Mazda Protege Prices Paid and Buying Experience

blueguydotcom

Little confused...

I priced up a Pro LX with AT, ABS and CD/Sunroof and it came out to: 17,915. Carsdirect has a price of 14k on the car. With grad cash I'd be looking at 13,500. You guys are getting far lower prices...how?

BTW, is the ES worth the extra dough? You get better brakes and the shiftable AT and 16 inch rims. Anything else that's actually noticeable?

boggse

Off-Black Interior, tweeters, fog lights, rear spoiler, 195/50R16 V rated tires, silver interior accents, amber lighting, silver gauge faces, just to name a few.

icvci

fog lights & 4 wheel discs too.

blueguydotcom

So essentially, it's 800 ducks for bigger wheels and disc brakes. Bummer. Not really concerned about cosmetic stuff. If they threw in ABS on the ES, I'd be all over it though.

icvci

The spoiler isn't functional??? LOL.

blueguydotcom

I'm sure the spoiler becomes functional at about 130. too bad the the pro can't break 115.

philippa76

Someone else mentioned that they bought theirs at Quirk Mazda in Quincy, MA - aren't they slimy?

Anyway, I went there, because they said they'd give me $2500 off MSRP plus 0% financing, and I had yet to see that someone had finagled that, so I thought I was so cool. *sigh*

Anyway, MSRP was $18,315 with the AT and no other options - I paid $15629, which is $2686 below MSRP, but then got slapped with their bogus $299 "Documentary Preparation" which is a crock, add tax, title, etc., and I'm now up to $17,200.

It seemed OK to me, because it's still below Edmunds TMV, but you guys blew me out of the water. I was new at this, it being my first car and all. Want to give me some pointers for next time? (Not that that will be anytime soon.)

Thanks,

Philippa

spencer19

Then why does the speedometer go up to 140???

boggse

Room to grow. View it as a challenge.

mxyzptlk

i was wondering waht kinda deals people have gotten on a used protege. im thinking of geting a 00 or 01 Protege

bluong1

Actually the Pro can go up to 125 mph, if they do not put the electronic shutdown (N.A. version).

blueguydotcom

115 was a guess on my part. Lots of cars have optimistic speedos. My old Jetta turbo claimed something like 145 or near there on the speedometer. I'd believe that when turtles fly with jetpacks.

dmcgrath3

I bought mine a week ago at Trussville Mazda in Alabama. Paid 15750 out the door, including Sunroof/6 disc changer. Great deal, couldnt pass it up. Love it so far.

dm

kyfdx

Who is the Protege for? 330ZHP using too much gas? LOL

kyfdx

blueguydotcom

I'm not gonna drive 90 miles per day in my new baby. It has very little to do with mileage and more to do with adding wear and tear (thus getting out of warranty really fast), replacement tire costs (upwards of 1k every 10-15000 miles), and I'm not gonna drive a stickshift in stop and go traffic 45 miles each direction.

Right now I'm still not sold on anything. Though the old Integra's catching my eye as they're cheap, quick enough and run forever. 6-8k can get me into a little car that'll be solid for 3 or 4 more years.

kyfdx

If you do consider the Protege, I think the ES is definitely worth it. The 16" wheels are made by BBS and really improve the handling, plus you get tweeters for the stereo and some other stuff. I think the difference is only $700. An ES loaded up with auto, indash cd changer, sunroof stickers for about $18K with $2.5K rebate. Probably about $14K plus tax. Alternatively, I see '02 ES's going for about $11-11.5K with low miles and almost 3 years of warranty left. A very reliable car with a great warranty from Mazda.

regards,
kyfdx

blueguydotcom

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd probably lean more toward a car that's a year or two old as Pro's take a huge depreciation hit. No sense unloading 16k on a car when i can get a slightly used one for 30-40% less.

chiyo

I bought 02 LX with 24K miles for $10299. I'm very satisfied with the car, except the whole buying process was a bit ugly.
If you plan to get a used one, make sure they give you the *standard* keyless entry.

chiyo

chapper

01 Protege ES 36k, 6CD, Moon, ABS, Alarm, Airbags, new tires, brake pads, rotor turned for $10900? Sounds pretty good to me, just wanted a sounding board....thx

kizer4

Test drove a 2003 LX Auto and was quoted 13K as a first offer. Including 2500 rebate and 500 college grad. Can I get a moonroof thrown in for the same price as mhumble73 did (post 52). Also, there was a smell after driving the car when we opened the hood. Is this normal for a car being drove for the first time (it only had 6 miles on it when I drove it)
thanks

boggse

Probably. Was is a smell you would associate with hot rubber?

