It it the car for fun on the road!

Feel good to be the first one to write commends on Protege 2002. First of all, it is a nice car in its price range.

I have been waiting to buy a new Protege for one year, since my home is just 5 minutes walking from my office... Two days after I got a new job offer, I rushed into a Mazda dealer and signed the deal within 2 hours.

The model I bought is Protege 2002 ES including GT package, which is the highest model in the Protege product line (Canadian version). I know in America, Mazda has a different model number for the highest model.

The things that make me to buy Protege ES:
- Price is good, compared to other Japanese cars, especially when you add all things on: auto transmit, A/C, cruise control, power window, power door lock, ABS, 16" alloy wheel, 16" tires, power moonroof, frog light, rear spoiler, four disk brakes, CD and remote control.

- Interior is roomy, compared to other Japanese cars, such as Civic and Corolla. I'm 180cm tall, after I adjust the drive seat for myself comfortable, I can still sit on the backseat comfortably.

- Powerful, the engine is 2.0L, 130 HP. Better than most other Japanese competitors, at least the number is larger. Someone said that when he drove the Protege, the feeling was almost the same as driving BMW.

- Totally Japanese-made car. The car is assembled in Japan, not in North American as Honda does or anywhere around the world. So, the material is good, and handcraft is pretty good. Inner door handler and window controller are silver finished. Looks cool and high-quality.

- 16" alloy wheel. White meter set, it becomes red at night when all light on. Mazda tried to make it a sportier car.

- Mazda made some changes on 2002 ES from its 2001 model. The door mirror is all black on 2001 cars no matter which model it is. On 2002 Protege ES, the door mirror is the body-colored. The front badge is changed to larger, which looks good.

- I remember that one year ago when I investigate Protege's commends on the Internet, I read an article said that Protege is the best-sell Japanese car in Germany.


Something I'd reserve my opinion:

- Noisy. When I drove the car, I could hear the noise loudly, compared it with Corolla and Camery, which are well-known quiet. Make a road test and feel if you can endure it.

- It jounces more than others. As the dealer said, it is a sporty car, not a pure family car. Ok, not a big issue to me.

- Fuel economy is not as good as Civic or Corolla, but should be better than American-made cars.

- It is evaluated by some analyzers about Protege that the only problem Mazda has is its market strategy. Mazda spends too little advertisement on its car and this makes Protege a well-made car, but not well-known.

- Its reputation is not as good as Honda since Honda and Civic has been in the market for a long time. I remember the Protege product line is just 11-year long. It's not a concern to me, 11 years should be enough for them to develop the car very well. But the problem is when I want to sell it, I'd better to find a person who shares the same opinion. :)

Overall, I like this car very much, especially I want to add all options and have fun with them. I also like something different from others. There are too much Civic on the road.