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Comments
My 98 Escort is at 50,000 miles with no problems and I believe that car became a solid car AFTER sharing Mazda components. You need to look at total cost of ownership over a longer period. Unfortunately sometimes when problems crop up we assume they will never cease. I went through a period of that with my 82 Jetta Diesel. It now has 235K. I'll admit it's not much of a car in terms of comfort, but it is reliable as the sunrise. I spent 10K buying it and about 5K in maintenance costs (not counting tires and oil change costs). It probably gave me back 2K in gas savings. If it runs another 30K which I have no doubt it will, it will be worth it. I personally won't buy another Ford after having bought 4. So Standefer, go there if you must. It's a company that won't admit a car's problems till it becomes a class action suit. My 93 Sable has had a head gasket, new trans and new A/c and other problems that probaby add up to an A/c within the first 100K. But the engine still runs well and if it gets to 175K which I think it will, it will still be worth it. OK that's my 2 cents. THe other thing is that the Pro and the Aspire do share the same little midget size filter. I checked the catalog on Purolator. (I have an Aspire too). I'm miffed.
And like I said, I never had half the problems with my DX as you have had with your ES. Maybe it was the early production thing. Sorry to hear your problems though. They have truly ruined a great little car for you.
this past week...best car I have ever owned...
it's finally wearing down bit by bit...
I hope my next car will last as long and run
trouble free...
The car I REALLY want would be small or medium size; has beautiful styling; a great interior and dash; gets reasonable fuel economy; and rides like a Lexus LS 430. No company makes that car, yet.
Frankly, I think sports suspension sucks. When all cars, regardless of size, can be made to ride smoothly and still have good handling.
And last, but not least, my relatives drive Ford products: 2002 Ford Explorer, 2001 Lincoln Navigator, Ford F-150 pickup, Ford van, plus a BMW 740i and a Porsche 944. When deciding on a small car to buy, and wondering what they would think if I got a piece of crap temporarily, the Protegé was the only small car I had no problems driving up in.
Their remarks: "We love your car." and "That's a nice looking car and all you really need." (The Corolla was definately out and so was an older Civic.) The Corolla, in particular, looks like the buyer does't give a damn what they drive as long as it gets them to their job at MacDonald's ontime.
fowler3
Also, is approx $500 over invoice, with 0% and free moonroof and alloys a good deal?
Thanks
Even though the one Mazda/Ford product I had didn't give me any major problems if I knew I had to buy a car and keep it for more than 3 or 4 years, I would buy the Honda or Toyota. You can flame me if you want but in my experience I would be more comfortable in a 100,000 mile Honda vs. a 100,000 Mazda or almost any other make out there.
One thing about Hondas and Toyotas is that their basic designs seem to stand the test of time better as well as all of the "hardware" like knobs, switches, and power accessories. This Protege may change my mind, so we'll see.
fowler: The one thing that kills me is that if anybody else my age at work had purchased the Protege everybody would be like "nice car" "congratulations". But with me they are like "uboughtawhat" "huh" "from an Accord V6 to a..." and "no way".
I've had the headlamp protectors on my '99 Pro since early spring of '99 and don't have a single chip in them. Some dirt does accumulate around the edges though.
Supposedly you can peel them off w/o leaving any glue, but I haven't done this myself.
I think they now have pre-cut kits for the Protege, first time ever. Guess there're enough Pro owners asking for the stuff. The only Mazda products they offered pre-cut in the past have been for Miatas.
Anyway, the discussion recently has been interesting, to say the least.
Yes, I had my last car for nine years. Five years of $0 payments would seem to be lower overall than trading the car when it still had a lot of value.
The day my first payment was due on the MP3, I was hit by a Ford Explorer. They decided that their lane wasn't large enough and they needed part of mine. I thought they were going to pull over, then they dove in front of some oncoming traffic and got away (while I was stuck in 3mph rush hour). Got their tag, but it was stolen.
Fortunately, they mostly hit me with their tire, as I have buffed a lot of it off and left what appears to be fairly superficial damage. The Racing Hart wheels in particular took a lot of their tire out without, evidently, being scratched. Not that I actually wish this on them, but if they are riding on Firestones and they don't take the vehicle in, I may not have to find them: they could end up in the paper.
I traded in a '97 Accord on the '98. Nothing wrong with it, I, like Paul, bought the wrong color. It was dark blue with grey trim.
I sold the Odyssey because I had a lot of equity in it and that gave me a good downpayment on the Protegé. When interest on car payments was tax deductable they weren't so bad; now, it's wasted money along with depreciation.
