Fix it / Sell it / Trade it

[DigitalSlacker]

That's the question i'm asking myself right now about the mazda I have.

2003 Protege5, bright yellow wagon. Its 5 speed, cloth seats, power windows, power doorlocks, remote entry, AC and a power sunroof. Last year it developed a smoking problem (turned out it was piston rings). About 4500 miles ago I had some help from a buddy and we threw a junkyard engine in it. Two nights ago it started making an odd noise that I think is a bearing somewhere in the lower engine. It idles just fine but man its loud.

The guy that helped me before has offered to help me again but he's about 110 miles from me and I doubt it would make it the whole way without some sort of major failure. So the cars sitting in the driveway right now waiting what I should do.

With having about 168,000 miles on it it does need to have a few things done to it in the semi-near future. Brakes need done sometime soon and at some point start of next winter it will need new tires. I'd like to do suspension when its warm out as well.

So what should i do?

Get it towed up there and drop 1000-1500 to get it fixed and hope that the 3rd engine in it is the charm...

Buy a newer car and trade it as-is at the dealership...

Buy a newer car (either dealership or try to reach out to somebody here for an auction hook up) that has a factory warranty and try to sell the car as a fix-it on CL...


The thing that sucks is I spent the better part of 6-8 months looking for this car with all the options i wanted (and didn't want like leather). Its a fun car, not fast, but its averaged 29.9mpg mixed over the past 25k miles.

http://www.digitalslacker.net/_/rsrc/1263178381966/2003-mazda-protege/ProfilePic2.jpg

[full-cruise]

how long can it take to swop a motor in there 8hrs do it up the wagons are some what rare so if it was me i would look for a clean jdm engine an keep her going.. good luck with what ever you end up doing..

[DigitalSlacker]

The first swap was about 11 hours. That was due to getting a 2L engine from a 626 instead of a protege. Had to swap some parts.

[lepichichi]

spring is around the corner, look for a donor car! or if it still runs and have the cash trade it in. just my 2 cents. Is this your daily driver?

[DigitalSlacker]

spring is around the corner, look for a donor car! or if it still runs and have the cash trade it in. just my 2 cents. Is this your daily driver?

It was my daily driver... I'm borrowing a rolling couch right now (buick lesaber). I am thinking I may just fix it again. I know putting 2k into a car worth 4500$ isn't that great of an idea but 2k is less then what i'd need to put down for a new car. May end up trading it later or something.

[92accordex]

I would research around and try and find a legit motor depot and buy an engine for cheap, if you can. Fix it keep it

[slipkornvayne]

well if you decide to part out lemme know. im looking for a 5speed swap.

[FlashFive]

Shame to hear it has given you so many problems. Usually p5s are really reliable. I would say get it fixed up proper because at the end of the day it is still cheaper. And if you get a decently low mileage motor it could easily go over 200k without any problems. As you said, the car is slow but its really economical and once you drop it is a blast in the bends. I plan on driving mine till she dies, I had invested too much into her already.

[DigitalSlacker]

Update:

My dad took it to a shop without me knowing while I was at work today. Shop says its a water pump, the pully is gone. The water pump looked brand new when i swapped engines and is only about 21k miles old. Not sure what i'm doing yet.

[DigitalSlacker]

Update #2:

Put in a new water pump and its running nice again. Glad to have it back!

[FlashFive]

wahooo! she lives!