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Mazda Protege5
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Comments
I think the benefits far outweight the negatives and not buying a car simply because it has ABS seems a bit trite. Just MHO.
I know everyone is passionate about their beliefs, but this is just another driver preference thing and we've gone so long now that we seem to be off-topic.
I miss having a variety of P5 messages.
Now for a question: Anyone have any data on the popularity of specific car colors? I'm considering a P5 vs. Matrix and was surprised that the dealer has a ton of red and black models. I would've thought those would be first to sell out...
What area are you in? I'm in the Bay Area California....and here....out of three dealerships....there was only one red one the last time I checked. I'd say the majority on the lots here were either silver or blue.
sharon
ADDENDUM:
After reading hte last message. Really? I'm totally suprised. Maybe in the northern states i easier to keep a lighter color clean. On the road I've seen mostly Blue, Silver and Yellow. Go figure.
I do think it should come in Sandlewood or Sand metallic like the sedan.
That ABS discussion was fascinating but longwinded! Great commentary everyone.
-juice
In this area it seems to me that Silver is the most popular. At least I've seen Silver on the road the most. The last time I drove by a dealer they had 2 Red, 2 Blue and 2 Silver. I've never seen a Black one yet.
The silver is easy to keep clean though, and I have only occasional regrets. My black gti always looked awful, but that can be an advantage if you live in the city.
Say who have you noticed driving the P5? I've noticed mostly women and older men.
Up here around Boston I saw a pretty even distribution of colors on dealer lots. It was great to be able to see the Protege5 in every shade. I went with black on my P5 because it far and away looked the best to me. The fact that the only one equipped exactly as I wanted was black probably made a difference too. White and silver looked too bland to me. I don't think bright red really fits on anything other than a Ferrari. To my eye the blue had purple highlights in bright sunlight which I didn't like. The yellow is cool but on the P5 it was a bit much. I saw a fantastic limited edition yellow Miata though...
I pick up my P5 tonight!
So chalk one more up for the "boy" end of the spectrum.
Yes it's smaller and a bit more expensive. But it is fun to drive. Have any of you folks taken a MINI for a test drive? If so, how would you compare these cars.
I am still leaning to Protege5 by the way. Anyone here buy in Chicago area? If so, how was your buying experience?
Thanks for the great info to date. I can see you all really are into your Protege5s!
I'm a spanking new owner of the protege5 and also new to the world of manual shifting. I'm wondering if anyone could inform me of the optimal speeds for shifting into the various gears?
The owner's manual doesn't seem to detail the speed ranges, so I'm hoping fellow p5 owners can help me out with their experiences. Thanks!
However, since you've got yourself a brand new P5, I would read the manual on "break-in" procedures. I believe it says that there is no real break-in required, but they do offer some guidelines for the first 1000 km. I think one of the most important ones is to not maintain a constant speed for a long time, so that basically means no cruise control.
In addition to the feedback here, you may also want to check out this discussion: How to drive a stick shift. Good luck, and please keep us posted on your Protege5 experience.... ;-)
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
Ugly as it is I would still get a WRX. Man what a driver! Coming up a long onramp I was able to get hte back end to start coming out. That flat 4 singing away in the front. (sigh) Oh well It was just a little too much money.
Oh well Ilove the way the P5 drives, the cargo capacity and the utility of the car. It HANDLES better than anything else in it's price range. I have no buyers remorse at all.
Could y'all tell me what kind of wheels and winter tires (sizes and brands) you are running ?
Thanks.
p.s. the dealer was charging me $600 for rust-proofing, but I got Ziebart to do it for $350
Could y'all tell me what kind of wheels and winter tires (sizes and brands) you are running ?
Thanks.
p.s. the dealer was charging me $600 for rust-proofing, but I got Ziebart to do it for $350
Bruno
And now back to the subject of the Protege5. ;-)
Revka
Host
Hatchbacks & Station Wagons Boards
And on the discussion about the demographics for P5 owners, I am 24 yrs old and P5 is my first car and I know a lot of other people in the same age range who are eyeing the P5.
Though you may not see a lot of "younger" people driving the car yet, believe me, they will be coming. The P5 is too "cool" of a car not to have.
I recommend having the dealer remove the roofrack for you and putting it in the trunk unless you want to use it often - it creates an annoying whistle when up, and the car looks better without it I think.
I'm 31, so chalk up another boyracer. My girlfriend's 27-yr old friend just bought a black one...guess she's a girlracer.
