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Dave: SAY IT ISN'T SO!!! Focus merging with Protege? One of two things could happen with this venture. Either the Protege will go down in quality (hope not) or the Focus will go up (don't care). We shall see though.
My question to you folks... (I know some of you live in the sloppy Northeast weather, just as I live in the great sloppy freeze/thaw of the upper Midwest)...I can a 01 Focus with traction control, stability control and ABS for roughly $15.6K , why should I go out and get a 01 Protege? ( Which I just may do)
Here goes my list of (impulse) purchases:
1991 Nissan Truck King Cab--bought used in 1993
1993 Ford Festiva--bought new in early '94 (great car, by the way).
1980 Toyota Corona--bought way used in 1994 (neat looking but a real money pit)
1995 Ford Aspire--bought new in 1995 (good car!)
1979 Buick Century Wagon aka "The Brute"--given to me by my brother, passed on to charity--great vehicle but I already had two cars.
1996 Nissan Truck King Cab--bought new in 1996 (become very troublesome, emissions problems galore, baffled mechanics, bought back by dealership--perhaps the only bad Nissan made in the 90's, I still miss the looks of it)
1998 Nissan Frontier--bought new in 1998, I love this truck and my wife still has it, only 4,700 dollars left on the payments.
1999 Kia Sephia--what was I thinking? traded in at a moderate loss on my current vehicle, you guessed it---
2000 Mazda Protege LX--great car, bought new in November of 1999.
Like you, unmarkedcar, I have blown a lot of money and have lost a lot more on trades. I am only 30 years old and have owned more cars than all of my brother combined. I think I have come to my senses now, even though I get the crazy itch to buy my wife a Miata. Good luck fellow Mazda owners, I hope that I post good news about hitting 100,000 miles in the next two years.
Couple of days ago my wife hit an iron bar in a parking lot while backing up. The left side of the rear bumper was badly scratched! I hate to drive the car with all these visible marks on!
Since my deductible is $500 the insurance claim
will not help.
Has anyone had a bumper painting job done on their Protege?? I am curious how much it would cost to have the bumper re-painted?!?
One other thing is: the door panel right under my left elbow started to wear out ! Seems like I have
the habit of resting my elbow on the door .. but I have been driving various cars for the last 12 years and never had a problem like this ..
I am thinking of asking my dealer to take a look at it .. and we'll see ??
Besides these typical problems .. think my '00 ES
is a great car that is fun to drive.
Go and test drive an '01 Focus. Then go test drive a Protege. When that is complete you will be a welcomed Protege owner.
So here goes my questions....
1) is the new 2.0L 130hp engine in any way related to FORD Focuses'? I know that it is from 626 but i am afraid of reliability problems like all Fords have.
2) I heard that Ford is gonna put Focus into the 2002 protege. is the new protege-5 wagon the initial transition? compare the protege-5 wagon with Focus wagon - I see some similarities in both their engine and exterior. I just dont wanna drive a focus-in-a-Protege.
3) for those current generation Protege owners! Please share all your complains about your car - please honestly share all the defects or short comings of Protege. honestly and without exagerations please
4) I did read the first 20 starting postings in this forum but was too tired to continue...Some owners complaint about tranny deffect...has this been fixed?
5) are the low-profile tires too noisy? I know i cant expect an econ-car to mute noises like a Lexus.
6) any rattles and squicks?? I know Honda manufactures cars with complimentary squickie and rattlie interior - free of charge
7) is it true that Ford is going to reduce the number of Mazda dealers from some hundreds to about half in the future? I worry this bacause i wanna have the convenience of near-by authorized staff to take care of my car. I admire Honda of it's network of dealers....overwhelmingly!!!
8) any other things that a prospective buyer should know about?
thanks in advance, i know these are a mouthfull please reply as much as u can. :]
As far as your general Ford/Mazda theme: Don't read more into it then there is. The current Protege and Focus are completely separate; no shared components/engineering. Same with the Sport Wagon.
As far as future plan for the Protege/Focus, we may have seen a preview of this arrangement in the Escape/Tribute. HOWEVER, the Protege will continue to be built in JAPAN and the big issues on Tribute come from assembly quality and supplier problems. With the majority of content being sourced locally and Japanese assembly quality, the Focus/Protege might not be so bad. I for one will wait for more details before I cast judgment.
Last one - Dealer Reduction. Nothing to do with Ford, more to do with dealer/Mazda proffitability. It's expensive to have a bunch of small dealers moving 4 cars a month. It's like having a Wal-Mart in a town of 300.
Keep reading....
btw, I also have a driver side door panel that is worn from resting my arm there.
MY 2 cents:
First, dealers who offer "spiffs" for top box CS scores are dishonest or shady at best; if they cheat on the customer feedback ratings, can YOU trust them for warranty work, etc.? However, I am not judging the new car owner if he accepts the perk, quite frankly a free oil change or detail job is not going to send me to the confession booth on Sunday, lol!
