Mazda has always been one of those smaller car companies who, despite the fact they are selling mostly mainstream cars, strives to appeal to a specialized audience. In 2015 Toyota was the top selling car manufacturer in the World selling 10.23 million cars. Mazda sold 1.54 million vehicles or 15% of Toyota’s total. A question for you, specialized audience – if you could only purchase a Toyota Camry or a Mazda 6 which would you buy? Exactly. Camry outsold the Mazda 6 by a margin of 8 to 1 in the US in 2015 so congratulations on being such a unique individual.
At the end of the day we gearheads are driven by emotion, not logic. Being the Zoom-Zoom company, Mazda understands that driving – real driving – should be infused with joy. They make sure that every vehicle they sell has its fair share. Sometimes they do this by producing cars with innovations outside of the mainstream (see engines, Wankel) but just as often they do it by engineering a better driving mousetrap (see roadsters, MX-5). The Mazda Protegé5 falls into the latter camp.
By the Summer of 2002 my wife, Debbie, had been driving our 1989 Audi 200 Avant for ten years. Being our roomiest vehicle it was our primary transport when our family of four traveled out of town so reliability was critical. As wonderful as the car was, intervals between visits to our Audi mechanic David were beginning to decrease dramatically. Reluctantly Debbie and I decided to undertake an automotive experiment we had avoided in our first twenty-nine years of driving. We decided to buy a new car.
I can’t remember exactly how I became aware of the Mazda Protegé5. Like virtually all the cars that had come before it, however, its purchase was firmly planted in my head before the actual shopping began. Reviewing colors and options I decided on a silver five speed manual with a sunroof. My wife and I used our credit union’s car buying service to locate the car and negotiate its price so all we had to do was pick it up. It was the end of the model year and Mazda was looking to make room for the 2003 models by discounting the 2002’s. The purchase price was a little over $15,000 – almost exactly what we had paid for our used Audi 200 ten years earlier.
The Protegé was the North American name for Mazda’s Familia small family cars which spanned eight generations over forty years ending in 2003 before the introduction of the current Mazda 3 series, itself now in its third generation. The Protegé5 is a four-door hatchback, though I think of it as a station wagon, and it was only produced from 2001 to 2003. Perhaps taking a page from Audi’s former playbook, Mazda saw fit to infuse the wagon with sportier characteristics than the three-box Protegé sedan. This included recalibrated steering, sporty 16” wheels, beefed up suspension and a bright red strut tower brace in the engine compartment.
Stylish white instrumentation, a sporty steering wheel, supportive front seats and early faux carbon fiber trim completed the effect inside.
Visually the Protegé5 is beefier than its sedan sibling with added side body molding and a front spoiler featuring oversized fog lights.
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The Protegé5 is propelled by a four-cylinder, 1991 cc engine producing 130 bhp and 135 lb-ft of torque to propel the 2,800 lb wagon. The engine can be buzzy to a fault, not helped by low gearing resulting in almost 3,500 rpm at 60 mph, but its torque curve is smooth and the engine spins freely up to its 6,000 rpm redline. The attached five-speed manual transmission is smooth and precise. As nice as the aforementioned sounds please keep in mind that the Mazda at its core is an economy car. Still, after fourteen years and 135,000 miles the Mazda continues to entertain every time I get behind the wheel.
The astute reader will by now have noted that the Protegé5 is considerably smaller than the Audi it replaced, but the interior is spacious and the simple attachment of a Thule to the factory roof rack meant that we could carry as much in the Mazda as we had previously in the Audi.
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Mechanically the Protegé5 has largely lived up to our hope that it would provide long term reliability. The engine has never needed anything other than recommended service and the clutch is still original although we plan to fit a new one this Spring. The only unexpected mechanical issues have been brake calibers which seem to freeze easily despite the fact the car has always been regularly driven. Over its life we’ve probably replaced each corner’s binders twice.
Our experience with the body has been less favorable. At a time when rust has become a rarity many Protegé5s have experienced significant rot around the rear wheel wells and ours was no exception.
By 2014 the rust progressed to the point where it was time to either say goodbye to the Mazda or fix the rust properly so it could stick around for the long haul. Defying financial reasoning I of course went for the repair and full repaint. Looking around online I discovered FixMyRust which appears to only sell needed replacement stampings for the parts of select cars that chronically rust. I dropped the car off to Joe (who had done much of the bodywork on last week’s 912 and a few weeks later had the newly resprayed car back.
