Mazda Protege5 Maintenance and Repair

reitrof

At 80 mph the rpm's are a tad over 3500. If your replacing an Accent, it will be a big improvement.

mazdafun

In this price range and if they're tuned for sporty handling versus "softer" settings. Probably the best comparisons are Civic Si and VW Golfs and Jettas, Sentra Spec V etc..

I'd say the ride is harder than in generic Civics, Foci, Corollas and Sentras of the world. Their suspensions are tuned more for comfort than sporty handling. The previous Elantra was closer than the current Elantra (except maybe the GT, but I haven't driven one of those beasties).

For as stiff a suspension and large wheels as it has, it's pretty good. Better than Neons, Cavaliers, Saturns, Escorts, which don't handle nearly as well, IMO.

However, if comfort is key and you have to drive over very rough roads often, I'd look at a Corolla. If you're looking for a 5-dr hatch or wagon, you're more limited. There's the Focus wagon or ZX5 (but reliability issues), Matrix, Vibe, Forester, P5, Elantra GT, Golf 5-dr, Jetta wagon, Volvo V40 (reliability issues), that little rip-off Lexus (which we all know is strongly derivative of the P5, which existed in the rest of the world as the 323/Familia for at least two years before the little Lex was even introduced), Impreza TS or RS wagon and the new Suzuki Aerio. Of these, if reliability is a concern, I'd look at the Forester, Impreza, Lexus (a little out of the price range of the others), P5. You've already ruled out the Matrix/Vibe. I'd give the Aerio a little time to prove itself. Ditto the ZX5, although it'll likely follow the path of other Focus-based vehicles (I keep hearing the European version has good reliability...why is the NA version so bad?).

dwryter

Thanks for the reply, the_big_h. By the way, you say high-RPM power is about the same, but, "the engine revs up a little faster now." Unless I'm missing something, faster revs equal quicker acceleration. Thanks, too, for the pointer to protegeclub.com. You're right, LOTS of talk there about K&N and cold air intake tubes.

Sunbyme, I saw only one response in the other group and it said something like "I think installed a K&N on his car." If that was you, thanks.

the_big_h

you know what, that makes perfect sense!

so I guess the K&N did increased power, albeit not a major gain ;-)

lngtonge18

Thanks for the insight so far. I went ahead and test drove a blue 5 speed. It was a nice car, though it didn't completely grab my attention. I love the exterior and like the interior. The engine is definitely noisier then my Lancer and the Matrix. Power was adequate, but that's about it (I didn't take it above 4k). The shifter felt like it was disconnected and was rather sloppy (why can't they make it as good as the Miata?). I also didn't care much for the vibrating shifter at idle. I did like the driving position better then the Matrix (which was why I marked that car off my list) and steering response was good. The ride seemed a bit too firm and I felt a lot of vibration from the road, but that could have been from overinflated tires (you know how dealers never check that). I also noticed small things that were deleted, like a passenger side power door lock switch and fold down armrest for the rear seat. I was hoping it would be the car to really grab my attention so my car search would be over, but I think I'm going to continue test driving to make sure its the better one. The sucky thing is I have to travel out of town over an hour to test drive the Aerio and Tiburon (no 5 speeds in my town). It seems the main trump card of this car is its good handling, but, in Florida, I'm not sure that would be worth the firmer and less refined ride. There are no curvy roads to enjoy its handling. The car would spend most of its life in a straight line with me. Who knows, maybe the Aerio and Tiburon will be complete letdowns and the Protege5 will win me over. We will see.

harpo769

I'm new to this board and am considering buying a P5. My questions are:

1. Is Mazda currently increasing the hp on the P5s being built right now? I heard from a dealer that they might be increasing by 10 hp more. Was this just sales BS?

2. With reasonable driving habits, can I expect better gas mileage than the sticker estimates? Are there ways to increase gas mileage (aside from removing the roof racks)?

Sorry if these questions were already addressed earlier. I tried to find them.
Thanks!
-Harpo

jas9297

Hello. I test drove the Vibe and Pro5. I liked the drive and price of the Pro5 better, but the utility and fuel economy of the Vibe better.

I'm thinking of buying the Pro5 ($16,400 with ABS, moonroof, side bags, and 5spd - is that good?).

However, Can you tell me how the Pro5 performs on fuel economy? Does it match the EPA ratings?

THANKS

the_big_h

with that out of the way, P5s have respectable fuel economy, averaging about 25-27mpg in mixed driving (this is what MAJORITY of owners here are getting, your mileage may vary, as any car would be )

I always tell people this when they have a hard time deciding between 2 cars. Which car do you LIKE better? Which one will you NOT get sick of in 2 years? Basically you need to look beyond the facts and the numbers and decide on a car that you won't dread driving in the morning.

