Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  A perfect 10, and Car and Driver Agrees - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Frankpcb - August 7 - 10:00 am

  My car is a fully loaded 5 speed with all the options in sunlight silver metallic. This is the best looking compact car on the market, and the only one still made in Japan, so the quality and relabilty is first rate. Handles like a go cart, fast direct steering, great peformance tires and suspension tuning, comfortable seats, great gauges and interior lighting in red. Car is very quiet at speed, you can barely hear the engine idle. Fit and finish are excellent and very up market for a car in this price range, much nicer inside (ex version) than civic, corrola, elantra, lancer, focus etc, I drove them all.

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  Flawless - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Viener Vanker - June 21 - 2:56 am

  Purchased new. No problems whatsoever. At 72,000 miles, still on original brakes. They never wear out.

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  Should have bought a Civic - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By canadiancarguy - June 16 - 9:30 pm

  We bought a 2.0 ES GT with a 5 spd brand new back in 01. The car was the best value in its class (for Japanese makes). Engine has always sounded rattley at start up, though this hasnt caused a real problem yet. The EGR valve needed replacement at about 60,000 kms. Now at 75,000 kms the alternator failed. These two problems dont bother me as much as the corrosion problems I have had with this car. I live in Toronto, and they use road salt heavily, but it is still no excuse for the amount of rust this thing has on it for its age. Every piece of metal attached to this car is rusty , body panels or any mechanical part. Even the horn has failed due to corrosion. Mazda is still behind the rest.

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  A Great Value - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By tc - May 13 - 10:00 am

  Ive driven Hondas in the past, but the price comparison and features of the Protege outweighed brand loyalty. I was also frustrated by the awkward position of the parking brake in the 5-spd Civic I test drove. I bought the LX Protege with moonroof,abs,side airbags, floormats and cargo net all for $13100 plus tax and tags, (includes $1500 rebate). Entrance is easy and the driver seat adjuster is great for my back. A quiet, fun car to drive.

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  Fantastic Little Car - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Landric - April 11 - 9:53 am

  I bought my 02 Protege ES new. It was a fantastic car, fun to drive, excellent handling, good performance, comfortable, decent gas mileage, great safety features, and completely reliable. I had the dealer find me an ES that had the ABS/Side Airbags/Power Sunroof package. Gas mileage on the highway hovered around 32 mpg, low 20s in city driving. The transmission shifted smoothly and easily, the engine reved up quickly and offered decent power. The real treat with this car is the handling, its fantastic, and especially nice with the sleeper looks. Its feels a lot faster and sportier than it is. I replaced the front brakes at 70k, 2 sets of tires, and oil changes. No problems in 115K.

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  WOW! SO MUCH CLASS FOR SO LESS - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By alahiri - March 31 - 2:00 am

  Just bought an Shimmering Sand LS with ABS, Alloy wheels, Sunroof, Side Airbags. The interior is also sand. It looks elegant. Road-holding is excellent. Quality is unbeatable. Its roomier than Corolla, Civic and Sentra. It also costs less than almost everyone in its class except the Korean makes. Test drive if you like class and performance at an affordable price.

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  MOST UNDERAPRECIATED SMALL SEDAN - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Unknown - March 25 - 10:00 am

  This is my 2nd pro ES 5 speed other was a 2000 which was totalled or id still be driving it for another 5 years!!!Very tight and well built car! Get one with ES premium pge and the MID CYLCLE REFRESH which is the one with restyled rims and side blinkers along with a few interior tweaks. I drove the civic(too boring)-Focus (too many recalls)and ElantraGT(???) and went back to the protege ES because it feels more solid and doesnt make you feel like your in a small economy sedan

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  Newbie Owner - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Docnshine - February 15 - 2:00 am

  So far so good. Protege has been a pleasure to drive and is beautifully appointed within. Engine is relatively peppy (hey, its a four cylinder). Handling is crisp and responsive.

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  mazda ES protege - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By xteban - January 10 - 9:06 pm

  I just bought this car yesterday, I was a big Honda fan that was all I had, but after 3 times that my cars being stolen I had to make a change and really the Mazda is a great car, soft ride compare to my 2000 civic ex, I love all the little details of this car, its well worth buying this car!!!

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  Fun car - needs more power - 2002 Mazda Protege
  By Dan Charlebois - December 31 - 2:00 am

  I bought my 2002 Protoge in October of 2002 and it now has 11500 miles on it. The handling of the car is more than I could have expected. The car has very precise steering (perhaps a bit of oversteer) and the suspension is tighter than most in its class. This makes cornering quite fun, especially with the 195/50 R16 Dunlap tires. Living in Syracuse I had to buy a set of Blizzaks to get anywhere. The Dunlaps were useless in snow. If I had a problem with the car it would be that it lacks power. The engine doesnt get into its power band until around 4000 rpm. I highly recommend the 5 speed to get full enjoyment of the engine.