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Mazda Protegé

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Comments

  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    It was my understanding that Meade was to be keeping his existing Pro ES and getting the P5 as a second for his wife, thus joining the "elite" Prox2 club. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    You are right. But he is saying when he saw the Pro5, he wanted a new one as well because his wife is getting a new car. Then he made a crack at me because I traded and went upside down.
  • notminehersnotminehers Member Posts: 42
    No, not a new Pro.....our 01 ES is just fine - but we are the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl born Wed. Dec. 12th. Her name is Sydnee and this is our first!! She rode home from the hospital in style and wanted daddy to zoom-zoom through the curves. Cigars for all....take care all!! Papa Greg
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    Great to hear Greg. I'm sure you and your family will have many great times Zoom Zooming in your Pro!

    PF
  • twistinmelontwistinmelon Member Posts: 90
    Good thing you have a Pro and not a Sentra or Corolla...you'd never get the rear-facing seat in the back.

    By the way, did you get a seat with the LATCH system? I haven't been able to find one. Many cars/vans come with the LATCH system, which is supposed to simplify child seat installation, but I couldn't find a single LATCH-capable child seat. If you did find one, how did it work in the Pro?

    Again, congrats!

    twist
  • nematodenematode Member Posts: 448
    Just about the only things that bother me about the 01 Protege ES are:
    1) road noise at highway speeds and
    2) no leather heated seats.
    I got a quote for having Dynamat installed "fully" (Hood, trunk, fire wall, doors, roof, floor). $2000 for everything including installation.
    I got a quote for leather (Katzkin) + heated seats. $1800.

    Anyone do either of these things? Would the Dynamat actually make a difference? Is it actually sound dampening material or does it just lessen vibration? The seats looked SWEET and I will probably do that eventually anyway.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Congrats on the new baby! :) Talk about a good Christmas present.. :)
  • protegextwoprotegextwo Member Posts: 1,265
    Greg, God Bless you and Kelley. Children are by far the greatest gift. I'm very verry happy for you two. Sydnee, is a very pretty name! I take it, that the mom and baby are fine?

    Guess you can kiss a good nights sleep good buy for ohhh about 3 months! Just Kidding. More like 11 weeks. ;-)))

    Please, post from time to time and let us know how everything is going. BTW, we miss you and Kelley at the Thursday night chats. NOW, I know what you two were up to on Thursday nights. No Meade, not that! I mean Birthing Classes!

    Merry Christmas,
    Larry
  • chicagoprochicagopro Member Posts: 1,009
    Congrats!

    Now, just 15 years, 3 days until she gets her license and wants a Mazda of her own, right?
  • protegextwoprotegextwo Member Posts: 1,265
    I am very jealous of you. Nonetheless, very happy for Tammy. What a nice Christmas Gift for her. I bet you are counting the days until delivery. Nice price too! You lucky dog! Need to change your Town Hall name to MazdaPROx2?

    -Larry
  • SporinSporin Member Posts: 1,066
    Yeah but vocus, you went upside down into a "Driver's Option." Which is nothing but a fancy lease with a balloon payment.

    You're probably not the one to get all high and mighty on smart money issues.. huh? :-P
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    The car has to be refinanced through my credit union, which I was going to do anyway when my credit gets better. The car will never see the balloon payment anyway, so it doesn't matter.
  • SporinSporin Member Posts: 1,066
    Hey whatever man! :-P
  • protegenicprotegenic Member Posts: 199
    The dealer had some after-market leather installed on my car prior to my purchase. I really like it and the company that they went through has been great to work with. I posted the address a couple of weeks ago, but here it is again...www.classicsofttrim.com. I don't have heated seats, but then again that's not a big deal in Atlanta!
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Let me ditto the congrats! I'm not too far ahead of ya -- Sean Christopher is six and a half months old now. I'm going into his bedroom at night and whispering "zoom zoom" over and over, hoping to surprise mom with a strange first word ... hee hee!

    Meade
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Just because you're at the break-even point doesn't mean you should immediately run out and buy a new car. My 2-year-old Protege is just getting its feet wet, so to speak. I have a wonderfully reliable car and I plan to keep it until it's at or near payoff, so I get to have something you'll apparently never have ... TRADE-IN VALUE!!! That way my payments won't keep going up, up and away (and that balloon ain't that beautiful)!!!

