So I drove my first mp5 today..

[mogi]

Every car is going to have large and small problems in the long run. It is just a matter of what problems that vary between different makes/models. Would you rather deal with a car that contantly blows head gaskets or one that burns a little oil? That sort of thing.

Personally, I am completely satisfied with my 2002 P5 with just shy of 50k miles on it. I'm going to slowly start modding it. The TSBs are helpful and the people here know their Mazdas pretty well. Unless you beat the s*** out of the car, you aren't going to blow up your motor. Most of the people here who have motor problems had it covered under warranty (VICS/VTCS screw), or they had aftermarket parts (turbo, water in cai, etc) that contributed to the problems.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

I might be buying my fiance & I a P5 soon to go along w/ our MSP. Its true what has been said, once you get a mazda you become a fanatic...

 

[Ilikemazda]

Hmm now I'm a bit worried. But I guess most cars do have problems. I plan on not doing engine mods besides a intake and exhaust. Also I will not beat on the car becasue it will be a daily driver, plus beating on the car usually goes hand in hand with spending more time at the pumps. I still beleive I will get one. Heck I might go test drive another one just for the heck of it. also what are tsbs?

 

[iLisa]

Hmm now I'm a bit worried. But I guess most cars do have problems. I plan on not doing engine mods besides a intake and exhaust. Also I will not beat on the car becasue it will be a daily driver, plus beating on the car usually goes hand in hand with spending more time at the pumps. I still beleive I will get one. Heck I might go test drive another one just for the heck of it. also what are tsbs?

so out of everyone that posted to your thread.. only 1 bad reply about the protege... not a bad percentage...
I have a 02.5 with intake, exhaust, short shifter and other mods.. and havent had any problems... treat your car right and it will last.
http://www.msprotege.com/members/Lisakay/car1.jpg

 

[toucci]

Hmm now I'm a bit worried. But I guess most cars do have problems. I plan on not doing engine mods besides a intake and exhaust. Also I will not beat on the car becasue it will be a daily driver, plus beating on the car usually goes hand in hand with spending more time at the pumps. I still beleive I will get one. Heck I might go test drive another one just for the heck of it. also what are tsbs?

The P5 is considered a very reliable car, a best pick by consumer reports. Replica's car is just one bad apple.

I love my P5 despite its reluctance to make power. The handling is great and becomes excellent when modded; I passed a 70s civic hatch today on an offramp... it was leaning hard and I was going about 20 mph faster

 

[Replica]

Any given car manufacturer will have problems with a few cars from any particular model. The fact of the matter is that the protege is an economy car, but a pretty darn good one. They were produced for over a decade and were pretty reliable. Mazdas as a whole generally offer average reliability (behind toyota, honda and prolly suburu). As far as their value is concerned, the fact that my three year old economy car is still worth 12K says something for Mazda. Trying buying an economy car from Ford, GM, Chrysler, Saturn, Kia, Hyundai, etc and see what happens in 3 years.

I'm not trying to discount Replica's experience - it is valid. Do the search as he suggested, but remember there are a whole lot more of us with no problems (not to mention all those who are not part of our forum).

It's scarey that this board is a tiny fraction of all mazda owners yet there are so many threads about motors blowing up. Just with the local Houston people, of the 3 P5 owners i've met, they've ALL blown their motors (Hellcat, YelloMP5.) I don't know why you would think a used P5 is worth 12k, I was offered 7500 for mine in great shape. I think Charles only got 6500 for his P5. Some people get "good" trade in values because the dealer is already making money off the car being bought so they offset it on the trade in.

I'm not trying to say a P5 is a horrible car, but i don't see them lasting nearly as long as other run-of-the-mill economy cars like Corrollas, Civics (mine was at 196,000 miles at 11psi....) and sentras. I don't have any personal reasons to hate on P5's, just letting everyone know what they're getting into. As a P5 owner I've put my money where my mouth is, and have paid the price. The P5 is a great car to have for about a year, trade it in for something else and enjoy fond memories of a car that didn't have time to break down yet.

