Buying a 03 Protege5, Need Advice

[Levi2]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum so forgive me if this isn't the right place to post this or whatever.

So, I looked at and test drove a protege5 yesterday. It seemed pretty solid, but there were a few things I noticed:

• Check engine light - Owner said it was the O2 sensor, that's fairly simple to fix, right?
• Rear strut was loose - When I was driving it around the rear strut kept making noises on the passenger side, my dad said it was probably a loose strut and just needed tightening
• Gear shifter was a bit sticky - Can these be cleaned or something? The tranny was fine I think, but the shifter part just seemed sticky and hard to move around

There's the issues, are any of these serious? Is there anything else I should look for?

Thanks.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Welcome to the forum!

To address your questions:
1. O2 sensors are rather easy fixes on this car. Can be bought for not too much either ($40-60 iirc). Just make sure to buy the proper one (upstream/downstream and for the proper catalytic converter, as these cars have two).

2. I personally have never heard my P5 "squeak", but the stock suspension is on the stiffer side, so may be the OEM struts are loose/going bad? Unsure..

3. If the shifter is sticky you can solve that by getting new shifter bushings, and or by changing the fluid in the transmission. I wouod definitely do the bushings first before you flush/swap the tranny fluid.

Other things to look for:

Rust developing on the rear wheel arches, by the badges on the trunk lid, and at the bottom of the driver/passenger doors. Common spots on these cars.

Also id get the VIN and ask a Mazda dealer (or google) if the car fell under the VICS screw recall, and if it did, if the car was fixed.

Other than that, these cars are pretty solid and a great car to have. Hope you end up with it

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Could be loose strut but much more likely is endlinks or sway bar bushings causing the klunking sound......especially if the car is modified any. Motor mounts would be the other thing to make sure are not torn. There are 4 - 2 sides, front & rear. Make sure the climate control fan runs in speed 2 and 3 like it should. And what was said above.......