Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Awesome Car! - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Memo - November 7 - 10:03 am

  The Protege 5 is a great vehicle. It is fun to drive, yet humble enough for use as a family car. It is a very solidly built vehicle. Too bad they were only made for 2 years.

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  too soon to say anything - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By new mazda owner - October 25 - 10:00 am

  Just got a silver with auto. I test drove the following: 1. rodeo 2. focus 3. cavalier 4. hyundai sonata 5. hyundai elantra 6. protege 7. camry 8. corolla 9. altima 10.honda accord 11.honda civic and liked altima(wow wow wowo, too bad they had no summer incentive) and corolla has created a lot of space. I have a old corolla already. So, I bought protege (0% apr and 500 college rebate) and no such deal on altima. The car handles great, but the ride is very rough compared to my corolla (which is smooth at least on windless days). Other than that, this is great looking car and fun and very well styled. It is quite underpowered.

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  Perfect - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By rwantin - October 25 - 10:00 am

  If theres another vehicle that looks this good, is this much fun to drive, as reliable, economical, or useful at this price I have yet to see it. Its no wonder it won that Car and Driver comparison test in the 6/02 issue.

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  THIS CAR ROCKS!!! - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By dynotrick - October 13 - 2:00 am

  This is my first new car and I love it! It is very reliable and super fun to drive and own. No problems at all, overall a great value. It will wipe the floor with a civic any day, and looks 10000000000000 times better than any of its competitors!

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  Great car - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By bridge - September 26 - 10:00 am

  Easy to drive. Takes the curves well. Good gas milege. Ike the seat going down and it is a wagon.

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  I finally found the love of my life - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By suzpaintit - September 26 - 10:00 am

  I have to tell you I have always wanted a fun sporty little car and this little yellow bird brings my heart back to my teens. Its kicken! runs like shes on rails and still lets me do the Mom thing and when people stop and watch us drive by well let me tell you. This is the car everyone should drive at least once I know youll have as much fun as I have will will continue to have

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  protege5 flaws - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By gsj - September 20 - 2:00 am

  There are things that bother me about it. The first thing that I notice is the extremely loose unresponsive steering. I would love to see the Mazda speed steering and suspension standard in their upcoming Mazda 3s. The second annoyance is the jumpy clutch which happens mainly when the cars is cold. Again, would love to see the mazda speed clutch standard in the upcoming 3s. The 3rd flaw is the cheep back seat cushions that never want to fit right after removing them. The 4th flaw might be the loud engine which in my opion is due to the thin firewall and probably wide gapped valves. Other than that, it works for me. -GJ

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  Definately a pleaser in its class. - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By Sonata - September 18 - 10:00 am

  Over a great car. What sold me on the car was the handling. I couldnt lose control on a curve if I tried. It was amazing! This was my first 4 cyl car so the 2.0 was adequate but with a few passengers it becomes a bit sluggish. Otherwise a very responsive and enjoyable to drive. I commute 250 miles per day and always get at leat 2 miles to the gallon of gas. Even at elevated speed levels ;)

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  MP5 Rules - 2002 Mazda Protege5
  By ominous1121 - September 18 - 10:00 am

  Fast, fun to drive car. Real zoom zoom for the money. Very stable, rigid, manual transmition is superior. Supention has no competition.

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  Love the car, dissappointed in service - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By yellowstoneguy - September 17 - 1:50 am

  I bought my car new and loved it for 45,000 miles. Had a screw come loose from the intake and go through the engine prior to a recall for that very thing. Fixed the misfire, but started having black/blue smoke issues and had to replaced smashed plug. Whitten Bros. "did" the recall work and claimed no problems, yet when I had to rebuild the engine 1 year later due to smoke, discovered in fact that one of the screws theyd "checked and replaced" had indeed gone through my engine, pitted pistons, destroyed catalytic, fouled engine. Runs great again now, but had to rebuild myself because Whitten Brothers wouldnt live up to what happened and didnt have money/trust for the stealership to fix.