 I purchased my Mazda 3 brand new April 
10, 2004 .I previously owned a 2001 
Mazda Protege ES and I have never had a 
problem with any Mazda ive ever owned
(atleast the Japanese made ones not the 
ones made by AutoAlliance) the car gets 
great fuel mileage I noticed driving 
from South Carolina to Louisiana I 
averaged 30 MPH on my car and the ride 
is smooth and comfortable nice stereo 
system Mazda really took the old basic 
Protege and did alot of changes to get 
the 4 door 3 and the 5 door 3 S