Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  ZOOM ZOOM - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By RBOB24 - August 2 - 10:00 am

  FUN TO DRIVE, THIS CAR HANDLES LIKE A SPORTS CAR. ITS QUICK OFF THE LINE AND ACCELERATES VERY SMOOTHLY. THE GAS MILEAGE IS GOOD, AND THE FIT AND FINISH IS SUPER.

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  A 4-door Miata with Mercedes Quality - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By Creek Car Guy - May 4 - 2:00 am

  This is my fifth Protege (counting my 323GT). I wish I still owned ALL of my Proteges. This car has the fit and finish equal to the new Mercedes I have also owned. I use this car as a "sports car" for kayaking and camping trips, so it is my "escape" vehicle. I have used some of my previoius ones as my main commuter car with excellent results as well.

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  very happy owner - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By wtkidd1972 - July 7 - 1:23 pm

  I bought this car without truly being interested in a Mazda Protégé, just interested in a small, inexpensive, economical way to get to work. I had never owned a Mazda before, but the Protégé seemed like exactly what I was looking for. Six years and 95,000 miles later my Protégé runs just as well as the day I brought it home, and is still just as fun to drive. All I do is keep up with oil changes, and keep putting new tires on it. I’ve replaced the brakes once. This car has been amazing. Would love get a the new Mazda 6, but find it hard to get rid of the Protege when it still feels like a new car.

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  A Great Purchase ! - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By 1960vw - July 7 - 10:00 am

  A great little car with plenty of pickup! Very roomy for two adults front and two in back. Very good gas milage.

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  Mazda is sooo underrated! - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By lonestar - June 1 - 10:00 am

  Purchased a leftover 2003...cant believe it was still on the dealer lot. Havent owned a Mazda in 14 years...and had forgotten what I was missing, obviously. Selected the Protege over the Civic and Corolla.

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  A sport car in sheep clothing - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By MoreZoom - February 26 - 2:00 am

  Ive test-driven Toyota Matrix base, 2002 Honda Civic LX and Mazda LX (all auto as gf wanted) before my final purchase of this Protege LX. Base Matrix was $16,000 plus, Civic LX was $15,000 plus, Mazda LX was $14,880 b/f tax to me with alloy wheels. Man, price was the prime deciding factor at first. Then, after test drives, I found that the Matrixs 130 horses was not enough to move the 2800-plus lbs of the auto, Honda - Na! No torgue! Protege won with 135 torgue and 130 hp for its 2700 lbs for the auto. Man, the road-holding is great! Fun-to-drive little car!

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  Great Car - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By Bryan Lipson - January 25 - 1:56 am

  Had my protege almost 1 year now and have enjoyed all the driving. Racked up 16000 miles on road trips and driving to work and has been clear sailing thus far. Milage is still improving on all types of driving averaging about 28mpg and I dont get too uncomfortable even after 6 hours of straight driving. Babied this car the whole way and it is built to last. Cant beat the deal they offered late in the model year. Moonroof, 6-disc, abs all great options on a bargain car. Solid driving on sunny days and very controllable on snowy streets.

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  Great Car - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By Brian2001 - January 3 - 10:00 am

  Bought the ES for my wife in August 2001. She still loves the car. Kudos to Mazda for making the car inexpensive, but not cheap. The fit/finish are first rate. It only has 20,000 Km (she doesnt drive much). Only one problem so far - a blown main fuse that disabled the stereo and key fob. Other than that, this is a very easy car to live with. I love the 50 series rubber - this thing corners. The power is good, but not great - another 20 hp would be great. I find the pedals hard to heel/toe. To sum up, it is rommy, fun to drive, cheap to run small car.

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  Great driving car - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By owned2ofthem - January 3 - 10:00 am

  This is the second Protege Ive owned and they keep getting better. The reliability of this car is excellent, the handling is outstanding for a car in this class and the looks are sharp and stylish.

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  Love my Protege! - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By Newcombe - October 5 - 10:00 am

  Its true! This is a really great car! We purchased the car primarily as our "Getting to the Train" car, but its so much fun to drive, we use it on the weekends too! Much "zippier" and more reliable than our VW Jetta. Better gas mileage, stereo and seats, too!