I2icky

Well my dad is going to buy a car for me for university, and of course we went car shopping. We've narrowed it down to two, and we have a hard time choosing which one to buy, cause they are roughly the same price. So since i love the TFP community and all of its citizens, i'm going to ask for some advice. Here are the pros and cons of each car that i could think of.


Protege5

Pros:
- Comes fully upgraded, with sunroof, leather seats, top of the line leather seats, automatic, electric windows etc.
- more stylish
- more horsepower (10 more compared to the civic)

Cons:
- the manufacturer (Mazda) is not as renowned as Honda


Civic (30th anniversary edition)

Pros:
- the manufacturer is better than Mazda

Cons:
- does not come fully equiped (there is no sunroof, and the seats are pretty crappy imho)
- less stylish
- everyone is driving one!



Hm... so which one should i buy? I'm leaning more towards the protege, but i'm still conflicted. Note that all the options are set and we're not going to add/subtract any features on both cars. (ie. add a sunroof on the civic)

locdawg99

I would say the protege man, Civic's are way over done and the new protege 5 is actually a pretty cool looking car. Really comfortable inside and mazda's are reliable. Not to say a Honda isn't, they are both great cars, but in my opinion go with the Mazda P5

focalevo

Of these two, the Protege5 would get my vote. I've seen a few running around my area, and they are really slick looking. I really like the black ones, with the factory chrome wheels!!

It'll have a ton of room for all your friends and for carrying your stuff to and from school compared to the civic. And, in MY opinion, it wins hands down in the style department.

Plus, like you said, everyone has a friggin' civic!!! The first Protege's had their problems, but Mazda should have them ironed out by now.

So, my two cents go towards the Protege5 without a doubt.

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thadon

go with the Protege 5 ... Mazda is a big player ... keep in mind they are backed by Ford. You will love the better power & hauling capabilities of the Protege ... it is one sweet car

The Honda Civic is just another damn Honda on the road that everyone and their mother drives.

Get you some zoom zoom Mazda style

liquid_dreams

go with the Protege5 the only con as you just said is that its not renowned as Honda so make it renowned you have the power...

ducati999

Protege 5, much better looking, more unique!

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Dougie

Yup. Unique...just like everybody else..

Tech

Protege5... more car for the $$$

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I2icky

o ya, another pro for the civic. It has a bit better fuel economy compared to the protege

Kruz

go get the Mazda.... you'll kick yourself later if you don't

89transam

Buy a great used ford or something for $5,000 and spend the extra money on beer.

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magnum

Your only "pro" for Honda isn't even true. Honda better than Mazda my ass.

WarWagon

Yep, buy a Focus....

Or if you have to, the Mazda.

Jeff

The Mazda man. Go for the Mazda. And put some pics up when you get it. Po-lease.

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Ferrari

Honda builds better cars than Mazda, hands down. Hondas rock in the reliability department!

i2icky, get a Protege 5, but for the love of God, get a 5-speed! Automatic is for pu$$ies. The Protege 5 has awesome styling and a pretty peppy engine, and if you take care of it (synthetic oil etc), you'll keep it for a long time...

Good luck!

shakran

I'm usually a Honda guy, but my vote here is for the mazda. The new Civics are totally unimpressive to me. Even the Si is sluggish and not much fun to drive.

I2icky

alright, we decided to get a protege (w00t) and ya i want to get a manual as well, but my dad dint' want it cause he says that he's going to drive it too and he doesn't want me to drive a manual cause i'm used to an automatic (go figure)

well anywyas, we decided to get the midnight blue colour, altho it's been discontinued, we managed to find one, yay!


i was considering to get a yellow one since it's so sharp but then we decided not to cause i don't think that we'd be able to live with it for a few years. So we decided on the midnight blue

what do u guys think?

dimbulb

I drove the protege5 ( its called the 323 in my home country) and i've driven the civic SI and Acura Integras. I much prefer the feel and the handling of the hondas. Their shifters are incredibly smooth too.

The 323 seems to roll a bit too much for my liking. Good power though. Both are good rides though. Congratulations on whichever you choose.

Hatchbacks are great cars for college kids.

brandon11983

I used to sell Mazda, and they are not bad cars. Much better than a Civic. They are very well made, have excellent warranties, comfy inside, well appointed for the money, and are designed to be sports cars from the get go.

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I2icky

ya, i was asking my friends who associate with honda and they say that hondas are known for their gears, so they would choose honda hands down if i was going to buy a manual. However, i told them that i wasn't, and they said to choose the protege, cause i get more for my money that way. So i guess what u're saying just confirms what she said.



BTW, thx for all the helpful opinions guys

reconmike

Good luck with the Mazda, I would have reccomended the Honda.
I hope you do not have the commom problems associated with a Mazda product.

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DEI37

Good choice. For the most part, I'm NOT a fan of the Asian imports, but Nissan and Mazda make good cars. I like the Protege, and I love the new 6. You made a good call.

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I2icky

what common problems?


sorry, i really don't know. Care to educate me? thx

dimbulb

I think they were having serious problems with their auto shifters some time back. Especially for their 626 model, since i was doing some research on the web for a friend who was considering getting one.

Not sure if this is a continuing problem though...

I2icky

hm... really? man, that would suck

can anyone confirm if this is a recurring problem?

madsenj37

Protege 5s are good cars. I do dealer trades and drive them all the time. Mazda has really turned themselves around teh last few years.

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VirFighter

Protege5. Definitely.

Mazda is quickly making themselves well known for making fun to drive cars. About time, the miata has been fun to drive for years, nice to see them making the other cars great too

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Chemical

I'm glad you're choosing the MP5. I've had mine for just over a year now and I love it. Before my MP5, I was driving a 2001 Civic and the MP5 totally blows it away.

I get more looks now driving my MP5 and I did with the Civic.. then again it could be the yellow color

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Stare At The Sun

Yeah, i'd go with the mazda, nice looks, coo car, more unique, more creature comforts, etc. win win situation

in the 20k price range, consider the hyundai tiburon, great inside, good body, best warrenty possible...

mrsteve

the civic is cheaper, i have an 03 automatic coupe in black and i love it, check it out, its very vanilla but very easy to personalize, no i dont have a fat wing or anything, i just got my windows tinted and a nice stereo, i think it looks awesome, i dont like the htachback performance cars of nowadays, look at the civic man, you'll spend less buying it and less in maintenance

lakefire

save future time, go w/ the honda...you'll be thankful in the future.

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preluder

I like the Mazda protoge, i rented one when i broke my prelude and the protoge is fun to drive with a lot of zip. There's also a new protoge coming out soon, the 3, and it's supposed to be based on the Focus.

pocon1

Get the mazda, aor get the honda. It is your car. If it were my car, I would get the protege 5. I think it is a great looking wagon and the handling is good. I think the reliability problems are overrated and both cars are going to be reliable.

madsenj37

Protege5 is a solid car. Mazda has become more solid than you give them credit for. Recently they have really turned themselves around. I'd definately pick the mazda over the honda. Oh yeah, mazdas arent as generic.

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Wulf_Hunter

I'd go with the Mazda, like other's have said already more bang for the buck. Plus the civic's look kinda fugly.

G5_Todd

lol

a1t3r3g0

In short, Protege5.