kenji4861

I'm about 5 days away from purchasing a car.

I calculated all the costs, and the total cost of the Protege5 came to $19~20k after taxes.

I figured that I can buy a CIVIC EX, SUBARU IMPREZA 2.5 RS, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, SE-R Spec-V with this money.

Please give me a good reason why I shouldn't buy any of these instead of the Mazda Protege5. I'm seriously starting to become unsure about which car to buy now. Might just end up getting a Honda Civic EX.

Also, any incentives coming for the Protege5?

Sporin

For me it was all BUDGET. My Pro5 was about $17.5k out the door which made it much cheaper then those other cars you mentioned. If I was going to spend $19~20k I probably would have bought something else... though I'm not sure what.

apex

One thing to figure is the FINAL cost. The other cars DO NOT have 0% financing. Add up what your cost will be with interest. You do have a point though and you are going about it the right way. It is YOUR money and YOU must make the decision and be sure about it. Regret sucks! I have in the same dilema as you.

StuttersC

All the cars your looking at are good cars. I guess you need to know what your going to use the car for and what features you want.

The Civic is a good car, a strong aftermarket if your into that.

The Toyota is a little bland in my taste but still a good car.

The Nssan Altima, has a nice look to it, performance is supposed to be good.

The SE-R Spec-V is kind of on the ugly side to me. And from what I hear, it's not as great as it was supposed to be.

The 2.5 RS is nice for the all-wheel drive, but I don't think the new version stacks up as well as the late model cars, and doesn't look as good.

The Protege 5 looks nice, rides nice, is a little down on power I think, but as the aftermarket develops it won't be much of a problem.

All in all, buy the car that meets your needs and go with that.

Sporin

apex makes a good point about final cost. I took the 4.9% for 60 months which gives me huge leaway to make double [ayments when I can and dirt cheap ones over times if necessary. And it keeps my final cost very low.

sunbyrne

Man, kenji, you've been agonizing about this for a while...

As other posters have said, those are all good cars, and I think it'd be hard for anyone else to know exactly your needs and what really would be best for you.

Now personally, I find both the Civic and Camry *really* boring, and I definitely wanted the versatility of the hatch, so those were out. The old Altima is even more boring, but the new one might not be--I haven't taken a good look at the new Altima yet, but it still isn't a hatch.

The SE-R is an interesting car. I have an infant son, though, and the dinky little backseat in the Sentra line doesn't cut it for me. Can't put a rear-facing carseat in one of those and still use the front seat.

The only close competitor in my decision was the Impreza wagon. Again, a little smaller back seat didn't help its case, and it was a few grand more. I don't need the AWD here in southeast Texas, so I couldn't see the justification for the price increase. I also liked the handling and interior of the P5 better, but that's more personal taste.

Good luck with your decision, and do let us know what you decide to get, even if it isn't the P5!

njaremka

i'd say: what options are your getting that makes it that high?!?

get the basics. the pro-5 comes already with a host of features, unless you NEED to have an automatic. learn to drive a stick, and get a base model pro-5 for $16,000 +tax and your cost will be roughly $18,000 +financing, which i believe is 0% right now. i doubt you will find a better deal right now.

as for the other cars:
civics have a blancd style, low output motors, with horrible financing.
subaru's are going to cost you an arm and a leg up front, and have marginal resale.
tha camry and the altima are in totally different classes. bigger cars, bigger engines, and again, bland styling.
the spec-v, well, i personally don't like nissans. the driving impression leaves you feeling disconnected. sure, they may be powerful, but they feel muted and heavy.

so, my opinion is to go with the pro-5 and have a car you will enjoy driving.

(all opinions above are just that, opinions.)

Raptor

I personnally done a lot of research before buying my Protege, and let me tell you that it is teh biggest bang for the buck no question there.

I would have personnally woulf have loved to get a WRX, but face it, here in Canada, I can almost have 2 protege's for the price of 1 WRX.

23 K gives you a full equipped protege.
40 K gives you a WRX.

The math is not hard to do, plus the financing charges, wooufff close to 8% for Subarus.

The only contender in my case was the Nissan Sentra, but I did not feel the car at all, too assisted to my taste. The pro on the otehr end was ZOOM-ZOOM. I was then sold, and the low financing was a welcome bonus.

Avyway, it's all about choices, and on my part, nothing beat the bang for the buck when you are talking Protege's.

Raptor

GNO

We considered the several cars including the Jetta 1.8T, RSX Type-S, Celica GT-S, Camray, Galant, Accord V-6, WRX, and Altima. The Jetta was the front runner for us, but it felt awkward. . . odd ergonomics. The RSX didn't come out soon enough. Our local Toyota dealership didn't want to sell us a car. The Mitsubishi dealer tried pulling a stupid stunt with me (need to photocopy my driver's license before test drive, then dissappear with my license for several minutes) so I took off after that. The Accord was too boring, seats too flat, and the no torque feature was annoying. The local Honda sales staff was awesome though. My wife refused to test drive the WRX because it was too ugly and even bare bones it was a few thousand $ more than the others. I liked the Altima, other than the nasty velour. My wife didn't care for the Altima at all.

After I fell asleep during our 626 test drive we jumped into the Protege5 as a joke. We couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces, so we bought it that day. The 626 was an awesome deal though, great package offers and price was comprable to the Protege.

kenji4861

njarekam : I'm getting a blue protege5 with automatic transmission, ABS brakes & side airbags, & Powered Moon Roof. Thanks for the posts guys, I think I want to get the Protege5, I don't know if it's the best bang for my bucks, but I think me and my girlfriend/family can have fun in this car. Honestly, I feel a Civic, Accord is probably more reliable and have more resale price, but ... too boring, I won't be having as much fun as if I'm driving a Protege5. And I'll get the ABS Brakes & Sideair bags too, just to make everybody feel safe. Dang.. I'm going to be paying up like $400/month for the next 4~5 years.

G-00

Well I think the p5 is a good little car so I would say wise choice. However, I also own an Impreza RS and would recommend this car if one is interested in a little more power and much better handling from the AWD. Dont be fooled, AWD isn't just for bad weather it pulls quickly out of corners.

Makaveli

R U sure that you can buy a Spec-V, Camry and Altima with the same money? Never really looked into those cars because they're out of my league just for now.......

Civic finance/lease is horrible, you end up paying same amount as if you loaned money from a bank.

Impreza is nice, but again, are you sure that the cost isn't much more then the Protege? Just curiosity as I haven't really looked at the prices for those other cars

kenji4861

With the cost of me buying a protege5 with 3 $800 options, yes, I can purchase a base Impreza 2.5RS.. Camry may be another $1~2k, and we can also purchase a base new Altima.

paulf

I test drove them all... the sub was a close second...
the P5 just felt better!

pro5girlie

Please don't flame me for this, but have you checked out the Focus yet?? I know a lot of people are opposed to American cars, but if you're looking at price, and the availability of aftermarket parts, the focus is great! I know, everyone's worried about recalls, but the majority of them were done on the 2000s. My boyfriend's got the 2000 wagon, and as part of focaljet.com, we have seen dozens of great cars. The mileage is great, there's tons of headroom, and the aftermarket parts are amazing.

The new ZX5 is what I originally wanted, but when my car was dying, and the ZX5 wasn't even out, I found the P5. Don't get me wrong, I love my P5, but the Focus was my first love. If you're not interested, then nevermind, but I thought I'd throw that idea out. Check out www.focaljet.com if you want more input. Good luck!