Well, after long delibration on my part, I think I'm going to be buying a new or slightly used Protege or P5. I was originally going to buy a used 4th gen Nissan Maxima, but I think I've ruled that out. My thinking is that I can either make the Protege as fast if not faster than a maxima, or the more likely of the two keep the new car pretty much 'stock', and drop a KL-ZE into my 323. I plan on keeping the 323 not only as a project car, but it will be cheaper to have both cars insured. So I'm looking for something quicker, and I safely assume a new car will feel a lot quicker than my car. Protege's aren't fast, but I don't expect them to be.

So.... I'm not going to be buying real soon, probably the earliest would be January or so. Does anyone know when they'll be running the 0% APR thing again? Yes, I know it's on now, but I want to save enough for a sizeable down payment. Plus I'm not sure what my taxes are going to look like this year.

Next, I don't really have a preference between a P5 or a regular Pro. They are both hella sweet. Unless I can find a really good deal on a P5, I'd probably save a few grand and get the protege.

All I'm looking for is a ES with moonroof and 5spd. The come with CD players stock, right? I don't care for the 6 disc changer, I'd never use it even if it IS in the dash. What could I be expecting to pay? I've looked at the dealer around here, and they seem to be hovering in the $16k-$17.5k range, which seems a bit high to me for a small car. Maybe I'm just an old-timer (20 year old, hehe). How about the price difference for a similarly equipped P5? Has anyone gotten a Pro and regretted getting a P5 or vice versa?

I haven't gone out and driven one yet, because if I do, I know I'd want to get one right away. Anyways, I just thought I'd let you guys know.

 

Cars Direct. $13700 for an ES. without options in southern california

 

I paid slight over 17 for my ES and it came with a CD player and with the sport transmission. I didn't think it was too bad of a deal

 

I paid 14,500 for a 2002 ES with moonroof and five speed
Msrp was 15,500. Comes with CD player I believe all models do
now. In North Carolina though. I went in with a decent
size down payment any good dealership should give it to you
for a good price. It should be 1000 cheaper with the manual too.

 

I paid about $16,600 out the door for my P5. You'll love it. Put a KL-ZE in a P5. that would be great!!

 

I'm kind of wavering away from the P5 towards a sedan... My biggest fear with the sedan is that I'm not going to be happy with the exterior styling after a year or two and want to drop some cash on a body kit, whereas the P5 looks perfect just the way it is. The lack of a front strut tower bar isn't a biggie as they are relatively inexpensive, but then there's the Mazdaspeed axle-back exhaust that doesn't quite fit the sedans... [Part of my plan is to NOT bitch about paying the MSRP, but walk out of there with some nice accessories including the MS exhaust...] But you have to admit that the Mazdaspeed Proteges and MP3's look daammm fine... It would be nice to mod a sedan to that level...

Heh, I'll probably end up wavering until the day someone takes my truck off my hands, and then I'll have to make a decision in a hurry... At least I will have considered all my options, and it will likely come down to what the dealers have on their lots

 

either/or, i like both. or maaaybe you can hold off for 2 months more and grab an rx8...

 

Nah, that's too much car for me. I'm going to use this as basically a commuter car. I'm really into this getting a protege thing now, but I have a feeling that the dealer's are going to try and bone me. There are very few mazda dealers around here. I guess if my car is still running good by then, I'll keep saving money and maybe I'll find something I'd like more.

 

Thanks for your input I agree, there are a lot of negatives about Maxima's, but they are very impressive in terms of performance sedans for your dollar.

I went to look at some pro's yesterday, and there was a 2001 ES (i'm assuming, it was used) for sale. It was light blue, and it was 5spd. I'm not sure if it had the moonroof or not (which I'd like to get). It looked really nice, but there was no one around so I couldn't take a closer look. Today after work I think I'm going to go back and look, see if I can take it for a test drive.

 

i won't tell if you give me a ride!

 

There was no bleu ES offered in 2001, the only blue sedans was the MP3. In fact there was no light blue car in third gens protege. Only the laser blue from the MP3 in 2001 and the P5 in 2003 seem to correspond to your light blue description. The other option would be that light green colors there was in 2001. Forgot the name though .

 

Maybe it was light green, I was more concerned if it was 5spd or not!!!! I guess I'll see tonight

 

i don't have any input as to whether you should buy a P5 or "regular" Pro (not that there is anything "regular" about them!), or a used one, but about where to purchase a new car...

whether or not you actually purchase the car from an online place, internet research is THE place to begin. sites such as carsdirect.com will be very helpful in looking for a good price - if only to use as a marker on where to begin negotiating with the dealer. my family has purchased 3 cars, that's all of our cars, from cars direct, if not used it for research. basically, just go there to look at all your options and the MSRP, retail, and carsdirect.com price for the car you want and any additional options. the prices you'll find there are pretty much as low as you can get. they are well below MSRP and a cool thing is usually there are a lot of rebates available, and the site will list them for you so you don't have to go hunting. you should go to the mazda site as well though and hunt around for any special incentives they have - i discovered a college grad rebate that cars direct didn't list.

you can then chose to buy it from them, or you can just use the quoted price as a means to compare the dealer's price. for my protege, i was planning to buy it online from cars direct and then cancelled my order; there was NO hassle at all to do that. they search their partnered lots for the exact car you want and there is no pressure to purchase, from my experience - just cancel if you want and they'll stop looking. anyway, i cancelled because during my search i had to go to a dealer to look at a particular color and while i was at the dealer, i ended up purchasing. the catch was, however, it was much easier then to negotiate, having the online quoted price in hand. my parents basically took the quote and told the dealer we would not go above that. of course in bargaining you have to compromise a little so i think we ended up paying $250 more than the online price, but it was definitely helpful coming into the dealership an informed consumer.

there are other online sites similar to carsdirect. COSTCO also has this service. i have never used any of the other sites, although my boyfriend's mom has used COSTCO and liked their service. their prices were comparable to carsdirect.com, although i looked at their site and it doesn't seem like you can browse through car options and prices and such as easily.

well, that's all i have on that, i hope that helps. good luck in purchasing your car!