We Wanted A Cheap Car, We've Got It!

[Delivery_Guy]

I would have rather spent $20k on something more reliable with less problems.
How can Dodge afford to sell the SRT-4 with upgraded engine internals, FMIC, LSD and more for just $19800?

I don't know what you're talking about here...I paid $21,000 for my MSP!!! So I guess I miss your point on this being a "cheap" car.

Anyway, just thought I'd mention that.

 

[GOTZOOM?]

hmmmm...lemon law is very useful in ur case.....my family has owned 4 hondas total, 3 of which for 10 plus years wit no major mechanical trouble other then reg maintence......u cant judge a whole legancy of great cars cus u got a lemon car, plus more and more japanesse cars are gettin built in the u.s or mexico or something, there goes reiliably

I don't blame Honda, I blame the Ohio Manufactor. Had it been built in Japan with all Japanese peices, it would still be working. Thats why I love Mazda, my P5 was built in Hiroshima, right where it needs to be built.

 

[Himoura]

if u want a reliable car, get a honda......i dont care if somehting goes wrong on my msp, thats what a warrenty is for....

No way are Hondas any more reliable than Mazdas!!!!! wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

 

[PhreakV]

the main problems that you are experiencing are generally experienced when mechanics and engineers raise the bar on what they are building. its pretty simple:
the more you want from the car, generally the more complicated that the engineering and physics become.
look at a porsche (I do not recognize the boxster, so we can move on) or a ferrari, they need constant care and attention and they are not "cheap" cars...

go get a different car if that's what you want but be ready to sacrifice the performance or some major (bling).

P.S. I really just wanted to use the (bling) for the first time...

 

[spacemonkey]

Um...

#1 I heard dodge SRT-4s are blowing head gasket left and right and most of them have been in for warrenty work. Last time I checked Blown head gasket was not a problem on the MSP. My friend who owns a SRT-4 is having problems at stock boost. What piss him off more is SRT-4 owners...he said alot of people on SRTforums.com are jerks. What did you expect from a boosted car? Great reliability? Remember that the SRT-4 is a turboed neon . No matter what they do I still consider it a neon. The MSP is more on the line of a P5 or MP3. I'll take a P5 or MP3 over a neon any day.

#2 dodge doesn't exactly have quality aftermarket products like the MSP. Tell me if they use Tokico Gas shocks, Garrett T25 turbo, Racing Beat, Callaway, Sparco, Racing Hart, Kenwood, Bridgestone Potenza 215/45ZR17 (The Z rated tires are $240 a tire!) What is that? has to be $6,000 worth of mods...So Im guessing MSP hit budget when designing the car and skimped on the engine. I'm not sure what mazda was thinking but they put alot of nice parts, people ask me if my car is stock...and shocked to hear "yes." So the MSP is a sweet deal! The only thing Dodge SRT-4 has is a manual roll down rear windows and an Autometer boost gauge! The engine is the only thing going for the SRT-4 and it doesn't seem like it reliable either. They skimped on the interior if you have not noticed! I hate mopar too...I think they are pure white trash! Beside dodge who would want a performance Chrysler (except crossfire) or Jeep?

#3 I've hit 2,700 miles had have not had any problems...no coolant leaks, clunk or any other problems listed (hope I don't jinx myself). The Flash somewhat fixed my hesitation problem.

#4 Dodge SRT-4 is not $19800. Try $20,995 MSRP check it out at www.dodge.com.

#5 I agree that Mazda should start working on kits that are factory warrenty covered...like the stage 1 or stage 2 kit offered by Mopar for the SRT-4. Its hard to get anything done or developed for a limited production car. But atleast you have a car that no one sees that often. It could be worst...you could have owned a WRX or 240. Although those are nice cars, they are extrememly played out! The civic nation around here call 240 guys "Riced"out! lol! now they are calling 240s RWD civics! LOL.

You only spent $16K on the MSP so you saved like $4k-$5k..spend that on mods to build up your engine...you know ugrade internals, hardpipes, FMIC, boost controller...etc.

