Anyones MSP been fairly reliable??

[Autox MSP]

I started this tread because of the other tread about the lsd fauilure. Looks like people that are experiencing problems are having alot of different problems.

I for one drive my car fairly hard and drive in bumper to bumper traffic least 2 hours a day. It has seen least 10 autocross events.
I'm getting very close to 13k miles now and the car has been trouble free other then the rotor hub rust and the clunk. Not bad considering this car consists of many aftermarket parts.

I was wondering if anyone else has been having a good reliablity record??

[Gbourdon]

I got over 26K on mine and no problems. I did the clunk and the flash TSBs and have had no complaints otherwise. I drive about 130 miles a day and run about 9 psi too.

[ONRAILS]

I started this tread because of the other tread about the lsd fauilure. Looks like people that are experiencing problems are having alot of different problems.

I for one drive my car fairly hard and drive in bumper to bumper traffic least 2 hours a day. It has seen least 10 autocross events.
I'm getting very close to 13k miles now and the car has been trouble free other then the rotor hub rust and the clunk. Not bad considering this car consists of many aftermarket parts.

I was wondering if anyone else has been having a good reliablity record??
Reliable as in starting every morning, no stalls, etc...? Yea, mine has been reliable. As far as all the little quirks... I think I've had them all. Squeaky suspension, coolant leak, 2 stress cracked windshields, clunk, hesitation, fuel cut, head unit stuck, etc... everything but the hesitation and fuel cut were fixed under warranty, the FCD took care of smoothing it out and fuel cuts. I would recomment the FCD even if you don't boost past stock. It really works well smoothing out everything.

[Swerny]

I have had the flash done, the bushings changed, and my head unit just crapped out on me. I also have some rotor rust, but not that much, and a broken windshield.
The car has been perfectly reliable for me.(canada)

[tracknfield423]

i had the bushings changed and they are about to be changed again at once i hit 10k and also my rotor rust is being taken care of then too. other than that the squeeky suspension only happens in the cold cold weather and everything else has been fine

[mazdaspeed75]

Well i only have 6000 miles on her and iam happy mutliple trips for the clunk . Endlinks replaceds. Coolant leak twice and overflow replaced. Flash and thats it. So i far i havent been back to the dealer in about a month so Its all good here. We will see as it goes . My wife has my car now because her jeep doesnt have air so my car is not getting beated on daily now. So that should help me some. hhahahahahahahaah

[Autox MSP]

well suspension sqeeking can't be helped, its nature of polyurathane bushings.

[AutoBox]

NO ISSUES here besides a cracked windshield, cluck, blown sub and the shitty ecu :) if it holds through my autox and daily driving for another couple years ill be happy

[BinaryRotary]

Of course I've had the clunk, rust on brake rotor hubs, hesitation and the coolant leak. Always has ran fine, OVERALL its a VERY reliable car for being turbocharged. I love the damn thing.

[srtchick]

Always has ran fine, OVERALL its a VERY reliable car for being turbocharged. I love the damn thing.
same here :D

[03MSP]

Im at about 13,000 and all I had to do was fix the clunk and warped rotors; both warrantied of course.

Oh yeah, I drive her pretty hard too(naughty)

[DistantTea]

15k miles, 25+ autocrosses, a TWO driver evolution school (8 hours straight, 60+ hard runs in one day), city streets that come from the depths of the 7th level of HELL and my car is fine. I'm killing my struts too being about 2.5 to 3 inches lower than stock, but they haven't popped yet.

For $20k I could not have bought a better race car. For $20k I could have found a better daily driver... but what fun would that be. Its a good car. Its unfortunately build quality issues are going to end up tarnishing what could have been a near Integra Type R racing legacy that will never be known.

[BinaryRotary]

15k miles, 25+ autocrosses, a TWO driver evolution school (8 hours straight, 60+ hard runs in one day), city streets that come from the depths of the 7th level of HELL and my car is fine. I'm killing my struts too being about 2.5 to 3 inches lower than stock, but they haven't popped yet.