Hindsight is perfect vision; The money I have thrown away on cars since 1967, if invested THEN would have grown to over $3 million today, without investing another dollar. :P Think what I would be driving now?
The big mistake young people make, and I made it then, is telling themselves, when they have jobs and disposable income,"I want to enjoy it while I'm young!" You will also enjoy a new car when you are older, IF you save and invest now. When I was your ages most cars cost only $2500 to $3000 with AT,AC and power windows, etc. By the '70's big cars were still only $6500 and luxury cars were $7500 up. I remember a BMW I almost bought for $6500, in the 5-series. Glad I didn't.
But $15K for a small car today is still an outragious price, IMHO, and so is $50K for a Cadillac or Acura or whatever. That's what inflation does and in the years to come they will go even higher. Plan for it now.
black01coupev8, the last Acura CL I rode in my impression was, 'This doesn't ride any better than an Accord.' It was noisy and not at all what I expected.
fowler3
I have driven a rental Escort and they shake and rattle(10,000 miles ) so much that I feared that it will break apart. I even took it back to the rental agency just to make sure that this car will not breakdown in the middle of the i-95.
tough luck Jerry. Too bad you thought you had bought a Tank....
Here's some food for thought. Ford's huge losses from the Firestone/Explorer debacle have got to be taking a huge bite out of funds that would have been better spent on R&D. If that's not bad enough they're now asking (demanding) further price cuts from their vendors. How can vendors cut prices without cutting quality? They can't!
Certainly litigation and defense will have a great impact on Ford's design and engineering efforts as well.
Poor Mazda. There it is!
I haven't encountered any cons yet, but there are some people in this thread that have recently had some problems with their Pros and have expressed dissatisfaction.
The only problem I've had so far is keeping my car clean because it's black. It looks great when it's clean, but it looks the dirtiest fastest.
At any rate, I love my Pro. It's fun to drive and it looks great. Hope this helps a little Grubbs.
Regards,
Pro_fan
-Larry
The Mazda Protege is without a DOUBT the best small sedan for under $16,500!!! I owned two Ford Escorts and a Toyota Corolla in the last twelve years, all fine small sedans. However, NONE of them have given me more pure pleasure and pride in ownership! It will be a very very cold day in Hades, before I park a Hyundai Elantra or another Ford Escort in my driveway! The OME Bridgestones' on both my PRO-ES's have almost 27,000 miles on them and have at LEAST another 10,000 miles! Neither car creaks, rattles or groans. Nothing has fallen off and they are as "tight and right" as the day, I took delivery! At my 25,000 mile service performed by Lancaster Toyota Mazda, they rated my tire condition on all 8 wheels as "7". They inspected the break lining on both cars, Lining Thickness: "10" on all left/right fronts and "5" on all left/right rears! Battery condition rated 100%. No fluid leaks, wipers still good and all drive belts and steering and suspension components rated top box.
Respectfully,
Larry
Nevertheless, there are consequence for everything in life. All automobiles are kinda of like, a can of shaving creme. There is a finite beginning and end. How fast we use up the contents of the can, will determine the life of the product. If you dispense more product each use, then is needed to lather up your face, well...the shaving creme will run out faster then necessary. Don't get me wrong. I love to put my Protege's thru their paces, and these are pretty willing econo-boxes. Hey, the Protege's are drivers cars compared to Corolla's or Civic's! But, never for a minute think that V-rated high performance tires are going to last as long as a well built all-season touring tires. Steering components, disc brakes, and chassis tightness will be effected by spirited driving. Personally, I pick my spots and the proper time to enjoy the zoom zoom zoom life style.
Respectfully,
Larry
Anyway, I bought the damn thing! This is what I got: 2001 black ES with auto and a moonroof. Everything else came standard(spoiler, 16 inch alloys, AC, CD, fog lights, rear disks, darker seat coverings, etc.).
This is what I paid: $15,800 plus $280 for accesories(mud guards, wind deflector, bug shield and cargo net), and $295 for the teflon and interior treatment (possibly a bad decision). Total price including tax, title, etc.: $17,801 - $1,000 rebate - $2,000 down = $14,801 amount financed. I got a 6.49% rate through the dealer at a local credit union. How did I do?
My first impressions of the car are similar to Larry's: it is a great small sports sedan. The quality overall is very impressive. I live in the 'sticks so I have already racked-up over 150 miles in the first day. Even with the sports suspension and the low profile tires, the ride is smooth and confortable in both the city and the highway. I love this little car!
I've just got to reply to Jerry's comment that we should all wait until we have 48,562.3 miles on our Proteges and then comment. Well, like I said Mr. Standefer, my '92 LX had 83,000 miles on it when I traded it for my Mazda-built-not-Ford-tough B2300 pickup (worst mistake I ever made). That '92 LX was flawless! FLAWLESS!