 

[03MSPRO]

:wtf: I don't understand the complaining. I am new to the forum and was scrolling through and there is nothing but complaints. We obviously bought a car that can outhandle many other cars. Our suspension is obviously Very stiff, we wouldn't have one of the BEST Handling front wheel drive vehicle in the market.

I may be missing something though because I don't know much about this forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!

can't I vent? I know I have warranty, but I am just venting. Like I said, I am not complaining that much since I only paid $16k. I'd rather have my MSP than a Civic for the same price. I like my MSP. I just want it hassle free. I've owned other cars that never went to the dealer for more than an oil change. Some of you people need to relax a little! You'll live longer!

I was also trying to get other people's opinions on why we are having all these problems, but some did not seem to get it.

 

[03MSPRO]

Are cars are not cheap if you got a problem with that I'll kick your ass.

I'll take this as a joke.

 

[spacemonkey]

I know...Im just really sick of all these "problems". It seems like alot of the threads are just dissing and complaining about the MSP. I haven't pushed my car...so maybe thats the reason for not having that many problems. I bought this thing as a daily driver and I don't plan to do much...most extreme thing I would do is FMIC kit.

 

[Titanium]

uhh im just glad i dont have a honda

but why the hell did they quit making eclipses turbo charged? everyone knows thats the only trim package that sold the GSX and the GS-T (correct me if im wrong there)

If you look at the numbers of all cars you will see that car makers will always sell more of the base trim models than the top trim models. Car makers use the the top trim to draw you into the dealership but most people end up buying the lower trim. I remember reading an art. about the eclipse and the sells of the trim levels and why they s*** canned the I4T. The GSX accounted for only 5% of the total sales of the eclipse and the GST accounted for another 15% of the total sales (these are just est.). Most of the sales where of the RS and GS models. Car makers account for this and produce less of the higher or highest trim level cars. Ford has sold more V6 mustangs over the years than V8 stangs.


Back to the subject. I have only had my car for 3 months and I just got my flash done and that was the only problem I had with the car. The susp. is no problem at all. My Probe has been through 3 different springs and one set of coil-overs. As long as my MSP never rides and makes as much noise as the coil-overs did on my probe then I'm happy!! I love this car and I love all the looks I get and I love everytime I pull up and someone tells me I have a sweet ass car!! It happens all the time!!

 

[twiztedjeckel]

#2 dodge doesn't exactly have quality aftermarket products like the MSP. Tell me if they use Tokico Gas shocks, Garrett T25 turbo, Racing Beat, Callaway, Sparco, Racing Hart, Kenwood, Bridgestone Potenza 215/45ZR17 (The Z rated tires are $240 a tire!) What is that? has to be $6,000 worth of mods.

so just a couple small notes on your post. what quality parts did sparco put into our cars? the shift knob and pedals?oooooooh ahhhhhhhhhh. big ass deal. racing beat,decent exhaust, looks good but anybody can have any no name company bend an exhaust for them to fit the car. racing beat got lucky. as far as kenwood goes,thats been an abortion since the get go! people having decks dying left and right and needing to be replaced since owners first started taking delivery.yes,the racing harts look nice but they just as easily could have stuck any old wheel on there and probably gotten lighter wheels to do so than the beefy ones we've got on their. and as far as tires go,thats just dumb. i don't care what they stick on there as long as they don't burn off in the first 10k miles i have them and they're rated for high speeds. and i'll tell ya what. you give me $240 for each tire when you need them replaced and i'll get them for you. how's that sound? cause last time i checked which was yesterday when i printd sheets off at work the bridgestones were about $100 less than the price you just rattled off.

the moral of the story is if you're out for some name brand s*** slapped on a car then buy a protege and bolt on a turbo and all the aftermarket goodies you can personally do yourself aposed to what somebody else picks for you and have a more custom faster car than the MSP. if you want something decent looking that runs well (maybe not as fast as the competition) then buy the mazdaspeed. if you want something that runs really well (and maybe doesn't handle as well as the competition) buy the SRT-4.

but like i've said before. both cars can be made equal in terms of handleing and speed if you make the adjustments to both adding hp + goodies to the MSP or swapping out suspension stuff to the SRT-4. its all in how you look at it

 

[girth]

you guys definitly got the shaft on the suspension.. I cant believe they didnt re-design it b4 selling the MSP's.

