Reliability of Protege
 

Hi all,

I'm thinking that there may be a 02-03 2.0L Protege in my future. Are there any specific things I should look for when I'm shopping for the car?

How do the engines hold up?

Any issues with headgaskets etc?

Rust prone spots?

Thanks for all the help,
W.

Man, you think someone would want to vouch for their cars... they can't be THAT bad can they?

my mother drives a protage. a 2000 to be exact, prior to that, she had a 1993. both cars held up/holding up great, shes a visiting nurse and beats the hell out of it, i was just driving it today and it has almost 205,000 klicks and running like new.
its a very reliable car with a good body that is very tolarant to salt and hold up great. but like with any used car. check it from top to bottom.
Good luck on your purchase.
Marko

Since the cars engines lasted so long, dealers would take the wrecked ones and try to salvage anything that they could. I agree with thehickfarmer check it from bottom to top, look for blue crust around the coolant and look for alignment. The tail lights are a good place to look they will be a few cm off if it was hit in the rear (because they are hard to fix) and check under the front bumper for the splash guard.

toprotege.com, i own a mazda protege 5. now it iss my first car but they are great. reliable. not costly. easy to tune. etc etc well worth it

My wife had a 94 protege. We traded it in 2003 for a 98 protege. The 94 had @ 180,000 km on the engine. No problems with engine or tranny (standard). Main reason for turning it in was that the car was just getting old. Most problems could be attributed to the fact that we use salt on the roads in the wintertime and rust is an issue. Gas tank was leaking and exhaust would have soon needed work.

The 98 currently has 240,000 km on it. Engine is starting to burn a bit of oil but only about 1/2 a litre every 2000 km so nothing major. Except for rust in some spots the car is still solid. We did have a problem with a crack developing in the exhaust manifold but were able to get that welded over, otherwise that would have been expensive to replace.
Again, we will probably trade the car next year simple because its time for a change.

I drive a 2004 Mazda3 Sport. It's been extremely reliable and a fun car to drive

my mazda is so all around reliable in convinced my dad AND grandparents to buy Mazdas. they bought 3's tho. great cars all around

I'm surprised that this message is still floating around :D I just picked up a 99 protege. 200k and running great so far.

got a 03 protege 5 and i love it, nice car, not the quickest but fun to drive. watch the rear wheel well lips, there usually pretty bad for rust and inside the doors thats bout it.

It is a chick car, all i see around here is female driving them. It is underpowered for a 2.0l dohc, it definetely needs a turbo. Although it is a great setup car. Good brakes and suspension for a stock, i imagine with very little effort it can handle and perform much better than stock. It is very handy with it being a 4 dr and hatchback.
It is not that great on gas, compared to my subaru, which is 1000lbs heavier, i get the same mileage as my wife's P5.
Common rust spots i see on other P5's are the rear wheel wells, and on the inside of the door seams, at the window edge about half way up the door. We have Krown rust proofed it since we bought it in 2005 w/ 84K km. Well worth doing on any car btw. So our P5 is pretty clean for rust.
I have had only one major issue with the motor, an 03 with 100k km on it, one of the intake manifold butterfly flaps' screws came loose and into the engine, hit the spark plug, shorted the coil. There was an issue with the fuel rail as well, and the egr had to be changed due to a recall. So a new intake mani was ordered an installed, along with new coil and all new spark plugs. Mazda tech's are saying this is becoming more common with the p5 as they are getting older, happens more with at 150K km mark. I was lucky, others had much more damage internally.
The front sway bar links bushings are pretty weak, they wear quickly, and rear brakes have a tendancy to seize up if not taken apart and lubed at least once a year.
All in all, it is not a bad car, they dont hold their value, so for the price, they are a great car.
Would i buy another one? No. I used to be a Mitsubishi guy, and like mazda, neither company is what they used to be. Now i am hooked on Subaru.
So take from this what you want, and good luck with your decision.

They are good reliable cars. The mazdaspeed pro is quite fun handles very well for a stock car and is alot of fun.

Hey, Just to let you know my buddy has a 2000 Mazda Protoge with 350,000 km's, car still starts mint, only engine part he had to replace is the alternator and regular tune up's eitherwise it burns oil due to its high km's, very reliable car, he gets 750 km on sunoco 94 on the highway and the car has never let him down.

Reliability of Protege
 

Hi,
I own a shop, and think this; Put all three in a hat and pull out one. Just what does one base a good used car on? It seems all the answers you are getting are based on favor of a particular brand. I hope you use your head for something other than a hat rack. As we "all" know; Lemons, beat to death, and well maintained can be hard to distinguish in a clean, polished & waxed vehicle. One must ask theirself this: Has the car been wrecked? Was it in a flood? Did a wild teenager run the life right out of the engine? Did it survive a demolishion derby? To answer these questions you must do this: Look for changes in the shade of paint from one area to the next. Look for body lines that doesn't align properly. Run a magnet over the body in usual areas of of accidents, such as the driverside front fender & door. Raise the hood, and look for overspray of paint on parts that should be a match for the other side of the vehicle. Have a look at the heads of bolts on the engine, body, and other components for signs of the heads being partically rounded off due to an impact wrench being used on them. My favorite; get under the car, and look for oil, or any other liquid that has blown back towards the back of the vehicle by the wind passing under the car. This is a sure sign of something leaking. A mechanically sound vehicle will be dry underneath, will have no damp area's under the mat in the trunk, no apparent changes in the shade in the paint from one part to another, and the lines around the hood, doors, and trunk will align well. The exhaust pipe will look more grey/white up inside it, and not black, with the black even on the outside of the end of the exhaust pipe. This would indicate a problem with the engine. Look for new parts in the front end area being much better looking than the rest of the components. Does the drivers door fall down any when you open it? If so; it has a lot of miles on it. If the drivers seat is broken down & not firm on the outter edge towards the door, indicates someone has gotten in & out of the vehicle many times. Look at the tires, do they match? Are they worn on the back more than the front? This indicates a front end problem, as many dealers will move, (or replace) worn tires to the back to hide problems with alignment of the front end. Looking at the oil on the dipstick doesn't do anything, as they all change the oil. Thick oil does indicate wear in the engine, that can be hidden by using the thicker oil. In other words; the vehicle should look normal & dry underneath first & foremost. Even a slow or lazy power window on the drivers side will mean it has been used much more than normal. The gas, and brake pedals should not have wear on them as if they were used a lot. Listen to the engine; does it make noise when you first start the engine? If so, then its probably worn, or has problems. After you complete your inspection, drive the car, and if it doesn't pull to one side when you let go of the steering wheel, or apply the brakes, then its probably a good frame & front end. If it handles bumps in the road rough, or bounces more than normal, then the shocks are worn out. Now; you can get down to the brand thing.

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f150 wheels