I Love My Protege

I love my Protege. It's a 1995, 4 door, LX model that I bought in February of 1999. I was looking for a car in the $10,000 range and searching up and down "The Motor Mile" in Austin, TX for the right car at the right deal. When I saw this car, I liked it at first sight. It was great looking, very comfortable to sit in and drive and it had a standard transmission. (I'm gun-shy about automatics. They fail.)

I was smart and bought the "extended" warranty for 4yrs/100K miles. As I live 65 miles from my job, the commute is hell and I need a car to get me there and back with confidence. It a good thing I got the warranty. I HIGHLY recommend that you get one anytime you buy a used car. The first week I owned the car, the oil-pump went out. I also had electrical problems, all of which were fixed FREE! I'm a believer in "extended" warranties.

One month after I bought the car, I was car number 2 in a 5 car chain-reaction accident. A pickup truck didn't notice us stopped and slammed into me. (And I slammed into the car in front and so on, and so on...) The amazing thing about it was that I felt only a little bump inside the vehicle. The air bags didn't even go off. When I looked at the damage, it didn't look very bad at all. No one was injured in the accident. When I got it repaired, I found out why it felt so soft. The shock absorbing bumpers and frame design of the car had done their job. The insides of the bumpers were in small pieces. They had absorbed all the shock from the crash, leaving me startled but completely unharmed. The damage was costly, almost $5K, but hey, I was fine and the guy's insurance company handled the claim with no problems. And that's all that really matters.

My warranty will expire in about 2 more months of driving. The clutch is slipping just a bit, so I'll have them fix that before the warranty goes away on me. Overall, my experience with my Protege has been very positive. As soon as I get this one paid off, I'll be buying a another one.

I love my Protege. I said that already, didn't I.