I am considering buying a protege for my daughter, was wondering if you guys could give me any pointers on what to look for or what to buy...she wants a Honda Civic, but I kinda like these a little better...thanks for your opinions.

 

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...otege+vs+Civic

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...otege+vs+Civic

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...otege+vs+Civic

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...otege+vs+Civic

Welcome to the forum and I'd have nothing but great things to tell you about my year and a half old Protege. Hopefully you'll find everything that you need on here. Oh yeah, on the top right hand corner is the 'Search' button. You can find almost anything like those links that I posted up there.

Good luck, and get the Protege

 

welcome, i just like to ask, what type of civic is she looking at, the sedan or the hatchback?

 

It really depends on what you value more: safety, reliability, resale value, handling, etc.... From my limited experience (2003 Pro5), the 2.0 liter seems a little louder than a Civic's, but based on what I've read, reliability is on par with Honda. I do think the 2.0 liter has a little more low end grunt than the 1.7 liter (Honda). The seats in the Pro5 are much better than the Civic's. Handling is much better than the Honda, especially after they had dropped the 4 wheel double wishbone setup for this generation.

Safety? Too many factors play into this, if you drive like a maniac nothing will ever be safe for you. The only area that Honda's do better in (and correct me if I'm wrong) is resale value. Of course if you plan on keeping the car for 10 years, it becomes a moot point. My $0.02.

 

When I bought my P5 in july, I read all the magazine articles, and contests the P5 won over similar cars, and made my decision when I test drove the P5. It just seemed a well built, well handling, car. My wife still can't believe how well the brakes work on my car. I did not want a honda, because everywhere I look I see a Honda. Plus, the P5 looks killer Slammmmed..

 

I realize that you or your daughter probably won't think about racing it, but there is a pretty good article covering a lot about the Protege (1st, 2nd and 3rd gen) in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports Magazine.

Look for it on your local newsstand Nov. 12. It'll be a worth while read and it'll help you see why the Protege is a pretty good little car to get.

And yes, I believe this post would fall under shameless self promotion, but, hey...You got to start some where.

 

Lewis, not only am I a protege owner...I am the father of two daughters that are both of driving age. I wouldn't hesitate to put them in one. They are very reliable, safe, good handling cars. For the money, I don't think you can buy a better car. Not to mention, IF your daughter is like mine, and like so many other FASHION CONSCIENCE girls....the Protege is a better LOOKING car. And you won't find one on every street corner like you will a honda.

BTW.....welcome to our happy home.

:{D

 

I've owned my Protege 5 for nearly 1 year and the quality and fitment is awesome...... no problems, with my pride and joy. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this fine vehicle.

See ya, Speedbump.

 

look at insurance, i was going to buy myself a civic SI with my own money, and once my parents saw the difference in insurance between the both, (they were going to pay insurance) they offered to pay for my p5 and the insurance. it was 7000 a year for insurance in my name on the civic, and its 2600 on the p5

 

Unless you are looking at going all the way and getting top trim of either vehicle (EX on the Civic, ES/P5 on the Protege) I would say hands down Protege. The Civic LX is a terrible car. Bad brakes, poor performance, sloppy sloppy road manners. The Civic EX fixes most of those problems. The Protege doesn't even have them to begin with. All of the 2003 model year vehicles have the 2.0L with at least 130HP, they all have front and rear swaybars, good tires, and an excellent suspension setup. In my opinion the next closest car would be a Nissan Sentra, which she may like a lot. It doesn't carry as stiff a suspension as the Protege but it comes with a lot of creature comforts (which women seem to appreciate more than us guys).

 

I've been a Honda man since 1996. Ever since I got my first 1993 Honda Civic Ex. My wife had a 1995 VW Jetta (service and customer service sucked!) and we started looking for a new car for her in November 2001.

We both drove the 2002 Protege 5. Ride was a bit stiffer than she was used to, but overall the car was nice, power, 4 doors, somewhat of a wagon and room for our soon to be little daughter. The other thing we loved was the customer service. People were at you hands and knees. Hangling with price was fun too As we got them to drop $2000 off the car, and add on $1000 onto the trade in.

Between the two (from a non-racing perspective) I love my wife's Protege. It's roomy, shifting is aka Honda, more low end torque than my Civic. Suspension is stiff, some people have downgraded to a 15" wheel. Brakes are nice.

The things I don't like is the flat torque band at around 4000rpms. It just doesn't pull anymore like my Honda to redline. On the highway it can be a bit loud. Trunk is the same size as my trunk but more accessible.