2000 Mazda Protege Reviews, Pricing & Specs

My Mazda handles greatly and the brakes aren't sensative like the 1993 Geo Prizm my family has. The only problem my Mazda has is the engine problem, we haven't been able to fix it since we bought it last year. The overall appearance looks almost perfect on the exterior except for a few poor dabs of paint job here and there, but that ain't noticable; there's also scratched paint on the front driver side bumper. The interior is nice and cozy, nuff said. Cutest car I've ever driven but I'm biased on that because I own it and I know that owners of their first cars (If those cars are nice enough) will say that their car's cuter than anyone else's.Feb 18, 2010

The downsides of this car are far more then the positive attributes. When I first bought it the acceleration and power was awesome, much better then my Civic DX I previously owned. However after missing one oil change the car quickly deteriorated and then when I fixed all of the problems, Mazda told me the main problem was due to a recalled part that had never been replaced. The car looks a lot like my civic and definitely cost about the same, however I sometimes wish I had a Honda again.Jan 10, 2009

Performance - everything is very good considering this is a $4000 car and I am getting a steady 30 mpg. Of course nothing is overly impressive but, isn't a let down either. Build Quality - Most of the car parts are light: doors, trunk, etc. The car in general is built very well though! It has needed no repairs. Only routine maintenance has needed to be performed. I have had this car for about 3 1/2 years now and it has been a daily driver. I have probably put close to 50,000 miles on it since I bought it. It is now pushing 140,000 and is still running like the day I bought it. Cost of ownership - for anyone who has to drive a lot and doesn't want to have to worry about a high maintenance vehicle, this is perfect! I consistently get 29-31 mpg with a mix of city and hwy driving. Fun Factor - 8 of 10 on country roads with 2 or less people in the car. Any more than that and the acceleration starts to decrease drastically. It is a 5 speed and it grips the road well. Also has a sun/moon roof.Jul 26, 2008

My car is not much but it is a good car none the less. It gets me where i need to go without any problems and it has a good ride for a small little car. It looks ok i mean its not a sports car but with some work i could make it look a lot better by adding a body kit and new wheels and stuff like that. It gets great gas milage, which i really love! I like it better than my last car which was an 1994 Pontiac Grand AM which sucked lol! I also bought this car for a steal! All in all I am very pleased with my car for now but I wouldn't complain if i got something nicer lol!!!Jun 30, 2008

My car has a JDM front body kit, as well as side skirts / rear skirt from the MP3 protege. Additionally, it now has a lower lip intended for the 01+ Protege's, but modified for the 2000. It has a full suspension setup with Tokiko HP struts and JDM Espileir Springs, rolling on 17" ASA JS5 rims, wrapped in Kuhmo Ecsta SPTs. The engine is fully built, repacing the original 1.8L with the bigger and more powerful 2.0L, which was bored to 2.1L and the compression raised to 9.5:1. Other engine mods include a cold air intake and header-back, catless exhaust, tipped by a Dynomax Super Tubo muffler. Other mods are on the car, but you'll just have to ask to find out what they are...Feb 10, 2008

The Protege is a great car that handles amazingly in the city or out on the long bends. Great mileage followed up with a huge amount of low end torque that does seems to fade away quite dramatically after second gear, which requires a slightly different driving style to get any top end power out of it. Followed up with great reliability and low maintenence costs as well as a huge array of available modifications keeps the protege a welcomed addition to anyones garrage.Nov 20, 2007