Good morning! We’re continuing our decade-by-decade salute to stickshifts with a couple of cars from the days of Dubya and dubstep, the decade that gave us both American Idol and American Dad. (All that makes it sound a lot worse than it was, now that I think of it.) And both of today’s cars feature something that fascinated TV audiences for a while: a hatch.
We looked at a pair of ’90s convertibles yesterday, and I thought you’d all be happy with the choices. I mean, a V8 Mustang and a Miata? Both with sticks? There is no wrong choice here. From the sounds of the comments, it came down to condition, and for once, Miata was not the answer, by more than a two-to-one margin.
I agree, for what it’s worth. That Mustang is about as nice of an SN95 as I’ve seen for quite a while, at least for that price. Besides, I’ve already done the scruffy Miata thing. I had a lot of fun with it, but I don’t need to do it again. I have never had a Mustang, however, nor any V8/manual combination in any car, and I think that ought to be remedied someday.
I never quite understood America’s distaste for hatchbacks. Elsewhere in the world, they’re the most common bodystyle of car by far, and for good reason: they’re practical as hell. But Americans too often insist on turning small cars into three-box sedans with a separate trunk, making them both uglier and less practical. I guess nowadays, hatchbacks are OK as long as you put black plastic fender flares on them and call them “crossovers”?
There was a moment in the 2000s, though, when some really great hatchbacks were available here, in sporty trims that made them nice and fun to drive. They’re getting scarce in most places due to rust, but you can still find them in less-salty locales. Let’s look at a couple of them.
2002 Hyundai Elantra GT – $2,900
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Bothell, WA
Odometer reading: 229,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I had forgotten, until I started researching this car, that this is actually the third generation of Hyundai Elantra. I remembered the round blobby model that preceded it, but not the bland little box that was produced from 1990-94. Can’t picture it? Yeah, I’m not surprised. Honestly, it’s not until this third generation that the Elantra was worth thinking about at all. I guess you could say it’s a late bloomer.
This is the GT model, in five-door hatchback form. It’s got the same 2.0 liter engine as other US-market Elantras, but it includes leather seats, stiffer suspension, and some other sporty bits. The engine puts out a respectable-for-the-time 134 horsepower to the front wheels through a five-speed manual. Back in the days of lightweight economy cars, that was enough for some fun. This Elantra has had a lot of fun, 229,000 miles worth, all from a single owner. It runs and drives well, and comes with maintenance records.
The ad is a little short on interior photos, but from this view, it looks pretty good inside. The fake leather of the shifter boot has disintegrated, but that can be replaced; my wife made me a new boot for my Miata’s gearshift back when I had it, using the old one as a pattern. Tellingly, the left bolster of the driver’s seat isn’t shown in the photo, and I bet there’s a hole there. That’s where all high-mileage cars show wear, from both the seatbelt rubbing on it, and from the driver sliding in and out.
I like this dark blue color, and it looks rust-free, but it’s not without flaws. There’s a pretty good wrinkle in the right-rear door, right by the handle, and it looks like one side-marker light is held in place by clear packing tape. Surprisingly, though, it’s shiny everywhere that we can see; it’s not shedding clear coat like most twenty-year-old cars. Someone took care of this one.
2003 Mazda Protege5 – $3,750
Engine/drivetrain: 2.0-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Coronado, CA
Odometer reading: 190,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The Mazda Protege is another car with a boring predecessor; the BH-chassis Protege was a pretty forgettable car. This generation, based on Mazda’s BJ platform, was a lot more fun, especially after 2001 when Mazda made the 130-horsepower FS-DE engine standard across the range in the US. I had a 2002 Protege, the basic DX model, and loved it – though I always had a little bit of buyer’s remorse that I didn’t spend a little more for one of these.
The Protege5, introduced in 2001, marked the return of a wagon (at least I think it counts as a wagon) to Mazda’s small car lineup after twelve years, and also marked the start of Mazda’s dumb naming scheme with no space between the name and model number. This one is a two-owner car, and has lived in southern California all its life, so it has escaped the rusty fate of so many Mazdas of this era. It runs and drives well, and the seller says it has “many recent parts,” but doesn’t elaborate.
This ad is also lacking in interior photos, but it looks good from what I can see. The Protege5 came in only one trim level, roughly equivalent to the fancy ES trim of the sedan, with power windows and locks and whatnot all standard. It has cloth seats in really nice shape, and also comes with the original owner’s manual and window sticker, which is usually a good clue that a car has been well maintained. You don’t keep that stuff if you don’t care about the car.
Outside, it’s nice and straight, but the seller says it has been parked outside, and it has the sun-scorched paint to show for it. But just try finding a Protege5 this clean anywhere in the Midwest – you just won’t. The “Zoom-Zoom” sticker on the back window is a nice touch – Mazda was giving those out at dealerships back then. I might still have one somewhere.
Both of these are a good blend of fun and practicality. They won’t replace a proper sports car, of course, but they’ll haul a lot more stuff home from IKEA or Costco than you can fit in a Miata or an S2000, and they’re way more fun to drive than an Explorer or a Highlander. It’s a good compromise. You can still find vehicles this size and shape, more or less, but they no longer come with rev-happy twin-cam engines and five-speed sticks. And that, in my opinion, makes these better. Which one strikes your fancy?
(Image credits: sellers)
My heart says Mazda.
But going anywhere near roadsalt: that generation Mazda will melt into a puddle of orange ooze. That has got to be the least durable paint I’ve ever seen on a car – worse, even, than the first generation Mazda3.
Had to go Mazda. Good driving dynamics and Hyundai hadn’t quite ironed all out the kinks yet and well maintained or not, that is a lot of miles for a 2002 Hyundai.. I wish the Protégé wasn’t silver but otherwise Mazda all day long.