I had many cars to choose from when I went to make my most recent purchase in May 2000 -- and the gods of employment had looked favorably upon me, and I could've spent upwards of $25,000 -- but I went back to my old Protege BECAUSE OF MY GOOD LUCK WITH THEM!
Other than that pickup, which I had from December 1994 until May 2000, I've had nothing but Proteges since September 1991. And I've never, ever regretted my decision!
Meade
Larry -- I'll re-send that e-mail to everybody today.
Meade
Also, I had a pretty good collision with my 99 ES a couple of weeks ago. Messed up the rear of my car pretty bad, but not only did I walk away (with just a seat belt bruise to show for it), but I was able to drive away. The shop I took it to and State Farm were both amazed considering the damage to the body. I guess the good news is I'll now have two new rear quater panels, trunk lid and bumper!
BTW black01coupev6, I have a question for you. They two cars my wife is looking at are the 626 and the Accord. While we both really like the Accord EX, there is difference of $3K and we are trying to watch our costs. So, if given the choice between a loaded 626 ES-V6 and a LX V6 Accord (which is comparable in price when all is said and done), which way would you go? I know everyone raves about the Accord V6, but my wife actually liked the 2.5L in the 626 better. She didn't like the VTEC's dual personality.
Any suggestions on a quick clean?
Please help!!
Regards,
Pro_fan
We both drive it hard (is there any other choice with a little 4-cyl moving 3,300+ pounds?). It has been absolutely flawless! Brakes were replaced at 50,000 miles, oil and filter change every 5,000 miles, and new tires at 45,000 miles. Except for a Rhino-Lining application to the bed, a wind deflector for the hood, maintenance, and gas, we have not spent any money on the truck at all.
I'm sorry, but when I compare the two brand new vehicles I have owned (the Ranger and Protege), the Protege has not stood up to my expectations. Like I've said before, I admit I abuse it, but I've abused every single vehicle I have owned and except for the MG (Lucas electronics are evil!!), I have never had as many problems as I have had with the Protege. I don't mind a few rattles, and I expect extra wear on the brakes, clutch, and tires, but this vehicle has exceedingly disappointed. I guess it truly is an economy car built with economy car parts. Perhaps I expected beefed-up parts with the ES just like my Escort GT had. Or perhaps I just expected to Protege to stand up to spirited driving like the 17 year old RX-7 did. Oh well... I guess I'll just have to get a Miata or a "real" sport sedan that's actually built for sport...
The 2001 Pros use heavier-gauge metal in the suspension parts and thicker sheet metal in the body where they attach. Probably would've been better for jstandefer, but that's 20/20 hindsight.
My 99 is still doing fine. Some creaking noise like vinyl rubbing against itself coming from my seat, but I weight 195lb, so I'm not surprised. Other than that, it's rattle-free.
Screws will work themselves loose with regular use (and abuse). Maybe your garage could tighten any loose fasteners on the body. I just went through my '89 323's interior and found a number of loose screws on the trim panels that I snugged up. Helped to reduce the rattles.
Going to bid on the 3rd Generation Altezzas on Ebay and have them put in probably. Got the tints and fog lights done Saturday. Probably going to do either the perimeter alarm next, or the 6-disc CD changer (although it's $500, and that is a little high). We will see.
Meade, I did not get any e-mails about the MAPP either. Send it to the work one you have for me, or to the one under my profile here.
Anyway, we sat down to crunch some numbers. We were about $800 apart. The hang up was my trade. It's a 97 Intrepid with 98k on the clock. The car is immaculate, paint shines like new, interior looks new, the tires have most of their tred life left, it runs nice and tight (for a Dodge, anyway). Kelly's BB values range from approx 4400 to 4800. Edmund's between 4700 and 5300 trade-in. They offered 3700 at first, and eventually creeped up to 4100. I know I can sell it on my own for well over 5k, based on the local paper and autotrader.com selling prices. Looks like I'll have to take that route. I'll check another dealership closer to home to see what they can do.
However, as my fiance just pointed out, if the 626 has 0.0% interest then maybe that's the way to go. If you are financing at a normal rate or paying cash then the Accord seems like the best choice.
You can get a Millenia for $25,600 according to Carsdirect.com but an EX V6 Accord can be had for $22,600 and it's resale value will be eons better than the Millenia's. And the Millenia has not had a major redesign or engine upgrade in 6 years. So it is a very dated platform and even though it was designed as a luxury car, on such an old design it is probably no better than the family sedans of today.