For $20k I could not have bought a better race car. For $20k I could have found a better daily driver... but what fun would that be. Its a good car. Its unfortunately build quality issues are going to end up tarnishing what could have been a near Integra Type R racing legacy that will never be known.
LOL, hell, it handles better than a Type R, at least we have that.

[AutoBox]

i think tea is sayin because of all the issues the msp has it will never been known for the fact that its a awesome all around car that can out handle a type r......it is sad.....if mazda produced a few more years of the msp it would of been a great car with all the minor issues fixed......only the few that enjoy the car for what it is can agree with me that this car was well built and designed

[mdaj]

Near 12k for me and bushings and a shitty ecu have been my problems and I hope that it stays problem free going forward.

[PimpDaddyJ]

I have 50,000k+ on mine, only the bushing, sub, rusty rotors, alignment totally screwed (probably my bad and now fixed), body defects (dealership issue), and one issue where i had loss of power on the highway due to possible bad gas, other than that no real issues with the car, performed very well during an 8 hr drive (rockon)

[03MSPRO]

rusty rotors, clunk and hesitation even after the flash. Nothing else, but I am not waiting to have problems to get rid of this car beacuse I know the dealer will blame on "abuse" even if my car was stock. Hopefully I won't have any issues for another 2 yrs until I can trade it in and maybe buy a RSX Type R, if it makes it to the US

[2K3 MSP]

Mine has held up very well IMO, but I'm nearing that 40,000 mile mark, and I'm starting to worry now. I just don't want something to break right after that point, and me be out all the money to fix it. Not that I would take it to the dealer for it, but it would still cost more than I want to pay...

[BOOSTR]

29,000 miles. Everything is still tight. Dealer has fixed the subrack, bushings, and flashed. I fixed the rusty rotors, coolant leak, and lack of sufficient boost.

I am very satisfied with the car overall. Its well balanced and easily modified. What more can you ask for the money? No its not an EVO/STI or even an SRT4, but its still a solid car inspite of its issues.

My clutch, CV axles, and LSD are all holding up well. This car should have no problem going 100K miles or more.(rockon)

[shaolin]

I've only had the problem with the alarm. I'm nearing 10,000 and I don't have the clunk, and I believe my car came flashed. It's like I said in the other thread, I used to have an EG hatch with B18C5 swap, and a quaife LSD, and the LSD snapped in that car also. Any driveshaft under heavy conditions (i.e. hard launches, drag racing) will eventually go.

What I think alot of you guys fail to realize is that the FS-DE motor has been boosted by many many people with P5's, Probes, MP3's, etc....and most of them have run many, many problem free miles. The few suspension quirks we have are godsent compared to what a full aftermarket setup would be like. Not only that, covered by warranty. The ECU problems, well whoever was in charge of that department at Mazda was an idiot, but it can be fixed....haltech anyone?

You guys gotta remember we have a "skunkworks" car. The Spec-V, SVT, SRT-4, Si, and yes the ITR have all seen their fair share of problems. Some more, and some less than us. Personally, I consider myself quite lucky to own this machine, and I'm keeping it until it stops going...then I'm gonna throw another motor in it...possibly FS-ZE or another FS-DE turbo, and check into the Sport 20 setup...by that time the car will be old enough to not worry about doing crazy things to it.

[project_msp]

My msp is pretty reliable. Not a problem yet.

[GotBoost]

I have 12k on the ODO and have only had the alternator belt break, which happened @ 1k. The car has been a pleasure to drive on 4 trips of over 1k miles.

[Replica]

What problems did ITR's have?

[Leigh]

So far I'm up to about 10k and have only had minor stuff: clunk at 3k, rust on the rotors (that I should really get around to doing something about)... and a minor alignment problem that seems to have been caused by the dealership that replaced my bushings.

Overall she's holding up better to my day-to-day abuse and weekend play better than I could really have hoped for and I've got my fingers crossed that it all stays good.