    Speaking of balloons ... let's talk about your car loan again. NOT!!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

    Meade
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I am not going to promise anything (because I can't seem to stick to it), but I am going to TRY to hold onto this car until it's paid off. But with my driving style (I have 4000 miles in only 6 weeks), the car is going to lose value quickly anyway. By the time it's paid off in 5 years, it will have over 100,000 miles on it at the rate I am going. I guess I also just get tired of the cars too quickly. Since I really don't have anything else to pay, I don't mind the higher payment. I was just sitting, thinking today how much I have spent in down payments and stuff on cars. If I would have kept the original 1996 Cavalier (bought used in 1999) I started out with, right now the car would be almost paid off. :( Anyway, new topic...
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Paul, you know I'll never fault you for ditching the Crapalier!!!

    Meade
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I noticed you stole my post heading. :)

    My Cav was a crapper too. The dash rattled, it stalled all the time, and the brakes were serviced 4 times, and the car had only 40K on it at the time. But anyway, that's another novel... :)
  • dan175dan175 Member Posts: 1
    Hello everyone, I'm looking for a used car-about a '97 or '98. Many people tell me get a Toyota or Honda. However, I see Mazdas at 2 or 3 thousand dollars less. I have access to a dealers auction and even there the Mazdas are much cheaper and less in demand. So from your experience are the Mazdas as reliable as the Toyotas and Hondas. I don't care much about resale as I plan to keep it as long as it lasts. Thanks for any feedback given. dan175
  • chicagoprochicagopro Member Posts: 1,009
    ...stop apologizing.

    You really enjoy cars, you drive a lot, you're not denying you and your father food to eat so that you can make down payments (at least I HOPE you're not!:), so what the heck.

    Some people spend lots of money playing golf, sitting on their boats, etc. If I confessed to how much I spent each month in cabfare over the years, I would probably get committed. But driving was not a priority for me then, I had other things to worry about. Now my circumstances have changed, and so I made the leap.

    When your circumstances and priorities change, smart lad that you are, you will recognize that and adjust your lifestyle accordingly. True, you may not have that nest egg that others think you should be accruing, but (as you have said yourself) you won't ever have to look back and wish you had driven a Jetta turbo rocket ship or whatever the heck it is you have now.

    End of lecture :)
  • SporinSporin Member Posts: 1,066
    chicagopro is right. I spend ridiculous amounts of money on feathers and finely crafted graphite.

    Absolutely silly stuff to anyone who doesn't fly fish.

    :-)
  • narenjinarenji Member Posts: 161
    I too went upside down when I traded in a 2001 sentra se for a 2002 wrx wagon. But I really didn't want to keep the Sentra because I found its seats uncomfortable, and the ride more choppy than necessary. It also didn't have ABS. I'm now very happy with the WRX, it's my first bonafide performance car, and I can't get enough of driving it. I still have the Protege and the MX6 though, and I'm trying to sell the MX6.

    Once we grow up, have a family etc, it's going to be difficult to get our toys. My fiancee agreed, and thats why I drive the WRX now and she drives the Pro ES. The WRX is a wagon, so it should be fine once the babies are born. These two cars I plan to keep for a long time, unless I really get tempted by either the Mitsubishi EVO or the WRX STi. I have the least buyers remorse with the WRX, and that makes me feel very good about my purchase, even though I lost money on the Sentra. But that's how Nissans and Mazdas are- they lose a lot of value. I calculated that if I paid off the Nissan in 4 years, my car would still be worth only about $9000, when I would have paid $14000 to take full ownership. If I traded it then, I'd lose $5,000, and now I lost $3000, but I guess I'd get some of my $5000 loss back by way of the miles I'd have accrued on it. Enjoy your jetta- why didn't you look at a WRX?
  • narenjinarenji Member Posts: 161
    Mazda reliability varies with model, IMHO. The Proteges are all quite reliable, and the 97-98 models should be very good. My fiancee and I leased a 98 626 LX 5 spd (we had to lease, otherwise we would have bought it), and it gave us flawless service for 3 yrs/36k mi-didn't go to the dealer even once for anything. My 1993 Mazda MX6 is pretty much rock solid except for tie-rod ends that needed replacing. It's got 126k mi on it. It's also 5 spd. Mazda used some ford automatic transmissions in their 626s, but I'm pretty sure the Protege's use Mazda automatics.
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    It won't be too long before she starts asking for your Pro! My daughter (Sidney, BTW) started inquiring at about age 6 (~2yrs ago). :)
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    Depends on the content, as narenji mentioned. The least reliable models tend to be those that use Ford hardware (626 with Ford A/T, B-series trucks, Tribute etc.).

