Should we buy?

[Dhorn33]

We currently own an MPV van and we are looking to get rid of the payment and get something a little less thirsty. We found a 2002 Protege5 for sale locally with an asking price of $5400 - less than any others I have seen. It is yellow with 128k miles and runs/drives great. The body has a few issues - rust starting under the logo on the rear hatch, big ding in the hood and rust just starting on the inside edges of the rear wheel wells. It was driven buy a salesman that put a lot of miles on it - and from the looks he didn't give it a bath as often as he should have but I think it will polish up and look decent. It is a 5 speed and that is what I would want so that is a bonus.

The guy selling is a Mazda salesguy and he bought it from a customer that was going to trade it in but wasn't offered enough from the dealer. We found the bill of sale in the glovebox showing this guy paid the previous owner $3000 for the car a week ago and he is obviously trying to spin a quick profit by selling for $5400. (I can't blame him) Anyway - what do you think? Is this a decent buy or should I walk away and keep looking?

 

[erzipper]

Definitely wait and keep looking. First of all, most yellow P5s are going to be faded because of the 1 stage paint and unless it was taken good care of, it is hard to get it looking good. Look for one with less miles and in better condition. About a month ago, I bought a 2002 P5 w/ 77k miles, paint in really good condition with only a couple dings for $6,600. If you be patient and look around you can find a nice one for just a little extra dough.

 

[theMerovingian]

I jsut bought a 2002 Protege5 at the end of july. It had jsut ove 70k miles on it and was red. No rust and good condition. I paid about 7400 for it. I would avoid anything with over 100k miles on it and rust. Rust is jsut a problem that never can really be solved... so avoid it if you can. I know my MP5 is a little rattly with 73k miles on it... i hate to imagine how the 128k miles would effects the car.

 

[Dhorn33]

Believe me - I am not a fan of rust but living up here in MN it seems to be the norm instead of the exception. I just fixed rusty door bottoms on my 2004 MPV this weekend - it looked like it was 15 years old! From the looks of it the water gets behind the seam sealer and just sits there creating rust on the inner door. My 93 Accord (like all of them) had rusty rear quarters that I fixed last year and it is coming back already. This protege looks decent still and there is only a very small amount starting that I can stop and prevent from spreading I think.

The miles don't scare me at all - and if I figured if we can get the car for $4500 or less than it was worth considering. The problem is that these cars seem to be hard to find up here - and they sell for top dollar. Most have less miles - so they naturally cost more. I have been looking at $2000 cars so this one is already a stretch and a big change going from a new, larger minivan that we bought with 15k miles on it. We are trying to payoff all of our debt and are not willing to make a car payment for a while. Mechanicals are more important at this point then looks -but within reason obviously. Any more thoughts? Do these cars have issues with 100k+ miles? What kind of mpg are you all getting with mixed driving?

 

[Dhorn33]

I just ran a search on www.autotrader.com and there is 1 priced at $3995 in FL with an AT but it doesn't show mileage - then the next cheapest are also in FL at $4500 with similar mileage. The is one with 57k for $4995 - with a blown engine. The cheapest one within 500 miles of me is $5995 and has 130k miles. These seem to be cheaper down south for some reason?

 

[Unkillable2]

128k? dude are you on crack? lol jk

 

[imola.zhp]

Paid $2,000 for mine about 6 weeks ago...

212,500 miles then, 214,000 miles now. Had a CEL (no knock sensor for some reason, then CEL came back, had to do CEL eliminator possible clogged cat), no a/c ($40 duracool kit took care of that), hazy headlights (1000 grit sand paper and a great DIY = fixed), nasty floor mats ($40 new set from ebay), and overall was just dirty. I'm probably closing in on $250 in fixes...

Books at $4995 (trade-in) even with the high miles...

Up to you, if you can wait for a "deal" to come by, wait. If you want to get the transaction over with and start enjoying a P5, buy the one you found...

Good luck!