2003 Mazda Protege 5 from North America - Comments

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

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.

OK, so your car had a cracked windshield and a loose seatbelt and you're calling it a lemon? Cracked windshields do happen, and your dealer has no way of knowing whether it's a legitimate break or if it was caused by something external (a rock, etc.). This isn't exclusive to Mazda's.

Your other complaints regarding looks, ride performance, etc. etc. are all ones that should have been looked at before you bought the thing. Why did you buy the car if you don't like the way it looks or rides?

Fuel economy in protege's has never been stellar, but 10L/100KM doesn't seem right for highway travel, especially in a 2003...

In addition, check the type of your tires. You may have high performance tires which are not meant for snowy weather, and would impair the grip in rain. It has nothing to do with the weight being "mis-balanced." Just what is a balanced weight then?

Not competitive in handling? I don't see how you can say that. It is one of the BEST handling car I ever have. The responses are great and I can't say the same for the Matrix. And why do you feel compell to name Mazda "Japanese Ford?" Do you even own one and have you checked your VIN lately to see that is it built in JAPAN and engineered by Mazda, not Ford?

You have obviously never driven a Toyota Matrix which is a slug compared to a Protege. Your review is not helpful at all because you don't even know what a lemon is. I'm tired of people on this forum calling cars lemons because they are mad at service for not fixing their chipped windshield or other trivial problems under warranty.

Depends on the Matrix model. My friend has a six speed 180 hp XRS Matrix. Unfortunately, Toyota discontinued it.

He was saying 10l/100km at going at speeds of 120km... most places in canada max is 100/110, best mileage is at around 85-90 last time I checked, stop speeding.

Dealerships can sometimes make or break a vehicle's reputation.

Is the car a lemon or is the dealership the problem? Some of the author's of comments that I have read seem to have difficulty identifying which is which. I just would like to describe a few of my experiences.

I had a friend who was a mechanic. He worked on Saab, Subaru and a range of British made vehicles including Jags, Land Rovers, Minis, MGBs and others. He was sent to Toronto every year to update his knowledge and expertise. It usually worked out to about a week or two per company. He did indicate to me that with all of the companies there was a common theme. "YOU WORK FOR THE COMPANY, NOT FOR THE CUSTOMER".

This carried through to attitudes in the shop, one of which was for example "If you can afford a Saab, you can afford to fix it."

This dealership is probably typical. I have overheard mechanics talking at a Subaru dealership where they had just sold someone a muffler that he did not need and they were gloating about it. My own experience at this dealership: I had previously purchased a new car from them. The transmission was manual and when the car was delivered it had a lubricating solvent in place of regular transmission oil, which was to be replaced at 1000 km. I took my vehicle in for the 1000 km servicing and among other things the lubricating solvent was changed as it should have been...NOT. At about 30,000 km my transmission oil was gold, from the premature wear of brass components in the transmission (I later had to use a thicker transmission oil to stop the rattling). Another thing. I also discovered that who I presume to be one of their mechanics had stuffed some paper towels in my air intake. I am not sure what that was suppose to do other than make the car a bit sluggish and perhaps carbon up the engine, but they sure got me on the transmission oil.

I was sold a new car by another dealership (Subaru Loyal) and after the three year warranty was up and I started to hear knocks in my engine I found out form a joe blow mechanic working for himself that there may have been something seriously wrong with the engine at some time in the past. The block was painted blue. I subsequently found out that this (blue colour) is required by law when a block is replaced or at least worked on (I am not sure of all the details, but I am sure that many who use this site and are Canadian will know more about the details). I had not been informed of this when I bought the car.

So why did I buy more than one Subaru? I guess I liked the cars and the few problems that I had with them, although serious, were more of a dealership issue. I do not own one now as I went to a different company because the Subaru dealership where I live (Sudbury) did not have a good reputation (just from talking with Subaru owners in the area, and from the attitude of the dealership when I inquired about purchasing a vehicle from them - a direct quote was "I don't have time to waste. Come back when you are ready to buy"). If I had lived in North Bay or somewhere else things may have been different. I may have had my 5th Subaru.

Note that, at a car show in Toronto where Subaru had a showing I had the opportunity to talk to a Japanese representative of Subaru about some of the issues that I had with the dealerships. He was extremely unpleased and had a very difficult time hiding his anger.

I now drive a 2003 Mazda Protege.

To the original poster, It sounds very much like you have no clue about what is going on.