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Comments
#1. Big car styling, classic yet modern
#2. Two liter engine (never buy smaller)
#3. Large comfortable seats, plenty of leg room
#4. Nicely trimmed interior, bronze--not black--center pod
#5. Visibility from drivers seat, easy to backup and park
#6. Passing power on highway, city performance
#7. Fun to drive, quick steering
#8. Easy to get into and out of, higher seats, adjustable
#9. Pride of ownership in a neighborhood of Accords, BMWs, Camrys
In other words, a smaller version of the best mid-sized sedans available. And I did not want to get into the risks of a used car with its greater repair costs, higher interest rate, no warrenty, and usual wear and tear. Not to mention no pride of ownership.
fowler3
It took about a week for my stuff to arrive. I think any warranty issues are handled locally. Warranty is from the manufactureer, not TR. No road hazard stuff from TR, they might offer it, but I didn't ask.
Why I bought the Protege:
#1. Value for the dollar
(high levels of equimpent and content, low price)
#2. Had everything I wanted... stock
(Performance-oriented wheel/tire package, stiff suspension, CD player, etc)
#3. Performance for the dollar
(Decent power, GREAT handling)
#4. Interior room
(I'm a BIG guy, I need room, and I want to fit a baby seat in the back too.)
#5. Looks & Package
(Great looking small wagon... a true rarity)
#6. Reliability & Reputation
(JPN made of JPN parts, long-time critics fave, CR recommended, history or reliability)
#7. Exclusivity
(Not many on the road locally with only 1, crappy, local dealer,. I've only seen one other Pro5 around here)
----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
(reason: 552 Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation)
krotine
But I do agree with you that in order to talk about one car, sometimes you have to bring up another one -- even if it is in jest. Hey, we all know that purchasing a car is about the stupidest investment you can make -- in fact it isn't an investment. It's emotional. And if emotions are part of it, then they're going to surface here.
BTW, I once applied to work as a motorcycle salesman. That's kind of like a car salesman, right? I got all the way to the final cut before I wasn't offered the job. Know why? The final test involved trying to "sell" a Honda Nighthawk 750 to the dealership's manager. I took the book home, learned all about it, and the next day told him why it beat the pants off its competitors, how advanced the engine was, and all about its features. As I was being let go, I was told, "You missed the main point. Buying a motorcycle is all emotions. No one really NEEDS a motorcycle. You didn't tell me how cool I'd look riding on it. You didn't tell me about the wind in my face."
I kind of feel the same way about cars. No one HAS to take the big bite and buy a new car. Heck, in my town it is possible to get around using public transportation. But time and again, Richmond proves it's a driver's town. Why? 'Cause it's cool to cruise around in your own set of wheels. Hell, why do we spend so much time talking about our Proteges? 'Cause we're emotionally attached to them. Why do we love Mazda's "zoom zoom" commercials -- and why did we get emotional when we saw an Echo owner trying to steal it? Emotions! What's my point? I forgot!
Meade
Meade
He was surprised that this econobox had sound quality equal to his premium JBL sound in his camry.
Now, that is a compliment.
krotine
1. Wanted something fun to drive with a stiffer than avg. suspension.
2. Interior and Exterior styling is excellent (luxury-sports-sedan type white gauges and chrome...) and the outside is is the best looking compact for 2001.
3. Seemed to be the only choice out there (don't like American compacts - reliability concerns) considering the Civic continues to be sold with 8.6% financing in Toronto and the Sentra didn't say "ZOOM-ZOOM" like the Pro does. Because it's NOT a Mazda.
Dinu
Meade
Looks GREAT to me!
http://www.krotine.com
krotine
http://www.mazda.co.jp
Click on Japanese, then click on the very top link w/ the date marked as 10/16.
is it ok to use the extended life antifreeze on a 99 pro 1.8L instead of the regular one?
the extended life af/c conforms to GM's DEXCOOL specs. i was wondering if i could use it in my protege without any adverse effects. (i dont plan to go 5 yrs/250K miles though). i like the fact that it extends water pump life and its not much costlier than the normal af/c.
has anyone ever done this before?
My point was that there is no reason to bash a Town Hall member who expressed pride in his vehicle in that vehicle's own discussion. He did not disparage any other Town Hall member, nor did he disparage any other vehicle. He did say something like "we know where the real zoom, zoom is" but so what? A member of this discussion replied to the contrary there, and that was fine, I saw no problem with the exchange in that discussion.
