Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Mazdas comeback!!! - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By jammocaz - December 25 - 2:00 am

  I am very pleased with this vehicle. I got a great deal! I am so glad mazda set the pace for others to follow!(hatchback market) The competition is stiff but mazda comes out a notch ahead!

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  Again&Again&Again&Again.... - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By bgfeordjr - December 25 - 2:00 am

  I love Proteges,I bought wife an LX & Pro5 for me. Remarkable car for the money. Perfect steering. Five-speed is fun & not too long in the throw. Ample power, with 2300 through 4000 rpm producing very good response. Weighs 2716 & produces 135 feet pounds of torque. Beauty of the car as a commuter--dont need peak rpms to get power/gets more than 30 mpg. Id have liked some choice in the interior colors, but dark charcoal looks very nice with the Black Mica exterior(found some silvery-grey floor mats that look great). One word describes exterior-BEAUTIFUL. Thanks Mazda(and Browns) for the wonderful car at the great price(less than 15K).

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  Fun Drive, But Not Fun MPG - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By zoomguy - December 21 - 2:50 am

  I bought this car new in Dec. 2003 and it was the first new car purchase I have ever made. I loved the outside appearance and the five-door hatch design. I picked one that has about every option except the leather. With all the options there is little left to be desired when inside. Larger passengers have complained about not having enough room and four adults are a little cramped. Overall this is a very nice car for what I purchased it for. The fuel economy has never been all that great and the chrome wheels dont look great after two winters. The suspension is strictly for smooth roads. CD changer gets stuck occasionally. Heater is slow to warm up. Tires expensive to replace.

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  P5 Good but Not Great - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By rbb4u - December 19 - 10:00 am

  Its fun, nimble, great value, but as predicted, signficantly underpowered with wind and road noise near limit. Periodic 1st gear (when cold-up to 5min)clutch slip (which, naturally, dealer cant replicate) is crazy making. Gets lot of attention - even in upscale sections of LA where seeing 10 SL500s a day is norm. Hope MAZDASPEED stuff is affordable. Thats next.

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  silver bullet - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By ared - December 10 - 10:00 am

  Purchase my mazda p5 after test driving several other cars, (namely wrx, lexus, and accord.) The mazda was the best deal for the price and the funnest to drive. Also outfitted factory racks for my surfboards (quite important!)

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  a very good urban transportation - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By Jason Lam - November 21 - 10:00 am

  Sporty design but not overdone. Good value even with the base model with features essential for safety, handling, comfort and space.Competitive pricing and factory incentives makes a great buy. A great choice for those who wants the space and convenience of a hatchback but not as big as the traditional wagon.

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  Bang for the buck - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By Cameron - November 20 - 8:50 pm

  Excellent car for the money. Leather interior, all power doors, windows, moon roof very good stereo w/ 6cd in-dash player, 6 speakers and subwoofer. Excellent mileage average 30 mixed. 73,000 miles and runs/looks exactly as brand new. Complaints include very noisy driving conditions. Engine revs very high, 5 speed needs to be upshifted very quickly to gain speed Car will not win many races. Not the most quiet, compliant ride but again this is a compact car.

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  My P5 - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By Jana D - November 15 - 2:00 am

  When I went looking for my first brand new car- I was expecting a lot from the car I chose. The only specific ideas I had were that I wanted a hatchback, but I also wanted four door. I wanted a sporty yet comfortable car that I could play in on the weekends and that would be reliable in any situation. It took me five months of research to find the car I eventually bought, and I must say it was worth the time and effort I put into finding my new car. I am more confident in my driving because of it. I love that the back seats lay down for extra cargo room, but it isnt a huge "soccer mom" car that most people picture when you say "wagon". I love my car!

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  Its been a good car, more or less - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By ceecee9 - November 10 - 3:57 pm

  I bought my 03 P5 in June of 05 with about 36,000. At 60 ish the head gaskets blew...which was an expensive fix. Other than that its been regular maintenance which is begining to become quite frequent. My one major complaint is the tires are expensive and hard to find. Oh- And my other major complaint is two of the rear seat belts are broken and are very expensive to fix. My car has 134,000...and im in the process of researching and buying a new one.

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  Sweet suspension - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By cdnt48 - November 7 - 10:00 am

  Ive owned more than 30 new cars (mostly sporty) and this is the second- best handling car after my Toyota MR2