I currently own an '97 VW Jetta GLX that is fully loaded and only has 18,000km on the engine and most of the other components in the car are '99 components because it was built by a friend of mine who is a VW mechanic and he builds VW's for a living....

I'm seriously thinking about trading in my Jetta along with $3,000 in CDN Cash and get the new '02 Mazda Protege ES GT model which is fully loaded with every option possible...

My reasoning for perhaps wanting to make this change is that I'm buying a house soon and with the new car, I'd have a warranty so that if something breaks down on the car, it's covered. Furthermore, gas and insurance will be slightly cheaper each month too...

I've asked the people over at vwvortex.com for their feedback and thought I'd get your angle and feedback here... Any comments and sincere feedback would be greatly appreciated...

PJStyles

 

okay - everything BUT the automatic transmission option - yes?

 

I don't know which other vehicles you have in mind to compare with. However I can give you my honest opinion. I've owned mine for just over a year and I'm quite happy. Previously I owned a car with more hp but I knew the Protege wasn't going to be a neck snapper.
But what it lacks in straight line go...it makes up for in handling. Also with the popularity of the P5 there is more aftermafket parts becoming available every day.
Just do what I did...take a Civic and a Protege out for a test drive within a day a part. You will then know the strong points of the Mazda.

 

I'll definitely get the manual transmission if I do get the Protege... but I've just been reading a lot of posts with problems people are having with engine rattles and what not and now I'm having second thoughts...

PJStyles