I made mine 2 years ago and today I have absolutely no doubt I made the right choice

I have a 2000 Protege btw

mazdafun

Although I drive a 1.6L '99 with AT, the EPA estimates are almost the same (1-2mpg higher, I think). I can get 24mpg driving aggressively and I can get 32mpg driving mildly. This is in mostly local driving (70/30). On the freeway that's mostly flat with little stop-n-go traffic, I can get 34mpg easily, sometimes achieving 38mpg if I restrain myself to posted speed limits.

I think the top gear in the MT is actually lower than in the AT, so the engine revs faster. This strangely enough may make an AT slightly more economical on the freeway, even with the additional power loss.

Net, while the P5/Protege are not the mpg champs in the class (barring the hybrids and deisels, they are the Civic and Corolla), you can get decent economy if you can keep yourself from driving all happy-like.

mazdafun

with all the nonsense going on in the Mideast, I've been laying off the gas pedal. Can't wait for the automobile industry to get off its collective rear and get us off refined petroleum products so we can stop depending on this unstable region.

I guess that dooms my desire to own an RX-8 or 6 hatch or wagon.

dsm6

It will come with a 2.3 liter 4 banger as the base engine, with the added benefit that this engine is from Mazda, as opposed to the 6 cylinder option on the 6 which will be more Ford than Mazda. Maybe it will get OK fuel economy.

mazdafun

And if they offer it as an upgrade in a P5 or Protege, it might get better mpg. Not a bad compromise between the existing engine and a turbocharged version.

dsm6

Last I heard, that is the plan. That will be a Pro using parts shared with the Focus, though. With all of the recalls for the Focus, I'm not so sure that is a good thing.

mercedescoupe

I just purchased my Protege5 about 3 weeks ago. However, during the last week or so I've noticed a lot of wind noise associated with the luggage rack. Has anyone experienced this problem? If so, how did you get rid of the noise? I was told to take it back to the dealer and have them take off the rack, but the car isn't as nice without it.

dsm6

From what Ive heard, this is a very common complaint. The solution I've heard is to remove the rack cross bar.

bluong1

If your car has a moonroof, you could mount a moonroof deflector which minimizes further the wind noise.

Bruno

mercedescoupe

Thanks bluong1 and dsm6 for answering my questions so quickly!

dagpotter

I have an intermittent rattle that sounds like it is either in the steering column or under the driver's side dashboard. Anyone else have this, or any ideas?

Thanks.

protege_fan

Try the "glass" between you and the gauges. I kind of heard a little buzzing noise and I pushed on that and it went away.

Perhaps I should ask Mazda to order me a rubber treatment??? Think that's a good idea Vocus?!!? LMAO!! Just kidding man!!

protege_fan

Try holding your keys together. I know that I thought I had a rattle, but it turned out to be the keys vibrating together. Just an idea.

dagpotter

thanks i will try both tonight on the way home..

mazdafun

So you can keep both hands on the wheel.

In my sedan, I find rattling is usually caused by my sunglasses in the pocket to the left and below the steering wheel or something in my glove compartment. The keys rattle too, but not enough to bother me.

dagpotter

It looks like the plastic over the gauges. I pushed it in and it seemed to go away. But now it is localized on the left over the fuel gauge. I will continue trying.

protege_fan

Well at least you've got it pinpointed!

maltb

Me thinks this dag feller would make a wonderful VW technician.

(disclaimer: this is in no way a stab at dagpotter, rather a farce on the woes of Mr Protege turned Jetta)

ronjono

I have a '02 MP5 with 3500 miles on it, I average 21.5 mpg 60% freeway driving, no mods to my car, easy on the throttle- I have tried the regular octane gas and high octane with no difference,has anyone experienced this problem? are there any TSBs.I would not mind the MPGs if I had more HP(a lot more), but with only 130 I expect better.

protege_fan

It seems that there are quite a few P5 owners that are complaining about this. There are no known TSB's for this issue

the_big_h

the engine WILL loosen up and your MPG WILL rise.

It took my 1.8L over 10k miles to really be broken in, and the MPG hasn't averaged below 26 MPG since.

protege_fan

You forgot to mention your K&N filter

shrique

make sure you don't have your HVAC controls set to defrost. When you do that your AC will run to de-humidify the air. That will have a fairly drastic effect on your MPG. (personal experience) I did that on a roadtrip and I got about 28 and when I turned it off on the way back I got 35. I've gotten as high as 38 but I think that may have been a mess up on my part.

