how reliable are the protege5???

...adding my 2 cents - I got a PRO5 last year with 210K miles on it and this thing is a beast! original clutch still feels fine! I got the usual cylinder misfire due to cruddy oem coils, but its an easy 5 minute fix (and contributed to the very cheap selling price - former owner tried getting everything else fixed before giving up) It has 226k now and still feels just as good as day 1, but I baby her and the former owner did too. Pro5s are for slowrides!!

also want to add that its a 5-speed, it seems like the automatics do NOT last on older model mazdas

Well, might as well add my update again too.
Mine is 2003 and already at 140k.
Everything last like forever except for the automatic transmission manual mode switch.
I am on my 2nd such unit since I bought this car in November 2002.
I use the manual mode all the time before it broke. Swap it out and replaced it with another used unit once at 90k and at 120K it broke again.
The automatic transmission itself works perfectly on its own in full auto mode. Just the manual mode control module being unreliable.
The newer Mazda3 with the steering wheel flappy switchs don't seem to suffer the same problem so I suspect the heat from the exhaust pipe right underneath the control module might be the cause of this since it ours sit right on top of the exhaust pipe and it gets warm there.

If you have a manual transmission model, then basically nothing will break except for the usual wear and tear items.

I agree with the statements of everyone above. These cars are generally very reliable, especially with a manual transmission.

However, I have recently been looking for another and my concerns now with the P5 are:

Branded titles/salvage from accidents (frame damage) are more common than a clean title now
Odometer fraud from swapping the digital cluster (illegal)
General fraud to hide the above by swapping plates and VIN (illegal)
Deferred maintenance (old oil, rear tires/brakes needing immediate replacement are good indications)


I've been following the sales of P5 in my state for the last few months and it seems if it doesn't go from private party to another private party that these are bought at auction and sit for months to years until they are sold (or repaired and sold).

ReginaldWagon said:

Branded titles/salvage from accidents (frame damage) are more common than a clean title now
Odometer fraud from swapping the digital cluster (illegal)
General fraud to hide the above by swapping plates and VIN (illegal)
Deferred maintenance (old oil, rear tires/brakes needing immediate replacement are good indications)

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Most of this applies to old cars though.

At the same time, if you are competent with car repairs or bring a mechanic with you, it is easy to tell the general condition of the car.

I would much rather have a high mileage car rather than a car that has been abused.

I've owned two manual P5's with a combined mileage of 270,000 miles and for the most part they were very reliable. Both had problems with the factory stereo where the CDs player stopped working. In both cases they were a good excuse to upgrade the stereo anyways. Had to clean or replace EGR valves on both of them as well. Switched to the Canadian revised part that had the coolant loop built in per the suggestion on this forum and that cleared up the issue.

I would say the largest annoyances I've had with these vehicle include:

1) The coils on these cars are just terrible and require replacement far more often than any other vehicle I've ever owned. However they are rather cheap and super easy to change.
2) These cars love to snack on low beam headlights. I always buy them in bulk and keep extra in my cars. Why Mazda in their infinite wisdom decided they needed to go to a different headlight design on the P5s as compared to the sedans is beyond me.
3) The factory motor mounts are absolute garbage.

These other issue will probably only apply to those of us lucky enough to live in the rust belt. (boom02)

1) These cars just love to rust. I think Mazda as a whole is lackadaisical when it comes to the rust prevention on their cars. I've had to replace oil pans, a gas tank, gas tank shields, small parts of the exhaust and lots of various hardware.
2) The brakes require frequent lubing so they don't seize and bind up. Also the parking brake adjustment likes to fuse its self with the calipers.
3) Wheel bearings seem to require more frequent replacement than other cars I've owned.

The wife sold hers to a gentleman when it had 150,000 miles on it and she actually misses it but it just wasn't worth saving with all the rust that it had. Last I knew he was still some how driving it around. It was ten times more reliable than the Subaru that replaced it.

The_big_dill said:

Most of this applies to old cars though.

At the same time, if you are competent with car repairs or bring a mechanic with you, it is easy to tell the general condition of the car.

I would much rather have a high mileage car rather than a car that has been abused.

Click to expand...

An old car with only 5 digits on the odometer is a lot different than a 12-13 year old car with a digital cluster. If used cars weren't going for such a high price in the SF Bay Area there would probably be a lot less fraud, but there's always crooks and scammers out there looking to make a buck. The P5 is one of those cars that seems to maintain its value (which is a big + for owners) with asking prices currently ranging between $4850 and $7995. Up until recently I had never actually seen a clean title branded for odometer fraud by the DMV and I run vehicle information often. Same thing with stolen/abandoned vehicles when they finally show up stripped somewhere, or once in a rare moon show up for sale online. One P5 I found last month the seller was asking a very reasonable price for the condition and mileage of the vehicle hoping for a quick sale because it was a hot car. Criminals aren't that smart, but this one wasn't even smart enough to put a license plate on that matched the vehicle.

I do agree with you about high mileage cars, I rather have a high mileage car over an abused one too.

ReginaldWagon said:

An old car with only 5 digits on the odometer is a lot different than a 12-13 year old car with a digital cluster. If used cars weren't going for such a high price in the SF Bay Area there would probably be a lot less fraud, but there's always crooks and scammers out there looking to make a buck. The P5 is one of those cars that seems to maintain its value (which is a big + for owners) with asking prices currently ranging between $4850 and $7995. Up until recently I had never actually seen a clean title branded for odometer fraud by the DMV and I run vehicle information often. Same thing with stolen/abandoned vehicles when they finally show up stripped somewhere, or once in a rare moon show up for sale online. One P5 I found last month the seller was asking a very reasonable price for the condition and mileage of the vehicle hoping for a quick sale because it was a hot car. Criminals aren't that smart, but this one wasn't even smart enough to put a license plate on that matched the vehicle.

I do agree with you about high mileage cars, I rather have a high mileage car over an abused one too.

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Interestingly enough, our cars in Ontario have no value... $400-$2500 is the going value. But good luck finding one without rust.