Hello Everyone,

I am considering purchasing a '03 White or Midnight Blue with Leather P5 at the end of this year. I currently have a '99 Nissan Sentra GXE Limited Edition with 20k miles which I will be trading in for the P5 or a '03 Civic EX Coupe. My question is how is the reliability and the wear of the interior. Because I sold my Accord to get the Sentra and the car has been in the shop 7 times!
The interior is very cheap, the seats and carpets are terrible in wear.
That is why I am deciding to either go get a Protege5 or a Civic EX Coupe. My question to all members is what things should I look out for, if there are any problems with the Protege?

I do find myself leaning towards the P5 because of it's good looks compared to the dull Civic!

 

I think both Honda and Mazda have very reliable technic. I know both cars rust but definitely Mazdas don't rust as bad as Hondas. But this is only for old cars so maybe it's not an issue. Nobody knows how good / bad reliabily is for these new models, we'll see it in 5-10 years. My Pro1 has now 140k miles and no problems...
Gen3 has 30k miles and one broken abs-sensor and driver's seat fixed. That's all for it.

 

I looked at both before buying my Pro5. The Civic is boring and underpowered. Consumer Reports gave the Protege a High Above Average reliability rating and the new Civic only got an average rating.

 

Civic versus Mazda reliability

I've owned several cars and keep track of their reliability. I've owned a sentra xe and sold it at 40k with fatal tranny problems.

I've owned 5 different hondas and only a 94 accord i had has problems (after checking shops and dealers in their area i found out that several major services were not done and the car was abused)...my 1st honda an 85 prelude had 250k on it before i sold it b/c of rust...my crx hf has 306k miles on it...i bought an si engine rebuilt it and swapped it in 6k miles ago and dedicated it to racing only (120whp in a 1500lb car). we have a 2k1 civic ex sedan with side airbags. it's our family car and mainly used by my wife and for long distance travelling.

we just bought a pr5 last sunday. it's a really nice car and our first mazda...i'm slightly apprehensive b/c mazda is 33% owned by ford which made the pinto and the explorers that killed so many people

just my thoughts from 3 days with the pr5...the windows go up at their own rate (i.e. the rear passenger side window closes slower than the drivers side passenger window)...even the passenger side front window doesn't close at the same rate as the drivers side...at around 4-5k i feel some sort of a hesitation in the engine and at its first oil change i will ask about it...i'm hoping an intake i just ordered will solve that problem b/c i did take out the resonator piping which i think causes a disrupt in airflow...however, stock my wifes civic with an auto is faster...i easily beat her off the line but once her engine spools up and vtec kicks in she pulls quite easily (all she has is an intake)...the 2.0 dohc in this car is pretty weak at upper rpms...i've learned to shift around 5k b/c power drops off rapidly after that and well before the redline

other than these quirks it's been a really good car...i love the way it looks and we needed a wagon and the only other honda that compared was the civic si which only had 2 doors (baby seats are a pain with a 2 door)

as for pricing...mazda has the 0% for 48mos and no 1st pymt until jan 03...which was a big factor...the dealer though was unwilling to negotiate on price b/c they sell quickly especially with that financing...i'm also worried about resale value b/c of 0% offers on new cars

for the good things...the car handles like its on rails...the touter suspension and larger wheels make if very confident to drive...i have yet to get it on a summit point to see how well it does at the limit...i get lots of looks and my neighbors have come over to talk to me about it

 

That is the trouble I am having right now with my Sentra, the car does not want to go into first gear smoothly without grinding it into gear. The car is still under warranty, but I am getting nowhere with the Nissan service department! Each time I bring it in they tell me that they find no problems!! B.S!!

I have had it with Nissan and their bullsh#t, that is why I am either going to go back to only Honda's or try the P5.
(crossing fingers)

 

I was worried about this too until I thought about it some:[list=1][*]The P5 is manufactured in Japan and imported.[*]It takes years to design a car. My guess (and hope) is that the design and testing occured prior to Ford being able to screw something up.[*]I test drove it and loved the handling. [/list=1]

 

i had this, then i put in my AEM short ram intake and it solved the problem...no more hesitation at high RPM's

 

Here's my input. I've been driving Honda products since 1975 (1st gen Civic was my first Honda), and have been happy with all 5 of them, so I was a little nervous when we ended up deciding on a P5 for my wife earlier this year. But we had done our research, and the P5s are made in Japan (Ford had nothing to do with this car in terms of content), and the test drive suggested tightness and quality. Anyways, after 4 months, we are 100% happy with the P5, it has not had a single problem, and the car is still a blast to drive. P.S. I think Sentras are made in Mexico which scared me away from even looking at them

 

That is the EXACT same reason why I bought the P5. After owning various Hondas for the last decade, I decided to jump ship and try one out. I was very impressed.