kizer4

Test drove a 2003 LX Auto and was quoted 13K as a first offer. Including 2500 rebate and 500 college grad. Can I get a moonroof thrown in for the same price as mhumble73 did (post 52). Also, there was a smell after driving the car when we opened the hood. Is this normal for a car being drove for the first time (it only had 6 miles on it when I drove it)
thanks

kizer4

yes it did smell something like hot rubber. Others have told me this is quit normal driving it the first time

boggse

Yup. That is normal. It will go away shortly.

blueguydotcom

Yeah that'll go away. most new cars, especially if you push them hard, will put off an odor like burning rubber and weird chemicals. rejoice, you'll be breathing that in your car for 4-5 years.

prpnews

I've had my P5 for a little over a week now and
love it. I don't think I've ever been more
confident about a decision in my life.

Paid $15,500 including all taxes and tags.
5 speed man w/moonroof, 6 Cd changer, and
side airbags and antilock brakes as the
only options. Price included the rebate.

Did I get a good deal?

It seemed good to me as I wasn't finding other
dealers coming even close but today I heard an
ad on the radio about a local Mazda Dealer
tripling the rebate up to $6k.

bballa

prpnews, $15,500 out the door with those options sounds like a great deal! In what part of the country do you live. In northern California the dealers do not discount that heavily. I would like to be able to get a base model for about $14k to $14.5k. The dealers I have talked to on the phone are saying $100 over invoice is the best they could do.

prpnews

I'm in the mid-atlantic region. I was originally
quoted $13,900 (including rebate, but not tax
and tags) for a basic model (no options at all).

jadams6

Hi....signed the bill of sale for my P5 tonight, but told them I'd get back to them tomorrow about the rustproofing....they want $599 (CDN + tax) for rustproofing, undercoating and soundproofing (from road noise apparently). Seems steep, especially when you hear adds for commercial rustproofing for $100 - $200, but I was told those companies will drill holes in the car and this will void the Mazda warranty. Mazda also claims their rustproofing is for as long as I own the car (and bring it in for yearly (no cost) maintenance....

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

kyfdx

is pure profit... And may harm your car.. It will most certainly add weight (spray-on undercoating). Just say no. I wouldn't get it if it was free.

regards,
kyfdx

bballa

Maybe tomorrow if I can get a base model in either white or silver for $15,000 or less out the door. A dealer ,on the phone, said he could do $13,499 +T&L which would work. I will receive a check from my lender sometime tomorrow. So after checking out the pro 5 boards for over a year, I'm real close to making the purchase. I think I should get one before the rebate ends on Sept.2.

bballa

the "internet sales manager" informed me that the price he quoted me was only for the "ad car" dark blue in color. He said the best he could do on the silver one was $13900.Out the door is $15300.I was hoping for $15000 or less. The dealer is an hour and a half away but I have the day off so I'm going to go there and see what I can do.

prpnews

Amazing the games dealers play bballa. If you'd
wanted the dark blue car, I'm sure they'd have
figured out a way to hike that price too. (For
the record I prefer the dark blue.)Anyway do you
really pay $1400 for tax and tags? I paid only
$500 or so and my car is registered for 5 years.
(Delaware). I saw an ad in the paper today for
a dealer offering $13300 with the alarm option.
Even though I've already bought my car, I'm
going to go check this out to see if the price
is legit.

bballa

Base model pro 5 sale price $15627 plus $45 document fee,$1175 tax, $147 license, $5 California tire fee, equals $17000 minus $2000 rebate for an out the door price of $15000. About what I figured I should be able to get though most dealers I talked to were not close.

syen_007

I bought a new 2003 Protege LX sedan today and I was wondering if I got a good deal. It was a laser blue 2003 Protege LX sedan with 10 miles and these options: auto tranny, ABS w/side air bags, and fog lights. I paid $13,900 out-the-door with the rebate applied. Any comments are welcome, thank you.

syen_007

To clarify, the tax/license/documentation fees were $1,431.61 and the car was $14,468.40. This totalled to $16,400.01. The total ($16,400) minus the rebate ($2,500) became the $13,900 out-the-door price. Any comments are welcome, thank you.

boggse

Considering that the Edmunds TMV on the LX with those options (minus Fog Lights) is $13,664, and doesn't include TTL ($1,431.61 in your case), I would say you got a good deal.

jerrmorn

Just bought my wife a new Protege5 (did the whole deal over the phone) and will pick it up tonight. I looked for a dealer who had one on the lot thinking that would get me the best deal (just my suspicion). My wife and I have a little one on the way and I didn't want to wait until the new M3 would be out (plus, probably wouldn't be able to get a good deal right away). Anyway, here's what I got:

2003.5 Black
automatic
cargo net
floor mats
rear bumper guard
subwoofer
wheel locks
moonroof/6 CD changer
ABS/side air bags

MSRP according to dealer was $19,505 and invoice was $18,186 (his numbers were only a few dollars different than mine). He agreed to sell it to me at invoice if I paid the $189 dealer fee (so basically, $189 over invoice). When I applied the $2250 rebate (here in CT) that dropped the price to $16,125. FYI - the taxes are $1102 and new plates cost $160

I was looking at the Civic and Corolla and neither could match the price (and never mind the FUN factor of the P5).

