I am looking for a used car. Yesterday I looked at one 2003 Mazda Protege LX. The car is very good maintained, but have a milage of 9.4k miles.On the MSN autos Ifound twoproblems about this model at 2003:
"Occasional problems on this vehicle are the failure of the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Valve and the Intake Manifold. Failure of the EGR Passages will cause the Check Engine Light to illuminate and may also cause the engine to misfire or run rough at idle. Failure of the Intake Manifold may cause a rattling noise or engine misfires. The cost to replace the EGR valve is estimated at $146.00 for the parts and $30.00 for the labor. Replacement of the intake manifold is covered under a safety recall. The cost to replace the intake manifold is estimated at $600.00 for parts and 200.00 for labor. All prices are estimates based on $65.00 per flat rate hour and do not include diagnostic time or any applicable sales tax."

The second one (intake manifold)seems to be very serious. Does anyone who has this car find this kind of problem? If this problem really exists, will it cause some accidents on road?Will the cost to replace the intake manifold be covered under "recall"?

I do not know how to drive now, so I would like to buy a car that is reliable enough. Thank you very much!

 

i got the mazdaspeed 2003 protege and i have not had that many prob.
i did have a misfire but it was 12 bucks to fix with just plugs one was just black.
also i did have a prob with the car doing a low idle when i was commin to a stoplight or sign
and i still have not fixed that..but i would say to try and find a speed cause they are alot more fun to drive aslo alot of parts already stock...and u can find them for cheap with good miles..hope that helps