Best advice for the guy who test drove one....wait it out, weigh all your options, make sure the car is worth the duration of slavery that a car payment is. Test drive anything you can get your hands on....never know what you might like.

 

[Replica]

The P5 is considered a very reliable car, a best pick by consumer reports. Replica's car is just one bad apple.

My car is in great shape, 75,000 miles and runs like a champ.....for now..., doesn't even have any door dings

 

[mogi]

a TSB is a Technical Service Bulletin. Basically a writeup from Mazda describing common problems and the fix for them. A TSB, however, is not a recall.

 

[ghettobubba2001]

Civics (mine was at 196,000 miles at 11psi....)

like we care- this is trying to help someone find a freakin car chill the hell out there is pretty much nothing wrong with the p5 AT ALL. it is a well built car with a bad resale value. but when you look at how many miles a car has .... for instance that p5 u found for 7k prolly had like 50-100k miles on it which is why!

P.S. I bought my car for 11k used from some lady in boca raton, fl - she used it for groceries and only drove it to/from publix. The car had 18k miles on it and it was an 02. Perfect condition. Basically with any car nowadays there is no resale value cept for luxury vehicles. Last thing on this! hey man go get urself a p5 it is byfar a really cool ride with a decent price and the reliability of our car is Great! (At least in fla)


Thats just my 2c


UH DUH

 

[SlowPro98]

I have had my 5 for about 7 months, with no major issues. I don't need a fast car, just a nice car, and that's what I got. it handles great, loooks great, and it's not something that everyone else on the road has.

My car payments are low too. I definetly plan on paying it off and fixing anything that happens to break. My wife brought a hand-me-down 2nd gen protege into my life. the car has been beaten, neglected, hated and loved. And she still starts right up (unless I leave the stereo on, my bad) and has needed just a little TLC to keep going. A testiment to the mazda durablity.

Besides, if I blow a motor, it will be my excuse to swap in an FS-DT.

 

[RODSCALIP5]

I had my P5 for 3 years, daily driven 75 miles a day, jspec cams, intake, exhaust. I never had one single problem with the car. I drove it from San Diego to Vancouver and back, again not one single problem. Traded it in for a WRX, I got $9000 with 56K. I've had my WRX 6 months and have been to the dealer about 6 times(cruise control button vibration, rear differential noise). It all depends on your luck, and even though I have had to take my current vehicle in to fix these problems, I still do not consider it to be a POS or an unreliable car. The P5 IMO is something I should have kept, but oh well.

 

[rjmhotrod]

I don't know why you would think a used P5 is worth 12k, I was offered 7500 for mine in great shape. I think Charles only got 6500 for his P5.

Trade in value isn't the only "value" for a car. Hard to really define value in all honesty. I was speaking of a private party value, or what I might get if I sold it myself. While 12K is a little high, 11K is not. My 02 P5 has 34K, ABS, Moonroof and is in excellent shape. So 12K isn't that far out of the ballpark. Trade-in, totally different story.

I'm not trying to say a P5 is a horrible car, but i don't see them lasting nearly as long as other run-of-the-mill economy cars like Corrollas, Civics (mine was at 196,000 miles at 11psi....) and sentras.

The protege is every bit as reliable as a sentra. The civics and corollas, idk. My mom has a '92 corolla that's still a very good car.

So to emphasize and de-emphasize what Replica has said. Yes there are cars out there that are more reliable. Yes there are other cars out there that hold there value better. Yes there are P5's out there that have blown motors. I agree with all of this. But the P5 is still a very good car for the money. It holds it's value reasonably well. And the vast majority of protege owners will never blow their motors. I've not regretted purchasing my P5 a single day yet. And let's hope that continues...

Replica, I hope you realize I'm not flaming you. I just don't agree with your first post.