Of course, our two formerly little boys have grown up. Both Josh, now 24 and his little brother Peter, now 21, moved from the back seat to the driver’s seat of the Protegé5. Both learned to shift manually in the Mazda making them rarities among post Millinniels. Like many of their generation both boys started out indifferent to driving, but thanks in large part to the Protegé5 both have learned that, well, Zoom-Zoom is real.
Next Week – A car with so much personality it has a name.
Last Week – 1968 Porsche 912 Soft-Window Targa – And The Number That Shall Never Be Spoken.
I had a 2002 Protege and it was a great little car. Had a 1994 Grand Prix that threw a rod and in a real departure for me, having bought only American cars, and wanted a economy car with some spirit and it took the cake over cars like the moribund GM offerings. I was ready to buy a cut rate GTI, 01 model in early 02, but we had a 9 month old wife wanted 4 doors, so that was a deal breaker. It was so tossable and zippy, not fast , but felt fast. It could corner! It felt like what I envisioned a sports car should be. The only drawback: ride was not great on crappy Michigan roads. My ownership was short. I had an opportunity to take a company car for about 2 years, a Pontiac vibe. I sold it to the sister of a good friend of ours. Sadly it was stolen somewhere in the middle of Detroit and never recovered. I never forgot my like for the little Mazda, and I now have a 99 Miata I purchased 3 years ago.
Your comments about rust are bang-on. In salt-encrusted Toronto, virtually every Protege5 has rust in that area. The same thing happened with first-generation Honda Odysseys. Must be the fairly out-set wheel position throwing up salt and debris, and not draining from the inside properly. It’s good to see you opted to fix it.
Protege5 is a very nicely balanced looking car that still looks great today.
A friend bought one new, and from that time, I have had a thing for these. Your info on the short production span reminds me why I have seen these so seldom. And yes, those I have seen recently are rusty.
Between this and the later Mazda 3 and 6, Mazda seemed to perfect the reasonably priced sport wagon. And proving (again) that this is not a viable market in the US. Sadly.
How is it not viable? The P5 has its’ direct successors in the Mazda 3 hatchbacks which were only slightly less wagonlike until the current generation (which probably is only slightly less roomy),
Even on a hatch with a near-vertical rear door like the 1st and 2nd gen 3 hatcbacks, you still lose some room due to the fact that wagons always have more rear overhang. It’s the reason there was a wagon version of the Focus, as well as the Golf Wagon (which has migrated to the Jetta line).
I’d argue the spiritual successor to the P5 is the CX-5 CUV, higher ride height and all. The CX-5 (and CX-3) seem to consistently be regarded as the best driving CUV’s this side of Bavaria.
I thought about a CX-3 last fall. I like the all wheel drive, but it just didn’t have enough room for my purposes. Like all Mazda’s the driving reviews were good however.
No mainstream car company will ever get rich making fun cars for the likes of us.
Count me in too as a fan of these. And I’ve read for years about their propensity to rust where yours did. There’s still a few buzzing around here, but no rust out here.
3500 rpm at 60 mph!! Are you sure about that? That’s significantly higher than my xBox, which does 3000 rpm at that speed. I though it couldn’t get worse than that.
Believe me – he’s sure. My ’02 ES sedan was fine at 80, but it was WOUND. UP.
On the other hand, at 60 the thing was right smack in the middle of the torque curve. It was much happier (and more fun) on a good 60 mph two lane than on the superslab.
I really miss having a <3000lb car that I can see out of.
Seems to be a Mazda trait. Our ’06 Mazda6 with manual is the same way. It really feels like it wants another gear. Or they could space the gears wider, the car is perfectly happy to be short shifted 2-4 or 3-5, or if it’s level even 1-3-5.
And good job on teaching your sons. My oldest was back from college this week and was really really eager to go out and drive, while plenty of his peers don’t even have licenses – and this is in car-centric Southern California!
From the moment I saw the first TV ad for the P5, I loved these. I had an 85 Mazda GLC that had been utterly bulletproof and I would have bought another Mazda in a heartbeat, but the P5 was not available when miles and tinworm started to make their presence known on the GLC in 98.
I nearly did move on an 03 P5 in early 04, in spite of my 98 Civic hatchback being in it’s prime. I had picked up a $500 off ducat at the Detroit auto show, and I worked for a Ford vendor so qualified for a Z plan discount. The Mazda dealer in South Bend still had 3 P5s in stock. All three were black (good) One with a 5 speed (even better) All three had a moonroof, which ate too much headroom. There was a rail from the moonroof sticking down from the headliner, with only a thin layer of fabric covering it. I would have cracked my skull on that rail every time I hit a pothole.
For several years after that aborted attempt, I drove to various used car lots around southern Michigan searching for a P5, but every one I found had a moonroof.
