Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forums and new with cars - checked the first couple of pages for info on this topic and used the search function, but couldn't find anything relevant.
I recently bought a very used 2002 Mazda Protege5, it's about to hit 100k miles and safe to say, this car needs some work.
The exterior isn't without it's problems, but is more or less fine, there's some bubbling in the front of the hood, which I want to completely replace with this:
http://www.protegegarage.com/293-product-293.html
and back around the Protege5 emblem, which I'll have to remove and sand down.
The previous owner apparently f'd the front up pretty good, when I bought it. It has a new front bumper piece, but it looks like he installed it himself and did a bad job in installation, it's not flush with the rest of the car in some spots. I had the car inspected before I bought it so I could negotiate the price down and was able to do just that.
The front of the frame was dented up pretty good, but they say it's still safe to drive. There's rust underneath and is missing the undercarriage cover. It doesn't have the bottom fog lights, the side blinkers don't work, the license plate light is out (haven't checked if it's electrical or just a dead bulb yet) and the high beams aren't working either. On top of that the airbag light is occasionally blinking on and off, this didn't start until we had a hard rain two weeks ago, so I'm assuming it's something electrical rather than a problem with the airbags themselves. Also upon inspection, they found the transmission fluid is a brownish red, which I've read could be normal, but am going to wait to see what my mechanic thinks about that and have heard mixed things about flushing the transmission fluid. Also recently, I've noticed that the car feels like it is on it's way to stall when I'm idling, from what I've read, it could be because the EGR needs cleaning. Other than that, the engine seems to be in good working condition.
I'm thinking an easy fix to both solve the funky looking front issue, the chips/nicks in the paint and have the light/electric issues figured out at the same time is just buy a body kit and get it repainted. It'd also bring some new life into this old car:
http://www.carid.com/2002-mazda-protege-body-kits/extreme-dimensions-body-kit-300486.html
Does anyone know where I can get an undercarriage cover? I assume the wreck yard would probably be the easiest, but was wondering if there was a place that sold them?
Also, is there anything I can do to help with the rusting on the underside? Just spray rustoleum? Does anyone know of threads here for this issue?
Other than that, I've replaced the windshield wipers, air filter, tinted the windows, have an oil change scheduled for Thursday and bought new NGK Spark Iridium Spark Plugs that I've read are good.
I've scheduled time with the mechanic on Friday because it needs new brakes/rotors, front tires, and back sway bar links and to check out some of the problems I've stated above.
It's safe to say this car is a work in progress, fixer-upper. It's about to hit 100k miles and wanted to know what needs immediate attention and what should I do as a standard tune-up for a car about to hit 100k miles. I'm assuming the previous owner did little to no work on this car.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I really appreciate it!
I recently bought a very used 2002 Mazda Protege5, it's about to hit 100k miles and safe to say, this car needs some work.
The exterior isn't without it's problems, but is more or less fine, there's some bubbling in the front of the hood, which I want to completely replace with this:
http://www.protegegarage.com/293-product-293.html
and back around the Protege5 emblem, which I'll have to remove and sand down.
The previous owner apparently f'd the front up pretty good, when I bought it. It has a new front bumper piece, but it looks like he installed it himself and did a bad job in installation, it's not flush with the rest of the car in some spots. I had the car inspected before I bought it so I could negotiate the price down and was able to do just that.
The front of the frame was dented up pretty good, but they say it's still safe to drive. There's rust underneath and is missing the undercarriage cover. It doesn't have the bottom fog lights, the side blinkers don't work, the license plate light is out (haven't checked if it's electrical or just a dead bulb yet) and the high beams aren't working either. On top of that the airbag light is occasionally blinking on and off, this didn't start until we had a hard rain two weeks ago, so I'm assuming it's something electrical rather than a problem with the airbags themselves. Also upon inspection, they found the transmission fluid is a brownish red, which I've read could be normal, but am going to wait to see what my mechanic thinks about that and have heard mixed things about flushing the transmission fluid. Also recently, I've noticed that the car feels like it is on it's way to stall when I'm idling, from what I've read, it could be because the EGR needs cleaning. Other than that, the engine seems to be in good working condition.
I'm thinking an easy fix to both solve the funky looking front issue, the chips/nicks in the paint and have the light/electric issues figured out at the same time is just buy a body kit and get it repainted. It'd also bring some new life into this old car:
http://www.carid.com/2002-mazda-protege-body-kits/extreme-dimensions-body-kit-300486.html
Does anyone know where I can get an undercarriage cover? I assume the wreck yard would probably be the easiest, but was wondering if there was a place that sold them?
Also, is there anything I can do to help with the rusting on the underside? Just spray rustoleum? Does anyone know of threads here for this issue?
Other than that, I've replaced the windshield wipers, air filter, tinted the windows, have an oil change scheduled for Thursday and bought new NGK Spark Iridium Spark Plugs that I've read are good.
I've scheduled time with the mechanic on Friday because it needs new brakes/rotors, front tires, and back sway bar links and to check out some of the problems I've stated above.
It's safe to say this car is a work in progress, fixer-upper. It's about to hit 100k miles and wanted to know what needs immediate attention and what should I do as a standard tune-up for a car about to hit 100k miles. I'm assuming the previous owner did little to no work on this car.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I really appreciate it!