Do Protoge's Make Good First Cars?

[pr5owner]

P-r-o-t-e-g-e

yeus protoagaes are velly great automaciiencs!! teh bast chiouse for a 1nd car

 

[Jhova1012]

^^^^ Ouch..

 

[Khoifather]

If you care about getting good gas milage, make sure you buy the manual P5 cause if you buy the automatic P5s, you will average piss poor milage unless gas money isn't a problem for you.

 

[GRide]

i think gas mileage is a problem for everyoen nowadays

 

[Action Jackson]

Why not spend the money on racing school instead?

 

[orange330]

Gride,
Buy a Protege and go autocrossing. DRIVE FAST, STILL LIVE!
Yeah you might not get laid for it, but you can afford the insurance and cops won't look at you.

 

[NoMoreVW]

I am speaking from experience here- stay away from the Jetta. I just traded mine in for a P5. Don't take my word for it, check out Consumer Reports- they are rated very poorly.
I LOVE my P5. SOOOO happy to be a Mazda owner again.

 

[GRide]

Is there a Protege Sedan? I'm not feelin the Hatchback. I'm not trying to get laid either hehe.

NoMoreVW, whats so bad about he Jetta?

 

[Khoifather]

The sedan of the P5 would be the Mazda MP3....

 

[NoMoreVW]

like I said, check out consumer reports. I don't want to bash Jettas but this was my experience- I had an '01 1.8T Jetta GLS. I had all the maintainence done at the dealership and at 60,000 miles I had to have a new engine put in and at 107,000 the transmission went out. I also had my windows fall out, my check engine light was constantly on resulting in numerous O2 sensors being changed, etc.. I just traded it in Wed. and I was talking to the VW mechanics. They said they would never buy a VW because they see all the problems with them. I'm not trying to talk you out of the Jetta, it's a really fun car to drive but I just want you to be informed.

Good luck!!

 

[sgryzko]

like I said, check out consumer reports. I don't want to bash Jettas but this was my experience- I had an '01 1.8T Jetta GLS. I had all the maintainence done at the dealership and at 60,000 miles I had to have a new engine put in and at 107,000 the transmission went out. I also had my windows fall out, my check engine light was constantly on resulting in numerous O2 sensors being changed, etc.. I just traded it in Wed. and I was talking to the VW mechanics. They said they would never buy a VW because they see all the problems with them. I'm not trying to talk you out of the Jetta, it's a really fun car to drive but I just want you to be informed.

Good luck!!

That jetta was just a lemon. Good choice getting a P5 though.(rockon)

 

[mp3moose]

The sedan of the P5 would be the Mazda MP3....

Not quite. The protege sedan is the 4 door P5. The mp3 is a sport sedan tunned by racing beat. Its got a good load of goodies like tokico struts and racing beat springs, advanced timing, full stereo set up, and a bunch of other goodies that are not on the p5 or sedan. However, its limited production will make one hard to find. Basically the mp3 is a msp without a turbo or a limited slip differential.

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Not quite. The protege sedan is the 4 door P5. The mp3 is a sport sedan tunned by racing beat. Its got a good load of goodies like tokico struts and racing beat springs, advanced timing, full stereo set up, and a bunch of other goodies that are not on the p5 or sedan. However, its limited production will make one hard to find. Basically the mp3 is a msp without a turbo or a limited slip differential.

Don't forget the P5 is longer than the Protege sedans.

I'm loving the Jetta/GTI but im leaning towards the jetta because its a sedan

what's so great about a sedan anyways? I love driving my 2 seat roadster everywhere. I say get a miata!

 

[ELEmental59437]

Don't forget the P5 is longer than the Protege sedans.

Actually, the P5 is about 4 inches SHORTER than the sedans.



I got my P5 when I was 16 turning 17, its been the best thing I have bought for myself (yes, I am paying for it all). Plus dishing out almost $500 a month for a car when you barely make more than that keeps you from doing stupid things in the car and possibly wrecking it.

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Okay then. my bad. I was thinking the other way around. woops! now that you jarred my memory, I do remember my friend's P5 had to have the MSP exhaust shortened about 6 inches.

 

[ELEmental59437]

Okay then. my bad. I was thinking the other way around. woops! now that you jarred my memory, I do remember my friend's P5 had to have the MSP exhaust shortened about 6 inches.

Forgiven....... this time....

 

[Replica]

A great first car is a Civic. The proteges (00+) are nice cars but I don't think a new driver will really reap the benifits of an extremely good handling car. Best way to go is a 99-00 Civic. They can be bought for about $4500-$6000 and used aftermarket parts are soooo cheap. I supercharged my Civic for $600 and peiced together bolt ons for less that $300. Not bad for 14's and chasing mustangs on the highway.

Also with it being a first car, you can find more body panels when you happen to get in an accident. Or if you misshift a new block can be found pretty cheap and quick. Also, the Honda community is ALOT bigger than the mazda one. If you have a problem with your car, chances are you can find another Honda guy to help you out in a bind.

There are other nice cheap quick options. LT1 camaros, 96-98 Mustang GT's....man, I want to go buy another car now.

 

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Forgiven....... this time....

Thank you sir, may I have another?!



Hey, I can't keep track of ALL my Mazdas' quirks!

 

[msubullyfan]

That jetta was just a lemon. Good choice getting a P5 though.(rockon)

Not exactly... If you check out what's caused VW to plummet in the reliability rankings, you'll see that the Jetta is the main culprit. Look at this from Consumer Reports...

Bottom line -- Jettas suck!(notcool)

 

[VividP5]

I have owned 2 VWs and had decent luck, but they were older models (Corrado and MKII). The quality of the current VWs is very poor! I would not buy a VW/Audi unless it was under warrenty. Even then, who wants to deal with it breaking down all the time. (pissed)