help! Should i buy mazda again

[00zmde]

P.S. 70,000-90,000mi on those 2001 Civics. Every car has a weak point. If I drove my wifes car every day I would have broke that tranny before 70,000mi.

 

[Hughes412]

I say if you'er going to play with the car DO NOT by mazda. Go honda. But if you are just going to drive it then yea you can go with an 03 Protege. I like mine, but I had the clutch replaced under warranty for chatter at 24k. So there really is a problem there.

 

[Replica]

P.S. 70,000-90,000mi on those 2001 Civics. Every car has a weak point. If I drove my wifes car every day I would have broke that tranny before 70,000mi.

Im really suprized. My Civic Dx had 196,000 miles on it and i was on the stock clutch and about 50,000 miles the car was boosted. My friends 1995 Si had 186,000 before his clutch went.

 

[gksspot]

These cars seem to all have a little clutch chatter, Ive just learned how to shift a little smoother/different and it has not happened again.

Hughesd- Not saying you dont know how to shift, it could be that you had some real problem and it was neccessary to replace but from the 4 Proteges (02-03) that I test drove (all 5 spds) before I got mine, they all had a clutch shutter in 1st

 

[Hughes412]

No I know how to drive lol, and there is a reason why they did it for free even though the clutch was past the warranty. These cars are cheep econo boxes and if you put to much stress on them they will break.

 

[gksspot]

No I know how to drive lol, and there is a reason why they did it for free even though the clutch was past the warranty. These cars are cheep econo boxes and if you put to much stress on them they will break.

I can see buying a Protege if you want a sporty handling car but droping the clutch at 5k or driving it hard was simply not its intended purpose. Mazda builds the car towards the segment.
Miatas are meant to be beat to death and they hold up... I would be the first to agree that the Protege isnt set up to be pushed very hard

 

[Hughes412]

HAHA I read my post and I new I spell something wrong but I was on the phone (like now) and I couldn't see it. lol

 

[subsolo_21]

I have an 02 protege and haven't had a single mechanical problem with it since I got it (knock on wood). This is the most mechanically sound car I've owned, including my Honda Civic and my Toyota Celica. I'd say if you want a reliable car go for either a protege or a VW jetta, if you want a fast car in the same price range look for a slightly older supra, 300zx, rx7, mr2, wrx, etc. Just my $.02.

 

[Mental Addiction]

I have owned 2- P5's and the problems are mostly from doing things that it was not intended to do. Alot of people are beating there tran's and might have a few issues. Drive it like it was designed and there are alot less tranny isses. Clutches going out can be a number of things(riding it, making more power than designed to handle,racing,etc). For the most part the Protege is a decent little car. If you are looking at making alot of power, then you will be addressing alot of issues and replacing stock parts with aftermarket parts. Mazda is known not to over engineer there parts. Honda does. If you are wanting something different,makes alot of power and have the money then the Protege might be it. If you are wanting a Honda,STI, EVO,WRX then don't play with the Protege. You'll only get more pissed at yourself when putting money into it.

 

[GearsForBrains]

No problems here...

Before I went to college, I had a '95 Protege LX. Loved it. Got it as a present from my dad, he had it since the 10,000mi mark. I got it at the 170,000mi mark. When I let go of it, cause I go to school in the Bronx and would have no place to park, it had 191,000mi. Never once did it miss a shift or grind, or any other transmission problem, and I wailed on it so hard. Collapsed bushings in the rear suspension, blown distributor cap (took the shop 5 days to find that one), but never an engine or tranny problem. I loved my Mazda.