In the letter I wrote to Mazda, the only complaint I levied in regards to a threat to reliability was that of the engine rattle. The RPM issue was noted as a point of dissatisfaction only, not one suggesting that it's a threat to engine longevity. Here's a direct quotation regarding that issue from the letter:

"One other area of extreme dissatisfaction I must voice is with Mazda’s choice of transmission ratio. I’ve never seen an engine running at such a high RPM at normal, modest highway speeds, from any manufacturer. Not only is it unnecessary, it’s a waste of fuel in a time when economy makes more sense than it ever did. I find this extremely offensive and irresponsible. It represents inefficient vehicle design, is noisy, makes long trips less than enjoyable, and above all, provides for an annoying, buzzy ride."

In regards to noting engine RPM's prior to the actual purchase, you're totally right. In my case, however, I had only been able to test drive a DX, which sports pretty much the same feel as the ES, but with no tachometer, so I couldn't see where the engine was revving during my several test drives. Aside from that, it's hard to get to really know a car until you've had it for an extended period of time, and had the chance to spend hours in it during road trips. The Protege unnecessarily revs at lame-*** highway speeds (read, slow). I find that wasteful, personally. I've said it before, and “kc5zom” said it in his post on this thread: 5 gear is for cruising. If you want to zip off with better acceleration at normal highway speeds, downshift to 4th. That's what it's for. In my personal opinion, it says something negative about an auto manufacturer that flies in the face of logical convention when they build a car that revs so high when you’re simply doing 65mph. No one else does that, and I think there's a reason no one else does that. This isn't a go-cart or a 3 cylinder Chevy Sprint. It's a sedan, dammit! A sedan!!!

Other areas I filed complaints with Mazda about in the letter:

Poor door lock placement. It pokes you in the arm when you try to rest your arm on the door with the window rolled down. That's just plain gay, and they should have either put it in the door handle or made it a recessed lock; like Honda does. I mean, duh!!!

The center arm rest isn't an arm rest. It's too low. It's too short. It sucks. It makes the Protege less comfortable than it could be, and it's the first time I've ever seen a car so poorly designed (in that area).

There's no light indicating when the fog lights are on, nor is there one telling you when the cruise control is on (engaged, yes, but not when it's simply on). As a driver, I want to know what is on, and I want to know what's on right now, dammit. I don't want to feel around, fumbling in the dark, to find out if something is on or not. It's a minor issue, quite true, but it bothers me.

The rear window defogger should be on an off timer. It's not. That's not cool.

Anyway, like I've said before, I'm very demanding, and I don't compromise and accept lame-*** design for anyone; even if overall it's a good car (which the Protege is!). For the money, and at the time I bought, it was the best choice and I'm not sorry to have made it. First and foremost I have to say for the record here on the forum that I still like my Protege, I just wish some relatively simple things about it were better designed. Many of them, in my opinion, are no brainers, and it shocks me that Mazda spaced out on them. I mean, what? Did the designers skip out of town that day and let a team of monkeys design the door locks? It's the 21st century, for God's sake!

Anyway, time to shut up! The Protege is overall a very good car and there's no compelling reason not to enjoy it despite some areas of less than excellent design. It's still awesome looking, it's still proven rock-solid reliable (my most critical demand in a car), it's roomy, and you get a lot for your money.

Please remember that these are just my opinions, and I made them known to Mazda based on my personal feeling that the Protege was ripped off in that it could have been a stellar car instead of just being a good car. None of my posts are meant to offend anyone!

 

While I certainly don't take offense o your posts or your letter, I guess I just don't feel quite as strongly about certain things, and disagree with others:

The engine RPM is not really out of the standard range for a car with only 130 horsepower. If 5th gear were much taller (or 4th "overdrive" in the automatic) the car would struggle up hills without a downshift. Personally, I'd find it more annoying to be forced to change gears or have my automatic kick-down on each rise in the road than deal with a higher-revving cruise. Fact is, I have an auto - and I think the final drive ratio is the same (not 100% sure), and my auto does kick down up reasonble hills with the cruise control on. I used to own a Miata, and 5th gear was even higher revving than my Protege at 70 MPH (about 4k RPM). I completely understand your criticism, but the only real solution would be a more-powerful engine (which wouldn't be bad - as I'm sure Mazda already knows).

I agree about the armrest, but don't find it to be too bothersome. Yes, it could be better/larger, but it's not that big of a deal to me.

I also agree on the door lack placement, however I have already solved this by "lowering" the locks - when the button is down, it now sits nearly flush with the door panel, and does not poke me in the arm. If you want any info on how to do this, let me know.

Indicator lights for the fogs and cruise main being on - maybe we should have them. But I always have the fogs on, anyway. And it is easy enough to see when the button is pushed in without an indicator light - same thing with the cruise main button. No big deal here.

But the defogger is definitely a bad design - why it is not on a timer, I'll never know. I totally agree with you on this - I have left it on all day several times already - only becuase I am so accustomed to having a defroster that shuts off automatically. I've thought about writing a letter about that one myself.

Some issues are of more importance to some people than other issues. Rather than the fog light indicator lamp, I would complain the fogs are useless show-pieces - they serve no purpose whatsoever, other than to look cool. They throw no useable light in any logical direction. I'd like it if they actually functioned well, as well as looked good.

I am considering a letter of my own to complain about the ****-poor quality of the windshield glass - My P5 has 25,000 miles on it, and my windshield looks like I have 100,000 - it is pitted and speckled beyond belief, and will need to be replaced within the next year, no doubt. I will be making a stink about it before my warranty is up, but unfortunately, even if they magically honor it, they'll replace it with the same crapy OEM glass, which I will have to replace on my dime some time down the road.

Another complaint is the poor paint quality, particularly on the front end. My front bumper is about as nicked as the windshield - it's like the surfaces that receive the greatest abuse from normal driving are the ones that were skimped on the most.

Another annoyance - the fact that our license plate brackets are not of a standard size. A very petty complaint, but if you have tried to put on any kind of trim ring, you know what I mean - neither the front plate bracket nor the rear will accept any type of decorative piece properly, and the rear plate doesn't even have "tabs" to hold he plate down - just two screws - it looks like ***.

Just some of my rants - but I still love my car, and I am as close to 100% happy with it as I would expect to be, considering this is not a BMW or Lexus (nor does it carry those pricetags). I'm sure I could find things to bitch about on a $250,000 Lamorghini - probably MORE than my Protege.