Overview & Reviews

User Reviews:

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  Glad the passengers have grab handles! - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By harley613 - December 27 - 3:26 pm

  Having a blast with my MP5 since I bought it early in the summer. Incredible handling has been the best part of the experience so far. My only grumbles are poor fuel economy at highway speeds, not enough vroom, and a lot of suspension shudder when hitting bumps while cornering hard.

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  More 4 your Money - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By ib1netmon - December 26 - 10:00 am

  After exhaustive shopping on features and performance, we bought the Protege5, and it is a great little car - compare to the Matrix base - same HP, but the 130 on the Protege is a lot snappier despite the numbers, 4 wheel disks, and 16 inch wheels. I got this car for more than $4000 less than the Toyota dealer offered me on the Matrix! (including $2200 rebate from Mazda, but who cares WHY it is cheaper). Lets not even go into the ridiculous prices on the Subarus. You cant touch this much car for that kind of money anywhere else!

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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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  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.

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  Fun little car - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By ADrugAgainstWar - August 16 - 4:46 am

  I bought this car last year at a dealer. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the body design, and i still love it. i think the new Mazda3 is a little too bubbly, when they designed this thing they werent afraid to add a few edges! Fun to drive, has some of that "zoom-zoom" at lower speeds. unfortunately, the little 4-banger does have to try a bit to get up steep hills, and it is very sluggish when four friends are packed inside. Oil filter is kind of a pain to get to. This baby does have a good clutch though. catches in the exact same place every time. I kind of wish it was RWD, but thats wishful thinking. its as close as you can get to having a miata that you can haul people in

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  Fun - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By Nickohos - April 25 - 2:00 am

  I love the way my car feels when I drive it because it handles like a dream. What the Protege5 lacks in power compared to its competitors, it more than makes up for in torque and excellent handling. I test drove quite a few cars and none of them were as fun to drive as the Mazda.

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  Fun, practical, but also sluggish - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By Jason Dee - June 7 - 10:00 am

  Car is fun to drive, but desperately needs a turbo. Acceleration is slow, and I found the fuel milage to be lower than expected...but handles better than anticipated. The 4-spd auto trans w/manual mode is slow to shift, but still fun to drive. Its a fun commuter car, and a great car for the price. The dealer offered several great incentives.

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  Fun, this is it!!! - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By miamor - March 14 - 10:00 am

  I bought the vivid yellow, auto with moonroof. Car gets lots of looks on the road. Car is not as comfortable as Id like or fuel efficient, but the price was right with the rebates. I figure I couldnt wait until December for the Mazda 3 to come out.

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  Great car - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By ND_mazda - January 1 - 8:40 pm

  I have owned quite a few vehicles and this is one of the best Ive owned. Its comfortable with a good amount of sportiness in it. There are a lot of stuff I can add to it to make it look better and have more fun with it. Very good car with not many problems. Have driven 16 hours straight with it about 5 times with no problems. Couldnt ask for better unless it could fly.

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  Fun to Drive & Keep!!! - 2003 Mazda Protege5
  By SS in AZ - October 19 - 11:13 am

  Purchased new 12-2002 after 350000+ miles on a 1991 Mazda Protege LX. No mechanical problems with the engine in this car!!!Only had to replace lock motor for $400.00. I use Mobil 1 and stay on top of the maintenance. Fun to Drive but you need to keep the tires aligned and rotated or they will be worn in a year.