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Comments
http://photos.yahoo.com/negatize
Any thoughts?
Norcan
I live in Toronto(yeah, I know, boo..hiss), but I'm from Saskatchewan. I still cheer for the Roughriders! I'm taking my vacation north of Prince Albert in a week.
I bought my car in Feb. and the heater seems good, warms up quickly. I treated myself to an remote starter (with ignition disabler) since heated seats are not available. Can you tell living in Toronto wimps one out? "OH NO, IT'S MINUS 5! ISN'T WINTER JUST AWFUL??!!"
fowler3
Absolutely bizarre are the omission of moonroof (not a big deal), cruise control (no excuse) and ABS (though the brakes are quite powerful). Another disappointing omission is security system. The dealer said that I should go after-market (Mazda's is too expensive?). With a $700 Kenwood head unit that is displayed quite prominently and does not include a detachable faceplate, an alarm is a must!
Sporty sedans that I was considering include: BMW 325 (too expensive with options), Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, Maxima 20th Anniversary (too expensive and too big), Sentra SE (droopy butt), Acura Integra (where is the 4-door RSX?), and Infiniti G20.
Anybody else bought one yet? Comments?
Protege_fan
Any word on if that is changing for 2002?
mcomet
Can I get some suggestions please. Thanks!
fowler3
Respectfully,
Larry
-Larry
Meade
Meade, last time I took both my ES's in for service at Lancaster Toyota Mazda, they were taking delivery of 6 PRO-5's. If only, I had a couple extra grand to throw in. I tell you, I was so close to grabbing a sales guy and swapping my pair of PRO's for a pair of PRO-5's. They even had two identical blue one's that day. Sweet mother of all that is good and pure, I was really tempted!
-Larry
If you paint them, you have the additional problem of paint flaking off in winter ice and snow storms, when you drive on plowed roads. Not to mention cleaning those, too.
I’d give that a lot of thought before going into it.
fowler3
That's why I was glad my Mazda dealer didn't pre-install mud flaps on the Protegé, leaving me with no option. Although, here in NC they don't get as much snow as in VA. And I usually stay home until it's gone off the roads.
fowler3
My 2000 SE has been basking in the hot Florida sun for the last few months and I'm trying to prevent the day I have to introduce her to the dreaded Toronto ice, snow and road salt!!
Cheers,
kaiserhead
:-)
Larry
I scanned some pictures of my White 95 DX after I waxed it last month, and posted them at
http://photos.yahoo.com/ashutoshsm
(Tried to post the html link, but couldn't figure out how, got to rush!)
Just 4 photos, for now!
I forgot to scan in a photo of three generations of Proteges (including mine) that were parked together - a white 95 DX (mine), a white 97 LS and a silver 00 ES. Will, one of these days!
Notice that I haven't taken any of the front or front left corner - that's where it was dinged in the parking lot in Februrary, boo hoo!
And no, I don't have clear corners in the front, thats just the extra dim (or parking) lights, the blinkers are on the front bumper, lage and old-fashined, but quite cool IMHO :-)
ps: Also posted this at the Photo Gallery Forum - not too many others have added their pix! I'd love to see a few non ES, somewhat older ones there to compare how other cars of this age have held up - mine seems to be the only pre-2000 non-ES, except for protegetechs 97 or 98 LX there!
I didn't want to think about it, but Kaiser's post got me all worked up about canadian winters and my new Pro!!! Anybody have any advice on preparing my '01 Pro for the winter? How about some words of wisdom on surviving the winter! I ask now so that I have time to prep! Thanks all.
Protege_fan
Thanks
Seems like now is still a good time to buy a new protege.
Zoom Zoom Zoom
Also, any advice on keeping the car rust free? The City uses a lot of salt/gravel on the roads and I know that this would be extremely harsh on the car. When is it safe to wash in the winter (if ever at all)? I plan on gettting the front and rear mudguards ASAP, so that's covered.
Thanks for any advice!!
Protege_fan
a guy (Gene) that posted here, pretty much last fall and winter, purchased four winter snow tires and rims from Tirerack.com. He really liked the setup and said he got great service from the people at Tirerack.
http://www.tirerack.com
-Larry
Since I live where there are no curvy roads, I use a nearby overpass and the return off ramps for fun driving, going around and around.
I've owned many small cars in my time: Original VW Beetle (2), VW Squareback, Toyota station wagon, Porsche 914, BMW 2002, Audi Fox (3), Mazda GLC, and Honda Civic -- the Protegé is the best of all of them!
fowler3
I have a 2001 ES with almost 10,000 miles on the clock, and already have a persistent creak in the driver's seat that the dealer cannot find or fix. I also have alot of wind noise, which I knew going into the deal. And my brake rotors are already warped too, but the dealer hasn't found that one yet either. He has 2000 or so more miles before the 12K mark when I will have to pay to replace them.
I had a 1999 DX model, and it ran flawlessly. I used to run that engine alot harder than the 2.0 in my ES, and never had a problem. Actually, I did have one or two come to think of it. I had a persistent transmission shifting problem where the car tranny would kinda slip when stabbing the gas pedal to pass. Also, the engine stated vibrating a little harshly at 37K or so too. I think it was because the tune-up at 30K was done wrong (by Goodyear) though.
I hope to be able to have many trouble-free years of motoring with my ES though. I guess time will tell whether I will buy another one or not. Probably not though, as I want a larger car next time around. And Jerry, you are right about depreciation. I owe about $17K on my ES now, and know it's probably only worth about $13K, even though it has only 10K on it and it's 5 months old. I got washed with the DX, as it was only worth $7500 with 37,364 on it 20 months after purchasing. Of course, that is high mileage though, and the DX is the basic, stripped model.
In closing, I wish you better luck with your next car, Jerry. And sorry to see your enthusiasm dimish for this great little car.
ZOOM "creak" ZOOM
With mostly hwy miles (above 80%), I get 32-34mpg. I'd say I'm travelling at the 80% percentile so far as traffic speed goes (faster than most, but not THE fastest...I get less attention that way).
Seems like a fluke so far. My 99 is still doing well after 19,500 miles. There's some rust on some underbody suspension parts and the rear drum casings, but the body integrity is still good (rattles are mostly from stuff in my glovebox). Then again, I don't drive mine that hard. Luckily, the roads here are mostly OK.
I know it's no consolation, but most cars with stock parts that are driven hard will fall apart (VW, BMW, Honda etc.) in a few years. I've been in rattling examples of pretty much all makes (some due to hard driving, most due to bad design or execution).
Well, Mercedes and some of GM's larger sedans may not, but they're usually overbuilt. May be next time you can get one of BMW's "M" cars. They usually have upgraded brakes, rotors, suspension bits to better bear hard use. Still, I'd be looking at replacing them parts at 60 or 90k miles if you push them hard.