P5 Discontinued - Should I Still Buy One?

[EXA4DRIVER]

Doesn't the AWD XR only come in auto and has the 140hp engine as to the XRS only comes in FWD but has the 180hp engine and a 6sp.

 

[tonkabui]

i think the awd xr has only 120-something horsepower. it's also taller than the other matrices. unless the matrix got another 10hp, i thought they only had 130 just like the corolla and celica GT. anywhooo... the matrix sucked pretty bad when i went and looked at one. it looked way cooler in pics. in real life, they're pretty damn unattractive. although i do lust for that xrs and it's crazy powerband.

 

[tonkabui]

oh yeah, and to get back to the original question.... heck yeah you should buy one. i don't regret it one bit. i don't even care about the "lack of power." plus, since it was only in america for two years, even if all the protege5's look alike, it'll still look more original than any civic out there... and it's a whole lot more fun than a corolla!

 

[Edison_Chen]

Re: Damn Straight

I love my P5, and thankfully the crowd that lives in Richmond where I work, seems to favour the yellow and white, but all in all, there are tons of these cars driving around. Not many fixed up though, so at least any altered cars stick out.

If pains me to see them with Altezza tails, and Yu-Gi-Oh figures stuck all over the dash. I just don't get it. I especially like when they stick the ferrari car air freshener right on the Passenger Air Bag cover, that should be fun.

yea it pretty common with stock.... not many mod ones.....
there are more and more laser blues in the 604 area..

 

[RAAZ227]

The MP5 is an awesome original design. Still a rare car around here.

 

[turbodcee]

wow, I just bought a P5 and I didnt realize that they were being dicontinued. COOL! To me that is a benefit because I hate seeing a million and one of my car driving around. That's one reason why I also drive a turbo RX-7, I like to be different.

 

[d0hboy]

exact same situation, not sure whether to get an Impreza 2.5TS or a P5 (about to test drive one in 20 minutes).

I'm not sure how much I can ask to bargain down given that the P5 is about to be discontinued.. whether I can use that to my advantage.

well, will check back after my test drive..

 

[d0hboy]

Back from my test drive--tiptronic autoshift is "ok".. found myself wanting to forget about it and go back to normal auto. =]

Dealer said at least for Vancouver that they haven't heard anything about whats new for 2004 so as far as they know protege's are still being produced. In Canada it's 45% of all mazda's being sold, so they'd be stupid to risk changing that.

 

[slenser]

i think the awd xr has only 120-something horsepower. it's also taller than the other matrices. unless the matrix got another 10hp, i thought they only had 130 just like the corolla and celica GT. anywhooo... the matrix sucked pretty bad when i went and looked at one. it looked way cooler in pics. in real life, they're pretty damn unattractive. although i do lust for that xrs and it's crazy powerband.

I could have swore the Celica GT had 180-90 and the GTS had 2??, but I guess I was wrong. I checked and the GT has 140 and the GT-S has 180.

I love my P5. It has been a blast to drive, so far. I expecially love that I don't see them everywhere. That's my favorite part. I only wish I didn't have black. I love bright colors on my cars, but all they had on the lot with a stick was mine in black. A b**** to keep clean. I miss yellow!! :'( I guess I'm trying to say, buy it!

 

[BrendanSmith]

Thanks for the comments!

I finally went out for a Protege5 test drive today. I'm still going to check out the Vibe/Matrix before I make my decision, but I'm definitely leaning toward the Mazda. The sales rep claimed that Mazda would have parts for the P5 available for at least ten years. They'll need to fulfill their own warranties, so I suppose they can't just cut off the supply in December.

It was interesting to note, though, that the vanilla Protege sedan was MIA in the dealer's showroom. I'd say 80% of the stock were Protege5s or Mazda6s.

PS: Mazda sales reps don't like questions about the Mazda3. At least not during a P5 test drive. =)

 

[DrPhill]

maybe the rareity of the car will boost the resale value to a normal price i was worried about the same thing before i bought mine, but i said f*ck it i love mine and have absolutely no regrets. driving in the real twisty hill roads is awsome. unfortunately i never learned how to drive stick so mine is an auto, but its the tiptronic, and that comes in really handy up on hwy 9 dont get the vibe/matrix, its a pregnant p5 wannabe and it dosent even have all wheel disk breaks

when i get my 21mm rear stabilizer bar, im gonna tear up hwy 9 and i'll be the king of the hill!!!!!!!!!!