We went to 128 Mazda as well and I agree that they are awful. They didn't have any black 5 speeds with ABS, only white. Even though we repeatedly told the salesman that we didn't want anything other than black with ABS and asked him to find one, he kept trying to push the white one on us. He tried to feed me a line about ABS too. I mentioned it on this board which triggered the recent ABS debate. Sorry...
I didn't hear noise from the roof rack when I test drove the car, although maybe it was masked by the flapping from the protective plastic sheet on the roof. I'll see how bad it is before I think about removing it. I like how the rack looks.
See you on the roads!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1814257464
Insurance companies collect and crunch accident data all the time. You can't really argue with their findings.
I think I'm going through my mid-life crisis a little early.
in the club that i started, the youngest driver is 16 with a yellow and the oldest is 27 with a red. those with mp3s: youngest is 20 in a yellow and oldest is 30 in a blue (this guy was looking for a silver mp5 but saw the mp3). with 19 cars in the club we have no white and no black cars. i wished they would of made a green one.
saw a yellow aerio hatch yesterday and i am really glad that finally cars are becoming different but not ugly. if you look at japanes cars there, they are so radical. and here we have cars like civic, corolla (new one is not bad), sentra, accord, neon, vibe (radical but ugly) and others that don't even come close to capturing your imagination.
I actually think the blue looks best, but my wife already drives a blue Protege (99 LX), and I wasn't too thrilled by the black interior/dark exterior combo here in Texas. So I went with the light color I liked best, which is silver.
After a nice soothing drive in rush hour traffic from San Diego to Los Angeles, so far this is my opinion of the car:
Likes = the overall look of the car (not exactly the hottest, but overall pretty cool), it's color (midnight blue), it's handling (it has much more pep than I expected), it's cargo space (holds all my stuff), how quiet it is (did I accidently drive off in a Corolla?), and the out the door price of $17,400 (automatic, alloy wheels, wheel locks, floor mats and that's it).
Dislikes = the stereo (it sounds just awful), the out of position arm rest, the red light that lights up the gauges at night (the word evil comes to mind), the driver seat seemed a little stiff (or was it just me?) AND handing over the largest check I've ever written in my life to someone who is going to CASH IT and immediately deplete me of my entire savings! OH, THE HORROR!!!
Overall, I think I made the right decision to buy this car. I spent months researching and contemplating the whole thing. What a nightmare! I spent WAY too many hours on the internet (and I don't know about you, but for me that spells trouble). Thank God it's over.
Later tonight I saw a woman in the McDonald's parking lot getting out of a Matrix. Upon reflection, I was glad I didn't buy that "not so great" looking car. But I was glad that I could still afford to buy dinner, even though it was just at McDonald's (apparently anyone who buys a car these days is left with that one fine dining option).
And lastly, for your information (that's FYI to all you sophisticated people out there), I'm 32 years old and currently male. Hey, this is California you know! Just kidding. I'm not that weird...or am I??? Regardless, I am enjoying the car so far and looking forward not having to get towed to and from work anymore.
Thanks for listening (or reading in this case) and thanks to everyone who has posted. You've helped make buying a car a whole lot easier.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned that with how nimble and quick the Pro5 is, you may be able to maneuver around an accident waiting to happen without needing to lock up your brakes. Sometimes to swerve is better than to stop, especially at lower speeds where a quick swerve will not be exaggerated into you careening off a cliff.
Can't remember who asked, but I bought my Pro5 from Pugi which is a Mazda, Hyundai, and VW dealer on Ogden Avenue in Downers Grove. I highly recommend this dealership, but please keep in mind that my family has purchased several vehicles there over the last 10 years so we get above average treatment. If you want more in depth info on them, lemme know.
PS: I am a 21 year old male, for the demographic survey
I avoided the yellow because of the price gouging and unavailability back in July, but otherwise I mighta gotten it. No other colors, though...
People either say "cool car," but a few say "a station wagon?" The latter people are frustrating, but they later change their opinions to "totally cool" after getting accustomed to it. My opinion? This car is way cool!
Anyone know anything about the availability of getting a cargo tray? A few weeks ago it was backordered everywhere. My cargo area has some disgusting salt stuff caked in the carpet.
later,
d.
ps. For the stats I'm 35 years old.
I just turned 37, my wife just turned 35, we have a 10-month-old son, and we purchased our Pure White Protege5 in January to complement my 2000 Emerald Mica Protege ES.
Meade
still haven't seen Birdman_1 on the road yet even though we live in the same city and I'm out driving all the time.
Jessica