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Said they needed receipts for tire rotations and alignments. I had some receipts and a very detailed log but that just wasn't good enough. Sear's price for 2 of the same tires was $275, I bought them at another tire store for $232. Some savings there but not the 33% discount I would have like to have gotten from Sears. I got 40k out of this pair, and I expect that would be the average for V rated tire.
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 checking in more too now that I have DSL and an LTop. Long time no type. I joined the Mazda Forum in 2001 when I bought my Pro on your's and the other 40 owner's advice. It was correct on evry point. Love the handling and the fuel economy even today.
No mechanical problems whatsoever since day one, now at 34,000 miles. Like new except for to dents in rear bumpercap where I argued with a garage door and a stoned wall. Both won.
What would I trade for these days? To be honest, there isn't a single car out there, and I have looked carfully, that would give me anymore than what I already have in the Protegé. Swoopie lines and wild interiors do not a long-life car make. They get dirty easy. And Toyota's 36mpg add campaigne is no more than what the Pro gets with an AT. It has the same trunk capacity as the new Acura RL. Comfortable seats without having to buy electric lumbar adjustment. The list goes on and on. As Mazdafun says,"It's still a nice looking car too." Look how hard the designers have to work at modernizing classic roof lines and fender blisters!
Zoom zoom comes free.
I'm still driving my Pro and believe it or not it's just turning 34K since 2001.
I'm still online with a few changes: Sold townhouse, moved to apartment close to all the services I use (no worry about gas prices), had a heart attack, recovering now, Tippy is still with me only she is getting older too.
Cheers!
Take care.
My Protege turned 70K this week. Still pretty much intact, although occasionally the wheel bearings complain. My original dealership closed, so now I'm going to a different one where the service dept. waiting room is all posh and new and easily twice the size of my whole apartment.
Next fall I'll be looking to replace the Falken Ziex 912's, which turn out to be quite dangerous in the snow.
Good to hear from you!
--Dale
tirerack.com and Costco are good choices. tirerack has great selection and Costco has a great service package, but limited selection.
We still enjoy our rides and she still hangs out the window to bark at neighbors (say Hi) as we pass by. Having moved to an apartment the neighbors are getting use to her "Hi's". All have become Tippy's new friends.
Yes, I remember you asking if the dealer was a good place to trade. Their lot is now full of Mazdas, so many they block the entrances on weekends so you can't drive on the lot to look at them. Have to park on competitor's lot and walk. Hundai's look sharp now too.
I'm surprised the battery lasted that long, mine was shot by 24K miles, but it was actually three years.
Mazda has a lot of nice cars now, would be difficult to decide which I like the most. I think the Mazda5 is a better choice than the Mazda3 5-door, depending on one's needs. I'm still a small car fan. Even the Mazda2 interests me.
Hi Dale Good to see here. I am the guy from Socal who used to be in the tuesday chats, but due to new class schedules stopped participating. Hope to be in after the school though. About the car the Pro is still running like a champ . She is at 197135 miles as of today gonna make a video when she turns 200000miles. Had the tires replaced by Kumho Ecsta Ast's
and got a new clutch . The mechanic was surprised that the original clutch made it this far. Overall the car is in good shape except those bushings that keep clunking
nonetheless still a pleasure to drive. It is the Zoom zoom thing i guess
I am in need of people's opinions.
We have 2002 Protege with about 70,000 miles on it. When my wife became pregnant, she started to drive my car, a 2006 Honda Accord EX-L and I got to drive her car because the Honda was more comfortable for her than the Protege.
Recently we have been having discussions on whether or not to get rid of it. Just some background - our child was born a premature at 20 weeks and did not survive. So, we never took the plunge to get something more appropriate, such as a Minivan.
Me - the Protege is ok, but not very comfortable. I am almost 6 feet tall and I feel every bit of the road when I drive plus it is noisy. I have been pushing for either a small SUV or a station wagon. Currently, she is not pregnant, but I figure with a station wagon, if she becomes pregnant, then we have a somewhat appropriate vehicle. And, I get to drive a car that is more comfortable for me.