Then I started seeing them with rust around the rear wheel arches, then rust everywhere. They are almost extinct here now. I saw one over the winter and noted that I had not seen one in a long time.
Did not much care for the first gen Mazda3 5 doors, though they improved a bit with the midcycle refresh. The examples I see around now are also rusted out around the rear wheel arches.
Then Mazda introduced the grin, and I ran away.
Saw a new Mazda3 five door the other day. Extreme wedgie beltline with tiny slit of a rear window, hence minimal rear visibility. No thanks, and too late anyway. Now driving a Jetta wagon, 100% galvanized steel construction with a 12 year warranty against rust through…and it drives rather sporty too.
What grin? This grin.
Actually, the Protoge5 is still fairly common in the Washington, DC area, or perhaps they are not that common but I tend to notice them.
You still have this one too, which I’m glad to learn because we got a new Mazda3 last year, and plan to have it for a long time. Even better, where we are you don’t have to worry about rust. I find this size and configuration of car to be so useful, as well as fun to drive. The new 3 may not be as useful (and certainly not as easy to see out of) as yours, but I hope it lasts as long or longer. Great series!
I bought my shiny red Protege5 new in 2002, and it’s with me to this day. After 14 years and nearly 190,000 miles, it’s still solid, dependable, and up for any adventure. As a Californian (and proud of it), I haven’t had to deal with rust issues.
I love Mazdas in general and Mazda3s and 6s specifically, but none of the new stuff has the kind of sheer driving pleasure and go-kart handling fun that was baked into my P5. I’m determined to drive the little beast until the end–which I dread–after which I’ll probably buy a Kia Soul, whose easy ingress and egress appeals to old guys like me. Besides, my dog likes the Soul, and it’s his world; I merely live in it.
Nice, I liked these as well, although I would imagine up in your neck of the woods, the default choice in this category in 2002 was Impreza (or WRX) wagon. That’s got to be a bit of a shock, going from a 200QA to a Protege though. I suppose the new car smell helps a lot! 🙂
For some reason I thought this was the last one and am pleasantly surprised to learn that there will be more!
I still have four to go and don’t be surprised if one has World Rally heritage of some sort. Personally, I’m not a new car smell kind of guy.
Good, now you are speaking my language. The Protege has it in its roots as well, counting the 323GTX among the branches of its ancestral tree…
Family member had a 2004 Mazda6 4 cylinder 4 speed automatic for about a year. Bought it with 179k miles, her daughter totaled it at 189k miles. It didn’t leak oil, but it used a quart about every 600 miles, engine didn’t smoke at all.
My neighbor backed into the quarter panel and did $1800.00 damage. I know a bodyman who does good work at low prices and fixed it for $600.00, which my neighbor happily paid. 1 week after it got out of the bodyshop, it was totaled.
It had the recalled Takata airbags. The inflator (pn GKYA-57-K80) for the drivers airbag was replaced 3 months before the accident, the passenger side was not, at the time only the driver side was covered unless it was in a “high humidity state” which apparently wet SW Washington is not.
A 16 year old girl turned left in front of her and they hit head on, totaling the Mazda and the SUV. Both airbags deployed, no shrapnel flew out from either airbag, and every one was OK. A month after the accident, we received a recall notice to replace the passenger side inflator. I sent the return card back, checking the “vehicle was destroyed” box. I sure am happy that both airbags worked properly.
Other then using oil, all it needed was brake pad replacement while we had it. I liked the way it drove and it seemed to have good power for a 4 cylinder, though it did seem to be a little fuel thirsty (low 20’s).
“Camry outsold the Mazda 6 by a margin of 8 to 1 in the US in 2015”. Here in Austria the figures are reversed; in fact Toyota sells less cars than Mazda. Another proof of how well Toyota is the heartbeat of America, but totally fails to get its sums right in Europe. Mazda on the other hand is seen as the most “European” of all of the Japanese cars and it shows.
Oh, did anyone mention Lexus? In 2015, TESLA (yes) sold more cars than Lexus here…
If the Camry is a Mazda 6 competitor, then the Avensis must be the Euro-Camry.
The good old Camry was withdrawn from our markets many years ago, but back then it was clearly an E-segment / executive sedan, one level above the D-segment Toyota Avensis.
I really wonder if the current Avensis (below) will get an all-new successor in the future.
This gen was “our” last Camry. It either had a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder or a 3.0 liter V6.
Interesting. I think in Europe as a whole, Toyota outsold Mazda by about 3-1 last year. In the UK it’s about 2-1. Nissan came very close to beating Toyota to number one Asian manufacturer in Europe. I wonder if Toyota is much stronger in Eastern Europe?
