Hi all,

I'm new to the mazda forum and had a pre-purchase question for those who drive the Protege. I have always liked the cars that Mazda has put out, but never really had an opportunity to purchase one. My girlfriend is currently looking into buying a 97 protege with 125K miles on it. I do not know much about mazda cars in general, so have a couple questions.

Will buying a protege with this many miles be ok? I know most japanese cars last well over 100K, but just have never heard anything about mazdas.

The seller also told my girlfriend that she was looking to sell because she wanted something more reliable in the snow. This worried us. If she will probably be running AS tires on the protege, how well will it perform in the snow? She of course will not be driving it normally, but don't want her to be at a high risk even driving defensively in the snow. Her normal commute is around 20 miles daily. And we live in Denver, CO. So, there are times where there is a lot of snow.

Any help you guys can give me would be a great help.

 

As far as the reliability question, if the car has been properly maintained over it's lifetime, you should easily get 200,000 on it. Change the fluids, Tranny fluid, coolant. Yearly. Change the fuel filter every 30,000, and immediately after purchasing the car.Also plugs, cap and rotor every year. Get a good car wash with undercarriage spray weekly, rust is the big killer with Jap cars, but they are better than they used to be.

As far as the snow handling, if the snow is deep, you begin to have problems because the cars is so light it glides right on top of the snow. First thing to do is put some Yokohama AVID's or Dunlop SF-20 on. These have been the best winter tires I have used without going to full snows. DO NOT put cheap tires on this car, you will be very sorry. And, these cars do not react well to mismatched tires. Stay with the same tire all around.

 

Thank you for the advice. We have found a couple of other cars that we will be looking into as well.Your advice will help us make a decision when it comes time.