What do you think of the price?

syen_007

Thanks for the comment. I checked Edmund's TMV but I wasn't sure how valid those numbers were or if the TMV really is the approximation of what people are paying for the car. If the numbers are valid, then I guess I did get a good deal. Thanks again for the feedback!

imidazol97

Mazda Protoge = $13,664
Minus Rebate -2,500
                  _______

Net $11,164
Plus TTL 1,431
                   ______
                  $12,595
Compare to out-the-door at $13,900
looks like $1300 plus the hold-back
amounts/incentives the dealer has
as profit for dealer.

boggse

The $13,664 included the $2500 cash rebate. I was actually quoting the Customer Cash Adjusted True Market Value.

md_rocks

I'm too scared of the non-replaceability of the radio in the Mazda3 and too bored by an Accord, so the P5 it shall be.

The quotes I'm getting so far are invoice price before rebates, so basically $2000 under invoice, and $14,825 with automatic but not much else. All before taxes, title, license, blah blah. I live in So Cal. Can anyone comment if these are good deals? Or should I negotiate with dealers in other regions?

Richard

md_rocks

Did anybody get the factory polished rims without having to pony up for the CD-changer/moonroof package? Exactly zero of the dealers seem flexible enough to swap them out for me (even at my cost with a discount for the trade-in of the original rims). Since I'm swapping in my own head unit, a CD-changer's about as useful as wearing my underwear superman-style (that's on the outside for you non-comic people). The moonroof I won't use but wouldn't mind having once in a blue moon (literally).

boggse

I think they are sort of tied to the 6CD and Moonroof. All the ones at my dealer also had leather with the polished rims. My advice is to get the changer and sell it on eBay. There are plenty of older Miata owners who would go for that stereo.

kyfdx

What makes it a no-brainer is the $2500 rebate on the protege... But, if you like to trade cars every three years, you'll probably find that the depreciation will still be more on the protege, even after the rebate.

regards,
kyfdx

wonderwall

i'm considering selling my VW Jetta and getting an '03 Protege 5. I've never bought a car from a dealership, all have been from individuals and the haggling was simple; offer them $1000 less than what they were asking and they took it, if not i walked. i went in to negotiate the price on a Protege 5 about three weeks ago, which ended up a bust because i thought i would trade my VW in, but when they offered me $2000 (and wouldn't budge) for a car that goes for about $5500-$6000 where i live, i learned quickly that's a cruddy route...

my question ultimately is: should i work on getting them to come off the sticker before i mention rebate? i'm seeing some pretty nice deals folks are getting on here, i.e. in the neighborhood of $14,500, but i made the mistake of calling the salesman on the rebate before we started working on the price and he said he couldn't come down at all off the $15,250, which was sticker minus $3,000.

pappy55

forget about the trade at the dealer. they'll offer you zip for it and it'll be harder to get em down on price. you'll do better selling it 'on the street'.

kyfdx

This is the last year for the Protege.. The new Mazda3 comes out soon. Figure the invoice price for the car you are looking at and offer invoice, minus the rebate (I thought the rebate was $2250 on the P5?). The salesperson's job is to get the maximum price for the car. Shop around.

regards,
kyfdx

kizer4

Within a few days of buying a 2003 Pro LX, Auto, Moonroof package, cassette, wheelocks, floormats and cargo net for $12,940 +TTL. I'm excited just got a few days left though

wonderwall

thanks to both of you for your response.

pappy- Believe me, I figured that one out quickly. The funny thing is the dealer has a Jetta a year older than mine with fewer features and higher miles that they're selling for $6000. no answer when i brought that up...

kyfdx- oh, i'm shopping around... i went on the mazda usa web site and looked at the inventory at dealers here in Alabama and i shouldn't have any problem getting one. in fact, the other local dealer has about 15 Pr5s and only one of them is "unacceptable" so to speak. My wife and I are taking a road trip early next month and when we get back I'm going to get the VW detailed, etc. and put it up for sale. I live in a part of town where VWs are hot, so I probably could park it at the strip mall nearest my house and sell it the same day.