protege buyer with questions
 

Greetings...I am looking at a used 94 DX Protege for my son....Car looks pretty clean, has new tires, exhaust, battery, computer chip, and alternater . The price is $2700 with 76K miles...
I never owned a Mazda before. Has anyone had any significant issues with this model year? Has it been a good car? How many miles do you reasonablly expect to get on an engine.....Is it a car you would put your teenageer in? Thanks for any and all replies!!

I am one of the few posters on this board who has a teenager (two, in fact)instead of being a teenager. A first generation Protege, along with same-period Civics, Corollas and Imprezas woud be my FIRST choice for a teenager. All of these cars are as reliable as a hammer and none has so much power that they would overwhelm a new driver. With reasonable care, you should get 250,000 miles out of any of these cars. Mine has 207,000 (91 DX) and is still going very strong. I like the Protege better than the Civic, Corolla, etc, because it is more "tossable" and responds better than a Corolla, which I also have driven extensively.

Hey Finprof, count me as one of the few with teenagers.
One loves driving the 91 Escort, which I would have to add to your
list of great economy cars of the early 90s.

94protege, please read my thread "Odometer reading & year?".
Just scan down a few from the top. Many people gave rundowns
along with repair history. Finprof had a great contibution to that
thread.

Really enjoy my 90' Protege. It's a super car.

Best Regards

[QUOTE=Gro Harlem]2700 is ludicrous for a base model protege, even if it has lower mileage. QUOTE]
That is a very good point. When it was new that car sold fo $10-12K depending on options. I bought my 91 DX new for $10,000 (exactly) plus tax.

Mazdas depreciate more rapidly than Civics or Corollas, so you can buy a used Protege cheaper than either of them, if age and mileage are comparable.

i have a 92 protege lx 1.8 L DOHC and i love it i would not trade it for any thing

i am a teenager, 17 years old and i drive a 91 SOHC 1.8 dx 5 speed. It was my parents and its a good car, has power enough to learn and is a good car to start off with and learn how 2 drive and feel good in a car.

Im also 17, drive a 1991 mazda protege dx 1.8 SOHC 5spd....id drive this car to california and back without a second thought....mines got 116,2++ now....and btw since the one your loooking at has 76 thousand on it.....around 100-105 thousand...expect to replace the clutch/throw out bearing....shouldnt cost more then 800 to do, im doing my replacement in a week or two. by myself...ugh

Only complaint is that im to big for the car..im about 6 foot 1 and...im pretty crammed in there with the seat all the way back. Other then that its a GREAT car and im happy I have one.