Got me a Proteg!
I'm back from a very long time away...I joined this forum like years ago.
Anyway, I've been looking for a Mazda in addition to the 323 I was driving. I had 3 choices - MX-3 GS, MX-6 LS, or 1st gen Proteg LX. The first 2 are expensive(well, highschool kid) both in initial purchase and in insurence. As far as what I wanted most, they were about equal.
So a week and a half ago doing the regular AutoTrader/E-Bay search, I noticed a '94 Proteg LX at a local Honda dealership on AutoTrader with no price listed. I ignored it, expecting the price to be $3K or above, it looked nice. Then on E-bay I see the same Proteg, with a 9 day auction. I pretty much ignored it although it was at just a few hundred, I thought it would shoot up past my price range.
Then on Saturday I check again and it's at a mere $1025 bid. It was go time. Just to make sure, me and my brother drove out there to check it out, on Sunday. It surely looked better than in the pics! It also had a $2995 painted on the window... So I wanted it. Got back home and told my folks. I then looked on AutoTrader again to see that they put a price of $3990 on the car, while the auction was still at $1025. So I decided to bid on it, and my brother is quite an E-bayer so he set it up and bid right at the end and I got the car for $1136 plus documentation fee and crap like that, put it at over $1200 but it was ok with me. Last night we went to pick it up, looked it over. It looked good in and out, little bad bits here and there, needed a quart of oil and some antifreeze. The aftermarket radio was gone...evidently someone jacked it. So they knocked off $100(yey!), and the total cost came out to $1153. Not bad for a '94 Proteg LX. Ofcourse I knew there'd be problems, but my dad's a Mazda Master Tech so it doesn't really matter. This being the first stick car I've driven on the street for any length of time(though I do drive sticks at work - Mazda/Subaru New Car prep at the dealership my dad works at), I wasn't use to the feel of the clutch but it was fun. Drove great, becides the horrible vibration down the highway(tire issue), then the check engine light came on, but I figured it was an exhaust issue because the exhaust has a leak(though still sounds good). I went straight to work...the Proteg had no floormats but I remembered that there was a 3rd gen driver's mat at the dealership in the cleaning bay. I took it(well, I was told I could several months back but didn't need it then), and it fits pretty good. After getting home, my brother got to work and hooked me up with a Millenia/626 radio, an interior light bulb that was burned out, and topped off the oil and antifreeze for me.
Today I drove it to school. On the way it had 2 episodes of bad hesitation, but I made it to school just fine, only to find that some Fire dept. person parked in my spot, so I parked in a visitor spot. During first hour the person left, so, it being Photo class, I went with a friend to move the car to my spot. Took a little trip around the lot, just for kicks. It's a lot of fun to drive.
Got home from school and my brother got home shortly after, and he was heading off to a junkyard, so he asked what I needed for the car. He got me the radio surround for free(it was missing from the Proteg) as well as radio mounts, but they didn't work because the radio he gave me clips in. So anyway I took the surround and put it around the back of the radio and put it in the dash, then pushed the radio back and it clips right in and looks pretty good for being out of a different car. It sounds good too, minus the blown front speakers.
Tomarrow my dad is going to thoroughly look over the car after work, put it on a lift and everything, and prolly ballance the tires and check all of the fluids and stuff, and make a list of what it needs.
Anyway, it was well worth the $1153! The only pic I have of it so far is in my sig. I'll post more soon, but you all know what a Proteg looks like, haha.
I'm back from a very long time away...I joined this forum like years ago.
Anyway, I've been looking for a Mazda in addition to the 323 I was driving. I had 3 choices - MX-3 GS, MX-6 LS, or 1st gen Proteg LX. The first 2 are expensive(well, highschool kid) both in initial purchase and in insurence. As far as what I wanted most, they were about equal.
So a week and a half ago doing the regular AutoTrader/E-Bay search, I noticed a '94 Proteg LX at a local Honda dealership on AutoTrader with no price listed. I ignored it, expecting the price to be $3K or above, it looked nice. Then on E-bay I see the same Proteg, with a 9 day auction. I pretty much ignored it although it was at just a few hundred, I thought it would shoot up past my price range.
Then on Saturday I check again and it's at a mere $1025 bid. It was go time. Just to make sure, me and my brother drove out there to check it out, on Sunday. It surely looked better than in the pics! It also had a $2995 painted on the window... So I wanted it. Got back home and told my folks. I then looked on AutoTrader again to see that they put a price of $3990 on the car, while the auction was still at $1025. So I decided to bid on it, and my brother is quite an E-bayer so he set it up and bid right at the end and I got the car for $1136 plus documentation fee and crap like that, put it at over $1200 but it was ok with me. Last night we went to pick it up, looked it over. It looked good in and out, little bad bits here and there, needed a quart of oil and some antifreeze. The aftermarket radio was gone...evidently someone jacked it. So they knocked off $100(yey!), and the total cost came out to $1153. Not bad for a '94 Proteg LX. Ofcourse I knew there'd be problems, but my dad's a Mazda Master Tech so it doesn't really matter. This being the first stick car I've driven on the street for any length of time(though I do drive sticks at work - Mazda/Subaru New Car prep at the dealership my dad works at), I wasn't use to the feel of the clutch but it was fun. Drove great, becides the horrible vibration down the highway(tire issue), then the check engine light came on, but I figured it was an exhaust issue because the exhaust has a leak(though still sounds good). I went straight to work...the Proteg had no floormats but I remembered that there was a 3rd gen driver's mat at the dealership in the cleaning bay. I took it(well, I was told I could several months back but didn't need it then), and it fits pretty good. After getting home, my brother got to work and hooked me up with a Millenia/626 radio, an interior light bulb that was burned out, and topped off the oil and antifreeze for me.
Today I drove it to school. On the way it had 2 episodes of bad hesitation, but I made it to school just fine, only to find that some Fire dept. person parked in my spot, so I parked in a visitor spot. During first hour the person left, so, it being Photo class, I went with a friend to move the car to my spot. Took a little trip around the lot, just for kicks. It's a lot of fun to drive.
Got home from school and my brother got home shortly after, and he was heading off to a junkyard, so he asked what I needed for the car. He got me the radio surround for free(it was missing from the Proteg) as well as radio mounts, but they didn't work because the radio he gave me clips in. So anyway I took the surround and put it around the back of the radio and put it in the dash, then pushed the radio back and it clips right in and looks pretty good for being out of a different car. It sounds good too, minus the blown front speakers.
Tomarrow my dad is going to thoroughly look over the car after work, put it on a lift and everything, and prolly ballance the tires and check all of the fluids and stuff, and make a list of what it needs.
Anyway, it was well worth the $1153! The only pic I have of it so far is in my sig. I'll post more soon, but you all know what a Proteg looks like, haha.
Mazkid reminds me of myself in HS...checking out Auto-Trader (even when I had a car)...trying to get the most for my meager budget and seeing potential in not so new or fresh rides...I was (and still do) search for that "hidden gem" or "diamond in the ruff"...Nice rides man and never loose that automotive passion! (thumb)
