Hey guys, I crashed my 02 P5 white about 3 months ago and my replacement car took a crap on me with timing belt snapping and damaging my motor. I have been searching for a replacement car and found a 03P5 Yellow with 56K org miles on it. Car looks clean. Any recommendations on what to look for prior to purchasing the car? It's an auto so it has a triptronic transmission. I had a transmission go bad on me with my 02 P5 and replaced it. Are these transmissions more prone to issues then the regular transmission? Are they more expensive to replace?
Picking up another P5
- Thread starter newUser08
- Start date
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- MSP 1145
the auto transmission is probably the strongest of all the protege transmissions lmao.
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- MSP 1145
yes it would be the same as long as it's tiptronic. you could put a manual trans on there if you have the ECU, otherwise it'll act weird. the cluster would work too, but not fully.
BenjiHoggi
OEM+
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- Oregon, USA
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- 22v Protege5
Two come to mind that nobody has mentioned yet, so i'll shout 'em out:
1. Oil burning. Hard to really check when looking at a car, but at least check the current oil level and be aware that it's an issue with these engines. Mine has 154k miles and I have to consciously watch my oil levels.
2. Motor mounts. Not really a reliability issue, but a comfort issue if they are as bad on the auto as they are on the manuals. The rear mount is especially annoying as it's hard to get to. My P5 had a shot rear mount when I bought it and I could feel the car shake on startup and buck while coasting in 2nd/1st.
Best of luck with your purchase!
1. Oil burning. Hard to really check when looking at a car, but at least check the current oil level and be aware that it's an issue with these engines. Mine has 154k miles and I have to consciously watch my oil levels.
2. Motor mounts. Not really a reliability issue, but a comfort issue if they are as bad on the auto as they are on the manuals. The rear mount is especially annoying as it's hard to get to. My P5 had a shot rear mount when I bought it and I could feel the car shake on startup and buck while coasting in 2nd/1st.
Best of luck with your purchase!
Changing your transmission fluid regularly goes a long way towards extending the life of your transmission.
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- 2003 Mazda Protege5
Getting one with only 56k miles you can really test the reliability. Change the oil early, change the transmission fluid regularly, and enjoy it.
Check for rust in the wheel wells, condition of the unibody, condition of the coolant, and smell for gas in the oil. You can also look up the service history on mycarfax.com garage for free. Oh, take the oil cap off while it's running to check for blow by.
Check for rust in the wheel wells, condition of the unibody, condition of the coolant, and smell for gas in the oil. You can also look up the service history on mycarfax.com garage for free. Oh, take the oil cap off while it's running to check for blow by.