[KyRaceFan]

I had my clunk fixed, and thats the ONLY problem ive had.
CD player works great, sub is fine, no coolant leak, hesitation is gone...

:)

[MSP FOR LIFE]

Same here. Not really any problems besides the clunk and got the car flashed. Other than that she runs great. Dont know why so many people are always bitching around here. I LOVE THIS CAR. Cant wait to get my FMIC from wagner and my new wheels put on and my new FI CF evo8 hood. Then I will REALLY love this car.

[SpicyMSP]

40k Here and nothing wrong. Its been track driven hard many times, and the first was at 600 miles. First oil change at 500 miles, then every 3,000. Nothing major wrong here. Just the loose lower IC pipe, hesitation, interior wear, and the clunk. No big complaints from me.

Ive been through I set of brake pads, and one set of tires so far.

[jurgs01]

I love the looks of this car. The only issue I had were the clunk and alarm, and both were fixed before I rolled her. Now I am trying my best to get another one...that's how much I like this car.

[Newf]

12k here. Stock bushings replaced at 6000k with the 156E's. No issues yet. the squeaked for the 1st time last week. WD-40, and the squeak was gone.

Stereo was dead the day the car came off the truck. replaced, since then, no issues.

Car was flashed just after purchase. hesitation gone. This car is my only car, and daily driver. it just went through one of the worse cold winters we have ever had. Not one single issue besides the little ones mentioned above....knock on wood.

I love this car. Everytime I walk up to it, I fall in love all over again. No, it's not an sti, and not an EVO...and thank the jesus it's not an SRT4. Best damn car for the money I could have gotten and I wouldn't trade it for the world.......well, until a Maadaspeed 3 comes out.

[mspdfreak]

Clunk, flash and bushings all replaced w/no complaints. Excellent reliability. Look at this year's Consumer Reports "car" issue. '03 Proteges get "excellent" ratings in every category! Love this car!

[daperspeed]

No problems yet mechanically. Im beginning to think Mazda did a decent job since the car has so much aftermarket stuff and a turbo bolted onto a stock motor AND yet its pretty reliable.

[rocketspeed]

Mine's been good. Only the clunk. It looses coolant REALLY slowly- like 1/8 of an inch in the reservoir every 1k miles. I could have it flashed, but I'm waiting to see if I want to raise boost first. The hesistation isn't bad and since I know the flash doesn't exactly work miracles- I figure why bother.

[Hypnotized]

No mechanical problems here.... I do hear a buzzing sound from the intake though but that is from the injen. PLain and sample, I love this car....

[shaolin]

What problems did ITR's have?
Many of the ITR's had problems with the brakes, and some owners reported problems with the LSD. However, Honda service has a better track record than Mazda.

BTW did any of you guys know that the ITR suspension is borrowed from the 88 CRX si? Pretty interesting huh?

[AutoBox]

THE DOUBLE WISHBONE and control arm setup yet...not the spring and shock setup though.....right?

[marashka]

considering that mods dont exactly help reliability , msp is a VERY reliable car for me.
clunk, and reflash are the only things i went to the dealer for so far in 7 month. only time will tell the rest.

[03MSPRO]

Many of the ITR's had problems with the brakes, and some owners reported problems with the LSD. However, Honda service has a better track record than Mazda.

BTW did any of you guys know that the ITR suspension is borrowed from the 88 CRX si? Pretty interesting huh?
I am abig Honda fan. I had 2 Integras before the MSP and I used to hang out at the Honda boards. I never heard of an ITR having problems. Those B series engines are a tank. Also Honda trannies are very good. I used to redline my GSR all the time. I felt like that engine could take any abuse. I hope they bring the RSX Type R

[Newf]

I am getting much more rust around my brakes then I did with the MP3. The back more then then front. But, I had the mp3's cali's painted to. Something I'll never do again as it looked bad just after 1 of our typical winters.

I really got to take the time, take the wheels off, and do something about that before it gets too bad. Every car has rust around the brakes though really.

[Horse]

Mine has been perfect- admitted - its less than a year old and has 7000 miles -