help! Should i buy mazda again

[kats]

My first car was a 98 protege. loved it, other than the transmission problems.
Replaced at 80,000 kms, but still hard shifting between first and second gear. Thinking about buying a 2002 protege how common are the transmission problems with mazda. Will Mazda ever deal with this problem. Any input would be appreciated.

[peepsalot]

Yeah my 2003 MSP has problems. It's a weak synchro. I can't say I don't beat on mine though. If you shift 1st to 2nd frequently at high rpms it'll wear out quick.

[kats]

Yeah my 2003 MSP has problems. It's a weak synchro. I can't say I don't beat on mine though. If you shift 1st to 2nd frequently at high rpms it'll wear out quick.


anyway to look out for transmission problems when buying used?

[Sveivo]

I say, stay away! Virtually all 02 either do have problems or will develop them.

[Sveivo]

I have an 02 and I'm super pissed but stuck with it. Can't afford to switch cars at this time.

[JDM Sam]

i wouldnt bother. the car is no longer in production.

[kats]

I say, stay away! Virtually all 02 either do have problems or will develop them.

would you suggest another year?

[Sveivo]

would you suggest another year?
NO!!!

NOT a protege. Period. for the love of God.

[Sveivo]

Sorry about getting too emotional there, but seriously. I would not take this chance if I were you, because you will likely be disappointed if your transmission begins to grind.

And selling a car with a grinding transmission is not easy.

02 and 03's are pretty much the same as far as tranny problems go.

Another year? It's probably going to have a lot of miles.

If you are looking for a reliable car, I would get a mid-90's Honda Accord. I realize that it is going to have a lot of miles, but you will be better off fixing that car, since the parts are engineered well and will not break for another 10 years.

Just a piece of advice...

[kats]

Sorry about getting too emotional there, but seriously. I would not take this chance if I were you, because you will likely be disappointed if your transmission begins to grind.

And selling a car with a grinding transmission is not easy.

02 and 03's are pretty much the same as far as tranny problems go.

Another year? It's probably going to have a lot of miles.

If you are looking for a reliable car, I would get a mid-90's Honda Accord. I realize that it is going to have a lot of miles, but you will be better off fixing that car, since the parts are engineered well and will not break for another 10 years.

Just a piece of advice...

thanks
what about an 01 or 02 civic

[Sveivo]

I haven't had any experience with the newer Hondas, sorry.

A useful website is carsurvey.org, if you want to look at general trends in reliability, etc.

[gksspot]

So you are going to base your decision on one unhappy guy. (boom07)

Do yourself a favor and do searches with keywords such as transmission problems or reliability and so on... then you will realize that while yes there are some people that have had bad luck the VAST MAJORITY have perfectly fine operating 02-03 Proteges.

Now if you want to talk about widely known tranny problems look into the 98-0? Accord V6 equipped auto trannies, then you will actually see a car with real tranny problems that ARE widespread.

[Replica]

So you are going to base your decision on one unhappy guy. (boom07)

Do yourself a favor and do searches with keywords such as transmission problems or reliability and so on... then you will realize that while yes there are some people that have had bad luck the VAST MAJORITY have perfectly fine operating 02-03 Proteges.

Now if you want to talk about widely known tranny problems look into the 98-0? Accord V6 equipped auto trannies, then you will actually see a car with real tranny problems that ARE widespread.
There are tons of threads about mazdas being problematic. My p5 had clutch chatter issues and the car would shutter a little when shifting into 4th until i bought some kartboy shifter bushings and that kinda masked it. I'm not sure about the 1st to second shifts at high rpms damaging the car. I used to race the shit out of mine and the tranny never gave significant problems. However. do a search and there are alot of unhappy owners of mazdas. I know the last thing i typed will get quoted over and over but on the whole i dont see alot of happy mazdas here...

Even new mazdas are garbage...RX8's have tranny issues...the new Mazdaspeed 6 has hesitation problems.


The 01-02 Civics are reliable but it won't be very interesting to drive and are slightly slower than a protege. If i had to choose though....id go find a nice white 02 Civic EX 5 spd between the two.

[Replica]

Now if you want to talk about widely known tranny problems look into the 98-0? Accord V6 equipped auto trannies, then you will actually see a car with real tranny problems that ARE widespread.
My mom had one.....zero problems at 80,000 miles. Traded in for a new CRV.

If V6 auto accords are known for their problems....thats a tiny segment of hondas to consider. That would be like "Hey guys watch out for those 1983 automatic Mazda 323's....they have problems..."

[Kansei]

Don't listen to just a few bitter people who had problems with their proteges. Plenty of people only join forums when they have something to complain about. I've had my P5 since 7k miles and it has 59k miles of absolute torture on it now and it's rock solid. My P5 gets redlined at least a dozen times every single time it is driven. I frequently 0-60 test it just to feel the rush, I love my car so much. The people with problems are few and far between. The Protege is rock solid for reliability.

Proteges are so much fun, you know you want another one!

[Replica]

A few bitter people? hahahh

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123615746

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123617328

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123619949

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123619971

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115948

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123619910

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123619801

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123619400&page=2&pp=15

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121157

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123618894


Also the two other P5 owners ive met in Houston BOTH have blown their motors. The links above were pretty easy to find without searching. Only went about 5 pages back in the P5 forum....which is the same as the protege sedan you may be interested in.

You know you want one....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v353/belowme/drop.jpg

[Kansei]

Yes, that is just a few. Do you have any idea how many Proteges are on the road? Last I checked the recall (the first for the third gen Protege IIRC) that was just for 2003 not 2003.5 or 2002.5 was like 35k or something cars recalled.