My wife keeps going back and forth on the issue. "Do we want another car payment? (My Accord has one more payment.) "Do we want something bigger that takes more gas to fill?" etc. Plus, she says people have sedans and babies all the time. When I say lets get rid of her car and get a bigger sedan so at least we both have comfortable cars, she doesn't want to do that either. To be honest, i am not sure when she wants to get rid of it all of a sudden.
My only problem is sometimes my wife gets stressed at stuff and calls me to "Vent" and that is not always a good time either. Seeing how small the car is in general, I am having a vision of her trying to get a child into the back seat of the Protege one day, trying to get the stroller into the trunk and other items and none of it going into the car too smoothly. Is the trunk of a Protege big enough to hold a stroller, and other things?
What does everyone on here think?
I look forward to your opinions.
Thanks.
Dave
It appears from what you have posted that your wife is not the undecided one. She is pretty clearly saying that the Protege is fine for now. The right answer to practice is "that's fine, whatever you say".
Generally, the small cars offered today don't seem to get any better fuel economy than the Protegé, maybe one mile per gallon more. My 2001 gets 26mpg city and 34mpg highway. Highest 36mpg. The seats are firm, but softer tires when replacing the Bridgestones made a hugh difference. Check Khumo touring tires.
Further to your pertinent point about fuel economy, you may want to check out the current Consumer Reports issue which reviews some excellent choices that offer real (25+%) improvements in fuel efficiency over our Proteges: the Elantra, the Corolla, the Prius, even the Mazda3 manual transmission. On the other hand, considering all of the attention in recent years on fuel economy I must declare that these improvements still have a long way to go. One area that disturbs is the continuing girth of cars. Several questions arise. Why do cars have to keep on getting bulkier and heavier? For example, why is the Mazda3s about 10% heavier than a Protege5? Why not feed our need for speed by lightening the vehicles? Why not advertise the weight savings as part of the performance enhancements? I will now leave the podium ...
I agree there are more up-to-date compact cars which get better mileage than our Protegés. The Mazda3 is one IF you go for the manual tranny, I didn't on the Pro. Another thing about the MZ3 it's suppose to be bigger, yet I can barely get into it, and very comfortable in the old model. It strikes me as a car Mazda designed for purformance at all costs regardless of passenger comfort. If the buyer is too big go elsewhere. I'm 5' -11" 150 pounds.
With reports the cost of oil will hit $200 a barrel I still see no need in trading. If you add the additional costs of insurance and local taxes to the difference in costs of the cars, it's a no-brainer. When you buy a better car you cannot buy insurance at the same premium you had on the older car.
My Pro is clean, no dings, clean inside, and only 34,580 miles. Still on second tires.
What I DID DO was sell my townhouse and move to an apartment closer to the services I need daily. Now, I use about four gallons a week instead of 10 gallons.
How many air bags, side impact beams and ABS actuators did the older cars have? Also, how well did those manual windows and vents w/o AC work? Manufacturers have made significant gains in weight reduction but the list of standard equipment seems to grow faster. Not to mention, cars have more integration yet get cheaper (relative to inflation).
I'd like to have a car as comfortable as a Rolls, as roomy as an Excursion, as fast as a Bugatti, the towing capacity of an F550, and the economy of a Smart. When can i get it?
How about the Mini Clubman? I was rereading the June 2008 hatchbacks issue of Consumer Reports and noted the following stats about the mighty mite:
weight: 2780 lbs. for the automatic;
acceleration 0 to 60 in 9.7 sec.;
braking 60-0 in 128 ft.
overall mpg: 29
price: $24,700.
My verdict: interesting if pricy package .
Kudos to you, fowler3! That makes so much sense that you'll end up saving dollars.
After I replace spark plus (found one cracked when I took it out), replace Rotor and Distributors. I did not replace Wires, they are fairly new-3 years and in great condition.
But second test result got worse:
HC Cruise limit 170 pass at 31 --much better, Idle limit 220 failed at 223.
CO Cruise Limit 1.2 pass at 0.09 --much better, Idle limit 1.2 failed at 2.53.
Both idle condition are much worse. I drove (at 9am) to the test center about 5 miles from my home after I replaced the parts a night before.
