackson Racing supertharger it ran 7.3 sec 0-60, and was totally turned off by it.

driving by, saw Orange MSP rotating inside a mazda dealership.
picked it up that same night.

 

[wanger68]

1 month before my protege, I was driving nothing since the head gasket blew on my camry... was looking for a sentra... almost was forced into getting a a paseo, but luckily we didn't see the one that was advertised, so we went and checked out the dealer next to the one we were at, saw my 2nd gen... bought it on the spot after my test drive...

 

[mountjonas]

june 2002 - i was driving a 90 rx-7 gtu. it started falling apart on me at 112k miles. i was at 130k and started researching cars. i narrowed it down to the wrx wagon and the protege5. my roommates and i rotate out of our 2 car garage; 4 weeks in, 2 weeks out, so i wanted something that wouldn't attract too many theives so i chose the protege5. i still plan on getting a wrx, but i loved every last mile of the 45k that i've put on the p5.

 

[mooS mooS]

1 month before I bought my p5, I was driving it .... as a brand new rental car from Hertz with only 7 miles on it ... drove it to LA from Vegas and back.
a Month later my wife and I wanted the zippy little car that we rented from hertz .... we went shopping for a barely used one, and found one in red at the local mazda dealer ... same color we wanted, and it was the only used one they had .... less than 700 miles on it and a year old ... we bought it ..... it turns out, it's the exact same car we rented from Hertz .... the EXACT SAME ONE ... had my dog's scratches on the passenger-side Dash and everything

weird huh ?.... fell in love with the first P5 we drove, and ended up buying the same one a month later.

and the scratches on the dash will be there forever

 

[MPChi]

A month before I bought my MP3, I think I saw the Car & Driver Compact Comparo article where the MP3 took the crown, regardless being the slowest. The car really earned a lot of my respect from there. At the same time I was digging info for the MSP, this is a few months prior to its release date. I had not considered getting a car previously, as my old 88 CRX still runs fine. But after realizing both MP3 & MSP are very limited edition cars, I knew I have to act at that point if i ever want to own either one. So after a few weeks of research, I finally found a used yellow MP3 with 3k miles sitting in a Honda dealer in the east coast, while I'm in CA. After weighing my budget, and how much i like the look of the yellow MP3 over any other choices, I decided to pass on the MSP & buy the MP3 and have it shipped over. A pretty troublesome process about checking CA laws on buying out of state vehicles, FedExing papers for the car, getting it shipped...etc. But its well worth it.

The only sucky thing is that, about a bit more than a year later, my brother got a brand new yellow MSP at the same price as my MP3. $16K. Well, at least mind got better looks.

 

[Pretzellogic]

One month before I bought my Pro5 I was driving my Escort and thinking to myself "those Protege5 things are really nice and I OH CRAP, my seatbelt won't work. s***, I need a new car. What's that noise?"

After reading the comparo in Car and Driver, I was sold. My only other choice was a Focus hatch, and I don't like the way they look. I was also looking at an RSX, but it was too much money for not enough praticality. Plus, I have a soft spot for hatches. (eekdance)

 

[Captain KRM P5]

march 2002, graduating college, dead set on marrying the gf of four years, dead set on buying an orange Pontiac Vibe

now...

july 2004, running a business, with a much better girl, laughing at Pontiac Vibes

 

[Roywhitep5]

i was trying to find a gsr integra, but decided that paying 17k+ for a used car was kind of a waste of money

 

[Notorious]

well before i bought the msp i had a protege es and is300. I still have the lexus, but as a protege fan the msp was too good to pass up. Traded the es for the msp.

 

[REMillers]

A '95 Saturn SW2 (Wagon, Twin Cam). Had to get a new car since the Saturn was on its last legs at around 130k very abusive miles. This car was my little street rocket lol, well least I drove it like that. But truthly it was faster in a straight line than the P5 and most cars stock for stock.

But at this point the car would overheat if you sat to long, couldn't idle so you had to keep the revs up while stopped, which actually got me good at using the left foot to brake and the right to keep the gas going.

Luckily my dad bought a Miata so I was at the dealer and saw a P5 there, then came to find out my work place had a deal with them so Bam it was a no brainer.

 

[jflo]

before the mazdaspeed i was all about a GTi..I should of bought the GTi..Buttt....bills have a funny way of breaking you and the msp turned into a explosion happy dx..suicide anyone?

i was actually thinking about the GTi and 20th Anniversary Golf also. what's happening to your DX now ? did you ever fix the blown engine ?

month before MSP:
was driving my 2000 Si.
loved it, untill it got stolen.
considered 2003 Si, then found out that with Jackson Racing supertharger it ran 7.3 sec 0-60, and was totally turned off by it.

driving by, saw Orange MSP rotating inside a mazda dealership.
picked it up that same night.

oh yeah i remember someone telling me that you had an Si with AEM stuff in it. sucks that it got stolen...but hey, you've got a car now with ltos of cool buds in MOCC !

i was trying to find a gsr integra, but decided that paying 17k+ for a used car was kind of a waste of money

(mswerd)

oh yeah, most of the cars you guys mentioned...i was also thinking about driving...Nissan sentra SE-R Vspec, RSX-S, Audi A4...man i love this forum and MOCCforums and the people i've met through them, and my car too much to even think about what it would be like to drive another car (if only having 1 car was the situation- others get to have 2 nice/fast cars like the SRT-4 and MSP). (rockon)