    M/T 626s and all Pros have been as reliable as Accords, Civics, Corollas and Camrys.

    Honda and Toyota have their off-models too (such as the Isuzu-derived SUV and minivans that Honda used to sell, and some think Toyota engines tend to create sludge in the motor oil...I think there's a board on Edmunds that discusses that subject).
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I have wanted a Jetta since they came out for the 1999 model year. I have always liked the way they looked and all, but wouldn't get one because of their short warranty and lackluster reliability claims. The warranty was beefed up for 2002, and their reliability has improved of late too. So I figured, why not take the plunge now?

    About the 626 auto., my co-worker has a 1996. He said the tranny went out at 50K miles and 4 years old. He fought with Mazda, and they replaced it. He also said the car burns oil like crazy. The scary thing is that the 2.0 engine from the 626 is the same one used in the Protege now. :(
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    FWIW, I've had a 95 Auto Pro DX (1.5l) for almost 2 years, and have put about 15K on it (including 3.5K over the last couple of weeks - long cross country road trip and 100 mile daily round trip commute!). Its been flawless (pretty much - had the CV joints replaced because I was foolhardy enough to do some off-roading - up Pikes Peak in Colorado!)

    No problems on my recent (last week) road trip either, and it was loaded to the nines, and had two people in it. The power is adequate for freeway mreging and overtaking, lthough you may want to consider an ES (stronger engine) if you do much backcountry or two-lane driving.

    I can vouch for the reliability of my car, and a coupe (93, 97) belonging to other friends and acquaintances. I know more people with problematic Corollas and Civics :-)

    so if you can get a good deal, and inspect teh car well before you buy (this is a must for a used car purchase), the protege will give you years of flawless service, as I expect mine to!
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    By definition, overdrive is a gear in which the driving cog (in your gear system) does less revolutions than the driven cog (which turns the wheels). the gear ratio is below 1.0. For comparison, the gear ratio in first gear is about 3.5 on average, and drops progressively through the gear numbers.

    (ALMOST) All cars have an overdrive, either as the highest automatic gear (4th) or as the 5th gear or 6th in a manual. BMW 3-series have a 5 speed automatic with overdrive (5th gear) but the manual gearbox has 5th at a 1.00 ratio, with no torque conversion or power loss. The car is revv happy even in 5th at speeds above 60, and you can pass without downshifting even in a 325, which is a 174 (approx?) HP Inline 6 cylinder engine.

    So car manufacturers would do better to label the automatic gear shift level as 1 (only 1st gear available), 2 (ONLY 2nd), D3 (1, 2, 3 available) and D4 (1, 2, 3, 4). D4 is the normal Drive position in automatic proteges, and hitting the OD button makes Gear number 4 unavilable. So ONLY if you are already in 4th gear, it will kick down to 3rd (which has a ratio of around 1.2+). Otherwise yuo will notice no difference in driving and shifting characteristics around town (if you were in 1,2,3 when you turned O/D off).

    Also, Meade (and others) with a stickshift - your 5th gear IS an overdrive! :-)

    (Ok, getting of soapbox now)

    So when you drive on the freeway and want to do a quick overtake or merge, turn off OD making 3rd your top gear - raising engine speds for corresponding road speeds, and keeping the engine revving happily in its most satisfying torque band (it really sounds happy when you let it rev at about 60mph in 3rd - I don't have a rpm meter, so i don't know ho high the revs get). For good ful mileage (city or highway), leave 4th gear available (ie don't turn O/D off - the light must stay unlit on the dash)

    Drive safely!
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    On a freezing old night somehwre in Kansas (that sounds awful!) - my trunk lock would not turn with the key and I forced it 9It may have been inserted at a bad angle) and the key got bent and disfigured. The key was the only casualty in the car on the whole road trip. I had a spare key (always do) and that worked fine!

