Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Mazda 626 - 2000 Mazda Protege
  By kvammen - October 9 - 10:00 am

  Every one is entitled to one mistake in their life, this was mine.

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  Poor MPG - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By John - July 14 - 10:53 am

  I bought this car with 53000Miles on this car in 2008 and ever since its had all four brakes(Everything) replaced,4 stabilizer bars,5 struts,belts twice,timing belt,Sparkplugs and wires,4 tires at $280 each and I rust proof and do oil changes with synthetic every 3000 Miles and am getting 14MPG and the A/C barely works and the fan makes loud noises and have gone way over what I thought was a reliable car that should at least get 20 MPG. I forgot the car is bad too because if you drive alot you will be very tired od hitting potholes and trying to merge onto highways with the automatic.

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  not that great - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By justen - January 13 - 9:46 pm

  I bought the 02 Protege new and had it only 2 days when the stereo shorted out. Then the CD player broke after they fixed it. Five months later the stereo went out again and then driving the car from Arizona to Chicago the engine blew because of a bad head; now when the car goes above 60 it shakes very badly. The rims also rusted, more than any other car I have owned during winter. The heater also smells very bad when it gets to about 30 degrees outside.

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  The worst car I ever had - 1999 Mazda Protege
  By Mariya Gromyko - July 4 - 4:50 am

  A lot of noise from the road. Transmission failed after 46,000 miles. Bad customer service.

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  Protege - 2000 Mazda Protege
  By taconyboy - September 7 - 2:00 am

  This car had a list price of $18,500. It is NOT worth the money. It actually has drum brakes on the rear-at the ES trim level, for 18 grand! I had to get the ES to get the 1.8L engine,it is the only reason I bought the ES.

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  Not that Great - 2001 Mazda Protege
  By protege666 - May 23 - 3:46 am

  I just paid off my Protege and I am sooo ready for a different car. I bought it for the four door and fuel economy aspect. Those two things arent disappointing...pretty much everything else was...teh electronics were always if-y and the drivers seat kills your back...theseat belts in the back have all but ceased to function. Its just NOT THAT GREAT of a car.

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  Mazdas worst car. - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By thejackal86 - December 26 - 8:46 pm

  The transmission went out early on, which started a chain reaction of other problems months to follow. This car was nothing more than a money pit and certainly not one worth investing in. Ive replaced just about everything in the car besides the engine, which I hear is something Mazda actually does fairly well. I ended up finally trading the car in at around 153k miles. It seems like a lot, but not considering maintenance costs. In addition to the reliability issues, the interior was cheap and started to literally fall apart. Poor mpg as well. The only positive thing I can say about the car is that it was kind of fun to drive and had nice acceleration. It felt like a go-kart.

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  Dont buy this car whatever you do. - 2003 Mazda Protege
  By Harry B. - July 2 - 2:00 am

  The suspension is horrendous and the ride nauseating on anything other than perfectly smooth roads.The Protege requires a double dose of Drammamine to avoid the use of a barf-bag enroute. You literally will find it difficult to change radio stations or take a sip from a beverage because of the pulsating and shakey ride. Both the dealership and my own personal mechanic told me there is nothing wrong with the car it just has the suspension tuned this way. I will trade mine in as soon as I can and even though I will loose a lot of money it will be well worth it to get rid of the bouncemobile.

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  Watch out for Mazda Protege Transmission - 1999 Mazda Protege
  By Alicia60 - June 1 - 2:00 am

  Purchased this car new, ran great until just after warranty expired, then had one problem after another from O2 sensor, catalytic converter, and finally when out of warranty, transmission sensor went, and Schwartz Mazda in NJ misdiagnosed and repaired with a rebuilt trans. After 3 more visits, still having the same syptoms that originally brought me to the bring in the car, spedometer drop out, o/d off light flashing, and car revviing out of control, they finally replaced the speed sensor on the transmission. This is after a $2000 transmission. Let the buyer beware, when your 50k warranty runs out you are on your own.

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  Frequent Maintence for the 2000 Mazda - 2000 Mazda Protege
  By adingle - May 13 - 10:00 am

  Once this vehicle started aproaching the 30,000 mile mark it requires alot of maintenance. Trasmission problems, fuel injection problems, check engine light comes on repeatingly even after getting the require servicing.