Just bought my first Mazda -- '02 Protege LX (2.0), pretty loaded and such. However, I noticed as I was driving it back down to Los Angeles today that once I get to about 55-60 mph, I start to hear a very noticeable rattling sound from what sounds like the bottom right of the front passenger seat, almost behind and a little below the glove compartment. I'm assuming it's probably the strut mounts or the stabilizer links, but is there anything obvious a new zoom-zoomer like me might be missing?
Thanks,
Rob
Also, just wanted to thank everyone that posted about my ignition problems, I tried a fuel treatment and the CEL hasnt come on in a week. fingers crossed......Thank you all!!!
I have been riding on BF Goodrich T/A 205/50/16V for two years without a problem. The 205/55/16 may fit but you should double check with the provider or contact TireTrends for their opinion. The original size for the P5 is 195/50/16 V from Dunlop.
I've got a very loud rattling sound coming from what I think is the A/C Compressor (Front right side of car near the grill.. pulley belt on it)
The A/C works alright.. it's not super cold but it's decent. The rattling just started a few weeks ago, but the A/C has always been "mediocre" this entire summer. Over the winter there was always a loud screeching noise when I first started the car... so I'm thinking that the belt on the A/C Compressor as it was slowly dying?
Any advice? I don't want to just take it to a garage without knowing what it most likely is and what should probably be done. Will the entire Compressor have to be replaced, or are there other options I can look into? It's a 1998 with only 93,000 miles on it.. so I want to have it for a few more years.
Thanks in advance.
Leave the car overnight at the mechanic and let him try it to recreate the problem during the day.
As for riding with a check engine light, the problem is you don't know what the problem is. It could be a minor one now but then become a major one and you would not know the difference because the same light is "on" in both cases. It's good that you've tried to diagnose it yourself but you may want to bite the bullet and have a Mazda "expert" (?) look at it. It actually may be cheaper (you may not need to replace parts willy nilly) and may bring peace of mind. The key is finding a trustworthy mechanic.
I have a 2000 protege(had it for about 17 months now) with 98,990 miles on it. I plan to get my 100,000 miles service (esp. my timing belt changed) done soon. I live in Columbus, OH and will be moving to Los Angeles, CA in about 2 months. I am new to this and not sure if I should drive cross country especially because I plan to have this car at least for another 2 years(until I get done with grad school.) I want to know if its a smart idea to drive cross country. Along those lines, if there are any specifics that I need to plan, have etc. for the service and the trip (if I plan to do it) please let me know.
Thanks for your help!
G
Do you know if it will meet the California emissions rules? It has to be inspected when it gets there. May be better to sell it and buy another car.
I have a 2000 Protege with 202.000 miles on it. I live in CA and car is pretty clean bodywise. If you are trying to do a cross country trip , it is probably a good idea to have your timing belt and water pump changed, and have it done a tune up including oil change, spark plugs. One main thing if you are moving to CA, you would better of selling the car and just flying over, because CA regulations would force you to change your catalytic converter and all that stuff, but if you are here just for school you might be able to drive around without having to register here.
Agreed. You would not want to discover that your car needs a timing belt halfway into your trip.
I'd recommend that you surf for the transporation bureau of California and find out as much as you can. They may provide for a temporary license allowing you to drive a few months before having to upgrade your car.
Suggestion: If your vehicle needs major upgrades you may want to sell it to someone who is leaving the state!
Happy trails!
Grrrrrr....
If you really like this tire like I do and will need tires soon, may want to consider buying while there is remaining stock.
Any ideas? Or should I take to dealer?
Fowler3
Fowler3
Ditto for my 2002 Protege5. Zoom on!
Here is the link
http://www.generaltire.com/tires/T1/Exclaim-UHP
After a few thousand miles, I'll compare the cars. I am amazed that I was able to buy a 12 year newer, roughly equivalent car for only $1500 more than the '99 pro cost.
I'm helping a friend shop for a reliable used car. We test drove a 2001 Protege (link below) that runs well. But it does burn a little oil. We were going to take it to a mechanic for a look-over, but wanted to hear any advice on buying a Protege with that many miles?
http://roanoke.craigslist.org/ctd/3029689457.html