ProtegeMaster

My issues to date:

1. Persistent interior rattles that offer ceaseless irritation; and a source of embarrassment considering that passengers often comment on them.
2. Front windshield was cracked by small road pebble and had to be replaced out of pocket. Never a problem once in my 10 year old Nissan Sentra that had 110k miles on it.
3. Brake assembly was defective and caused unclean, jittery stops. Fixed under warranty.
4. Clutch chatter issue noted. Offending clutch parts replaced under warranty.
5. Cigarette lighter would not stay in the ‘in’, warming position. Replaced under warranty.
6. There’s a maddening ‘vibrating metal against metal’ from under the car that rattles whenever a door is closed, the center storage bin is closed, or when the engine free revs around 1500 rpm. Such presents an image that the car is cheap and poorly assembled— Let alone the reality that it just sounds terrible.

All of these issues have come about in a car with 17,000 miles on it, and one that is painstakingly maintained at all times. I always take immaculate care of my vehicles, and to be presented with the problems I’ve seen from this car despite my best efforts has made me quite angry indeed (which has been spoken to before on other threads).

That said, I believe I happened to get stuck with a rare, sloppily constructed unit; maybe one built just before a Japanese holiday or something; and there haven’t been any egregious problems-- The kind reminiscent of Volkswagen, for instance (parts simply falling off, etc.). The overall data collected about Protege shows it to be an exceptionally reliable vehicle, contrary to my experience, which is why I bought it in the first place.

In any event, I personally have been most unhappy with this car’s quality to date, and will probably buy a Honda next time. No sooner could something prompt me to think about another car than when I've had to waste my valuable time getting my current one fixed all the God damned time (with apologies to those sensitive to the use of the word "God").

Tom Slick

my 2002 p5 is great. with 30k miles on the odo it has had a cam seal oil leak that was gladly fixed by my dealer.
other then that it is flawless

distance

Mine had a small hole in the rad and rad was replaced at ~45000kms. I also had the car towed after it did not start for my wife in -50C weather. These cars have always had slow(bad) starting issues. Mine turns over 5-6 time on average in the winter. Anyways, dealer had it towed and plugs were dried and battery replaced even though it was not defective. They just said that it had to charge overninght and I could not wait that long, so they replaced under waranty. I also had the rad replaced just before the scheduled coolant had to be replaced and therefore opted not to get coolant replaced as they were doing it for FREE witht eh replacing of the rad. Other then that, the car seems to be running great. I ahve a Focus SE and my protege SE and the Focus is the biggest piece of crap I just experienced the FORD SCUBA experience) After comming back from Florida , it rained and water flooded my passenger side floor. 3"of water!!!! I have noises and more noises and fuel pump is going "
Me thinks" My power died completely, but its intermitent" Oh well, lets stay on track here. Protege is a great car. Reliable and no noises!!! Focus is a piece of crap and also the most recalled car in as many years!!!


Therefore Protege=GOOD
Focus=Bad

Sorry for doing a Focus/protege comparison. I just wish I could spend more time at my Mazda dealer cus I don't like the Ford dealers!!!!

FORD "IT'S NORMAL FOR THIS CAR"

ZZOOOMM

When I called Mazda to complain about the paint, they said it was the nimber one complaint, next to tranny's

99Silverbullet

Someone mentioned earlier that the car was rated very reliable by consumer reports or someother magazine. Then went on to say that the rattles, cigarette lighter and the paint had problems. Well....That is not a reliability problem! It is a quality issue.

You can have the most reliable car in the world that rattles so loung that you can't talk. Have seats that wear holes in 5K miles, but it doesn't mean it is not reliable.

If it starts and drives fine everytime you want it too, that is a reliable car.

My Passat currently is not a reliable car, but it has more quality to it then the Protege. Until I get the last 2 J coilpaks replaced I will not be fully comfortable with its reliability.

Get my point.

The Protege is great at what it is. CHEAP reliable transportation with the added bonus it is fun to drive.

pro02

i like the car minus the many noises above 55 and the factory radio in which the volume does not work....

cjb200

The one time my car wouldn't start it ended up being bad gas. Other than that, I have no issues other than a few squeeks and rattles that I only hear when the stereo is off. Then again it's so faint I usualy hear my watch clasp rattling more than anything on the car. Certainly nothing I'd complain to the dealer about, but I guess some people would.

Oh and btw, not paint problems here whatsoever after 13 months. Maybe I'm just lucky.

nightowl

clutch chater is my number one complaint
second is the thin paint (but it seems all cars are like that)
third is the transmission...it grinds a little in cold weather

but it is fun to drive
extreamly reliable
looks good

bazooka joe

i guess the paint could be better, does seem to chip awful easy. i just thought it was because i live in the northeast and have all sorts of stuff flying off the road in the winter. no other complaints, car starts and runs great. really fun car to drive hard!! joe

jjac28

my pro5 is running nice and smooth with no problems. i find that it's a v.reliable car and thats why i'm stickinging to the brand.
this is my 2nd pro.
i havent had any clutch chatter problems and the clutch seems to work v.well.
during winter when it's v.cold the shifter is bit stiff so
the manual tranny does need to warm up in winter to work smoothly...but again we have really stinky low temperatures around here -30deg cel...

my previous pro had a squeeky middle arm rest (i think that was caused by me and my girlfriend climbing into the back seat all the time ) but that was fixed quickly by my dealer and there was an ignintion coil recall on all 1.8l engines.

this is nothing really compared to the cavaliers,focuses etc...

i dont know why but GM seems to have so many recalls all the time.....