Good deal on a '98 Protege LX?

[teencraft]

I am going to pay 3.1k for a 1998 LX with 80k miles on it. Everything works good (as long as I can tell) when I was out looking for civics I ran across this little beauty. I am getting a 5 speed (no way am I getting automatic!) but does this sound like a good deal to you guys? i ran a carfax.com report on it and it had 1 owner, and a clean title. Never stole or wrecked. Also, any idea what this will do to my insurance? I only have liability, and I'm 16 with academic discount. Does Mazda usually make insurance rates go up?

by the way, if you can't tell I'm new :)

Thanks in advance, peace.

[charles]

It's a fairly decent deal, unfortunately the depreciation on these cars is pretty high. I think that's the 1.5L, which is also slow as balls. Hehe. You might want to try posting on http://www.clubprotege.com , there are more people there with the 95-98 model there.

[teencraft]

hah, thanks man. I don't mind that my car is slow as "balls"...I actually prefer that, I just need good, solid transportation and I've heard mazda fills that like ice.

Thanks for the reply.

[alexlitov]

I think you can pick up a newer one (like 2000+) for that much...the one you are looking at has decent miles on it already...

[teencraft]

No way can I get a 2000+ for that...I checked paper and they have a 91 for 2100 and then they have a 2000 for like 8k...

[charles]

Originally posted by teencraft
hah, thanks man. I don't mind that my car is slow as "balls"...I actually prefer that, I just need good, solid transportation and I've heard mazda fills that like ice.

Thanks for the reply.

It's definately a very reliable ride. :)

[teencraft]

hey charles how much do mazda cars usually get? like 250k or 150k or what? and btw thanks for all your help, bro.

[charles]

Hmm, my 92 has 156,000 and counting, and I don't forsee any immediate problems. The motor is still pretty good, but I can see it hadn't been taken good care of (got it in August). My 93 has 131,000. I know of people with 250,000+ miles on their's.

One weak point may be the automatic transmission. But that is not going to be an issue for you. ;)

[charles]

By the way, even if these cars are very reliable, there is still the possibility the car has been abused with 80,000 miles. If the oil hasn't been changed for 30,000miles, that can still cause problems. ;) You should try and find somebody who knows cars kinda decently to look for any problems, if possible.

Good luck :)

[projectmx]

have you picked it up yet? just to let you know im selling my pro to move up to an mx3... it has a bit more miles but has new suspension.. breaks as well as many other items on it...
here is the other thread where it is located and lists what is on the car

http://www.clubprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2935