Looks Stiff ride Style much better than anything else in class. Pleasing interior Roomy cargo More than adequate passenger room Nice standard wheels give car an extra sharp look

Only complaint: Lousy drivers side door lock! Who thought that one up???? Looks and feels like the thing is mis aligned/ misplaced from what the designers actually intended...difficult to use...seems like it should be a little more forward for comfortable driver use. Also, what about a front passenger lock??? Guess they decided not to offend both the driver AND the front seat passenger with double nauseating door locks.

Happy, happy, happy with this car! Traded a 93 CivicEX and was ready for something to inspire and delight my driving senses --definitely found it in the P5! The ride is a bit stiff, but that only adds to the driving excitement --I want to feel the road under me!!! I have owned a 94 Miata and found it to have the same stiff ride as the P5. HP seems to be sufficient (for a 45yr old gal!) but I was stopped for speeding after only owning the vehicle for 3 hrs...I pleaded temporary zoom zoom insanity and was let go with a warning! 2nd gear is somewhat troublesome at times, thought it was something I was doing incorrectly until I read some of the reviews. Stereo is fine considering I lived without music (can you imagine???) in my Honda since 1999 when my stereo died. The folks at Horizon Honda were great to deal with and I give them a +10 rating! My only concern about my new P5 is wondering when the excitement is going to wear off so I will stop finding excuses to spend time driving.

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1993 Honda CivicEX -dependable, but not exciting. 137,000 miles and never left me stranded --May she continue on for another 137k miles. 1994 Mazda Miata C pakge/w hardtop: Awesome and sporty little

Gas mileage INCREDIBLY user friendly

none that is Mazda's fault

I LOVE THIS CAR!!! I bought this car 7 years ago with 24,000 miles on it. It is over 138,000 now and because I was not very good at maintaining it other than the oil. It has never to this day had a tune up and she runs beautifully. The only problems that I am having now and I cannot pinpoint if it was (which could be) or an electrical issue. The auto seat belts have stopped working and the seatbelt light goes off (and has for about the last year) for no reason sporadically. She has a lot of power and gets 26-32 mpg.

Gas Mileage. Usually somewhere around 29-34 mpg.

It's probably more the number of miles on it, but she crys a bit if you run her up around 4000 rpm. I don't know if it stock or not, but my sparetire has a bright orange wheel to it. Ghetto...big time. Also has not big problems getting up hills but usually have to downshift if its a long sustained hill.

I got this car for dirt cheap after my cousin didn't want to learn to drive stick. Even though she's now got 170k miles on her, she's driving well with no major problems besides regular matenience. And even though she's missing a few hubcabs, got some scatches and bird poop on her, she still looks pretty slick.

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My girlfriend ford escort, which has less power than my protege.

Quality,Reliability,Afford-ability,Gas Milege,looks and comfort.

POWER, The car doesn't have much power at my Elevation. I live in Denver and sometimes have weakness up hills.

I brought my Protege for afford-ability when I really wanted a 626. It ended up I love my Protege much more (considering 626 is basically a ford). It's been a great car and I still to this day after 6 years get compliments of how nice looking it is. Other then normal maintenance this car has been a DREAM!!!! I love it! If you are thinking about buying a small sports sedan, consider a Protege after you drive it , you'll forget about the Civic, Corolla and Sentra.... and buy the Protege.

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1995 Ford Escort GT

style gas mileage power compact sedan color (silver) spacious function

parts can be hard to find and when i find them there not cheap.

this was my 17 birthday gift to me from me i want to the mazda ans subaru dealer i went to buy the new WRX sti impreeza but they didn't have the one i wanted so i looked around the dearler and i saw a nice looking small car tucked behide other cars i walked over and fell in love with this car it looked great ran great and then on the test drive i really saw what this baby can do an i had to get it so i did and don't regret it.

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1993 ford escort(transmission goes out once a month) 1997 cobra mustang(very fast i like this car alot) 2002 mustang cobra-R (i love to race this) and I like these cars but the protege is more fun i t

Spacious, Accelerate well, Economic, Nice look and it cost less than a Corrola or a Civic.

Weakness... humm... except the price of the pieces are expansive, it has no weakness. Mazda Protégé is really a good car.

I never had any kind of problems with my Protégé since I bought it... almost one year ago. It has a very goog mechanic, spacious, confortable, great acceleration... everything! This car is a really good choice for customers.

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Toyota Corrola, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra

cheap price good interior room for small car gas mileage (i average 26-27 in mixed driving) smooth

traction

I like the car. ignition coil failed and had to get towed off the highway. Luckily this was 1,000 before the warranty was up. This car is pretty terrible in the snow. My old 1987 plymouth sundance with bald tires was better. I have since gotten a flat tire at 45,000 so I decided to get all new tires. The overall traction improved a little but is still poor for a front wheel drive car. It is overall fun to drive and definitely gets the job done for me.

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87 plymouth sundance

looks handling build quality suspension affordability FUN! gears that love to rev reliability (if it's like most other Proteges)

If anything the shifter is a little mushy and throws a little long but I thing I'm just not used to it...but I'm being petty...I love this car!

This review is very premature as I just got my ES 5spd yesterday and I'll have another one once I put some miles on this car. This is my 3rd Protege and definitely the best so far. This car is a no brainer. One test drive is all it took in the 5spd. If you want a car that is pure fun with a sports car suspension that practically begs you to rev it, loves curves, is smooth as silk, has a great looking and comfy interior, looks great, is affordable, and has Japanese reliability.......look no further. This car is a blast! It's not the fastest car in the world but it's got more than enough power to have fun in. I was going to get the automatic but the 5spd is much quicker and more fun. This car is a steal. This was the last new '02 on the lot. Didn't qualify for 0.0% but I got a great discount on it b/c it was an '02. This car is a like a mini-BMW.

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1992-Mustang GT-faster but prehistoric except for the engine 2000 Z28-Very fast, very much a piece 'o crappy boat too. Great engine...crappy car. 1993-Protege DX 5spd-Great car. Put 130k miles on he

see above

see above

This is my Third MAzda, my 2nd Protege, and in the past two years I have been instrumental in four friends and family memebers buying Proteges. So yes I like it. This particular car has been bullett-proof. AT 6 mos, I hit a deer and did $6000 worth of damage, at 24mos old, the dealer forgot to put on the oil cap and the car was driven 145 miles while the oil drained out. He (the car) has survived sick dogs, insane ice storms, and everything else you can imagine without the slightest complaint. My gas mileage continues to improve (?can't explain that one?) and now at 26 mos with 33k miles, I adore this car. Imperfections-the automatic transmission, now know that I prefer manual trans. very strongly and was forced into buying an auto out of necessity to share the car with family members who can not drive manual-but nonetheless I dont love the auto trans. and think it could be better. Yes road noise is greater than it should be. Other then that I Love this Car and strongly recommend the Protege to friends family and strangers.

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98 Isuzu Trooper dead at 4yrs old w/68k 92 Protege sold at 7 yrs old with 120k-I Never should have sold that car.... 97 Miata sold at 2-broke my heart

Style, gas mileage, performance, interior room.

CD player could use some juice.

Mazda Rocks (again). This is my third Mazda in 13 yrs,(my 96 B3000 still runs like a new truck). The Protege is now reinforcing my confidence in Mazda products. A pretty snappy car. I bought mine without bells/whistles. Has everything I need. Purchased this car to replace a Honda Passport that self destructed at 50k miles.

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Nothing compares, sorry.