    Also, I averaged about 30-32 mpg, dependin on inclines, traffic, speeds etc. I did get a tank of 34+ when the speed limits drop (the smaller engine is more frugal at 60mph, than at 85+). I stuck to big brand gas stations all along the way, except in St Louis, when we took a wrong exit and ended up in a relatively bad neighbourhood with prepay, cash only!

    All in all, a blurry fast road trip, and I wish i had more time - although I stopped in
    Denver Boulder - 1.5 days
    Kansas City - amazing BBQ for lunch, bought lots of sauce
    St louis - hit the clubs and a casino downtown :-)
    NJ - met up with some of my folks

    Finally getting to DC on the 9th, and starting work on the 10th. Incidentally, the cars been doing great for my first week at work - have a 50 mile commute along the beltway, with many wet days etc.

    Now I've found an partment nearer work (NoVA) and was curious if anyone had sugegstions for checkups I should have done for the car - I already did a fluid check and oil change.
  • windowphobe6windowphobe6 Member Posts: 765
    At 88k, my '93 626 (since traded) was consuming insignificant amounts of oil - by which is meant that it was never necessary to add a quart between changes (which I generally did at 2500-3000 miles).

    On the Anecdotal Evidence tote board, it's now 1-1.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    Unlike the Mazda 2.0L, the VW 2.0L does have a documented history of what some would call excessive oil consumption. That is not anecdotal.
  • notminehersnotminehers Member Posts: 42
    We went to a child seat safety class - they claim there is no such thing as a rear facing latch on a seat. You can only get this for a front facing. All new front facing seats should have the latch. The class was quite a deal - $35.00 covered the entire class plus a brand new car seat. They admitted they lose bucks on this but it is worth it - less tragedies from poor seats and installations. The childrens hospital sponsors it - Greg
  • notminehersnotminehers Member Posts: 42
    To all for the baby well wishes - wow, have a baby and get mass attention. They are worth it though!! Maybe our PRO will be her first car in 16 years!!?? They are reliable if taken care of!!?? (: Greg
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    Greg: congrats to you and your wife and safe zoom-zooming for many years to come.

    Chicagopro: I was at work, but left an 9.30 and from 9.00-9.30 it was pretty busy. I should be able to make it for next weeks's chat.

    Maltb: Thanx for the tips. I did use a wet towel and the straps you mentioned. I bought the stuff in special at Home Depot $0.98 CDN/sq ft! Installing was fairly easy for someone that already installed parquet floors. Took me a LONG time to move all my stuff from the room and remove the carpet. Installation posed no problems. Easy, clean and fast. My shoulder now hurts from pushing the "sheets" into place. The straps were great! Couldn't have done with without them. Home Depot has a set of 8 straps to rent for $25/24hrs. To buy it's $60 each!!! Now that it's done, my room looks great, like some type of an executive office. I'm really impressed how much of a difference removing an old carpet and putting hardwood-type flooring makes! Now that it's done, my mom wants me to do it to our remaining 3 bedrooms! Ouch! Maybe in the spring.

    Ashu: With this type of commute you'll soon be putting "Dinu mileage" on your PRO :)
  • carlrjrcarlrjr Member Posts: 35
    I use carlrjr as a screen name because the 'rjr' part are initials; my middle names are Robert and Joseph. That doesn't mean I'm not a fan of the Carl's Jr. restaurants out West, however. I lived in southern CA for a few years and really enjoyed the double bacon cheeseburgers with the onion rings right on the burger... mmmm....
    Here in the Midwest., Carl's Jr. has bought the Hardee's chains so I can get the same burgers here now. They're still called Hardee's but now they display that familiar yellow happy star.

    newcar31, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about gasolines. You're right, there isn't much difference, but there is a difference. Different companies add different additives to the same gas coming out of the pipe (except for Amoco/BP who has their own network).
    Regardless, the engine computer in any car can get every last BTU out of whatever we put in the tank, so going with the closest and/or most convenient place is probably the best bet for all of us.
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    1st time for my baby in the snow with the stock "Poortenzas" (as trademarked by Meade).