2002 P5 5K

ronjono

Thanks for the advice,I did an oil change to synthetic, do you think this will lenghten the "break in period"? would regular oil be better?

protege_fan

There's SO many rumors about using synth for break-in.

But listen to this:

From http://www.mobil1.com/index.jsp


Mobil 1® comes as standard equipment in some of the finest production vehicles you can buy. It's "factory fill" in Chevrolet Corvette, all Porsches, Mercedes-Benz AMG models, Dodge Viper, Ford Mustang Cobra R and all Aston Martin cars.

If you're really concerned, wait until the first oil change and then put the synth in.

I would still wait until the full 600 miles for the break-in period to be over. Why take the chance?

subyaudidude

for example is that the enignes in those cars have always run synthetic. Synthetic oil tends to be thinner than dino oil. Thus, if you switch to synthetic before the seals and gaskets in your engine have a chance to set, you could experience oil leakage. Because the P5 engine (and most others) are shipped with dino oil, you have to let the seals and gaskets set with the dino oil before you switch over. How long that will take, I don't know. I've always waited until my first oil change (3,000 miles +/-) before I've switched, and I've never had a problem.

This is, at least, how I think the switching thing works.

protege_fan

I don't think so. Synth will NOT create leaks. It will likely expose areas where leaks are. That's why people with much older cars that have only ever run dino usually see oil leaks after switching to synth.

What's the difference between setting with dino or synth? Does the dino plug the seals? If that were the case, the synth would clean it off when you did the switch.

mazdafun

Problems happen when the oil either saturates (swells) or leaches (shrinks) the seals. I think some early synthetics would do either, which caused problems. Current formulations do not. What they can do is dissolve some varnish left over from old overheated dino oil and expose leaks plugged by the varnish.

protege_fan

EXACTLY!!!!!

mazdafun

With or without oil, they'd better be set. Otherwise, something went wrong at the plant.

subyaudidude

Apparently I didn't get my point across. If the seals/gaskets are not permitted to set properly, then there will be miniscule gaps through which synthetic (but not necessarily dino) oil can leak. There's no difference between setting with dino or setting with synthetic, but once the process is started with dino, you want to let it finish setting with dino. If you don't, the synthetic could leak through the small gaps.

iamz

"Apparently I didn't get my point across. If the seals/gaskets are not permitted to set properly, then there will be miniscule gaps through which synthetic (but not necessarily dino) oil can leak. There's no difference between setting with dino or setting with synthetic, but once the process is started with dino, you want to let it finish setting with dino. If you don't, the synthetic could leak through the small gaps."

quote from subyaudidude

If there is no difference between "setting with dino or setting with synthetic" what is this mysterious process that only dino oil can complete during the break in period that a synthetic oil can't complete?

I can see that the engine may remain tighter longer if you switch to synthetic too soon, but if a little oil slips through small gaps during the break in, does it really matter?

I don't think there is any long term harm.

feijai

My (2-day old) P5 occasionally honks at night, perhaps once an hour. I've had to turn off the alarm to avoid driving the neighbors nuts. I recall that when I bought the car, the prep guy said that the alarm was currently fairly sensitive, and he'd lower the sensitivity for me. I don't know if he remembered to do so (or if it's possible -- the alarm manual is silent on the issue). Anyone know how to do this?

feijai

Folding the back seats down results in the seat belt buckles imprinting on the leather seats. No big deal. But moving the seat bottoms forward and folding the back seats flat results in serious imprints in the leather from the metal bottom seat hinges. Put enough weight on the folded-down seats and the hinges may cut into the leather. That's a rather bad design flaw: it looks like Mazda hadn't thought about this when adding leather as an option to the car. I'm going to go out and purchase something to cover the hinges (hard plastic tubing or dense cellular foam perhaps) to prevent any possible perforation. Certainly a nice car otherwise so far.

protege_fan

Congratulations on the new purchase! I'm sure you're enjoying it!

In terms of the car alarm, there was a post here on how to lower the sensitivity. Check back tomorrow morning when Maltb is on....I believe he gave the solution last time.

I've got an '01 LX so I can't help you with your folding seat problem either. Actually, I don't know a lot of peoplw with the leather.