Amen on that one. There is zero excuse for releasing the MSP with the exact same suspension problem as the MP3. None. And the other thing that is completely mind-boggeling is that they released the car with the horrendous hesitation that it had. It is completely beyond BELIEF they didn't think the hesitation would be an issue IMO.

 

[Pirana]

Put a HiBoost turbo, and you wont have the problems, hehehe

 

[03MSPRO]

I feel better now. My car seems fine again

 

[Fatdaddy]

I sometimes regret buying the MSP. I keep thinking I should've bought the srt-4, but I couldn't get past the neon thing. Some of you keep forgetting that the MSP is a protege. Everytime I see a plain protege, it makes me shreek that that's what I really have under that body kit. Obviously both cars have lots of issues, but I would rather have a quicker car. You can easily make a car handle better with the right parts, but you can't easily make an MSP run 1.5-2 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile. I'm not a drag racer, but I do enjoy short stoplight races, etc., and nothing is more fun than having power to outrun most cars on the road. Bottom line is, I'd rather have paid the same amount for a quicker car that didn't have so much "icing" on it, that for one that was "all icing".

Problem is, when I bought my MSP, the sticker was $21k. Now everyone is getting them for $16-17k. They're not holding value, so I'll never be able to get rid of it.

I'm glad a few of you haven't had problems. Keep your fingers crossed. So far, I've got clunk, I've got p.o.s. hesitation (even after flash-that was a wasted day), the front suspension makes some horrible squeaking noises when it's cold, the rear spoiler fell off, the coolant leak, the road noise is annoying after a long ride and for some reason it sounds like the passenger front window is cracked even though it is all the way up...some sort of wind noise.

BTW, my '94 Honda Civic isn't as nice feeling as the MSP(how nice would the MSP have been in '94?), but it has 130k miles, has never had any problems other than the a/c going out (which I removed anyway), and can run and handle just as good as the MSP, and it's not even turbo'd. You still can't knock a Honda. I'm worried about the 50k mile warranty not being enough on the MSP. But it looks real cool!

 

[nocar]

mazda detuned our cars

that hurts my feelings

i wonder if we can send them back to callaway and have them retune hehh

 

[spacemonkey]

so just a couple small notes on your post. what quality parts did sparco put into our cars? the shift knob and pedals?oooooooh ahhhhhhhhhh. big ass deal. racing beat,decent exhaust, looks good but anybody can have any no name company bend an exhaust for them to fit the car. racing beat got lucky. as far as kenwood goes,thats been an abortion since the get go! people having decks dying left and right and needing to be replaced since owners first started taking delivery.yes,the racing harts look nice but they just as easily could have stuck any old wheel on there and probably gotten lighter wheels to do so than the beefy ones we've got on their. and as far as tires go,thats just dumb. i don't care what they stick on there as long as they don't burn off in the first 10k miles i have them and they're rated for high speeds. and i'll tell ya what. you give me $240 for each tire when you need them replaced and i'll get them for you. how's that sound? cause last time i checked which was yesterday when i printd sheets off at work the bridgestones were about $100 less than the price you just rattled off.

the moral of the story is if you're out for some name brand s*** slapped on a car then buy a protege and bolt on a turbo and all the aftermarket goodies you can personally do yourself aposed to what somebody else picks for you and have a more custom faster car than the MSP. if you want something decent looking that runs well (maybe not as fast as the competition) then buy the mazdaspeed. if you want something that runs really well (and maybe doesn't handle as well as the competition) buy the SRT-4.

but like i've said before. both cars can be made equal in terms of handleing and speed if you make the adjustments to both adding hp + goodies to the MSP or swapping out suspension stuff to the SRT-4. its all in how you look at it