It does seem to me that Mazda is held in higher regard in Europe than it is in the US, and having driven a lot of them I would suggest they do feel more “European” than most Toyotas. Personally I would say they’re much more stylish also.
Ironically I drive a chronically ugly Mazda 2 I didn’t want even when I bought it, built in Valencia from Ford components. (complete with rusty wheelarches)
The Brits do buy Them (and Lexi) but I’m not sure which other countries prefer the T brand. The figures for Austria (think of it as large US city with 8.5M inhabitants) for 2015 were:
Mazda: 10.101
Toyota: 6.280
Lexus: 316 (Tesla: 492…)
Nissan: 7.213
Infinity: 27 (yes, that’s right)
Honda: 1.808
Toyotas’ image here is that of a boring although reliable for older persons. And yes, my 3 feels like a Golf more than anything else (including the high gearing, which even the 6sp does not mask).
To make this all relative, Hyundai sold 20.969 cars during the same period and – scandals in the US or not – VW remained undisputed king with 53.396…
I think you’re right about Mazda’s current European flair. I just read recently a post where the author posited that the Mazda 6 was a better looking mid-size contemporary Jaguar than the Jag XE.
I have a thing for Mazda as well and I am dismayed by their propensity to rust. Mazda must do better in this regard for me to buy another one. Or I must move to the southern states.
I had an ’86 323 until it was to small for the growing family. And then I bought a used ’98 Protege, 5 speed manual transmission for my boys to learn manual shifting. We had it for 6 years and the boys loved it. After it rusted out and developed an oil leak I replaced it. We looked at an ’02 Protege but it already had rusty rocker panels. That nixed the deal.
I agree: Mazda is the one company that manages to put some fun into an everyday car. I may come back for that fun thing after all. For my own uses a Mazda 6 Wagon made it near the top of the short list. However, the few that were available were too high in price. Most Mazda owners know what they have.
A friend of mine has this car’s twin. Same year, colour, tranny and sunroof. He bought it new and still drives it, although it reached full beater status a few years ago due to his aversion to maintenance and car washes. That poor little car’s a glutton for punishment, he used to take up very rough back country roads all the time and it’s never let him down.
Nice to see you’ve chosen to fix the rust properly, my friend did not. He ground off as much rust as he could and the result is that the wheel arches are bigger than they used to be. The Bondo he applied to smooth it up has started to sprout orange spots and is only a matter of time before it cracks and falls off.
Great sporty little cars, it really is too bad about the rust. There’s lots of them still on the road up here but I can’t remember the last time I saw one that wasn’t rusty.
Great story. I bought a ’99 Protege LX new and sold it ten years later only because I wanted a hatch again. I’d kicked myself when the Protege5 became an option. If the timing worked out for me to buy a Protege5 instead I’d probably still be driving it.
The ’99 Protege is the same model cycle as your Protege5. It was plainer, but was much more fun to drive compared to a comparable Civic. We found plenty of room for two kids as well. The only repairs were a rotted heat shield and the mass air flow sensor. Of course the MAF failed 2K after the Mazda-initiated extended warranty expired. I didn’t have any rust issues despite the Protege living its first eight years in NJ and MD.
I sold the Protege with 101K miles to a family who needed a second commuter car. My younger daughter still hasn’t forgiven me for selling the Protege. Last year the husband emailed me to tell me they’d just traded in the now 16 year old Protege with 147K miles. It was basically fine and just needed a new catalytic converter. I briefly thought about trying to track the car down.
I have always liked Mazda. Have had three 626 cars. My only complaint about them it that their zoom zoom comes at a price as the author has found. Running 3500 rpm at 60 mph is absolutely ridiculous not to mention very wearing on the engine. Oh, and in a stick no less. That car definitely needs a 6 speed manual and/or a 6 speed automatic. Mine ran 2500 rpm at 65 mph which I thought was a tad high. On the other hand my Focus, with the 23.L, runs 2300 rpm at 65 mph and that car definitely has zoom zoom when you get it into it’s power band at 3000-4000 rpm.
Oh, my Mazdas never had any rust but just because they are in California doesn’t always mean cars are immune.
2015 3 (EU spec) is the same…
I always thought these were compelling little cars, but I’ve had a thing for wagons for some time. Shame they were sold for so little time. My grandparents had several Mazdas–a ’79 GLC wagon, which was replaced by a ’94 Protege LX sedan (Grandpa loved that one), and after a short ill-advised detour to an Escort, a ’99 626 sedan. I’ve never owned one personally but i have my eye on Mazda for potential future purposes.