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Let us know if you have more questions, and keep us posted!
thank you
The person we bought it from is out of town for the next 2 days and we were wanting to do some maintenence on it under the hood....
The problem is. We cannot get hood up. The guy we bought it from yesterday had no problems opening it up, but we cannot open it. There is no owners manuel.
We are releasing the hood release from inside and looking for a latch under the hood that we cannot seem to locate. Help please. I know its something simple, but I guess we are missing it.
Thanks
K
fowler3
Likes
$1000.00 cheaper than a civic or corolla with more features
Handling is unreal for an econobox
Solid Feel
Still a good looking vehicle after 4 yrs
Can find a comfortable seating postion
Excellent quality looking interior
Good gas mileage
So far mechanically sound (38,000 miles)
Good passing power on the highway
Dislike (petty)
No door lock/unlock function on the passenger door
No lighted vanity mirrors
No cup holders in back seat.
Not the strongest acceleration
Sometimes the transmission seems to be guessing
on which gear to kick into
Again the dislikes are minor, I am quite happy with my purchase.
Thanks,
Chintan Talati
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
My Pro is still going strong. Some of the plastic trim bits at the bottom edges of the door windows are cracking. The front ones look easy to replace, but I have to remove the glass in the rear doors. It's only cosmetic. Maybe I'll learn to live with them, but probably not.
Good to hear from you! Hopefully the cracking is happening on your 99 Protege and not your 03 P5. I've been using Armor All to preserve the plastic in my 02 P5; so far it's good as new.
The front part looks easy to replace. The rear door part involves removing the window glass too.....hmmm. I may wait for it to break down further and really irk me before I tackle them.
buzzes in the dash
warping rear door panels
disintegrating door lock covers
road noise
CD player shorts out
But the only problem that has cost money was a vacuum leak in the intake manifold, which was too minor to cause any drivability probems.
Just about to install a set of struts from tirerack.
The alpine CD and Polk rear speakers are a great improvement over stock.
The only thing I ever had to do to the car was replace some strut bushings in the front at about 80,000 miles. It was a $300 job that was covered by my extended warranty, and I had to pay a $100 deductible. So, $100 in repairs in 91,100 miles. Not bad!
Meade
My report: 2000 ES, approx. 55,000 miles
replaced under warranty:
--leaky radiator
--busted seat belt latch thingy
customer pay:
--stabilizer links
And yes, I have the warped rear door panels, too. Door locks and such have been fine, though, so far.
YMMV, of course. :shades:
Hey Dale -- got a question. I've read several posts about the warped rear door panel thing. What exactly is that? Are some people finding the actual interior of the door pulling away, into the inside of the car? If so, how far away does it warp? If that's the case, shouldn't that be fairly fixable since the door panel is nothing more than thick fibrous material (aka "cardboard") with vinyl glued to it?
Glad I never saw that little problem -- you'd think I would, with all the humidity we have down here in Virginia.
Meade
Right, the door panel is pulling away from the door, and a gap is forming where it meets the window.
How far: not terribly, so far. In fact, if you didn't know to look for it, a passenger sitting in the back seat might not even notice it.
Easy fix: Well, I guess I'm thinking that because it's fibrous cardboardous material, that it might be a little hard to unwarp. (Mine has the upholstery glued to it, not vinyl, where it's warping.)
I mean, I suppose I could get it super-damp, try to squash it back into shape, and then hold it there while it dries, but that all seems a little imprecise and risky to me. I think I remember reading somewhere sometime that the only fix is to replace the panels.
Chow-chi, are you out there? Seems to me you had some thoughts on this.
The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
The top sections of the rear panels appear to be molded from wood chips and fiber. Thus, they are prone to warping from absorbing and losing moisture content. They seem to warp more as the weather gets drier during the winter. They used to go back down to "normal" when spring came around, but mine are now noticeably (from outside the door) warped even during the hot, humid summers in Ohio. The rear ends seem to be raised higher than the front ends. I suppose I could use some tape to try to bring the edge down when I have the windows rolled down, but it's not that big a deal. Besides, we have a "garage" cat now (came home with my wife one night after a rehearsal), and I don't want him sleeping in my car.
I'm more bothered by the wear on the trim pieces on the outsides of the doors at the base of each window. The surfaces are getting pitted and the rubber-like edge that rubs against the windows is starting to crack and fall to pieces. They don't look that difficult to replace, though according to instructions, I would have to remove the windows in either the front or rear doors to replace these (I forgot....good thing I downloaded those). I should order a set soon, before they get scarce and expensive.
