i've got a 1995 LX right now, it gets me places and i recently upgraded the sound a little so i can bare my commute a bit longer. my only beef is, i didn't choose this car, my parents saw the price tag (new-used) and decided it was the car for me. don't get me wrong it was better than my last POS which my dad chose for me (again because it was cheaper than dirt) and i shall continue with my current protegé, but when it finally dies i want to do one of two things; buy new or rebuild what i have now.

if i buy new, i've been pricing another protegé, sentra, and lancer (not evo). theyre all within my price range. i'm not into neons, and i dont mind looking at a focus. of course my dream would be to wake up with the keys to a Shelby Cobra 427 under my pillow, but you know. how do you think the sentras and lancers compare, which have you test driven & what made you go protegé?

if i rebuild, what will i be getting myself into. i'm no car expert, i change my oil, refill fluids, and just bought a haynes manual so i can better troubleshoot/fix minor, minor things. will i be able (will the person i pay be able...) to get something under the hood that'll give me more than 92hp? honestly, when i start the a/c, dont even ask me to accelerate with the flow of traffic. is it worth the investment? thanks for all your thoughts.
-meGrimlock

 

I've driven all three cars. I own a P5, my brother has a Sentra and my fiance and I considered the Lancer for her next car. Here's what I found:

The Protege5 handles better and feels faster of the three cars. Also, the interior trim and options is far superior. You get the 16" low profiles which look nice for stock, a strut bar, and power everything. Also, you get foglights and a really cool looking front end. By far the P5 has the nicest interior trim with nice colours and nice apolstered seats and carpet. It's also surprisingly roomy with lots of leg room for the rear passenger and lots of head room all around but the factory stereo is not all that great.

The Sentra is also nice. Surprisingly, it handles better than one would expect. The GXE model with power options is pretty good for the $$. Ride is comfortable and acceleration feel barely slower than the P5. It has a 126 hp engine that runs pretty smooth and idels nice an quiet. Interior trim is nice but nothing special. The car does feel somewhat larger (like you're driving a larger car) once you get in then it actually is.

The Lancer also looks pretty good (except for the front end). even with power options it's reasonably priced (although a little more than a civic I think). Driving characteristics of the car I find are very much like the civic although not as smooth. Interior trim is... neat, a little on the plain side with harsher angles. It has the least amount of hp of the three cars and feels a little slower then the other two. Between a civic and a lancer I would go for a civic but the lancer is less common (if you want to take that into consideration).

Hope this helps. All I can say it go out and test drive the models you want for yourself.

 

Sentra is quieter, a little bit smaller. Kind of a bargain car because you will get a lot more stuff at prices lower than you would spend on a comparable Protege. I didn't notice it being any slower really. There are a lot of engines available. Interior materials are CHEAP.

Lancer is a little more expensive to load like the Pro, didn't handle all that well, but better interior materials. I looked at it, hated it, and never thought of it again.

Focus is okay to drive. Very noisy with the 2.0L and I don't particularly care for the gearing on the manual versions. If I were looking at this I would wait for the 2.3L versions to be available nationwide.

You might want to look at one of those evil Civics. The EX isn't bad but the rest of the packages suck.

As for the Mazda it was the best all around in the class. Best stock handler, good interior materials, decent stereo system, decent power, but a pretty noisy engine still. I would wait for the 3 next year and then look. I think it will be a LOT better than all of the other cars in this class then, instead of just a little.

 

right now, i'm not too concerned about the appearances. while having something stylish might be nice, i'm more concerned with whats under the hood how comfortable the ride is. how was the 20-60 acceleration, since thats more like the type of driving i'll be doing (i dont see the need to go to 60mph from a standstill unless i am running from the cops).

i actually wouldnt mind a civic either, but for my money, i would get more with protege or lancer. also in the DC metro area, the accord and civic are the number 1 and 2 most stolen vehicles, and theyre up there in the national ranking too. with a car stereo i plan on installing, i dont want to have to install a car alarm on a sub $20k car.
-meGrimlock

 

I don't know if you have looked yet but a Mini Cooper would be worth your time. About as fast as all the others, rides on rails (unbelievable), fully equipped, good warranty with maintenance included, and BMW verb to spare. It would probably be a bit more expensive but as well equipped as any of them (better ABS system than all of them). Comes with lots of cool little features like tire pressure monitoring and a heated/cooled glove box. You might even be able to talk them down a little off MSRP on a regular base Cooper.

http://www.miniusa.com

I'm planning on getting a Mini Cooper S in a few months unless something changes moneywise and I can afford a 350Z or an RX-8 without my wife kicking my ***. Hell of a ride. You will be grinning every minute you drive one.