Anyway, Congrats again and welcome to the club

maltb

1. Locate the shock sensor that is tie wraped on the wiring harness just below the steering wheel.

2. To adjust the shock sensor's sensitivity knob:
- turn the knob counterclockwise to decrease the sensitivity
- turn the knob clockwise to increase the sensitivity

jfigueroa1

Some of you had mention a good mpg numbers but the eng.
mentioned were a 1.8l and 1.6l not really the same size
as the P5,What about some p5 owners. Looking at the P5 well maybe i will be buying in the next 6 or 7 months (have to pay off my wive 2002 CR-V)first.Really like that lil "wagon,car" that thing.

greetings from sunny Miami.

subyaudidude

It appears that there has been a wide range of MPG approximations. Some have reported in the high teens/low twenties. Others have reported average or above average mileage. You might check out the P5-specific board here on Edmunds.

Incidentally, we've gotten around 26/27 mpg on our new P5 (two weeks today). That was with a 50/50 mix of hwy/city, and some spritely driving for fun.

Sporin

Since about 5k miles (I'm over 18k now) I ahve been getting between 28 and 32 MPG in mixed driving.

sharonf

I have the leather but haven't had the need to fold seats down yet. I'm having a hard time picturing what you're saying...so I may have to try if for myself to see.
Are the belts unbuckled when you're folding? Just trying to picture how the buckles could be imprinting...

feijai

So let me first be clear that I am really glad I got this car. It's a great car, and I am very happy with it so far. But every time I buy a car I start coming up with little annoyances about it. Hey, that's what everyone wants to know anyway, right? :-)

I bought a dark blue mid-cycle 2002 P5 with sport automatic, leather, moonroof+deflector, ABS/side-airbags, alarm, and bumper guard. I don't know anyone who doesn't love the car. Thanks for the information on the alarm, I've gotten the sensitivity turned down.

Anyway, on to the minor annoyances:

1. Here's the latest on the leather fold-down issue. If you fold down the back seats without moving the seat bottom, the female acceptors for the belt buckle will imprint on the leather. Solution: pop the seat bottom and put the acceptors underneath. If you move the seat bottom forward and fold the seat flat, the seat bottom hinges will seriously imprint on the leather, to the point of threatening to puncture it. Solution: go to Target and purchase ($10) the ultradense foam layer put underneath sleeping bags. Slice off a large enough piece to fold over (so it forms two layers) and cover the hinges before folding the seat onto it. You can store the foam slice underneath the seat bottom when unused.

2. When you fold the seats flat, there is no place to put the headrests. That's pretty dumb.

3. There aren't ANY pockets or storage compartments in the back, ignoring the spot for the winch. Yet there's this big unused cubby-hole space on the left of the back area. Argh.

4. I have discovered to my chagrin that the front bucket seats have poor lumbar support. Long trips are hard on the back. This is quite a difference from my old Corolla. This is presently my #1 problem with the car.

5. Turning on the headlights dims the digital readouts on the console to the point of uselessness. Mazda could have installed a voltage regulator for a few pennies. :-(

6. The remote-control key alarm has a range of a mere 10 yards. This makes the car-honk feature (pressing the lock button when the car is alarmed) nearly useless. The idea of such a feature is to help you find the car in a parking lot. But for it to honk you have to be practically next to the car.

7. The console is washed-out at dusk. And when a light is shining in the console, the reflection makes it unreadable.

8. The armrest in the middle is so low as to be useless. To me anyway.

9. The steering wheel is connected on the sides and the bottom. Bottom is a bad location. It makes it hard to grab at the bottom, which is the most convenient place for me to hold the wheel with my left arm when driving long distances.

10. When going up *very* mild hills on freeways using cruise control, the car decides to downshift to third, rather unnecessarily, resulting in a sudden racing of the engine. Solution: when in cruise control on the freeway, shift to the sport shifter to force the car to stay in 4th. Duh, though.

11. I don't mind the engine noise at all really. But I do mind the road noise. Every bump results in a potent low bass boom.

12. The front passenger seat doesn't fold fowards a-la, well, practically the entire competition.

13. It appears that Edmunds.com has NO FACILITY for text-searching a given discussion thread, only for determining threads with *keywords* matching a request. I find the existing text search facility worse than useless. Given that there are far superior message board systems (like SlashCode) available as open source, for goodness sakes, there's just no excuse for this.

protege_fan

Umm...I think there is a regulator on the left hand side of the steering wheel that you can adjust the brightness/dim of the dash lights when you turn on the headlights. It's a little dial that goes up and down.

mazdafun

or parking lamps on. Supposed to save your night vision, I think.

Also, if the central armrest was high enough to be used as an armrest, it'd probably obstruct the shifter. At least that's what I think when I go through the motions. I used to think it was too low, but I'd prefer to keep my hand on the wheel and be able to get to the shift than lean on the center storage console.