Hey there Mazda community!
It has been a long time since I posted, but I've still been driving my Protege5 when able, despite having increased the stable significantly, but that leads me to my current dilemma.
My 2003 P5 MT Silver is overall in good functional condition, runs strong, shifts fine for a car with 225k miles and still on the original clutch, but due to having spent the first winter of its life in Michigan it has some frame corrosion that make it feel unsafe during some turns as the some of the suspension mounting areas of the frame have corroded to a degree that there is movement/play, and the wheels "shift" during a turn...unsettling in multiple ways!
That said, I intended for it to be passed to my almost 16yr old, but I do not feel safe letting her drive it in the current state, and I've not been able to get a body shop to hardly even look at it to quote if a repair is possible as all they want are insurance claims.
So I'm left with the following options:
- Sell it as-is to a Pick-n-Pull type business or as a parts car to someone
- Part it out
- Find another P5 with a good body but blown engine, etc and transfer parts
- Other???
At this point in its life what are your thoughts on what to do with it? Is there still enough of a market for parts to make sense to part it out? I don't "need" the car as we have other vehicles but with one kid taking one car to university in the fall I'd like to still have a car for my youngest (she's not driving the Lotus!).
Happy to hear any input from the Mazda family!
It has been a long time since I posted, but I've still been driving my Protege5 when able, despite having increased the stable significantly, but that leads me to my current dilemma.
My 2003 P5 MT Silver is overall in good functional condition, runs strong, shifts fine for a car with 225k miles and still on the original clutch, but due to having spent the first winter of its life in Michigan it has some frame corrosion that make it feel unsafe during some turns as the some of the suspension mounting areas of the frame have corroded to a degree that there is movement/play, and the wheels "shift" during a turn...unsettling in multiple ways!
That said, I intended for it to be passed to my almost 16yr old, but I do not feel safe letting her drive it in the current state, and I've not been able to get a body shop to hardly even look at it to quote if a repair is possible as all they want are insurance claims.
So I'm left with the following options:
- Sell it as-is to a Pick-n-Pull type business or as a parts car to someone
- Part it out
- Find another P5 with a good body but blown engine, etc and transfer parts
- Other???
At this point in its life what are your thoughts on what to do with it? Is there still enough of a market for parts to make sense to part it out? I don't "need" the car as we have other vehicles but with one kid taking one car to university in the fall I'd like to still have a car for my youngest (she's not driving the Lotus!).
Happy to hear any input from the Mazda family!