You are totally missing my point. This stuff came with this car. a regular protege ES is $16,660 MSRP from Mazdausa.com. I paid $17,100 before tax for my MSP...how can you convert a Protege ES into a MSP for $500 or even $3000? You can always buy a protege and mod it yourself but how can you mod a $16,000 protege...turbocharge it, put a racing beat suspention with tokico gas shocks and all that other stuff and have it be in the $19K range? Hey I never said the Kenwood sound system was badass but It sure beats the stock 50W or so sound system. Yeah the SRT-4 may be faster and the MSP handle nicely but the MSP also comes with better stuff. ARe you saying you don't care for performance tires? Again, did I pay extra for those tires? They could have always put better stuff but can you say that a SRT-4 comes with racing hart rims? If I don't like my racing hart I could always sell them and get something better but...again it came with this car. Mazda could have easily stuck a Mazdaspeed LSD or MAzda exhaust and charge $20K for it. I don't have to worry about sound, interior or suspension and invest all my money on engine modz. I love my MSP, if I wanted a SRT-4 I would have bought a SRT-4.

the moral of the story is if you're out for some name brand s*** slapped on a car then buy a protege and bolt on a turbo and all the aftermarket goodies you can personally do yourself aposed to what somebody else picks for you and have a more custom faster car than the MSP.

You're saying you can buy a OZ lancer and turn it into a EVO. Yeah thats possible but would you want to? After spending all that $$ you might as well buy the EVO. Your saying dont spend your money on a Z06 corvette and just buy a regular corvtte coupe...its just not going to happen. Its all about what comes standard cuz you can always build a car to handle and perform better. How much would you think to turn a OZ lancer into an EVO. Or a Regular protege ES into a MSP? Some people like a fast car...then SRT-4 is your car. Some people like Handeling and a nice stock setup (goodies)....then MSP is your car. Sure SRT-4 comes with a nice engine standard but what else does it come with?

DOnt say I'm rattling on the Potenza tire issue. I got a flat tire three weeks ago. Brought it into Bridgestone/firestone, the service guy said its going to run me $240 for the tires (cheaper if I bought the tire and change it myself). He said the best thing to do is to try and patch it up which cost only $17.95. I now feel ripped off...but the cheapest I've seen is $164 (www.tires.com) and thats not including shipping and handeling. I still think these are good tires, obviously better tires then on a regular protege. Again If I don't like these tires, I'll just sell them, it came with the car.

To: twiztedjeckel- If you are a MSP owner and you think your MSP is a POS then I guess your entitled to your own opinion. Obviously you don't apreciate the stuff Mazda put on the MSP so why don't you go buy a Protege and hook that up! I love my MSP and I never bough the car thinking it would run up 300,000 miles. I like it when people ask me if my car is stock and I like getting complements on the looks. Both cars are good but I benefit from better handling and better stock setup. Im not happy with Callaway detuning the engine. Every car must have a weakness. I might as well b**** about the MSP not being AWD. I'm happy with my purchase.

 

[Himoura]

THANK YOU spacemonkey

 

[PaulMP3]

you guys cant complain.. you got a hella of car for the money... At the time 18,500 plus t&t was a great deal on the MP3 for what it came with from the factory. you guys got a ton more stuff on top of that, for another grand or some cases less.

but then again MP3's are cooler

 

[spacemonkey]

No problem! I just feel kinda down cuz I love my car so much. I never questioned if it was a good buy or not...I just fell in love with it (especailly the price). After reading some of these threads I'm begining to think if it was a good buy. The whole reason for buying a MSP is becasue my friends own a MP3 and another owned a MSP. Tthe MSP was on sell and it came with a turbo.

I test drived both SRT-4 and MSP...The MSP just felt better. It felt like I was actually getting my moneys worth. The SRT-4 still felt like a neon. The MSP feels more luxurious then the SRT-4. The only thing I liked about the SRT-4 was the racing seat and the power. Other than that it felt like I was going to pay for a Neon. Thats basically what motortrend said too...they said the SRT-4:

"A real boost gauge and racing-style seats dress up the otherwise rental-car interior." (SRT-4)

I just hate telling myself that my car is badass while all these problems seem to pop up. Fortunately I haven't had any problems and I'm about to reach 3000 miles.

 

[Matthew]

there is a guy with a SRT-4 in neighboring unit. his boost randomly spikes to 15 or 17 at times. he thinks its the s*** because he says he doesnt have a boost controller.