Then the disparaging comment about the TH member was made here. THAT is what wasn't necessary.
I thought that folks here would understand my point, but I see now that it would have been less disruptive to just remove the post and address the issue off-line.
My apologies - I should have handled it better than I did.
Now, I need to repeat what I said last night. We are not going to talk about topic management in Town Hall within this discussion. Please address me off-line if you have anything else to say on that subject.
Thanks.
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
I know this from experience. :-)
Hotmail, yahoo and those sorts of accounts generally don't allow you to use more than about 5 MB of space at any one time (at least for free), and it isn't hard at all for pictures - especially when there are several - to exceed that quickly.
Hope this helps.
(queuing up recording now).... you can only use the img src tags to display pictures you actually own blah blah ... see Membership Agreement ... blah blah blah.
You know the drill. ;->
(who is going to pay you the ten bucks?)
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
- Reliability, all of my Protege's were flawless.
-Styling, the new Protege has style.
-Fit & Finish, put together like cars costing thousands more.
-Financing, can't beat 0% for 48.
-Value, for $15,000+ it's a bargain
-Ride, no other car in it's class can even come
close.
-Interior room, I have 2 kids and there is plenty of room in the back seat.
-Color choices of the Protege, better than Honda, Toyota and Nissan. Although, I wish the Protege sedan came in blue, midnight blue is rare and not a standard color. .
Pete
I just started a new separate discussion for the Mazda 6. The Camry and Accord finally have yet another serious competitior, weeks after the new Altima came out!
Oh - and they have a retuned 2.3l 4-banger as the base, 160HP - how soon before it finds its way to th Protege, I wonder? I believe the V-6 will be the 'acceptable' Ford duratec 3.0, also used in the Taurus and the Escape/Tribute. I wish that Mazda would make its own 6-cylinder engine, though!
Krotine: I suggest that you send pictures to a regular ISP email address. Make them .jpg images, but keep the sizes as small as possible. That means scaling them down in size, the overall size, such as 5"x 7" or slightly larger. And be sure to do Unsharp Masking on them. Unsharp Masking takes out unnecessary pixels and makes them look sharper. It would have helped the picture of your Protege5.
Over-doing Unsharp Masking can add white flares around edges, so keep it low at about 70%. You want pictures about 65k to 85K each. Most digital photos are already .jpg images,so all you need to do is scale them down. Do not put them in a folder, upload them individually, maybe three at a time.
Then you won't get that error.
fowler3
I've seen one Protegé and several Civics with conversions like those. They don't look so hot. All that clear plastic! In today's traffic you need BIG brake lights. IMHO That's another reason I bought the 2001 Pro LX.
Two kinds of taillamps turn me off: The cars that have wall-to-wall red plastic with two little lamps on the corners; and cars with too small taillamps to be noticed in daylight, you think they are burned out.
fowler3
#2...Reliability. Have family members who have driven Mazdas for many years (929, a couple of Proteges, Millenia) and have always been satisfied.
#3...Safety. Had the airbags and ABS I wanted at a price I could afford.
ZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOMZOOM
I bought my 2000 Protege DX (w/ AC, CD, Cassette) for $12,345.. YES $12,345!! in May of 2000 with 19 miles on the odometer (7 miles of that from my test drive and moving it to and from the lot)
why?
#1 Very, VERY nice steering noted on my test drive.. it didn't feel like a front wheel drive car where it was steering me all over the place
#2 Revvy little engine, but unlike the honda engines the car actually moved with these revs.. I test drove a 00 Civic EX (granted it was automatic and my protege is 5spd), but the protege pretty much felt like it had the same power.
#3 Great shifter (I hardly knew stick at the time yet I felt like I've been driving the car for a long time..)
#3 Very, very nice stock stereo (which I ditched after about 6 months anyway for aftermarket) for a car in this price range.
#4 The fact that the Protege had cute small headlights out in the front that did the job and didn't break the front end look of the car.. a nice looking car altogether.
#5 The fact that one of my freinds who had been driving me around alot had a 98 LX (his parents, but still..) and it just seemed fun.. like a car I could keep forever.
