Used 2003 Mazda Protege Consumer Reviews
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Best car I have owned, hate to see it go
Peter, 04/04/2010
2003 Mazda Protege LX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
I have owned the Mazda Protege LX for seven years now, I purchased the vehicle in 2004 with only 20k for the mileage and I currently have over 195K on the vehicle now. Besides normal wear and tear parts that you expect to wear out, I haven't put more than like $100.00 into this vehicle. I always changed my oil regularly and did other minimal scheduled maintenance like filters, plugs, trans fluid, etc....and this vehicle owes me nothing. The gas mileage was good, I was getting about 28mpg on the highway and about 22 to 24mpg city depending on how fast I was driving. I also put sporty aggressive tires on it and it greatly improved the driveablitity, I put the Yokahoma "S" Drive tire on
03 Mazda Protege ES - 5 speed
03 Mazda Protege ES, 08/09/2008
2003 Mazda Protege ES 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
This really is a great solid little car. Fun to drive! Very reliable, always starts, never needs repairs. The ES has several added features, alloy wheels, power sun roof, spoiler, 4 wheel disc brakes. NICE! I have the five speed and it helps the gas mileage about 5 mpg over the automatic. Get about 27 in town if I drive it right! Car is tight, and everything always works. If your looking for a (not too) small, and dependable car that gets good mileage, this is it. I've had Hondas and the Mazda is very comparable. I can't say there's much I would change on the car, except the 5th speed overdrive design. (not enough difference between 4th and 5th speed). Brakes are excellent.
Awesome Little Car
Flaming Moe, 09/12/2002
2003 Mazda Protege ES 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
This is a great little Car. I tried all of the other cars in it's class, and I found this in a league of it's own. I can't believe that some people buy a Cavalier over this little gem. You are getting half the car!!!
Simply the best compact car ever!
Brett Hall, 08/12/2005
2003 Mazda Protege ES 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
The 2003 Mazda Protege ES has been one of the very best cars I've ever driven or owned. It is rock solid, fun to drive, sporty (power and looks), and gets great gas mileage. I've heard that the Mazda 3 is even better, and without a doubt that will be the next car I purchase. I've driven the 2003 Honda Civic, 2003 Toyota Corolla, 2003 Hyundai Elantra, and a couple of domestics. I'd rank them as follows: 1. Mazda Protege 2. Toyota Corolla 3. Honda Civic 4. any domestic compact 5. Hyundai Elantra If there is a weakness of the sporty Protege ES, it would be that the Honda and Toyota are more comfortable to drive on long trips. We prefer to take our mivivan on such trips.
Mazdas worst car.
thejackal86, 09/08/2012
2003 Mazda Protege DX 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
6 of 10 people found this review helpful
The transmission went out early on, which started a chain reaction of other problems months to follow. This car was nothing more than a money pit and certainly not one worth investing in. I've replaced just about everything in the car besides the engine, which I hear is something Mazda actually does fairly well. I ended up finally trading the car in at around 153k miles. It seems like a lot, but not considering maintenance costs. In addition to the reliability issues, the interior was cheap and started to literally fall apart. Poor mpg as well. The only positive thing I can say about the car is that it was kind of fun to drive and had nice acceleration. It felt like a go-kart.