Thinking about buying a Protege 5

[Bellevilleguy]

Hello Everyone,
I am thinking about buying a 2003 MP5 and need as much feed back as possable on how the owners like the Protege . I would like to know if there is any flaws with car and how happy everyone on is with there purchase. How is Mazda Service in general ? I would be using the Service here in Belleville , Ont.
Please everyone spill your guts and tell me everything I should know about the Protege and the Mazda Corporation.
Thanks for your help , Dan


(redpro)

 

[Protege5girl]

Hey Dan,

You might want to check out www.toprotege.com

Alot more ontario peeps on the message board there =)

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

Yeah, I owned a P5 for a while and was very impressed in the styling, the quality, and performance. It was generally a very nice car. It did lack a little in power, but you get over that when you feel the ride quality of it, witha very smooth suspension. The service I found amazing, especially when compared to my local domestic deal...coughchevycoughpontiaccough...If you choose the P5, you will be very impressed. Also if you are interested in performance upgrades, the Protege class as a whole is very good for such product availability, even though it is new.

 

[ZiO]

The reason I went for the P5 is because I felt it was the best bang for the buck. I have yet to have someone not compelment me on the car, not to mention people around here that dont know what the car is think its in excess of 40K CAD. It has a nice inside, and the outside speaks for itself. As for reliability.. .I give it a 9... for power, I give it a 7. It does lack power, however, you can add upgrades which will make it much better. Heck, for a few grand US you can add a Spool turbo kit which would give your car 160+ wheel horse power, and would shoot the car past many competitors.

If you think about comparing to other cars such as Ford Focus or Matrix, etc... the only other I would consider would be the Matrix XRS, since AWD to me is very beneficial... though that car itself you cannot choose the 170 hp option engine... its not available on the AWD version, therefore I dont feel you are getting the best for your dollar when you choose the Matrix.

Hope that helps.

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

To add to Zio's comment, the Matrix looks like a lowered minivan, not very sporty, i believe someone said that it looks pregnant