P5 Discontinued - Should I Still Buy One?

[BrendanSmith]

I'm planning to buy either the Protege5 or a Matrix/Vibe in August. I'd prefer to buy the P5 (obviously), but I'm worried about its resale value and parts availability now that production has ceased in favor of the Mazda3 after only two years. I don't have the luxury of waiting until the new year for Mazda3s to become available here in Canada.

I imagine most people on this forum are pretty attached to their P5s, but how do you feel now that it's being cut? Would anyone decide to buy a different car if you were forced to make the decision again, right now?

 

[eMKay]

The P5 is a Mazda Protege with a hatch and the sedan has been in production for 5 years, not two. So parts will be cheap and readily available for some time.

 

[CruzinAltitude]

eMKay makes a great point. Another reason why I would choose the Pro5 hands down is this, If the production run is only 2 years then my car will continue to stand out. When is the last time you turned your head to check out a Civic or a Corolla? Yet to this day I get turned heads looking at my car, and its stock. I just plain love it.

 

[Coqui258]

Yup, I have to agree also. I thought about it and it's the best feeling to have when you're driving down the road knowing that not many people have your car! ESPECIALLY since it wasn't a BAD reason they discontinued it. If they stopped production because not enough people were buying or it was faulty, then I would feel uneasy, but the fact remains that the P5 turns heads and stands out.

 

[mts3]

If they stopped production because not enough people were buying or it was faulty, then I would feel uneasy, but the fact remains that the P5 turns heads and stands out.

Exactly! Remember the original concept cars for the Protege/ Protege5 replacement were all 5 door. That should show some indication that Mazda wants to keep building a small sport wagon.

 

[LaSeR P5 DrIvEr]

I was torn between the exact same choice... it was either between the matrix the p5 and the focus... well needless to say when i saw the p5 i knew i had to get it. I mean there are more than enough toyota and ford on the road and i needed a car that was different. The p5 is not only different but perfect it suits me w/ everything i need (space, sporty movement, and comfort) anyway the discontinue of the p5 is only better for us because now we're the originals

 

[eMKay]

My car turns more heads than my BRIGHT green A4 did, and it cost $10,000 less

Oh, and it easily outhandles my A4 as well

Here's a pic of her, I did love this car, but losing my job forced me to sell her.

At my friends shop in Ontario (installing new brakes)...

 

[ghetto waggon]

I am in a pretty similiar situation to laser

I'm 18 and've been saving for "college" since I was 12. With about $13,000 saved up, my parents threw the idea of moving into the basement and getting a new car. Obviously look where I stand Haven't looked back for a second.

The parents obviously wanted the lesser bland civic, or "even" a focus. But, they were willing to pretty much put in the time and test drive basically any car under 20 grand. So, of course, we did.

The protege was never in my considerations in the beginning. I was interested in the hyundai tiburon, civic si, foci, and the matrix. The hoebag at the ford dealership even had us set up to go with the premium yellow zx5 focus for $14k OTD. I wasn't happy with the car the way it was, but it was cheap. Just before committing to the focus, I was out driving when I saw a shiny yellow protege coming over a litle hill at the dealership. I fell in love with the look totally.

I am a mountain biker, and at the time, was in a band, where I needed to transport a 4x10 "enclosure" that weighed near 200lbs. So I figured the hatch would be sweet.

Turns out I just took my bike rack off the car and have yet to load anything at all into the hatch for the past 6 months.

This car has less power, given. But, in all of the cars, except the gt-v6 tiburon, the pro seemed to have more kick to it. Most of the others had an economy rental car feeling to them.

Also, the fact that the car is discontinued relates to the friendlieness among all the p5 drivers. I would never wave, flash lights at, honk, or even tag another focus, matrix, tiburon, etc. Haha, of course this wasnt the reason I bought the car, as I had no idea, but it is kinda cool to have it like that.
IMO the car wasn't discontinued because of failure. The p5 has recently been a great seller, and has no recalls, if that is still true. And the small amount of TSBs that are on the car, seem to either be fixed completely in the 2003s, or the dealerships mostly willing to help you with if not.