Secondly, if your new Mazda Protege was a slim deal for the Mazda Dealer($200 to $750 above the invoice/dealer cost) and most subcompact new car sales are "mini-deals"; your sales person will only receive a $50 to $100 commission! NOT a lot of money to pay his bills. But, top box Customer Survey scores mean some extra incentive cash to him at the end of the month. BUT, the CS Survey MUST have the top rating on All questions for him to get an incentive! It sounds dumb but MAZDAUSA holds him responsible for all areas on the CS survey. Soooo, if your sales person did a half way decent job for you, hook him up with a %100.
Lastly, there is a hidden perk for you to score the SC Survey, with top box ratings! Every time you walk into the dealership for service, have questions answered, etc. you will certainly be treated as a "top box" customer! If you do help the sales person out with the survey, he needs to send you a thank you note or give you a call of appreciation. Nevertheless, these folks depend on the SC Survey to help them make a living, if possible take care of them.
Respectfully;
Larry
1.) Take the base price of the 2000 Mazda PRO-ES and write down the options of the specific PRO-ES you are looking to buy. Simply go to Edmunds at (http://WWW.Edmunds.com) or Kelly's Blue book at(http://WWW.KBB.com) on the internet and calculate the DEALERS cost on the 2000 PRO-ES, you want to purchase.
2.) Subtract the customer incentive offered in your local region and offer from $0-$250 above that price for the car. Trust me, you don't need to pay more. Incentives for a 2000 model year Protege are running at about $1,500 at present. Unless your credit rating is not so good and you are putting down a VERY small deposit, you are better off declining the low manufacture sponsored APR financing and going with the rebate.
One last thing to consider, you might want to look a little closer at the 2001 PRO-ES for financial reasons. It is getting pretty far into 2001 to purchase a 2000 model. When it comes to re-sale and trade values, you will have already increased your depreciation by purchasing a "one year old car". To illustrate, lets say you put 15,000 miles a year on your new car, so in 5 years; you will either own a 2000 Mazda PRO-ES with 75,000 miles or a 2001 Mazda PRO-ES with 75,000 miles on the odometer. If your car is in good condition the miles won't really hurt you or help you but the 1 year older model will. This is why, I rarely consider leftovers to be great buys, unless you can save at least $1,500+, I'd go for the 2001.
Respectfully;
Larry
2.) Do you know for a fact, that the "S plan" is available to everyone, at all dealerships. I am just curious, what is your FIRST hand knowledge of this plan?
Respectfully;
Protegextwo
2. If one can join the EAA, then the S Plan is available. Ford/Mazda can end the plan anytime they want. OTOH, supposedly not every dealer participates in the plan, so YMMV. No, I don't have first-hand knowledge of the plan. I learned it from this thread (or the previous Protege one, I forgot).
And to support Henry, here is the deal on the S-plan. The S-plan(Supplier plan) is actually only for Mazda suppliers and freinds of Mazda employees. Some trade groups may fit into the category of suppliers and enrollment in some of these trade groups is open to most. A dealer cannot be forced to participate as it takes away from their allocation of vehicles. Most dealers will honor the S-plan unless it is a hot selling vehicle that they know they can get full price for. As an FYI, the S-plan price is printed right on the dealer invoice(not the window sticker).
I hope you're just kidding. How about not being allowed to post unless one has at least a 50% chance of still owning a Protege six months from now?
I have been following up with Edmunds.com's Protege-related discussion list ever since I got my 00 Pro ES on the 4th of July, and I'm really glad there's finally a discussion group just for the Pro's (and named accordingly).
Quick question, anyone changed their Pro's oil themselves lately? Is it easy to do for a non-car mechanic-inclined person such as myself? I'm just wondering because even though I got 2yr/24000mi free oil change from rosenthal nissan mazda on leesburg pike in VA, I think their service is terrible (last time I went for an oil change it took them almost 2 hours to get the car back to me, bunch of slackers) and I want to skip the hassle of having to drive to the dealer to get the oil changed (and save some $$ in oil change in the future).
btw, can't help but notice there are quite a few people on this discussion list from washington dc area, didn't realize there are so many enthusiastic Pro owners around here (but I understand why!)
thanks
H
hkchan...post away my friend!!!
Regards,
Pete
I have a 2000 ES Protege and use Mobil 1 10w-30 synthetic oil. It seems to run just a bit smoother with the synthetic oil and if you shop carefully, you can usually find it on sale at Walmart.
The filter and drain plug on the 1999-2001 Pro's are much easier to access than my old '92 LX Pro. Make sure to use a new aluminum crush seal at least every other time you change your oil, some people insist on using a new one every time. Use your hand to loosen and tighten your oil filter. A rubber dishwashing glove can help get a good grip on it.
