I just recently got married and my wife has a 03 mazda protege with 108,000 miles. The car seems to be running just fine and I will be taking it to my garage to have them do a once over on everything on it. The car has the ugly factory black rims that had the wheel covers on it and they are just in bad shape. She knows just like everyone else that if there is a car parked in my driveway I want it looking sharp. My question is if this is a car to fix up and make it look good again or if it would be better to sell it and invest in something better/ newer. Now I don't hate on mazdas or anything like that I just don't want to waste alot of money if I don't have to. I am looking at new rims and tires, don't like the import tuner rims that everyone sees on the road now a days. Any suggestions on just simple rims but also looks nice? If the feedback I get says to keep it and fix it up again I will look at getting a cruise control, window tint, the whole nine yards. Just let me know what ya think on it.

 

I'd check Craig's list for a set of factory wheels someone has taken off so they can mount a set of your favorite "import tuner rims". You'll probably be able to a complete set, tires and all, for less than $500.