I'll be the first to admit I know nothing about Mazda's lineup, or about 4/6 cyl cars in general. This is all new to me, and I'm hoping to gain some insight from you guys/gals regarding a Protege5 I'm thinking of getting for my wife.

I've done a bit of research, and am curious about a few things. I've found a silver 2002 Protege5 with 19,000miles on it. It looks to be in perfect condition, and is being sold for $11,900 from a dealership. Havn't discussed if they will come down or not yet, but I looked up the value on these and it seemed like the dealer could be asking $14k for it.

Is $11,900 a price you think is reasonable for this car, or should I be looking for problems/possible accidents?

Also, are there any common issues/bugs with the 02 Protege5 that I should look for befor I purchase it? We were thinking about picking it up this afternoon.

Thanks for any and all advice.

 

make them pull a CarFax report...it sounds like a good deal...not a "great" deal. "clean" book (dealers buy by 'average' book) is $10,500...average book is 9,500...so they probably have 1500-2000 of profit in the car...so you should be able to talk them down anywhere from 1250-1750...good luck!

(you can deduct around $500 from those prices if it's a 5-speed)

yeah, i'm a car salesman. don't hate me!

if you have any other questions, let me know!

 

Thanks for the info!

It's an automatic, and we havn't sat down and discussed prices at all yet, he just told me sticker, and then I moved on to look at other cars. I'll tell you how it goes after tonight.

Oh, nothing I need to check when looking it over? I know what to look for in general, I'm talking more about Protege5 specific issues. Is there a 20k mi maintenance I should make sure they have done?

 

the 1st maintenace on a mazda is at 30K...other than that, just oil changes. i haven't had any problems or know of any p5 issues. there is a TSB (technical service bullitin) for rust on the hubs and calipers...if you notice rust (and if it's a mazda dealer)...have them paint them for you. just mention that you heard about the TSB and they have to do it for free!

good luck!

 

That's it? Just rust on the calipers?? I think I've been accustomed to driving V8's too long.

Sounds great. Can't wait to check it out on the autocross track. My "flying brick" doesn't handle the tight turns of a parkinglot well.