Seriously Long Term Car Test - 2002 Mazda Protege 5

I purchased my 2002 Mazda Protege 5 new in June 2002 and as of my writing this I have racked up more than 60,000 miles. The car wasn't my first choice and I was actually at the Mazda dealer to drive a Protege ES sedan but they didn't have one with a manual transmission which was a requirement for me. The salesman suggested that I drive the Protege 5 since it was basically the same and they had some with manual transmissions. Well, after that test drive I decided that I wanted to buy the car. I had previously test drove Honda Civics both new and used as well as some slightly used Accords.

I'd never owned a Mazda and I've always been a big fan of Hondas but the Protege came with so much more than the Civics and Accords for a lower price. The Protege 5 had four wheel disc brakes, 16 inch alloy wheels with sport tires, a front strut tower brace and more horsepower standard than the Civic at a lower price. The suspension on the Protege 5 was also much sportier than the Civic. In fact the Protege 5 may be the best handling front wheel drive car I've ever driven. Plus it's just a hell of a lot of fun to drive for an economy car that cost around $15,000 new.

One of the things I've really come to appreciate about Mazda is that they seem to engineer sportiness into every vehicle they make. That whole ZOOM ZOOM thing isn't a gimmick. Every car they make from the bottom of the line economy car , to the minivans and SUVs, to the sports cars are engineered to be fun to drive. In that respect, I think they are kind of like Japan's version of BMW, or what BMW used to be. I mean, what other car company makes a minivan available with a manual transmission and sport suspension(Mazda 5)?

The 2.0L DOHC 4 cylinder in the Protege only makes 130HP but the gearing in the 5 speed trans makes it seem quicker than it is. Gas mileage is rated at 25city/31hwy and I average about 30mpg on regular unleaded with a daily mix of about 75% highway 25% stop and go driving. On a couple of long road trips I've taken the car has averaged around 33mpg with the A/C cranking.

I don't really have many complaints about the car. The biggest one is probably the manual transmission. The shifter is pretty flimsy and the whole tranny and shifter seem to feel weak and fragile to me. That being said, I haven't had any issues with the tranny at all in the 60,000+ miles I've driven aside from an occasional clutch shudder which is a known issue with the Protege. The car is a bit noisy on the highway where the engine turns about 4000 RPMs at 80MPH, a drawback of the aggressive trans gearing. Road noise and engine noise are very noticeable but I don't really mind. Other than that there is nothing negative to report with this car.

In the 5 years I've owned the car it has never been back to the dealership once. No warranty work needed and only routine maintenance required, which I performed myself. Regular oil and filter changes every 5000 miles with Mobil One oil, tires rotated every 10,000 miles, air filter changed every 10 - 15,000 miles, transmission oil changed once at about 30,000 miles, new tires and alignment at 55,000 miles and I just replaced the front brake rotors as well as front and rear pads at 60,000 miles. That's all that I've needed to do and the car has never let me down. It's still a lot of fun to drive and provides a lot of utility thanks to it's 4 door hatch/wagon styling. The suspension seems to be getting a little tired as it doesn't seem to handle quite as well as it used to. Those wonderful New Jersey roads have taken their toll on the struts. The engine purrs just like new and it has never burned even an ounce of oil.