Looking into a protege 5

[reut1]

Hey everyone,
Im new to the forum as you can see from my 1 post thus far.
I am coming off of a 98 civic which I have had for 5 years and 92k miles. (217k total). Recently ive had overheating issues, turns out to be small head gasket leak so im getting myself a new car rather than repairing.

So was originally looking to another civic or a civic si but then i remembered the p5 and went looking for those. I was wondering what they are like in the longer run for repairs, relability, ease of doing repairs myself rather than seeing a shop.

I found these two locally which Im going to look at tomorrow morning. Does any one seem better than the other? I will do my best to knock down the prices on them too.
http://www.bargainnews.com/viewad.cf...TheDealer=1091
http://www.bargainnews.com/viewad.cf...&TheDealer=420

Thanks a bunch!!

[thecrash91]

blue deff, good year,. but dont pay more then 7k. not a lot of power but good handling. and definitely an upgrade from the civc

[goodfornothing]

I'd go with the red. They're both 2003. AND IT HAS PAINTED CALIPERS!

You'll find the p5 to be a love hate relationship meaning, you'll love it for it's handling, but you'll hate it for it's lack of speed. It has enough power for me though, and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy the p5. It's reliable and gets decent gas mileage as well. It definitely is an upgrade from an older civic.

[reut1]

what is this i have seen on the forum about the motor mounts rotting out? is that a fix i could do on my own? i have a friend who works on civics primarily and he has been the one fixing up my car when it needs it. Im not looking for tons of speed in a car. My dream is to get an element (so im not looking for speed) but they are too hard to find as a 5spd for a good price

this is the one car im looking at thats keeping me from the p5
http://www.bargainnews.com/viewad.cf...TheDealer=1011

[TWISFM]

get the blue one... the red one has those gay tail lights..

[goodfornothing]

It's a good thing you can change taillights though huh?

[Falango]

The P5 is a very reliable car. I have the sedan, but have never had any problems with it at all in the 4 and a half years I've owned it. It's been boosted for 38000km and the motor is still doing great, which now has 139000km on it.

Just like every other car out there, it's got it's own share of little problems though. The motor mounts are one of them. They are soft for a smoother ride, but tend to tear easily. Replacements are easy to find though. Sway bar bushings tend to squeal and clunk in these cars too, but that's a simple fix when it comes time. I'd definately recommend one of these though.

[shadowncs]

when buying, look for following:
- underbody rust, they're bound to have some nothing serious
- rust on the inside lip of the hatch
- rust in rear fender lips and between rear fender and door
- burnt headlights, yeah, quite expensive those H7, jk
- suspension issues eg dead struts, broken endlinks

[slowtege5]

si

[thecrash91]

im not too fond of the front end of the civic si, and the interior looks like a minivan to me, like how the shifter is on the center dash

[reut1]

I went to see both p5s today. the blue is much much nicer than the red. looks like it just came off the lot new. no rust, no scratches almost perfect condition. no real flexability on the price. I got it down to $8650 which seems decent considering the condition of the car, lowish miles and it's got some very pricy new tires on it. am I getting ripped off a little bit or could this be a good one to get?

[thecrash91]

dont give up on price, just let them know, they need you more then you need them. there are plenty of p5s out there, they should make you WANT to buy theirs. tell them youll keep looking around, and give them your number. dont let them know you love the car already, just act casual when you see it

[reut1]

we tried lowering but they would not budge at all besides that $300. I don't know what to do with this now. I gotta get into a car this week. I'm looking at that red si in a little bit. if they aren't going to go down lower, should I give up on that car? it's kbb is I think around $10.5k

[reut1]

oh and finding another 5spd p5 in ct has been kinda tough. the others out there are more expensive

[thecrash91]

you have to plan this stuff ahead of time. in order to successfully talk down price, you cant just go in there and expect them to lower it right away, you have to fuck with their heads. make them think you dont want it THAT much, therefore they lower it to accommodate you