 

Owned a Sentra too (built in Smyrna Tennessee), mine was a great car, lasted 145k miles. I traded it in for a Protege way back when, it was the best car I ever owned. When I got married, we kept my wife's Toyota Corrolla and bought an Isuzu Trooper for our kids transport.

When Corrolla started dying this Spring, we started test driving cars. We drove Civics, Volvo's V40 wagon, the Corolla ('02 & '03), and the Protege5. Here is our breakdown:

Civic was very nice, but boring. It does everything well, nothing great. Dealer wouldn't budge too much off MSRP (ah yes, the Honda mystique!).

Volvo V40, nice as well but overpriced for what we wanted. It has also had some reliability issues.

Corolla came in like the Civic. Decent dealing on the '02s, but MSRP for the '03.

The Protege5 drives much more like a sports car than the others, has good room (even for two car seats plus assorted toys/bags) and comes with enough standard options to make anyone happy. I was impressed with the handling, the breaking (4 wheel discs without ABS for us), the pep of the engine, and the styling. I also liked the fact that here in Chicago area the dealers would work with you on pricing if you took one from stock. We bought ours for $1300 less than MSRP with no rebate and took the 0% financing. According to Intellichoice and Edmunds, we paid about $150-200 less than TMV or recent sales prices.

Bottom line, this car is fun to drive and the Protege engine is pretty bulletproof. I expect to have this car for a long time.

Good luck with your choice, if you go to buy the Protege bring in the TMV, and Intellichoice Invoices to help you negotiate.

Tetonman

 

Well, I did a no-no over the weekend
First off I am not flaming..

I went out this weekend to test drive new cars. I decided to test drive the P5 and to skip the Civic and test drive a brand new 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R. I decided to try the Nissan out because I thought maybe Nissan got their sh*t together on build quality since I purchased my '99 Sentra new.

I went to the Nissan dealer first:
this is what I test drove:
2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R Black with an Automatic transmission and with the sunroof package.
My first reaction was that the interior was just about the same size as my current Sentra but the quality of materials being used this time was improved. THANK GOD!!
Since I knew the fleet manager he let me take it out for a spin by myself, which I thought was pretty cool.
As I just am about to exit the parking lot I hit the gas and my first reaction is "OH, My god this thing flies"

Remember I am not flaming but after that test drive I didn't go to the Mazda dealership to test drive a P5.
I am hoping that this weekend I will do so, so that I can see the differences on the two.
By the way, I was quoted $18,538 out the door. Is this around the same price as the P5 out the door?

 

You can get the P5 at a better price. Remember also that they are having their 0% for 4 years and the 1st year with no payments. So that makes 5.

 

Well, I have decided that this winter I will be purchasing a '03 White P5 with the Sport-Matic transmission. I have been researching the '02-'03 SE-R and the reliability has not been that great. One of the major problems is that the 2.5 4-cyl eats oil like crazy and must be monitored. The paint is also a major problem it seems to break off easy.

I am really excited to take delivery of my new P5 this winter and to say bye bye to my '99 Sentra!

 

Great Choice...

I also looked at the sentra SE-R...but when I read their forum for that vehicle, I was not impressed. It seems that the vehicle loves to eat a lot of oil during the break-in period. (They estimate a quart...a freak'n quart)...this is one of the major reasons why I went with the P5...easier to predict.

 

Haha. how ironic

I also have a 2002 Nissan Sentra Se-R Spec-V

It is tied with one of the best cars i have ever owned, (other one being the Protege5.)

U say the sentras eat a lot of oil during the break in period. Thats only applicable to a certain amount.

For the record, mine does NOT have oil consumption problems.
So do'nt talk crap about a car you don't own, or have no previous experience in.

Thats like me saying "yeah the protege5s suck, all they do is chip, and make really weird noises at startup!"