I like changing my own oil as it lets me check out the car every time I do it.
Regards,
Pete
yes unmarkedcar traffic around here is horrible, especially during rush hour near tysons corner, a lot of stop and go's. that's why my gas milage has suffered big time as a result of my 2.5 mile commute to work everyday, averaging about 19-21 mpg, oh well :P
and commenting on a posting a few days back: yes working has becoming harder cuz I can't wait to get off work and get my zoom zoom fix for the day, which is exactly what I'm going to do NOW! woohoo
Respectfully;
Larry
gamejunki, what the dealer told you so far regarding the S-Plan is correct. Again I have no first-hand experience with the plan. I was simply repeating the information others gave here. Joining the EAA (www.eaa.org) would make you eligible. Even though I have not done it, there've been at least two people here that have.
I too am looking at a 2000 ES. Deal is for approximately $100 over invoice. The dealer automatically puts mudguards and pinstriping on every new ES that comes through - two options that I really don't want. I asked if they could take both off and he said they could take the pinstriping off, but the cost is sunk so the price would not be lowered. The mudguards however, cannot be taken off as "we have to make mounting holes" or something. Is this a steamy stinky pile they're trying to feed me about the forced accessories??
My local Nissan/Mazda dealership bought back a virtual lemon of a Nissan Truck that I had in 1998 when I provided a list of all the maintenance that they had performed (every oil change, etc.) I did not have to go to arbitration or even so much as contact a lawyer. They relized that the truck was well-maintained by their dealership and to say that the truck was not pampered would cut the dealership's own throat.
Also, I have noticed how some dealerships invite you to "hook them up" on the warranty service/dealership experience type surveys. Be thoroughly honest on these--they may come back to haunt you should you have a lemon. At the same time, acknowledge good treatment on the dealership's behalf. For some reason we get the urge to cover up faults in service and dealership experiences because we think that we will get special favors. I really don't think that you will get much more than an oil change for even the best of compliments. When it comes down to the wire, you are one of hundreds of others who fill out survey cards and are in now way entitled to any extra benefits for covering up for the dealerhsips.
Let's talk financing. If you are about to buy a new Mazda, enroll in a master's degree program or be a college graduate very quickly. Not only can you combine the college bonus, you can get a slightly smaller rebate when combined with 0% financing. Unfortunatley, I don't believe that Mazda offers a repeat buyer discount--some companies actually offer a customer loyalty discount. The financing special is usual only good for short-term loans. I bought my 2000 LX for 36 months--this was the shortest time possible but three years at 0% is not much more per month than 4 years at 7.75 %. Good luck all.
Thanks for any input, I'm not a car maintenance expert, I've just had friends who were, and I moved away from them all!
second on protegextwo Feb 15, 2001 1:15pm
mentioning a 00 with 75K and 01 with 75K. the 00 will be more apealling because in 5 yrs you won't tell them you had it 5 yrs. the buyer will see a 00 with the same lmiles as a 1 yr newer car. they will equate that with an extra yr of driving and still it has a lower per yr mileage. in 2005 the 00 will be 6yrs old (regardless of when bought) have the same miles as a 5 yr car.
as for the price. We got our ES Auto for 14.4K with a 1.4K rebate/grad, and our 1K down. that was after TTL. it was I think 300 over invoice in December according to various sites. I know some got it for cheaper, but it was around the acceptable range for me and the wife loved it..
IMHO, I think the mud guards are very handsome and I would add them to both my PRO-ES's. Andrew, my 2 cents; pay for the mud guards and tell the sales person the pin stripping and the surcharge for it go's, end of discussion. I can't believe, he would let you walk for $75.00.
Respectfully;
Larry
Boy people did post a lot, I just checked the board late yesterday afternoon. Regarding the CS survey's, I was promised a free tank of gas. Since my sales rep was helpful, and had a good experience, I will rate her highly regardless of the tank of gas. Its probably more of an attempt to get people to fill the things out rather than an attempt at a bribe. Just my thought on that.
As for Rosenthal, I went there this past sunday looking for an 01 Pro ES. They didn't have one that I wanted, but I asked the guy to give me a price on what I wanted. He refused unless I would agree to buy a car from them. Finally he indicated that because it was an 01, I could expect to pay near MSRP. At that point, I got up and left. What a jerk.
The current issue of Road and Track has a small article on the Protege MP3. They mention that some of the parts will be made by Racing Beat. Do you think there is any chance that these parts would be made available through the dealers or Racing Beat for purchase.
2)Racing beat is not a manufacturer but a tuner.
3)I'm sure Mazda will have an exclusive contract on these parts.
4)Yes the dealers will be able to order these parts, probably before you are even able to getyour hands on the car itself.