Repair items, all within a 13 month period:
02/27/06 - 103,382km - Front exhaust pipe
05/26/06 - 110,000km - Ignition Coil
07/07/06 - 114,298km - A/C Pressure Switch/repair
03/16/07 - 134,454km - EGR Valve
03/23/07 - 136,017km - Transmission and clutch.
Total cost - $2283.82.
In addition to the above, I also have an unidentifiable noise in the front end when accelerating in a turning position from standstill.
Plastic on this car is frail - plastic at base of windshield and windows chips very easily if scraping ice (I'm very careful to avoid any contact), hubcaps are cracked/chipped and one is missing.
Shifting still feels stiff to me, especially 2nd gear (I've driven four other older vehicles with standard transmissions that all shifted much easier)
Car is fun to drive, when it runs properly, but I can't believe the repair costs lately. I'm almost afraid to continue driving it at this point as it has emptied my bank account.
Wow, I have to say I am quite surprised that all of these things happened on a Mazda. I assume that you did all of the required maintenance on it. Goes to show that no car maker is perfect.
Wow. That's a lot of money to shell out. In a way I can feel your pain. I have a 2001 LX 2.0, auto trans. Mazda had to replace my transmission before I had 1,000 miles on the car, it had a torque converter shaft seal leak the dealer just couldn't fix--and it was a minor leak--maybe a quarter size puddle in a 7 day period--which is no big deal if the car was used, but it was brand new so they replaced the whole tranny. My main gripe is there is no Chilton or Haynes manual available for this car--the only one available is one from Mazda and it costs 145.00 USD. The car has 101,000 miles on it now and it is going to need a timing belt and oxygen sensors, and a hand full of other parts which will add up to about 500 bucks. The car has performed flawlessly otherwise--paint and plastic on this car are frail. Does not take much to chip paint, but I find this is the case with any manufacturer these days. This is my second Mazda--I had the Protege's predecessor, the 323, and I drove the wheels off of that car--over 350,000 miles on the first engine, 100,000 on the second before I got rid of it. I plan on keeping my Protege for at least 3 more years because it is cheaper to maintain it compared to having a 350.00 car payment which I just cannot swallow financially right now.
Well, I can say that I LOVE this car. I drive it hard and fast, and I have had absolutely no problems with it. I do maintain my car well though, so perhaps you guys just need to take better care of your cars...
ORIGINAL POSTER FOLLOW UP...
Car is limping along at 162k - running terrible again and CEL came back on so back to mechanic tonight. I suspect (hope) that it's just another coil pack issue....
Shifts like an old bus and has difficulty engaging on occasion. More funny noises, but not worth spending money on. At this point I'll just take my chances to keep this thing safe and running without breaking the bank if possible.
My next car will probably be a Toyota.
Following up on my last post, the CEL was indeed caused by another coil pack. It's been 12k km since then, and the CEL has come back on yet again...
At least my radio still works to drown out the front-end grinding and clunking noises the car makes (although the CD player is getting finicky and the LCD display is burning out).
At least my mechanic says the car is still safe to drive despite the noise - if anything, this vehicle is a good income source for him.
Unfortunate your repair costs so high. I just sold my 2001 Protege ES, low miles. The 1st noise you reported is likely worn out stabilizer links. I had to have mine replaced before selling. My high cost repairs: brakes. Otherwise no problems.
Regarding the post above, the stabilizer links were indeed one of the problems and I had these replaced. The car still grinds a fair bit on acceleration, even though the rear rotors were serviced as well. It jerks when braking so I suspect the front rotors are also shot (although mechanic says it's safe to drive). It squeaks in the back end, so I think the rear struts may be gone. In addition, it has just started to shudder when driving at highway speeds.
CEL stays on all the time now and mechanic says the Cat Converter is on the way out. Again. It was replaced once around 110 km under warranty and less than 70 km later, it's toasted - this, despite my vigilance in replacing the last coil pack as soon as it began acting up.
Seeing as the Cat will cost about $1200.00, adding in the brake, suspension, and who knows what else to try and fix all the noises and shudders, it isn't worth it anymore. There's too many unknowns going on with the thing to warranty dumping endless cash - at 178 km, the car is worth little more than scrap and I'll probably be trading it in shortly, realizing I won't get much for it.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site