Thinking about buying a 93 Protege

[Infinitrium]

I'm thinking about buying a 93 Protege SE to replace my piece of crap 88 Corolla. The protege is 500 bucks Canadian, with a parts car to go with it. It's a 4 door auto with the little trunk spoiler. It's got a power sunroof, power mirrors, remote start and not much else. The owner put a brand new radiator in it, new gastank, new front exhaust pipe and a new caliper. The tires have a fair bit of tread left. I took it for a little scoot down the road and it seems pretty nice. Suspension seems good and steering feels tight. The hold button works too. The car does need a front wheel bearing repaired and the brakes need to be bled. The car is in good shape, and in my opinion is worth more than the 500 bucks he's asking for it. What do you people think? Is it worth it? How reliable are these cars? I've heard some unpleasent things about the transmissions, but the B8 engine is supposedly pretty bulletproof. What kind of fuel mileage can I expect to get from this car? Here's a few pictures of the car.

 

[Salmon_Rob]

I'm thinking about buying a 93 Protege SE to replace my piece of crap 88 Corolla. The protege is 500 bucks Canadian, with a parts car to go with it. It's a 4 door auto with the little trunk spoiler. It's got a power sunroof, power mirrors, remote start and not much else. The owner put a brand new radiator in it, new gastank, new front exhaust pipe and a new caliper. The tires have a fair bit of tread left. I took it for a little scoot down the road and it seems pretty nice. Suspension seems good and steering feels tight. The hold button works too. The car does need a front wheel bearing repaired and the brakes need to be bled. The car is in good shape, and in my opinion is worth more than the 500 bucks he's asking for it. What do you people think? Is it worth it? How reliable are these cars? I've heard some unpleasent things about the transmissions, but the B8 engine is supposedly pretty bulletproof. What kind of fuel mileage can I expect to get from this car? Here's a few pictures of the car.

you will get mid/high 30's for gas mileage, and as long as you dont beat on it that whole setup is very stout

 

[mannydingo]

That car for that money sounds like a sore penis to me. Why? Because you can't beat it. I liked both my 94's a lot. However, drive it again and see if you can live with the trembling when you keep it in Drive but at a stop and the car trembles a lot. If you're ok with that, you're good to go. Most people don't notice that on their test run. You're too busy listening for noises. The transmissions go bad because almost all automatic trannys eventually go bad.

 

[Maz94Protege]

I get 30mpg City on my 94 1.8 SOHC (B08) engine Manual Tranny. 36MPG usually on HWY driving. 145K and still running strong.

Deff a great car and sweet on millege. Maintenance free basically too...atleast mine has been

 

[mannydingo]

I forgot to mention you're getting the worse of the two engines on the DX model compared to the LX but not due to reliability. It's due to horsepower. Don't worry, if you're not a speed freak that car is great. Both mine were SOHC like that one. Did you finally buy it, or what?

SOHC=Single Over Head Camshaft

DOHC= Dual Over Head Camshaft

 

[ejb2112]

While we only had our 93 DX for six years, it was, in a word, flawless. Reliable, enjoyable and good on gas...it was one of the reasons I bought a 2002 Protege5.

 

[Mic94Pro]

buy it , it's worth every penny , plus there a parts car

i have mine for 6 yrs (going on 7th) and i've beat the s*** out of it and it still work fine

 

[mannydingo]

Yeah, there are plenty of those at the junkyard. You just go to the type of junkyard where you go in and take the part off the car yourself to save big money. You can't go wrong with that SOHC with the exception of that BLASTED TREMBLE FROM THE ENGINE! It ruined an otherwise perfectly functioning car. They didn't all do it but after it started, there was no stopping it even taking it to the Mazda dealer service center. If that one doesn't do it, you're set.

 

[Shift_Lost]

Dont Buy It! Mazda's Are Crap!

 

[mannydingo]

Dont Buy It! Mazda's Are Crap!

If he buys a 626 then I guarantee he will feel that way. He's only joking, by the way.

 

[Infinitrium]

Well, I did end up buying it but not more than 2 weeks later the transmission started acting up. Code 62, and right now I only have 1st, 3rd and reverse.

