Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

• 

  Ride on Rails - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Puckster - May 4 - 10:00 am

  Sure, its only been a few weeks, but never has 130hp thrilled me so much. It kills me that Mazda cars get short-changed in the market-- they are SO well-designed... A friend of mine has had two Proteges over a span of eight years with not a single problem among them. He also got blind-sided hard and walked away from it with just a sore neck. This reeks to me of good design, which is why I bought my black beauty...

• 

  this car rocks - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By xostarbunnieox - March 31 - 11:30 am

  This is a very reliable car. Fun to drive and great handling. Its hard to believe its a wagon! Ive had it for 4 years now and hope to have it for many more.

• 

  So far I am a happy camper!!! Zoom Zoom - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Chafic - March 31 - 10:00 am

  The P5 has an outstanding style, from the exterior and interior. It has the capacity to respond when I demand sudden acceleration, not to mention an amazing curve handling. This car drives like a sport machine. The low profile tires help handling those 30 MPH curve at 50-60 MPH w/o a glitch. As for the interior, P5 offered a nice European styling, as opposed to the competition (i.e. the Civic, or Acura which I test drove). My hope is that the reliabilty of the P5 is as good as my Nissan Quest Van which we owned since 95!!!

• 

  Great little car - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By JM - January 22 - 4:53 pm

  Great car fun to drive. Handles like a Nissan Maxima but the price of a focus.

• 

  Love my zoom zoom - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By shayshay - January 16 - 1:26 am

  I had to hold out a little while to get my P5 because I wanted the leather interior and tip-tronic shift, but it was worth the wait. I still smile when I look at my car and often get compliments on it. It is a blast to drive and I have yet to have any major problems with it. The interior is comfortable to sit in, cornering is exceptional, and the hatch cover makes a great table to use at tailgate parties! Gas mileage is a bit lower than I anticipated but not bad. The only other dislike is that the paint seems to chip rather easily.

• 

  Great Value Sport Wagon - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By hank - December 31 - 2:00 am

  This car handles like a champ. Nice 130 horses to zip around in. Overall fun car to drive and extremely practical! 5sp manual is the way to go for this car. Great gas mileage as well.

• 

  PR5 - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Pat - November 30 - 7:10 pm

  This thing really handles well for a inexpensive car. Power is a little less than what I hoped for, but it has potential (cold air intake, cat back exhaust) to be a zippy little toy.

• 

  This car just gets better and better... - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Craig Rudzenski - November 13 - 8:13 am

  I would never imagine that after having a car after 4 years would still make me smile just by looking at it. Mazda hit the nail on the head with style vs. functionality (they just shouldve done a little better with performance). The paint is a little thin, minor road pebbles can go right to the black primer coat of the car. The tires are an odd size that are not readily available in case you need them (which I did, a monster pothole at night going 50 mph took care of the passenger side). This car, even though its a little underpowered, lives up to the zoom-zoom moniker that it delivered to the world (this was the first zoom-zoom car in Mazdas ads). It handles like a go-kart.

• 

  Protege5 Pleasure - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By eldermp - October 20 - 10:00 am

  Although there was an item or two that needed attention under warranty, none of it would affect any major component, just minor stuff. This car has been wonderful! It is a pleasure to drive. There is a nice balance between performance and common-sense- economy, and it comes almost fully loaded, right out of the box.

• 

  My thoughts - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By paulj - October 6 - 10:00 am

  Handles great, could use more power though. A cold air intake, larger exaust could push 150 hp. A possible turbo could bolt on could push it upwards of 170 or 180 hp.