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Are Mazda Protege cars any good?

I've found a 2002 Mazda Protege with low miles. I was wondering if these cars are very reliable. I am a teenager and I'm looking to fixing this car up. Do these cars make nice cars to fix up?

Public Comments

1. Yes it will be fine.
2. Yes, they are very reliable and great handling cars. I drive mine hard everyday. It is a tough engine. Mine has over 130,000 miles on it. As for the fixing up(tuning), there arent many parts for this car. It was not a popular tuner car. All you can get is a turbocharger from Mazda that was used in the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege. It will make your car give 170HP. With the Mazda Turbo, the car will be faster than a 2003 Honda Civic Si. You could also get a Cold Air Intake and maybe a custom exhaust, but nothing else is sold for this car.
3. My brother has 1999 Mazda 323 which is European name for Protege. It has 1.8 engine (around 120hp) and 220 000 miles on the clock. NOTHING EVER BROKE DOWN or stopped working, aircon, ABS, traction control, airbags... No rust on the chassis or bodywork. The valves had been just readjusted for the first time - it turned out they were fine:-) He kept it pretty much in standard specs, changed oil as recommended and put gas in. For pimp up - check out this site http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2171500 or search the web for "tricked out Mazda protege", you may end up with some interesting ideas. Also, try the www.therpmstore.com , they sell some interesting mazda tuning parts. Have fun.
4. if you asking me ill tell you they are the best i have 2 proteges 2002, one is at my picture the other one is a protege 5 station wagon love those cars ! ! specially the red one :D
5. The Consumer Reports Buyers Guide for 2007 says that the 2002 Protege had great reliability. The 2004 has some problems . The Service department manager at the local Mazda said they were excellent - almost as reliable as the Miata! Consumers also said the 2002 was a good choice for a used car.