2003 Mazda Protege 5 review from North America

The windshield cracked during the winter right above the heating vents and the dealership wouldn't fix it (maybe just in Canada) giving stupid excuse that it does happen, but only during the first couple month and since it happened a year later it must be some kind of stone that hit it first. Stupid excuse... On the other occasion I asked the dealership to fix the loose seatbelt, but was told to “live with it” because it what happens to them over the time (never saw this problem in the cars that are less than 10 years old). Anyway, at least this problem was fixed on the 3rd visit to a different dealership.

As for performance:

1) it takes about 10 liters of gas for 100 km on the highway if you go 120 km/h, which as high as for 8 years old American 6 cylinder car…

2) the weight is so mis-balanced, that the front (running) wheels don’t get a good grip on the road under snow, ice and rain conditions.

3) ergonomics and the way it built is not as comfortable as for many other cars.

This car is not competitive in performance and handling and does not really worth your money in the long run.

If you want to compare it to other Japanese cars, you can take Toyota Matrix for the SAME PRICE, but with much better performance and better workmanship.

Final decision: will never buy this Japanese "Ford" anymore in my life.