 

[mannydingo]

That doesn't mean you bought a bad car. Everything we said still applies. A transmission, on any car, has to eventually wear its parts down and much sooner than an engine goes bad. The bad thing here is that it's likely that transmission was already bad and the owner knew it. He may have put that additive that if you put enough of it in, keeps the tranny working. It's a very temporary fix. You can't go back to the guy because there is a small, and I repeat, small chance it started going bad after the sale. Even if it's not the case, he's probably going to deny it. The reason he probably knew it was bad is that transmissions go bad gradually. You just don't have 1st, 3rd & reverse all go completely bad in 2 weeks time. If you don't want to pay to have the transmission replaced, you can try going back to him and telling him you want a refund because of what I told you above. If he's a half decent guy, he will refund your full payment. Call every tranny shop in the phone book and ask how much to repair your transmission. You also go to the junkyard, find a crashed 92-94 Protege and take out the transmission. Don't take it from a non-crashed car because it might be there due to a bad tranny also.

 

[Infinitrium]

Other than the transmission problem, the car is great. Sure, it needs a front wheel bearing and the window is cracked but I still like it. The transmission problem comes and goes which makes me think it's an electrical glitch. Like this morning, I had the car out and the transmission was shifting perfectly. I went back in town later in the day, and on the way in to town it was still working as it should but once I got into town it started acting up. Even with only 1st and third it averages 25-27 mpg. I'm planning on taking it in to a transmission shop and have they diagnose it. A used tranny with 90 day warranty is about 385 and tax, then however much to have it put in. If it comes down to that, then that's what I'll do but I'd still like to get this tranny looked at first just to see if it's some small electrical problem, which I guess they were known for. Something about wires to the shift solenoids?

 

[mannydingo]

I hate to tell you this but some tranny shops are not going to let you know it's just an electrical problem. Make sure you take it to different places. Find out if anyone has had good experiences with a specific place. I would search the forum's past posts and ask members about the electrical problem you think it might be. Front wheel bearings also go on all cars. Remember, you're buying an old car. Parts are wearing down but the car is not a problem-prone one like so many cars. How many miles are on it? Oh, and go back to your profile and add your location.

 

[Infinitrium]

I think when I do go to have a shop check it out, I'll print out a few TSB's so they can have a look at them. The car has about 167000 miles on it and it runs like a charm. Will it hurt the tranny or engine to be driving it with only 1st and 3rd? Seems to get along on the highway quite nicely although I do try to keep my speed below 70 mph. I'm slightly concerned about the higher rpm's, at 68 mph the engine is turning around 3750 or so.

 

[D-rock240]

Not bad, I'd like to find a first gen like that as a daily driver. Whos ES is that in the third pic? Any pics of the two cars together?

 

[mannydingo]

Don't worry, it won't do the engine any harm to drive with a bad tranny. You will occassionally rev too much but not enough to damage the engine. Right after you have the tranny fixed, start with the basics: oil & oil filter change. If the wires are old get a new set. The cap & rotor may need replacing. You know, all the stuff a Haynes or Chilton or Mazda manual will tell you to do. Make sure the battery posts or cable rings aren't so corroded that they're making bad contact, etc, etc. Don't waste money on these parts until they fix the tranny. If you find any strange workings after it's fixed or replaced with a used one, the tune-up might fix it up. Remember, a bad ECU can cause problems in the tranny or other part of the car.

 

[Infinitrium]

Oil and filter were done when I bought the car and I plan on doing it again soon, I've got an oil-change compulsion thing going on. Plugs, wires, cap and rotor were done not long before I bought the car, they're all fairly new looking. The battery is about 2 years old as far as I can tell. Speaking of strange workings, the tranny itself was working normally this morning...for about 10 minutes. I was driving along the highway , I felt a thump and it downshifted itself into 3rd, although the hold light didn't start to flash until I slowed down to make a turn. How many revs are too much? Above 4500? As it stands now, I tend to let it rev up to about 4000 in first so the shift into third doesn't slip as much.

 

[turpro]

The car looks to be in great shape. That right there is worth the 500. Good luck on the tranni issue.