Hello my fellow Mazda enthusiasts! I am in the process of buying a 2000 Mazda Protege w/the 1.6 liter and 5 speed. I was hoping I could get some feedback from the experts (you guys) on the buy and any advice you may have.

I am paying 9K with a one year warranty. Seems to be fully loaded except the 1.6 engine (believe it is an LX). Only 60k on the clock, one owner, bought new and serviced at the Mazda dealer where I am purchasing. It is over the KBB of $7500 but the price includes tax and tags and warranty as mentioned, plus it is the cleanest car I have seen.

I am replacing my 2000 Miata as somebody rear ended me and the car was totaled :-(. I don't expect the same cornering or acceleration, just know I like the Mazda drive-train.

So any tips, thoughts, etc, would be greatly appreciated. I haven't signed the paperwork yet and will take your input to help make my decision.

Also, any performance mods available for the 1.6? I couldn't find much online for this engine. Thanks gurus!

 

Hey man, I am new to this forum and not an expert by any mean. However I am a 2000/1.6 L Mazda Protege and that thing is really smooth , I have about 120000 miles on it. I believe the key is maitenance and maintenance with it. I am not sure about the 9000 dollar price though, mine had 20000 miles when I bought it for 5400. It won't hurt to negociate harder. Good luck

 

Thanks hb, I do feel it is high even with the warranty. I will see if they will go down any further and continue to look around if necessary. I have found it very difficult to find a good car that was well maintained for a decent price. Overall I did like the look and drive of the protege so I am going to stay in the market for one, possibly a 1.8 if I can find it.

Any other thoughts?

 

Hi there:
What market are you in? back to purchasing the car I believe it depends on your financial situation as well besides liking the car. My next car will be a Mazda 6 hopefully , and I think I may be able to get one with very low mileage for bout 12G's. If you really like what you saw, go for it keeping in mind that we always pay more buying from a dealer. I bet you if that same car was sold privately it will be bout around 6500. Have the car checked and move on with it.

 

I did get the price down to 8k with the warranty. My financing options are limiting me to a franchise dealer and the car must be 2000+ with less than 70k miles. Plus I didn't want to spend more than 9k so I am going to take it. I do like the car and since they haveALL the service records and it is in pristine conditionI feel good about the purchase.

On another note, I do really like the Mazda 6, especially the Mazdaspeed 6, I was able to drive one at the mazda zoom-zoom drive event and it was very nice. Even the standard Mazda 6 front wheel drive wasquick and fun to drive. If you decide to get one, I am certain you will enjoy it!

Thanks hb for all your input, it helps since you own one and have experience with it. Now, how do I put a turbo on the 1.6...!!

 

What area are you in?

 

turbocharging a car will eventually turn more into a lifestyle than a build. you need to start by rebuilding the motor. everyone says that if you run low boost, you don't need to rebuild the motor, but boost will turn into an addiction and you will want to run higher boost numbers. the stock internals are only good to about 8-10 psi which will be fine until you find out that all that you need to do to boost harder is open up the exhaust a little and run boost control. to start, you need a set of forged rods and forged dish-top pistons. then add a good set of rings, i recommend gapless rings to give better compression and durability. when you're putting it back together, you need a set of strong gaskets and an HV oil system. you can get all ofthis in the same kit. after it is put back together, you can put together your own turbo system or just buy one that is complete. if you build your own, you will need a controller for it, i.e. engine and fuel management. if you buy a kit, it will be included.

 

you can also get one of the like three turbo kits from hiboost.com that comes with everything needed for it to be a bolt on thing.