2000 Mazda Protege - Good Car?

[FusilliJerry82]

So my 96 Explorer has no oil pressure and I'm fed up with it; but I'm pretty lean in the wallet.

A coworker of my mother has a daughter which just bought a new car. She has a 2000 Protege that she still drives daily (until the new car is delivered) which apparently has been well maintained (I don't know what her idea of well maintained is but we'll see) and is supposed to be almost mint as far as body and interior. However, it does have 166k miles on it.

Looking at carsurvey, opinions are mixed. Other than it being slow (I don't care), there are accounts of problems with cats, EGRs, sway bar links, ignition coils, etc. Most other reviews and general buzz elsewhere is positive though.

What are your thoughts?

 

[kevinf]

I had a 1999 Protege 1.6L from 1999-2007 and sold it with 145K. We loved that car. I remember one of the reviewers called it a "baby Lexus" when it came out. Sway bar may make an occasional noise, but it wasn't a problem. Never had a problem with any of the other components you mentioned. Family out grew it (now have 3 kids) and we bought a mini van. My only complaint is that it wasn't convenient to do an oil change without jack stands. The cars we have now I can change the oil without jacking them up.

 

[hate2work]

Jerry- I know 2 people with Proteges, one is a 1999 and the other is a 2000. Both of these cars have been very good overall.

Kevin- A pair of car ramps would have solved your problem.

 

[addyguy]

I think they are good cars. When helping friends look for an inexpensive car recently, I was going to steer them toward a 1999 Protoge sedan with about 110k miles on it.

Not quite the same car, but I had a 1994 323 hatch for 2.5 years. I beat the snot out of it, hardly ever changed the oil, and it ran fine right to the end.

 

[brandini]

A friend of mine's family has had 3 of them in that generation and all have been problem free.

 

[mpvue]

the protege is a great car; but things wear out. 'problems' to one person are just maintenance to another. IIRC they do have a timing belt, so you would want to check what the change interval is.

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Anyone know if they have interference engines? I'm not sure whether its a 1.6L or 1.8L (I really don't care).

Apparently she tried to trade it in and they only offered her $500 for it so she said she'd let it go to someone she kind of knows for "much less than $1k"

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Also, do these use classic green coolant or some type of extended life? Do the auto transmissions have a drain plug?

 

[tom slick]

I have a 2002 Protege5 2.0l which I believe is similar. It has been a great car over its 170k life so far. It specs green coolant but I use G05 and the AT has a drain plug. Timing belt interval is 120k. With usual maintenance it still drives like a new car.

 

[mpvue]

I have a friend w/ a '00 proto 5 speed. I went w/ her when she bought it new. still going strong, never any issues, over 160K. I'd love to have that car.

 

[marco246]

I had a 2000 Protege with a 5 speed. It had the 1.8L engine and was pretty snappy. Green coolant. Put about 80,000 miles on it before my daughter totaled it. The build quality was better than the 04 VW Jetta which replaced it.

 

[FusilliJerry82]

So she took delivery of her new car. We came to an agreement of $900 and we're going to do tags and title Friday. The car is in almost new condition cosmetically save for a small dent in the rear bumper. It's in better condition than my father's 2003 Camry with almost half the mileage. Drives well albeit slowly. No apparent troubles though the tires are in their later days (it'll probably make next inspection though). While the high miles are a concern, I'm less so considering she still drove it daily until today.

Anyone have any suggestions for initial preventative maintenance (if it already hasn't been done)? I plan to ask her what dealer she had her work done at so I can call them and ask what's been done at what mileage. If its had the timing belt done when it was supposed to, I'll be happy as a clam.

 

[FusilliJerry82]

Also, when you guys say "green" you mean conventional non-OAT/HOAT right?

 

[SLCraig]

Get it rustproofed if you plan on keeping it.. Unless PA doesn't get that much road salt.

 

[JHZR2]

I alwas liked he protege of that vintage and know of a few that have gone to nearl 200k without issues.

 

[Lurch]

Great car if it was maintained well. I had a 1990 323 hatchback. Overall a very good car.

 

[JDD]

I've had many Mazdas including a protege. Every mazda has been outstanding. Great cars IMO. I even had a 1972 RX3.

 

[Lurch]

Many of the 626's had trouble with the automatic transmission, and some Protege's were affected, so beware of this. Ask any transmission shop and they will likely tell you that they've seen many 626's to work on.

 

[dwcopple]

that is because they used the [censored] trans that the Ford probe's used. ATX was a pile of [censored]. I had to have mine rebuilt and it never was right after that. Went through 6 torque converters under the overhaul's warranty...