Even with these little problems (hey, my car's over 7.5 years old!), I still really love it. And that nagging clogged EGR valve finally cleared. I think using Shell gas actually helped clean it out, so I try to get a tankful every third or fourth fill-up.
It's good to see some of the ol' gang still here, and I never thought that Meade ever really left.
Pros: Front seats so comfy for me, lots of adjusments
Rear seat room, trunk capacity and configuration amazing for little car.
Peppy engine when passing or getting on freeway.
Tight handling and fun to drive.
Reliable, only repair beyond maintenance was an alternator last year. (Check engine light came on and car stalled out when I got 100 feet from home).
No timing belt replacement needed at 60K.
Paint has held up well but then we have no salt here.
Cons: Still hard to shift in low gears, have to feel like I'm slipping the clutch. However I haven't burned or worn it out yet. No more clunking though.
Various squeals (at high speed) and noises.
Sometimes the car vibrates strangely at idle, but not always. I've just learned to live with it.
Cheap visor.
No lock on split seat backs or visor.
Bad news: The Mazda3 doesn't have a big enough trunk to be my replacement car. I looked at the Mazda5 but I need an enclosed trunk/cargo area. I sat in the drivers seat and HATE the interior design/layout. So next car IS a Subaru Impreza Wagon 2.5i. It has a Mazda like zoom zoom and build quality but after owning 3 Mazdas (including my beloved 92 Protege) I will eventually be Mazda-less. Still going to keep the Protege as a "beater" for when I need to park it in "the hood."
The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
I'm in Phoenix still, and have Trigger still, and I've had problems too...
Squeak in the tranny when changing gears at low speed under load
Replaced my air conditioning compressor ($2k, all in all)..but, I'm taking the dealer to court over that repair. DON'T use Biddulph Mazda here in Phoenix. Go to BIG Automall, they won't try to take you for all you're worth, and they have a great service dept.
Replaced front motor mount (anti-roll mount?)
3 of 4 tires ruined by a bunch-o-nails on the Loop 101 here in Phoenix. New Kumho Ecsta SPT's (205/50-15) for $325 (total0 for 4 new ones.
No other real problems in the last 30k miles worth mentioning. I now drive about 2500-3000 miles per month for work, so Trigger JUST turned 90k this week. I'd like to get another 35-40k of reliable miles before I retire her. That's about 1.5 years at my current rate!
Glad to see Dale, Meade and Pat are still around!
Regards to all from Phoenix,
Pete
Regards to the family!
--Dale
Hey Pete, maybe you'll run into (not literally, I hope) my brother!
However, to my surprise, I discovered that 18" and 20" Trico Winter Blades are almost exactly the same length as the Mazda OEM 19" and 21" summer blades!
The Mazda Club Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule
I'd also like to know what to be looking out for as far as problems in used proteges.
Lastly, what is the max mileage that i should consider.
I've never driven a protege until a couple of days ago.
Very impressed !!!
1. INDEPENDENT RESEARCH: At your local library you should be able to find the Consumer Reports Annual Buying Guide. In the guide you'll see listed recommended used cars including a section for the troublespots. In general, the older the car the more likely troublespots occur. CR recommends the Protege due to its reliability (i.e. low number of troublespots).
2. PRICING: In terms of price, you can use Edmunds to find out the approximate value of a used car. It's also a good idea to search local newspapers online and websites for the model to get an idea at what price others are buying and selling Proteges.
3. MECHANICAL CHECK: Before purchasing a particular car, remember to get your independent mechanic to check it out.
Also, any info on real world mileage on the auto trans on this car will be appreciated.
According to my 2002 Protege owner's manual the timing belt should be inspected at 60,000 miles or 96,000 kilometres and replaced at 105,000 miles (or 168,000 km). That's for normal driving conditions in the USA proper. If you like you can check, the manual online at http://protege5.ugly. Go to the chapter called General Information and then go to page 29.
My concern is this: the Mazda dealer where I leased the car is saying that they have to charge me registration fees (expires in June), plus another doc fee, in addition to the payoff amount. Plus, they say that they will be taking an odometer reading AND checking for damage beyond normal wear and tear, just like I were turning in the car and walking away. I don't understand why they're doing this, since I'm going to be buying the car anyway. I have never leased before, so this is all new to me.
I live in California, if that matters. Has anyone who has ever leased a Mazda been through this before? Is this make-specific, or do other manufacturers and/or dealers do this, too? Please help and advise, if you can! Thanks! :confuse:
Probably the computer is good as they are bullet proof, 99% of the time.
I had this problem with my 1997 having oscillating RPM and I got lucky by using this method, never did have it stall though, but the RPM sure did get very low.
Lots of luck!!!