I say go for the p5, but thats just me. One in six billion

try out the cars! find out for yourself!

good luck-

 

[mooS mooS]

First Edition P5'er here... lol like you can tell the difference other than I didn't have tweets behind my mirror stock ( Do now ) =)

but yeah ... I love it.... I love the Sense of Community between P5'ers... it's not the usual " Let me dog you out .. rev up on you .. and act like my car is more uber " type of behavior that one gets when you roll up to another at a stop light ....

it's more of a ... roll up ... look... smile and nod at each other, and wave as you drive off.... I freakin love that ..... hey , we all know our cars aren't the fastest out there ... but for some reason that you just can't quantify ... we all seem to know that we share something... special .. =)

(redp5)

 

[Fin]

I gotta say I envy you guys who say that the P5 is uncommon in your area, around here (Canadian West coast) they're EVERYWHERE. However, no regrets I love my car and no matter how common they are they still look great.

 

[EXA4DRIVER]

eMKay-

Did you have a 1.8T or a 2.8? Was it a quttrro or a Fronttrak? I really miss my 01 A4 but ever since the B6 platform came out, the resale value just kept on dropping. It was one of the biggest reasons why I traded it in for something cheaper, as well as to save up for my house and my Z. But the P5 is trully a fun car. It will be my daily driver when I get the Z.

 

[mooS mooS]

I gotta say I envy you guys who say that the P5 is uncommon in your area, around here (Canadian West coast) they're EVERYWHERE. However, no regrets I love my car and no matter how common they are they still look great.

lol.. I'm with you on that, man ... I see about 5-6 different P5's almost every day ... a lot of them are the proud owners that I described in an earlier post... but the ones that make me sad are the ones that just ..." Drive " P5s ... with no sense of Pride and Ownership ... sucks... they have no idea what they have

 

[eMKay]

eMKay-

Did you have a 1.8T or a 2.8? Was it a quttrro or a Fronttrak? I really miss my 01 A4 but ever since the B6 platform came out, the resale value just kept on dropping. It was one of the biggest reasons why I traded it in for something cheaper, as well as to save up for my house and my Z. But the P5 is trully a fun car. It will be my daily driver when I get the Z.

It was a 1.8T quattro, 5spd with sport package...chipped of course (only .8bar). I may buy a B6 S4 someday, but then again when I was at the Mazda dealer getting an oil filter I saw a grey Mazda6, V6, 5spd and fell in love, what a beautiful car. And now the Mazda is coming out with a Mazdaspeed Miata my next purchase may be another Mazda.

 

[eMKay]

I gotta say I envy you guys who say that the P5 is uncommon in your area, around here (Canadian West coast) they're EVERYWHERE. However, no regrets I love my car and no matter how common they are they still look great.

There are only 2 other yellow ones I have seen (one owned by our SCCA chairman ) I may see a P5 once every week or so around here. When I go into Canada it's a different story, they are just as popular in Southern Ontario as they are in lala land.

 

[EXA4DRIVER]

yeah, that mazdaspeed miata is going to be a fun car

 

[spazspike]

I'll be interested to see what sort of MSRP the P5 will carry when it's officially out of production. Depending on your situation (and need) you may actually wish to wait till they bring the vehicle out of service.

As mentioned by numerous other members, don't sweat the issue of service parts or factory authorized parts for the vehicle. I'm sure Mazda has already allotted the appropriate stockpile for the vehicle and/or will produce where necessary.

 

[monki]

the reason they discontinue P5 is bcoz they are selling too many and the sales is going down by a lot. Turn your head and check out a P5 ? It wasnt the story anymore bcoz there are too many on the road, PLUS, all MP5 look the same, unlike Civic, ppl do put crazy mods on it.

Back to the topic, YES, I think you should get a P5 bcoz if you like the car, it is the best timing as the price is dropping

 

[03P5]

Damn Straight

I gotta say I envy you guys who say that the P5 is uncommon in your area, around here (Canadian West coast) they're EVERYWHERE. However, no regrets I love my car and no matter how common they are they still look great.

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.

 

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

matrix xrs awd... that is tyte. i wish it came in a 6 speed...

 

[mtnbkr]

Matrix XR has all wheel drive and is fast, but the P5 looks WAY better. Women dig it.

I don't know if you plan on doing anything with your rack, but I mountain bike, and I know of horror stories about sh!t falling off of the matrix because of the roof line. It's too short and sloped. Looks like a hunched over jellybean IMO.

P5 handles better than most cars out there, and because of the gearing ratio feels like a friggin pocket rocket through 3rd gear.