Excellent reliability. Great handling. Good fuel economy. Not a flashy race car, but great if you're looking for reliability, practicality and value.

Clutch throw-out bearing went bad at around 40,000 miles. Replaced free under factory warranty just before warranty expired. Original battery went bad after two years of service. Original battery was a puny little Panasonic. Replaced it with much better battery.

Excellent car! Very reliable. Good fuel economy (with AMSOIL synthetic oil & gear lube) - around 26 MPG small-town driving, up to 40 interstate. Only one major problem: clutch throw-out bearing went bad at around 40,000 miles. Replaced free under factory warranty.

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1992 Mazda Protege DX. Put 140,000 miles on this before trading in for present vehicle.

Reliability Good rear head room for a small car.

Paint started to peal after 10 years.

Most reviews are not for vehicles this old, but I have added it to give an idea regarding how the car runs for the long haul. I have 170,000 miles on the car and it has never broken down. I change the oil every 5,000 to 7,000 miles. I have had to replace the parts that wear out (belts, shocks, breaks, etc.) and that is it. I have noticed a loss of power since probably around 120,000 miles, but that is to be expected for 4 cylinder engines. I have the basic model with a 5 speed transmission and have not had any transmission problems. The only problem that has surfaced is that the paint started to peal when the car was 10 years old.

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I like the handeling on the car very fun in the corners. Nice looking inside and out. Much cheaper than a Civic I got my car 12,500 out the door a yr ago.

Its got no Zoom Zoom. The windsheild wipers are crap. No timer on the defrost should be standard on all cars. This may be really picky but I dont like where the powerwindows switches are for the driver they are to far foward when i go to roll down the front window i end up rolling down the back.

I have really liked this car a lot. I bought it summer of 03 and it had 16k miles on it since then it now has 39k and its only may 05. I drive a lot and I needed a good car.

- Reliable - starts in the worst of winter mornings (-35 C) - good handling - manual transmission is performing smoothly after 30000km

- just too LOUD on the highway. Engine noise is unacceptably loud. Road noise is tolerable. I actually have to wear ear plugs on long runs or sometimes get a headache. - cd/radio is just a little bit better than my $10 clock radio in my bedroom - Seats are too low for lumbar support, needed to purchase a support cushion or was going back to make chiropractor happy again. - too many rattles for a car assemble in Japan - I'm going back to a Maxima (what was I thinking???)

Very reliable, somewhat economical, good quality. Purchased in Dec. 2002 and have not have any issues except a few rattles. See Weaknesses for my biggest GRIPE.

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- Accord 1984, Mazda 626 1985, Neon 1995, Protege 1997, Maxima 1999

HANDLING. This is the best handling FWD car I have ever driven. The suspension is taut but fairly compliant. It differs from the base Protege with upgraded components like Tokico dampers. It has a very neutral balance with minimal understeer. In fact, you can even coax out some oversteer with this car, something truly remarkable for a FWD. POWER: Peppy turbocharged 4-cylinder. Small turbo means turbo lag is barely noticable. 170HP/160TQ stock. 0-60 in 7 flat, 1/4 mile in 15 flat. This car is quick enough for day-to-day driving. LOOKS: 17" Racing Hart 5-spoke rims. Low profile 205/45/17 tires. Sparco shift knob & pedals. Unique stitching on steering wheel, shift knob boot, and seats. Leather-wrapped two-tone steering wheel by Nardi. Rear spoiler is large but not insane. Mild body kit (bumpers & side skirts) looks sharp and not overdone.

NO CRUISE CONTROL: The front strut tower brace doesn't give clearance for the cruise control assembly. TRANSMISSION: Gearbox is notchy, 1->2 shift gives problems sometimes POWER: Low-boost turbo could use some more ooomph to compete with similar cars (esp. SRT-4) TORQUE STEER: Good low-end torque gives some fairly strong torque steer COMMON PROBLEMS: Clunk from the rear suspension from inferior sway bar bushings. Free replacement to an upgraded part under warranty. PCM: The stock fuel & timing maps need a lot of work.

Turbocharged version of the Protege with a limited-slip differential. Also includes suspension, stereo, interior, and wheel upgrades from the factory.

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Well made, very reliable, great price, great value.

Rattle in exhaust, on occasion. Hood rattles on occassion. No other issues. Again, I drive the car very hard, so I certainly may have caused these issues. Engine runs like a top, no issues with any other part of the car.

