Reliability research -- looking for P5s

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P5w3kids

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2003 P5
Mazda P5 reliability - how does it compare?

The reliability information provided by CR and JD Power is not nearly as helpful as it could be. So late last year I started collecting my own reliability data, with the intent to provide clear "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats, among others.

I've been collecting data on both years for some time now. Next results in August. Could still especially use more 2002s.

Participants report repairs the month after they occur on a one-page survey. When there are no repairs, they simply report an approximate odometer reading four times a year, at the end of each quarter.

To encourage participation, panel members enjoy free access to all of the results posted on the site.

You can find more info and sign up here:

Vehicle reliability research

This forum has been helping out by running my site's banner in the regular rotation. Thanks, Antoine.

Let me know if you have any questions, suggestions, or comments.
 
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I am happy to sign up, but I am asking that you place a Protege5 in there under 2002.5. That is really what we have.
 
Here's how my system works: cars entered as half-year cars get considered as the following model year. So a 2002.5 will be considered a 2003. In the future I might report half-year results separately, but that won't be the case at first.

More than this, I eventually hope to separate out all cars by whether or not they were bought early in the model year. This will indicate whether a design problem was fixed part way through the year. I'll need a very large sample to do this well, though, so we're talking a few years from now.

The question then is whether the 2002.5 is more similar to the 2002 or 2003. If the answer is 2003, then it should be entered as a 2002.5. Otherwise, as a 2002. I used to know the differences, but that was back when I bought my 2003 (actually a 2003.5--no rack) nearly three years ago. Can someone refresh my memory?

The dangerous thing about half-years is that many owners of such cars might not be aware that they have a half-year car. How can the owner of a 2002.5 know that's what they have? Do you guys have the tweeters, but not the sub?
 
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But there is no protege5 category seen under your 2002.5 section at all.

2002 had flipup cupholders and rounder wheels.
2002.5 had the newer wheels, side markers, non-flipup copholders, tweeters next to the side mirrors.

I just know my car is an 02.5, and do not want to register with false information.
 
RaiderMP5 said:
2002 had flipup cupholders and rounder wheels.
2002.5 had the newer wheels, side markers, non-flipup copholders, tweeters next to the side mirrors.
Click to expand...

? Mine is an '02 that has non-flipup cupholders. I'm confused now... I thought the flipups started on the 02.5's?
 
RaiderMP5 said:
But there is no protege5 category seen under your 2002.5 section at all.

2002 had flipup cupholders and rounder wheels.
2002.5 had the newer wheels, side markers, non-flipup copholders, tweeters next to the side mirrors.

I just know my car is an 02.5, and do not want to register with false information.
Click to expand...

Mine's a 2002.5 (I know this by the door plate) and I have leather seats as well as the chrome wheels, side markers, non-flipup cupholders, & tweeters next to the side mirrors...which weren't an option in 2002 but was in 2002.5 & 2003.
 
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BadKarma said:
? Mine is an '02 that has non-flipup cupholders. I'm confused now... I thought the flipups started on the 02.5's?
Click to expand...

flipups were on the early 02's. 02.5 is when they were phased out.
 
yep.i bought mine in Oct. of '01 ('02 year model) and i have the rounder wheels and the flip up cup holders that are no good.
 
Oh, and just a heads up p5w3kids, in 2007, there is no protege, 323 (in the USA), 626, millenia, Mazda2, mx-3, mx-6, miata (now mx-5), mpv, or Navajo. You have all these as an option for 2007.
 
When I start collecting data on a model there is a short survey asking about the engine, transmission, and body type. I'll know that all Protege's with liftgates are P5s.

I used to list the model as Protege / Protege5, but this confused one person who had both a Protege and a Protege5. So I changed it to just read Protege.

I don't have a table of models by model years for this part of the site. I wanted anyone anywhere to be able to sign up, so I structured the database in a way that I'd have time to create and maintain it.

I assume that if a car does not exist, no one will enroll it. Or that if they do enroll it, there's an error.

For the purposes of this survey, I'm going to count the 2002.5s as 2002s, at least for now. Wheels, side markers, and tweeters aren't things likely to affect the reliability of the car. The cupholders maybe--they might have gotten rid of the lids because they were breaking--but I have a hard time putting a car into the next year for cupholders. Later, when the sample size is large, I'll be sure to check and see if reliability differs between the two.

Contrast this with the 2001.5 Audi S4. For that car, Audi improved the oil lines to the turbo to improve reliability. In that case I definitely want the 2001.5 included with the 2002s, not the 2001s.
 
P5w3kids said:
When I start collecting data on a model there is a short survey asking about the engine, transmission, and body type. I'll know that all Protege's with liftgates are P5s.

I used to list the model as Protege / Protege5, but this confused one person who had both a Protege and a Protege5. So I changed it to just read Protege.

I don't have a table of models by model years for this part of the site. I wanted anyone anywhere to be able to sign up, so I structured the database in a way that I'd have time to create and maintain it.

I assume that if a car does not exist, no one will enroll it. Or that if they do enroll it, there's an error.

For the purposes of this survey, I'm going to count the 2002.5s as 2002s, at least for now. Wheels, side markers, and tweeters aren't things likely to affect the reliability of the car. The cupholders maybe--they might have gotten rid of the lids because they were breaking--but I have a hard time putting a car into the next year for cupholders. Later, when the sample size is large, I'll be sure to check and see if reliability differs between the two.

Contrast this with the 2001.5 Audi S4. For that car, Audi improved the oil lines to the turbo to improve reliability. In that case I definitely want the 2001.5 included with the 2002s, not the 2001s.
Click to expand...

I also seem to remember in several posts, when I joined, it was mentioned that they changed the shift forks in the 2002.5's because the ones in the 2002's were weak and they were having trouble. That might be something to look into as it would have lead to more repairs of the 2002's as opposed to the 2002.5's.
 
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you are correct in that. It was an early issue that was resolved in the mid-season refresh.

LilPixieMama75 said:
I also seem to remember in a several posts, when I joined, it was mentioned that they changed the shift forks in the 2002.5's because the ones in the 2002's were weak and they were having trouble. That might be something to look into as it would have lead to more repairs of the 2002's as opposed to the 2002.5's.
Click to expand...
 
We have a winner. Welcome to 2003!

If we know about the shift forks, and the cupholders were likely changed because the first ones were breaking, then Mazda likely made other changes to improve reliability that we don't know about.

Any idea how many 2002s there are vs. 2002.5s? How far into the year was the revision?

Things like this make me want to start splitting out half-year cars sooner rather than later. But this must depend on the number of cars enrolled.

And if I do this, I'll have to eventually compile a list of features that make a half-year car identifiable as such. I won't be able to do this near-term--I'm stretched quite thin--but it is something I'll keep in mind for implementation once I have more resources.

As I think I said earlier, I eventually want to separate out early model year cars from later ones for all models. Running changes are quite common, just not commonly known or delineated with a half-year.

Important thing right now is to get the ball rolling. This will all come later.
 
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Thanks, Raider.

After the above discussion, I hope you signed it up as a 2002.5.

I'm now just three 2002.5-2003s short of the minimum I require to start collecting data on these cars.
 
P5w3kids said:
Thanks, Raider.

After the above discussion, I hope you signed it up as a 2002.5.

I'm now just three 2002.5-2003s short of the minimum I require to start collecting data on these cars.
Click to expand...

I signed up as well. I registered mine as a 2002.5.
 
I included the 2002.5-2003s in the September data collection. Still three cars short, hope to get to 25 by the time the follow-up goes out in about ten days.
 
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