EDIT:

that pic you posted.. the car looks great actually, but it would look better if the lip was CF to match the hood.. FG with CF overlay would get eaten up so quickly that low to the ground though. It is so rare to see a nice Civic in the vast sea of crappy.

[Replica]

Yes, that is just a few. Do you have any idea how many Proteges are on the road? Last I checked the recall (the first for the third gen Protege IIRC) that was just for 2003 not 2003.5 or 2002.5 was like 35k or something cars recalled.

EDIT:

that pic you posted.. the car looks great actually, but it would look better if the lip was CF to match the hood.. FG with CF overlay would get eaten up so quickly that low to the ground though. It is so rare to see a nice Civic in the vast sea of crappy.
The links i cut and pasted over a variety of Protege issues. I typed in Blown Motor in the seach but it didnt give direct links. Also search for clutch chatter but again, no direct links. I wanted to post something that the original poster could read himself.

In all fairness, go check out http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/ and look around to make sure its a car you really want to own. Knowledge is free!

There are quite a few nice 7th gens...EM2's....I'm not a big fan of 7th gen civics but they can be pretty nice cars.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/ImportRacer2123/My%20Car/frontlip.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/4acem2/jgtcME.jpg
http://www.reaction-image.net/albums/BATmeetSanLeandro/SV400022.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v355/sifusexc/CIMG2746.jpg
http://www.fgt1.com/car%20pix/oem/frontside.jpg

[00zmde]

I got a 2000 dx and started grinding into 2nd at around 40000mi or so but I also changed to full synthetic Mobil fluid in the gear box at about the same time I noticed it.

I would buy another Mazda but Would make sure I got 100000mi warranty. It doesnt grind all the time it has its bad days though and only when driving on the rough side.

Warrranty, Warranty, Warranty. Warranty expires sell/trade-in that mofo. I love my car, every bit of it. Im going to put it in the junk yard myself.

[00zmde]

All cars have thier problems. My better half has an 01 Civic EX and its been in the shop more times than i can count on both hands. The latest was the tranny replacement. Thank God for the extended warranty. I have a friend who happens to be out of warranty on his 01 Civic EX and has had multiple problems with his car. His car is alot faster though with only bolt ons.

[00zmde]

P.S. 70,000-90,000mi on those 2001 Civics. Every car has a weak point. If I drove my wifes car every day I would have broke that tranny before 70,000mi.

[Hughes412]

I say if you'er going to play with the car DO NOT by mazda. Go honda. But if you are just going to drive it then yea you can go with an 03 Protege. I like mine, but I had the clutch replaced under warranty for chatter at 24k. So there really is a problem there.

[Replica]

P.S. 70,000-90,000mi on those 2001 Civics. Every car has a weak point. If I drove my wifes car every day I would have broke that tranny before 70,000mi.
Im really suprized. My Civic Dx had 196,000 miles on it and i was on the stock clutch and about 50,000 miles the car was boosted. My friends 1995 Si had 186,000 before his clutch went.

[gksspot]

These cars seem to all have a little clutch chatter, Ive just learned how to shift a little smoother/different and it has not happened again.

Hughesd- Not saying you dont know how to shift, it could be that you had some real problem and it was neccessary to replace but from the 4 Proteges (02-03) that I test drove (all 5 spds) before I got mine, they all had a clutch shutter in 1st

[Hughes412]

No I know how to drive lol, and there is a reason why they did it for free even though the clutch was past the warranty. These cars are cheep econo boxes and if you put to much stress on them they will break.

[gksspot]

No I know how to drive lol, and there is a reason why they did it for free even though the clutch was past the warranty. These cars are cheep econo boxes and if you put to much stress on them they will break.


I can see buying a Protege if you want a sporty handling car but droping the clutch at 5k or driving it hard was simply not its intended purpose. Mazda builds the car towards the segment.
Miatas are meant to be beat to death and they hold up... I would be the first to agree that the Protege isnt set up to be pushed very hard

[Hughes412]

HAHA I read my post and I new I spell something wrong but I was on the phone (like now) and I couldn't see it. lol

[subsolo_21]

I have an 02 protege and haven't had a single mechanical problem with it since I got it (knock on wood). This is the most mechanically sound car I've owned, including my Honda Civic and my Toyota Celica. I'd say if you want a reliable car go for either a protege or a VW jetta, if you want a fast car in the same price range look for a slightly older supra, 300zx, rx7, mr2, wrx, etc. Just my $.02.

[Mental Addiction]

I have owned 2- P5's and the problems are mostly from doing things that it was not intended to do. Alot of people are beating there tran's and might have a few issues. Drive it like it was designed and there are alot less tranny isses. Clutches going out can be a number of things(riding it, making more power than designed to handle,racing,etc). For the most part the Protege is a decent little car. If you are looking at making alot of power, then you will be addressing alot of issues and replacing stock parts with aftermarket parts. Mazda is known not to over engineer there parts. Honda does. If you are wanting something different,makes alot of power and have the money then the Protege might be it. If you are wanting a Honda,STI, EVO,WRX then don't play with the Protege. You'll only get more pissed at yourself when putting money into it.

[GearsForBrains]

Before I went to college, I had a '95 Protege LX. Loved it. Got it as a present from my dad, he had it since the 10,000mi mark. I got it at the 170,000mi mark. When I let go of it, cause I go to school in the Bronx and would have no place to park, it had 191,000mi. Never once did it miss a shift or grind, or any other transmission problem, and I wailed on it so hard. Collapsed bushings in the rear suspension, blown distributor cap (took the shop 5 days to find that one), but never an engine or tranny problem. I loved my Mazda.