...A Protege is NOT reliable...don't let the slick build quality fool you into thinking it's a quality car.

 

[MyZmZm]

I'll add my voice to this discussion...

To say it again, if you get one, you won't be sorry. Every vehicle has it's little quirks, but overall, value for the money, superb stock handling (compared to every other econo-slush-box out there), and 'fun to drive' factor - you can't beat it. (2thumbs)

I'm actually on my second P5 and I love it more every day - bought the first one new in March '02, and traded it in on the second one in Nov '03. The first was an auto, and did have an annoyance in the tranny (to me) that the dealer was unable to fix, despite replacing the entire tranny; I lucked out by trading my auto in on an identical manual tx with no money changing hands. There are times when I wish her HP number was twice what it is and think of getting something more powerful; then I take her for a drive down a twisty road, offramp, or traffic circle, and I can't wipe the grin off my face as I'm passing those 'faster' cars. (lol2)

Modding is highly addictive, once it grabs you it never lets go. Yes, I'm an addict, and yes, I'm attending weekly meetings... Wait, car meets don't qualify??

To give you an idea... A friend of mine sold his P5 a couple of years ago and bought an STi (bastard). He's often remarked that he misses his P5 - it was the most fun-to-drive car he's owned, and he's had a LOT of vehicles.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Replica]

for instance that p5 u found for 7k prolly had like 50-100k miles on it which is why!

Mine was owned by a lady that used it to take her kids to school and traded it in for an SUV. I found the car on a GMC dealership's used lot and found her phone number in the owners manual. It's an 02 and had 14,700 miles on it when i bought it and I paid $10,900 at 3.6%. The car still smells new inside...until i eat tacos. (sad1)

My opinions on the P5 overall are just as valid as everyone else's...most of the people responding haven't even owned their P5 as long as I have, or have driven it as many miles. There are alot of good things about P5's but in MY personal experiences have not outweighed the negatives. The steering feel almost validates purchasing the car alone. Again, just my opinions on the car, there are a ton of other options in the price range to consider. Good opinions from rjmhotrod as well.

Just something to think about before signing that payment book....

 

[iLisa]

My opinions on the P5 overall are just as valid as everyone else's...most of the people responding haven't even owned their P5 as long as I have, or have driven it as many miles.

how long have you had it? amount of miles?

 

[TurfBurn]

I'd like to see links to a blown motor thread that wasn't from oil starvationg auto-xing or in the twisties... or from someone leaving a drain plug out... or from boosting... or apparently the previously mentioned loose VICS screw.

And if you think oil starvation is a big deal and a "bad" on Mazda's part... then go talk to the boys with Evo's who have blown their motor because of poor oil control in the oil pan when tracking the car.

Mazda's have their quirks (the rear clunk on MSP and MP3)... but overall great cars that are simply built very solid. Being one of the board members who has personally torn down and rebuilt their own motor I can tell you that the motors are done well and they wear well. If you start complaining or worrying about problems with accessories and valves and the like I dare you to go own any GM or Ford vehicle for more than a year or two and come back and tell me the Mazda has issues. I can list off all sorts of chronic problems of other car brands and motors if need be.

 

[TurfBurn]

and when comparing pricing.. compare KBB's... Protege's have held very well after the initial price correction that comes driving it off the lot/first year.

 

[TurfBurn]

My car is in great shape, 75,000 miles and runs like a champ.....for now..., doesn't even have any door dings

Keep in Mind the 100+ thousand miles that LinuxRacr and others have put their cars through without major problems (outside of their mods and heavy boost etc).

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

speaking of the VICS screws...if I get a P5 is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening ? It has a remaining warranty...

 

[TurfBurn]

speaking of the VICS screws...if I get a P5 is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening ? It has a remaining warranty...

Odds of it happening are pretty low... I wouldn't worry about it... but the only thing that can be done is to use permanent loc-tite and make sure it is torqued in to spec. and the P5 is no more susceptible than your MSP.