stocker

yes, but still above industry average, and all the cars above it produce the same types of vehicles at higher prices.

fandsw

That's the Ford factor.....for all the reliable Proteges, Protege5s, Miatas, and Millenias Mazda sells they also sell Pickups, Tributes, and MPVs, all of which are HEAVY in Ford content. If you threw those out I would bet Mazda's ranking would increase dramatically.

pr5owner

to those bitching about the protege, go DRIVE A FOCUS!! the focus has had like.. what.. 7 recalls?

99Silverbullet

Ok look at those Rating. You are calling Ford Crap, but Mercury and Lincoln are above average and above MAZDA. What the hell is a Mercury and Lincoln? A FORD! Maybe it has something to do with the type of person Driving the cars. When was the last time you saw a Buick LeSabre or a GS 300 at the Track? Grandpa Drives Lexus, Buick, Honda, Lincolns and such.

Now I am not saying that is the only factor. I have had problems with my Mustang and My Passat. Ony a couple of problems with my Protege and non where serious.

The Ford Factor my ***! I drove a 93 Escort for over 100K and it was never in the shop. All rotine maintence done by me. I sold it to some 16 year old girl in my Neighborhood and she is still driving the think with close to 200K and it doesn't smoke at all.

I love my Passat, but it has had 2 coilpacks replaced and one fuel pump replaced in less the 5K miles. Hope it doesn't keep it up.

The fact is that every company sends out some bad ones, some more than others, but you can't just say all the car from a company are crap!

jaje

i own a honda and i'm not a grandpa...you're generalizing just as bad as the person you are accusing

Mach 1

Lmao..any quality survey that has Buick rated higher than Nissan isnt worth the paper its printed on. Please people...use some good judgement when taking every survey or magazine recommendation as gospel...their not, far from it actually.

To the originator of this thread...yeah, my protege has lots of wind noise, the engine revs very high when cruising at highway speeds, the paint doesnt appear to be very good(this is a problem on a LOT of cars, not just Mazda) , it has a couple rattles here and there.

It also gets great gas mileage, handles extremely well, and is very reliable.

Its a cheap econmy car and is priced as such. It is a compromise.

You want BMW 5 series quality at a Mazda price tag. Well, step into reality for just a moment please. We would all like that, but its not going to happen.

You are self admittedly very picky about quality, and that is OK, but dont expect perfection from a low end car. Thats just not logical.

I would also recommend against VW. The jap cars are clearly better built than European cars and American cars. This is no secret, and it is the truth.

I have seen more VW's broken down than anything. In fact, everybody I ever knew who ever owned a VW has had problems with it.

My recommendation to you is to buy a Honda. They are one of if not the best cars on the road, however, you will pay more for a Honda than you will for a Mazda. But for someone as picky as you, a couple thousand more should be easily justifiable.

swank

Before my P5, I had a 92 Ford Escort Wagon (purchased new).

Drove it for 10 years, 185K, with no serious problems, only routine maintenance (tires, 1 timing belt, a clutch/rear main seal job, tie rod ends). That's it.

Ford Factor seems to be exaggerated, or else I got the anti-lemon.

Mach 1

Ford factor is tthe most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Ford happens to make some of the best cars on the road.

carguycw

I've been mostly trying to stay out of this debate, but let me make a couple of points...

(1) About the J.D. Power survey... keep in mind that this is a survey of new car owners' PERCEPTION of quality and satisfaction. It has little to do with the actual quality of the vehicle, and more to do with how the vehicle meets the new owner's expectations.

For instance, take Lincoln/Mercury. Both brands tend to be bought by older buyers who have always owned American cars. Hence, their expectations are lower because they probably remember the truly dreadful junk that the U.S. car industry sold in the 70's and 80's, and compared to that, a new Town Car is a HUGE improvement in EVERY way. Compare that to someone who may buy an Altima. Their last car may have been an 88 Accord; hence, the Altima is less of a step upwards in quality. Is a Town Car higher quality than an Altima? Maybe not, but the new owner THINKS it is better.

(2) Several people are talking about how great the 90-96 Escort was, and how it proves that not all Fords suck. Your are aware that this car is a restyled variant of the 90-94 Protege, right? It's a MAZDA, folks.

Mach 1

Ford has had some less than stellar cars, but also has produced some excellent vehicles. When compared to the big three american companies (ford, GM, Mopar) I think Ford wins hands down. When comapred to Jap cars, they come in second place, with the rest of the cars on the road.

I think most people are aware of the escort and protege ties. They are not identical, but the basic platform was the same.

jaje

since we are on teh ford debate...wasn't the last generation escort all mazda except for the badging?..the escorets before that one were absolute garbage but the last generation was a stellar jump in quality and fun behind the wheel

Mach 1

The last generation escort had a 2.0 liter engine that was made by ford. How is that 100% mazda?

carguycw

Actually, the last 2 generations of Ford Escort (90-96 and 97+) both have significant Mazda genes, but neither of them are 100% Mazda.

The 90-96 Escort shared its chassis with the 90-94 BG Protege, and the 16-valve DOHC engine in the Escort GT and LX-E was the same BP engine found in the Protege LX. However, both cars had unique Ford interiors and bodywork, and base 1.9L engine was all Ford.

The 97+ Escorts have the same chassis as the 90-96 Escort, but were restyled inside and out, and the optional engine became the 2.0L Ford Zetec instead of the 1.8L Mazda BP.

sage11x

^ is that a ZIPZAP!?

also... KHH, I wasn't actually refering to your post, was refering to dean80 and others- sorry for the misunderstanding.

Hey, how 'bout a thread about the proteges positives? (coming from me that's ironic I know)

99Silverbullet

The 93 escort with the 1.9L engine was a FORD engine. We are not talking about performance, we were talking about reliability. I was just calling BS when the guy that said the reason the protege was not ranked high in reliability was because Ford owns alot of the company now. The person I was commenting on called it the "FORD FACTOR". I was just calling him on that. I have owned both and currently OWN both!

If you look in Consumer Reports there are certain cars that have low reliability. For some reason they seem to be Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, Corvettes. There counterparts in the industry like the Tarus, Impala, and others rank right around and above average for the industry.


Some people buy cars to drive the crap out of them. I bet if you took the reliability of Honda Civic for the owner age group 16-24 the reliability would be lower than the average. Look at the demographics of car ownership and the higher the average age of the owner the reliability seens to go up.

This DOES NOT explain all of the differences in reliability. Some cars are more reliable then others, but you also have to look at other factors.