1990 Mazda Protege LX review from North America

Seat belt buzzer (driver side only) goes off a lot. I had tried to fix it when first noticed, and dealer said "couldn't reproduce" but still charged me for the check. years later it turned out to be a recall situation, but I never bothered.

Retracted seat belts are hard to retrieve as the plastic clip that keeps them from rolling back into the socket are broken (front seats only) so sometimes front passenger needs help getting it out (it slips behind their visible grasp).

The battery died twice, but I assumed it was a fault in my aftermarket car alarm shorting out in cold/wet weather (Boston).

(A girlfriend had a car accident once that still leaks water in trunk, so I really really hate the Boston dealer and I am SO glad they went out of business, but I still love my car 100k+)

Had to replace a couple tires more than once, which of course is perhaps more the roads, but still that was a problem I never had before.

I wore out the radio buttons and replaced it with a $300 Alpine CD player and haven't blown out the factory speakers yet (laughing), though I did break the speakers once when putting stuff in the trunk with the back seats down.

I really love this car. Of all the small, affordable cars out there, this one was the best (1991) and I love it despite the above problems.

I am 6'2" and can fit in any seat in the 4-door car, which was important to me to be sure I got a car that would be comfortable for all passengers.

The acceleration is great, a little short in 1st gear, but 2d (and up) is awesome and you can ride that up to red line if you are wanting to clear out.

Great suspension, turns great, solid ride.

I promise you, if you hate Volkswagen drivers and their attitude, this is a great car to make them wish they bought a Protege instead, the 125hp screams and they can't touch you.

In terms of style, the interior is really nice (I have the LX model, which in 91 was the top of the line one, they've changed the designations over the years).

Car space is amazing, with seats down you can fill the car with lots of stuff--I've moved a few times and people can never believe how much stuff I can move in my car! It's very deceptive. I read once it had the same size as the Mercedes, but more interior space.

Enough said!