2003 Mazda Protege User Reviews

Good Small Car — Sporty, handles well (except in snow and ice), reliable, and roomy for a small car. Road noise is a bit loud though. Gas mileage is between 20-30 MPG. Haven't had much maintenance other than standard maintenance, maybe a water pump replacement and some hoses needed to be replaced

Primary Use: Commuting to work

Great Go Around Car. Safe. Reliable. — Cheap, reliable and safe. Needs to be avoided for people who need speed. Great sedan, good-looking car. great manoeuvrability, good acceleration for a 2.0L. Some parts are cheap, some are overly expensive. Easily customizable. Very fun to drive especially with 17'' 18'' wheels.

Primary Use: Commuting to work

Good Little Cars, If You Check It Over Well It Should Be Reliable. — Really reliable little cars, if well taken care of. Relatively inexpensive for parts. The performance is lackluster, but what do you expect for a 4door and 4cylinder. Mileage is a little lower than you might expect, only around 25mpg. AWESOME in the snow, hard to get stuck. Fun to drive, handles very well, especially for front-wheel-drive. Slight bit of torque-steer, due to the low gear ratio's in the lower gears.

Primary Use: Family transportation

General Review Fo My Car — I purchased this car 30K miles used, my first used car purchase, in mid-2005. It now has almost 90K miles and has enjoyed a couple road trips across country and survived a flooded parking lot at work where I was able to limp it out of the drink while other cars were left totaled. Overall, it's been a good car. Air con and temperature controls failed under warranty. Original owner told me no warranty work was required while he had it. Three power door lock mechanisms have died this year, but they're mounted near the bottom of the doors and I suspect they died a delayed death due to water exposure in the flood. Driver-side window also expired, last year. Replaced the brake pads around 65K. When you buy an inexpensive compact you're gonna have to deal with price-oriented compromises and this is no exception. It's the perfect compact for me, though, as its lows are mildy in the arena of ride quality and amenities, and especially in sound deadening, but that money was spent on making it athletic. 4-wheel-disc brakes (ES trim only), front and rear sway bars, taut tuning to the 4-wheel-independent suspension. The car's very responsive, and I view that as a requirement when procuring one. It has a little push to the balance, which is probably for the best on public roads. I autocross raced it a few times in '08 and very much lamented the lack of a limited slip differential (and RWD!) leaving the corners with the hammer down, but it eats up back roads like as though the boys at Mazda custom designed it to do so (and maybe they did) and is a blast to drive otherwise. Very good handling, exceptional braking, but only adequate acceleration. It has a very lightweight, athletic feel to it. It came shod in pretty worn OEM Dunlop "ultra high performance" all-seasons, which I never got near that mileage out of from the Khumos of the same rating I'd driven since. I'm a damned spirited driver, though! Now switching to Pirelli's for a little extra $$. All in all it's been a good car, reliable, pretty efficient, and an absolute driver's car as long as said driver looks for balanced performance rather than straight-line thrills. I recommend also looking at the newer Mazda 3 if you're looking for a used car and have the funds to buy one, simply because Proteges are old enough that finding a low-mileage one is unlikely and you'll never know how the previous owner maintained it. Nitpick: The fold-down sun visors are annoyingly inept. Move it to block the sun at your left and take a left corner hard -- and fix your hair when it swings in and hits your head. Even Car and Driver expressed annoyance at them back in the day!

Primary Use: Commuting to work

It's Just A Good Little Car, If That's What Your Into... — This is a solid little plain car. It was like putting on a glove driving this car because of the previously owned 323! It's a tad more powerful (if you want to call it that! lol) But it's so darned cute and handles exactly how I want a standard enjine to handle. I'm disappointed with the mazda 3 as popular as it is. I had to chance to drive it and I didn't love it. Also what was up with the lack of view. How did the small car suddenly feel big? Is that what people want? I can't see out the damn rear window or over the hood. Although more power!! lol! I'll be sad when this protege goes, I like the old fashion standards, not semi automatics (it's really an automatic folks) and not steering wheel shifting. Those are for driver wannabes! I like to DRIVE.

Primary Use: Commuting to work