2003 Mazda Protege ES review from North America

Nothing really major has gone wrong with the car. I've always been satisfied with Mazda. I do like their cars. However, every Mazda I've owned (3 of them), have experienced some kind of Transmission problems. Specifically, my 2003 Protege ES is experiencing a puzzling problem. It is a tiptronic automatic transmission. It changes gears very well in both automatic and manual. No slipping. However when in the 4th gear, the rpms "jump". It happens between 1500-3100 rpms. It wouldn't jump that high, just a few hundred rpms, but it's a sudden, and constant jump. If I'm driving below 60km/h and above 120km/h, there is no problem. My mechanic (a genius), is very puzzled. He thinks it's not the transmission, but the ignition coils. If anyone has ever experienced this problem, your input and advice will be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

This car is great. Could be better on fuel economy. I think they should've stuck with the smaller engine, but tweak that a little more. Handling is better than earlier Mazdas.