 

20-60 accelaration is pretty good in comparison to other cars in teh class. Car and driver has voted both the P5 and the Lx/Es number one in all of it's comparos. I'd test drive a few and see what you like. When I was originally researching for the first pro, I looked at Civics, Corrollas, Foci, and Jettas. For the price, the Protege (especially LX) was the best equipped in it's class. With the 5 spd, it accelerates competently too.

 

i thought about the new mini coopers, but i wanted to budget myself < $20k. the cooper S already starts at $19 and the cooper is almost $17k, where the protege LX starts around $14k.
-meGrimlock

 

I got my MSP for $20,500. Just save a bit more and you could blow them all out of the water!!


Er, street. Off the street.

 

Nah man, you want the ES, the ES! Don't go for no drum brake, tan/gray interior, 15" wheel, Protege LX.

 

I don't think that meGrimLock is looking for an autox'r. The LX has almost all the features of the ES except the more expensive tires, white gauges, and black interior. (and a few other options that aren't really necessary for every day life.) Anway I prefer the tan interior of the LX and DX as it doesn't show every speck of dust/lint like my black interior does. I do admit that disk breaks are easier to work on for yourself but saving 2-3 grand (at times) can be worth it.

 

while the ES has more features, i figure i'd save a little more by going for the LX. for the starting price of the ES, i could go for the base VW Jetta. although i'm not a VW fan, it's been getting rave reviews over the years.
-meGrimlock

 

Yeah, nothing more fun than pushing 115hp on a heavy car with a torsion beam rear axle. If you cannot afford a 1.8T or a VR6 stay away from Jetta's and Golf's. They have minivan like acceleration and boredom factor. But do go try out a GTI or GLI, they are a blast to drive (for the hell of it). I'm thinking they are probably way out of your price range as well.

You are young right? Young people should not drive beige or gray cars. Get something that screams I am young and going to kick your Honda *** if you **** with me. Get something you can put some emotion into, otherwise you will just get sick of it and want to get rid of it a few months later. Besides the LX doesn't come with alloy wheels (very important for your ride unless you plan on buying aftermarket ones later) and by the time you add that cost to it you are nearly at the price of an ES.

 

I didn't think the ES was that much more over the LX. When I got my car they had a similarly equiped LX that was only $500-600 less.

The black interior does show dirt. I think thats a good thing though. Makes me keep my car cleaner.

EDIT
I looked up pricing and found the base ES is $676 more than the LX. In 2002 that got me blacked out headlights, black interior with silver accents, bar above grill was black instead of chrome, 4 wheel discs, and 16" wheels. I think they gave the LX the blacked out headlights for 2003 though.

 

For 2003, LX does come with alloy wheels (I own one), but they are 15" and not 16" (which is ES).

Anyway, of all the cars here, let me comment on Lancer.. I test drove it and compared to Protege and Toyota Corolla S (yeah, really) it feels too sluggish.

For Lancer, I was looking at the LS model (not the OZ Rally one, because once you go to those trims, you're just paying way too much for appearance). I thought the interior was poor. Everything felt and looked *really* plasticy... it's like I was in a Focus or something. And it had a marble trim thing going on which I thought was really poor.

Handling-wise, it didn't feel as lively as the Protege. The auto tranny didn't respond as fast to gas input, and the brakes weren't as touchy as Protege's. The ride was less stiff than the Protege though. Overall, the car felt more "smooth", but also more removed from the road.

When I test drove the Protege, I could really feel the road. I love the steering, the handling and even though I have auto, I've learned to live and work well with the auto tranny.

 

the ES isn't significantly more expensive than the LX in base price, but realistically, in my area, the ES are priced more with more options, and the 5-spd manuals are harder to find. though i don't know how to drive a manual, i'd like to learn because of the lower cost of manual transmission plus the savings in gas mileage. btw, what are blackouts? i've heard it before, but wasnt sure what they are.
-meGrimlock