Up until seeing an ad in the paper in late April of 2000 I hadn't EVER thought about a brand new Protege. the dealership simply had an ad for $2000 off ANY year 2000 Protege (and the model year was hardly up!) so I decided to take a look on a Sunday drive up there.. I only had the choice between a black mica and an emerald mica in dx.. or spend a couple hundred more for a midnight blue lx.. shoulda got the LX for the power stuff + cruise but I'm happy I got the lighter of the 2 cars (for the handling side of course, ahem)
Now I've got.. lets see.. around 26k miles on the car with ZERO problems, just been doing regular oil changes (mobil 1, whichs expensive but I love the pride in it..).. I just went through my first set of tires very quickly and did the brakes early on.. no maintenance at all!
I've spent a good deal of money on the car and I'm trying to settle down on more mods now, this winter I've got alot of things lined up for my ride, hope to see you guys all at the next MAPP (yes I'll drive to WHEREVER!!!).. trying to make the headlights brighter (H.I.D. lighting kit in the near future), make it more of a highway car (adjustable struts for comfort), make it look prettier (side skirts..).. ah I'm so happy I have a REAL Japanese car!
(I'm only ranting because its 2am and I'm gonna stay up a little more I'm all excited now!)
David..
'00 Protege DX
I bought mine b/c i liked how the first gen's sounded, handled, and accelerated (my friend had a 90 LX auto) and i couldn't afford a honda civic (like $7k at the time). I wanted something with a built in tach, decent powered motor, preferably with a sunroof, A/C, and cruise control so i bought a 93 LX for $4000. Now you can get them for $2500 or so if you look which is a FRIGGIN STEAL!!!
Oh and just about ANY ricey wing would look great on them .
THey also ARE FASTER THAN A PRO. they run the 1/4 mile in 16.5, the pro is like 16.8 last time i checked. You can also supercharge them pretty easily which would make for a great sleeper
It doesn't take a hard look to understand that a car that's not proportionate will never be proportionate. I can't believe I'm hearing this in the Protege board. Maybe the Subaru boards...
BTW, why is it easier to modify than the Pro? More parts available?
Thanks
PF
The Passat is very nice but the handling is very soft. The A4 would likely have the tighter suspension...or check out the rumored '02 Protege MPS.
(back to lurking mode)
But I'll be off for a nice long drive (50 mile round trip) to watch a free screening of what promises to be a good movie when it releases next weekend - K-Pax with Kevin Spacey, a Sci Fi flick.
Anyone ever figure out why they hand out freebie movie passes on college campuses for movies playing at least 15-20 miles away? I'm not complaining - I get to Zoom Zoom there (with great company) and test out the road-legs on my new Pioneer CD Changer :-)
Have a fun chat!
Since i can't fund paying $13k for a echo right now, i'm going to buy a Ford Festiva and put a few engine mods and exterior mods on it and use it for a daily driver while My protege is getting its BP-TE motor swap performed
Don't laugh, the festiva weighs 1700 lbs....comes with a 1.3 liter 63 horsepower motor and still accelerates 0-60 mph in 9.8 seconds......all while getting 37/48 gas mileage and costing $1000 or less. (thats why i'm doing it really...heheh, i'm only 19 and hardly make any morney )
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/guest/newnews/openpic.php3?f=media/1-2456.jpeg&w=738&h=382
It looks like a Focus/Axiom on crack lol
On the Echo, my fiance loves it but only if it has the fender flares...I don't really care for the looks of it or the center mounted gauges. And once you put some decent options on it you are in and around Civic and Protege territory, which to me are 2 much better cars.
So far my Pro has 3500 mile...she just had her first oil change with Castrol Synthetic and a Mobil 1 filter. It may be my imagination but she seems to run a little smoother.
One problem, I seem to be going through some kind of Honda withdrawal. I would kill to have my Accord back about right now But it will pass... I hope. With the depreciation on this car it's a bit early to start wanting another car But on the plus side it drives great and after the recent wash I was staring out of my window to look at it
I'll answer the poll, trying to contain to the original three reasons, taking the car class as a given and in no particular order:
(1) Rear seat space. The Corolla loses badly here, and this eliminates other competitors like the Jetta.
(2) Reliability. This and #1 means there are two cars left: Civic and Pro.
(3) Handling/styling. Pro wins easily over Civic there, so it wins overall. Simple...
Looks like a locomotive steam engine. Hints at lots of straight-line power, no manueverability.
Makes me wonder if there's a "mole" within the design works. I think the same of Cadillac's recent concept vehicles.
Meade