Had some time to kill, so I thought I might as well make a thread for my P5. I'm mainly doing this to record progress for my own purposes, ask questions, and get opinions.
A little info about me: I'm 17 years old, and the P5 is my first car. I've always been a driving enthusiast, but not one of those stupid kids that drive crappy civics and race in the industrial park. I got my license at 16 and a half, and immediately began searching for a car. I had been doing research for a few months, especially concerning reliability and quality.
This has always been about my limited budget, and I set a limit of $4000 for the car. I searched Craigslist for deals nearby, and nearly bought a cruddy Hyundai.
It was nice if you look at it as an appliance, but was the most boring car I have ever driven.
After a few more cars, I stumbled upon a 2003 5-speed Protege5. I did my homework on it, and it was everything I wanted. Good gas mileage, small size, versatility, and driveability. After having a mechanic look it over, I purchased it for $3300 in April of 2011. It was a laser blue Protege5 with 141k miles.
Pic of the first night I saw it:
The car needed a new clutch, new timing belt, new tires all around, and a ton of suspension work. Ended up putting about $2500 of repairs in to it so it was in 100% working order. Only problem now was minor surface rust on the hood and above rear wheel wells.
The car came with an Injen CAI, Dave B aluminum gauge rings, an old Kenwood headunit (with wire-tapped factory harness instead of the $5 harness (boom06) ), and steel shoes that the previous owner was so kind as to bestow upon me, complete with zip-tied hub caps.
The first thing I did after all the mechanical problems were taken care of was to freshen up the headlights with the Turtle Wax headlight restoration kit. Cost about $10, worked wonders. Do note that they need to be retreated about every 4 months, no big deal though.
Before:
After:
I found some cross bars for my roof racks off of Ebay cheap, and some bike racks of Craigslist. I'm a mountain biker, and my bike didn't fit in the hatch by about 2 inches unless I took my front wheel off.
I was then inspired by some members on here, and Plasti-Dipped the rear valence.
Loved the look, very easy and cheap way to finish up the rear end.
I threw some cheap Pioneer speakers and some Dynomat in the front doors, they're probably soon going to be replaced by some Boston Acoustics.
Decent upgrade in sound.
I parked next to what my car desperately wants to be.
I got some JL 12" subs off a friend for a good deal with a matching JL amp, rescued them from his Subaru Outback (2thumbs)
Don't have any pictures of them in the car, I'll try to find some. Very impressed, they've been fun (stash)
Replaced my ridiculous $10 Autozone antenna with an MPV antenna I bought off a member on here.
Oh, I and did the fog lights with parking lights mod a while ago.
And here's a current picture.
Basically, my goal is to maintain and enhance my P5. I want it to be an engaging car to drive, but I also don't have a lot of money to pour in to it. I deliver pizza with it a few days a week during the winter months and I teach sailing during the summer, so my income varies and I tend to not make much money during the winter. So the steelies are probably there for the long haul, along with the failing paint job. This car will drive until it rusts away. It's about to roll over 150k, so I've put about 9k miles on it in 9 months.
Feel free to post with opinions or thoughts. I'm always looking for inexpensive tips and upgrades for the car.
Thanks for reading!
A little info about me: I'm 17 years old, and the P5 is my first car. I've always been a driving enthusiast, but not one of those stupid kids that drive crappy civics and race in the industrial park. I got my license at 16 and a half, and immediately began searching for a car. I had been doing research for a few months, especially concerning reliability and quality.
This has always been about my limited budget, and I set a limit of $4000 for the car. I searched Craigslist for deals nearby, and nearly bought a cruddy Hyundai.
It was nice if you look at it as an appliance, but was the most boring car I have ever driven.
After a few more cars, I stumbled upon a 2003 5-speed Protege5. I did my homework on it, and it was everything I wanted. Good gas mileage, small size, versatility, and driveability. After having a mechanic look it over, I purchased it for $3300 in April of 2011. It was a laser blue Protege5 with 141k miles.
Pic of the first night I saw it:
The car needed a new clutch, new timing belt, new tires all around, and a ton of suspension work. Ended up putting about $2500 of repairs in to it so it was in 100% working order. Only problem now was minor surface rust on the hood and above rear wheel wells.
The car came with an Injen CAI, Dave B aluminum gauge rings, an old Kenwood headunit (with wire-tapped factory harness instead of the $5 harness (boom06) ), and steel shoes that the previous owner was so kind as to bestow upon me, complete with zip-tied hub caps.
The first thing I did after all the mechanical problems were taken care of was to freshen up the headlights with the Turtle Wax headlight restoration kit. Cost about $10, worked wonders. Do note that they need to be retreated about every 4 months, no big deal though.
Before:
After:
I found some cross bars for my roof racks off of Ebay cheap, and some bike racks of Craigslist. I'm a mountain biker, and my bike didn't fit in the hatch by about 2 inches unless I took my front wheel off.
I was then inspired by some members on here, and Plasti-Dipped the rear valence.
Loved the look, very easy and cheap way to finish up the rear end.
I threw some cheap Pioneer speakers and some Dynomat in the front doors, they're probably soon going to be replaced by some Boston Acoustics.
Decent upgrade in sound.
I parked next to what my car desperately wants to be.
I got some JL 12" subs off a friend for a good deal with a matching JL amp, rescued them from his Subaru Outback (2thumbs)
Don't have any pictures of them in the car, I'll try to find some. Very impressed, they've been fun (stash)
Replaced my ridiculous $10 Autozone antenna with an MPV antenna I bought off a member on here.
Oh, I and did the fog lights with parking lights mod a while ago.
And here's a current picture.
Basically, my goal is to maintain and enhance my P5. I want it to be an engaging car to drive, but I also don't have a lot of money to pour in to it. I deliver pizza with it a few days a week during the winter months and I teach sailing during the summer, so my income varies and I tend to not make much money during the winter. So the steelies are probably there for the long haul, along with the failing paint job. This car will drive until it rusts away. It's about to roll over 150k, so I've put about 9k miles on it in 9 months.
Feel free to post with opinions or thoughts. I'm always looking for inexpensive tips and upgrades for the car.
Thanks for reading!