Great car. Mine is your basic car. It is the base model, with stick shift. The only options are, I think, the A/C and CD player. I bought it at the end of the model year for 200$ over invoice. Truth is, I drive the car very hard. It has held up very well. The car can easily make 100mph on the highway, and it handles great at 70. For a basic four cylinder, the car has the right amount of power for a small four door. The brakes are tight, the shifting is tight, and the car is, overall, well engineered. If you see any bad reviews on this car, read them and see what the issues were. If a person gives this car a one or two out of five but they don't list any issues, what does that tell you? A review that says, "I'm going to sell this and buy a real car" is just plain stupid. That's the person who bought the Durango. You want to laugh? Go read those Durahngo reviews. What junk. People who buy that car are folks who buy a car based 90% on how it looks. So other dumb people who buy cars for how they look can be impressed when you drive by in your 30k$ piece of shiny junk. I'd be more impressed by someone driving a Honda Civic. So back to the Mazda. NO ISSUES that needed dealer attention or that could leave me on the road for about 60k miles, so far. I expect many more. That's just the way they're made. You want reliability and solid performance? Buy a mazda. You want a shiny, huge vehicle that gets 10 miles to the gallon and that stupid folk will be impressed with? Buy an American made SUV.

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ford escort (horrible car), geo metro (great car).

Incredible handling and suspention.. Gear ratios very good for the 130 hp engine. you get into the power band very easily. the stock dunlops are amazing i would only buy those tires or the yokohama prada spec 2's i have now.

Speakers and radio could of been better but it hasnt failed me yet. HP- mazda could done better with the hp but it doesnt matter anymore because im happy running my 12 psi custom turbo kit with engine management system on stock internals and a stage 3 clutch. its amazing how much power this car can handle. im running 240 to the wheels and my 1/4 times are in the low to mid 13's.. rips any ricer that tries to come and play with the PRO.

03 mazda pro5 fully loaded except for abs and side airbags.. how needs abs when the car is stick..(downshift and brake) the leather interior is very nice and comfortable.. and the outside noise is minimal except over 80 were it starts to get louder. Most people say the protege 5 isnt that fast in a straight line. its not that bad ive had someone time me and ive ran in the low 8's and for 130 that isnt bad at all. The throws from shifting is perfect at least for me and dont mess with this car in the twisties ex.. Ive taken ramp entries on to the expressways in third doin about 65 and power str8 through hugging the inside lane blowing away my friends 94 gsr in the corners. suspension is perfect i wouldnt touch it unless i was going for top end because it is drag limited to 129mph.. the powerband is around 3500 to 5300 atleast in my car when it was stock..

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87 t04b volvo 740, 73 t04e bmw 2002tii, 95 240sx with sr20det, 94 integra gsr (JDM)

Responsive handeling, looks reliability, gas mileage.

needs low end torque, needs shorter shifter throws.

this car is not bad in general it looks good from the outside especially with te 16" rims and the intirior is nice with the white speedo and tach. the car has good acceleration when its reved over 4500 but below that its nothing spectacular, the gearbox could use shorter throws. the handeling is very responsive and it has some oversteer at the limit but just lift of the throttle mid turn and u get some overteer, the steering is a little light but communicative. the audio system is quite good and give good bass.

Styling Handling Interior Reliability

Paint seems to chip easily.

Great car for the money. The reviews on this car are not real accurate. People say it doesn't have enough power but then you read on they will say they have the automatic. Why would you buy a 130hp car with an auto and then complain about the power? Silly. I got the 5spd and it does well enough. It feels more powerful than it is. It gets in and out of traffic issues easily. It has enough room in it for storage while retaining it's compact feel. It handles corners really nicely and feels like a sportier car on a twisting road. It looks great and drives great. What more can you ask for?

Comfortable-rode roundtrip from Philly to LA with 2 yr. old twins. Stylish for the price. Good heater.

The engine needs more pick up.The transmission has shifting problems--engine feels like its in neutral then car lunges forward.Paint is way too thin. Brakes ar wearing out after only 10,000 miles. The "fake manual trans" option--Mazda should just add more speed and skip the overdrive thing unless its for a turbo. The zigzag shifter is annoying especially in crisis situations.It's only there to make people feel like they're driving a stick, which it's not.

I refer to this car as my "Clown Car'. It reminds me of the ones used by clowns in the circus. The Protege 5 has some good features but personally, I hate the car. I went from a Jetta VR6 to this and though I hated the Jetta more (what a pile of crap) at least you didn't worry about being run over when merging.

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