    What can I say? They're not as bad as I thought, considering the almost 19000kms they have on them and the fact they look like Formula 1 slicks. Once I got up to speed the handling felt "safe", but when stopping, I always breaked earlier to make sure I don't start sliding (no ABS). Held up realy well! So now I don't even know if I should really get winter tires.. HELP! Btw I drive in D2 when there is snow, so it drives at about 40km/h (25mph) at 3000RPMs. It snowed about 5 cms.

    Dinu
  • chicagoprochicagopro Member Posts: 1,009
    Thanks for the detailed (very!) explanation of overdrive, and for the details of your road trip. Glad you made it ok.
  • floridianfloridian Member Posts: 219
    Any of you "Zoom-Zoomers having any problems with your cruise control ? My son has been having fits with his, third replacement and it defaults to same problem after 400 miles or so after replacement. Erratic speed, up and down, will not hold steady speed or correctly go back to resume mode.

    Floridian
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    No problems on my 2001 ES. I used it a few times for long drives over the summer and it holds well, flat surface or steepy hills/valleys.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    So, has Hardees and Carl's jr always been the same or was Hardees different before, and now they are like Carl's jr?
  • silentguiltsilentguilt Member Posts: 35
    I am looking @ a 2000 protege LX. I know the 1.6 is a sissy engine, especially when mated with the automatic but, how is the reliability? Gas mileage? Anyone have any experience with it? Or just info on the 2000's in general? Should their be something I should specifically look at. BTW the price is 9.5, OK deal?
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    The 2002 Protege ES was voted "Best economy car" for 2002 by the Automobile Journalists' Association of Canada (AJAC). YEY! They seem to agree with the sales figures (PRO sales in Canada have shot-up since the 2001 model was introduced).
  • carlrjrcarlrjr Member Posts: 35
    Hardees was purchased by Carl's Jr a while back; they aren't identical now but some of the Star burgers are now available at Hardees.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I used to have a 1999 Protege DX automatic, bought with 3000 miles on the clock. After alot of hard driving on highways (commuting up to 100 miles a day regularly), the car was still fine at 37.5K when I traded it for a 2001 Protege ES. No problems whatsoever from the engine in that time. However, the transmission had this thing when I would floor the gas to pass. It would shift funny. I never found out what was the deal, because I traded the car in.
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    in North Carolina. It has been the same name for a long time. Never really successful like Burger King, what saved them was serving breakfast -- mainly ham biscuits. They have tried various promotions that didn't work. Least popular in North Carolina, they have done well in Virginia. Other than McDonald's, the fast food hamburger joints are not doing well. Too many of them and people are watching the fat more.

    Also, during the prosperity times, many people here went to Fuddrucker's instead of McDonald's. Fuddrucker's is a Texas-based hamburger chain where you fix your own condiments at a salad bar. Great burgers, really thick, but loaded with FAT FAT FAT!

    I was going to Fuddrucker's so often, the cashiers put my order in before I got to the head of the line. So I just paid and went to my table and waited until they called my name. Knew all the people who worked there. Now on NO red meat diet, doctor said QUIT QUIT QUIT!

    fowler3
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    Mazda 6, the 626 looks like last week's meatloaf. I saw a chestnut 626 today with a V6 and beige leather trim -- my favorite color combination. It still looked outdated. Nice alloys, though.

    fowler3
  • edmund2460edmund2460 Member Posts: 293
    Maybe we're lucky to be here in SC (near Charlotte NC). Gas si 97 cents regular, altho' I always use 93 octane in my PRO. The Mazda dealer charges only $20 for an oil change (Castrol)
  • edmund2460edmund2460 Member Posts: 293
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    The Protege does not recommend 93 octane, and using a higher octane than the recommended 87 is not only a waste of money, but it's bad for the car as well. It will cause a carbon build-up over time. I can attest that using a higher octane will not improve mileage (I tried it in my 1999 and 2001 Proteges). You might instead try running 89 octane through the car like every 3rd tank or something. I used to do that in both Proteges.
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