literally the only reason I'll suggest otherwise is that the Big Three really had shyte material selection on the important bits - brake lines, power steering lines, and other things of that nature.
If you do decide to give it a look, give it a GOOOOOOOOOOOOD look as that may change your mind.
I won't lie, as much as I might be "bored" of Protege5s, there's something that I enjoy about them. The issues they have (barring rust) aren't terrible to deal with, IMO. I'd daily mine if it wasn't V6 swapped and suffering from issues of my own darned doing...