Yellow was The Good Color for those.
I’m just not sure I’m a yellow car kind of guy. Maybe a metallic yellow but the yellow that came on these was a bright bright yellow. I do like their blues.
That’s probably the nicest 20+ year old Elantra in the country, but give me the Mazda.
My first non hand me down car was a 2002 Protege5. I loved that thing. Great handling car that could have used a higher 5th gear and a little more power. Traded it in on a Mustang before the rust got too bad. Somewhat regret not keeping it for winter duty but at the time I was mostly avoiding the Southern Ontario winters so just slapped on snow tires and didn’t go out if it was too bad.
You’re right it could have *really* used either a taller 5th gear or 6th gear.
Mazda, absolutely. My wife had the same year sedan Protege and it was pretty fun to drive in a slow-car-fast sort of way, and the wagon version is all that was good about hers and more. No one in their right mind would pick the Hyundai over the Mazda.
A bright blue Protege5 was my entry point to fun car ownership. Handled way better than any of my friends’ econobox beaters, introduced me to the concept of “slow car fast”. Traded it in for a R53 Cooper S, and there’s definitely a through line to my current 986.
The only thing the Hyundai has going for it is that it’s too old for the Kia Boyz to be able to steal it.
Bet the Kia Boyz would be foiled by the manual transmission as well.
Zoom-Zoom! Definitely the Mazda. The Mrs. had a Mazda 6 sedan for 12 years with no mechanical issues, albeit with one electrical gremlin. Love the body style of this one, and as long as you keep it clean after the snow falls, you can minimize the incursion of the tin worms for a long time. Amazing what a regular wash and wax will do to keep a car body looking good for a long time.
This was a surprisingly difficult choice! I ultimately went with the Mazda, but man, that Elantra is CLEEEEEEAN!!! And cheap!!
I had one of these MY2003 in bright yellow, 5 speed. The throw on the shifter was like a school bus, but the thing liked to rev and the suspension felt like a go-kart.
Everybody told me the clutch would shit the bed at 120k. Sure enough, at 115k it started to get spongy so I traded it in for a LEAF back in 2018 (having driven the protege since 2003).
I also had a broken electric lock. The worm gear was made out of plastic that got brittle and would just snap after a while. It was an NC car, so it had no rust when I passed it on.
If this car has had a new clutch semi-recently it looks like a great car!
I’m going to be the weirdo that picks the Elantra, if only because my family owned the same exact car for a solid 15 years or so.
That car was genuinely an all around solid car. It was super useful and spacious, comfortable, had decent creature comforts, etc. I always found it to look pretty damn good for a Hyundai (especially at the time) and I love that blue (which we had, as well). We put a similar amount of mileage on it, and it gave us no issues, despite my brother doing hardly any maintenance to it towards the end of it’s life. This one looks like it has life left in it, regardless of your perceptions of Hyundai. As for the left bolster not being show, from experience the leather in this car is very hardwearing, borderline vinyl in function, for better or worse. We had ours for 200k+, and the driver’s seat looked brand new when it left our care.
Normally I’d love a Protege and this one looks great. But I don’t dare bring it to Upstate NY only for it to disintegrate IMMEDIATELY. Yeah the Hyundai would rust too, but hardly any of these Proteges survived past the 10-12 year mark up here. Every single one of them got scrapped due to rust. Someone else can enjoy that Mazda in a place where maybe it has a shot at surviving.
This is true. My wife had a 2003 Protege for just shy of ten years. It spent its whole life in the upper Midwest and had rust everywhere to show for it. When someone ran a red light and T-boned it, it left piles of rust on the ground from the buckled rockers. It was a fun car to drive, but that inattentive driver probably saved us the trouble of scrapping it ourselves a year or two later.
My brother had a Protege sedan for his first car in his 20’s. He ran that thing for a good 130-150k miles before upgrading to a BMW 3 series. The biggest issue he had? His driver side rear door lock stopped working, so you had to manually open it. That’s it. The car lived in Arizona, so no rust worries either. It was just as reliable as my other brother’s 2001 Honda Civic. It was so good, I was convinced to buy a Mazda6 when I was in college.
I went the way of most on the Mazda but the aftermarket alarm is concerning to me. I’ve seen those act up and brick perfectly fine cars.
I feel like there is zero reason to not pick the Protege 5. They were super prone to rust, but any that have survived this long without giant holes in em have been taken care of.
I love this era of Mazda, but I cannot say this enough, they rust so, so quickly up north.
My wife’s friend had one back in 2010 or so? Same ’03. Thing was already rotting out. Yeah I suppose you might have a similar amount of time with it now, but it would make me sad to bring such a nice example of something to a place knowing it was going to be destroyed so quickly.
If you live up north, just let it remain somewhere free of salt.
I’m in eastern Ontario and there’s a rust-free yellow one for sale 20 mins from me. They still exist up here.
That’s absolutely amazing to me, lol. I haven’t seen one around here in a few years, and the ones I used to see, I couldn’t believe passed inspection.
I had an elantra before the missing oil issues and it was a great car but a Mazda manual wagon. woo hoo
I’ll say it again, the biggest flaw with my BRZ isn’t its lack of turbo, it’s the lack of a rear hatch. What is wrong with this country that we don’t appreciate hatchbacks?
A non-rusty Protege? Sign me up.
It’s the Mazda for me. No experience with any Mazda from this generation but I had the great great grandchild of this Protege5, a 2021 3 hatch with a 6 speed stick and absolutely loved it.
I appreciate that Mazda still lets you buy a compact manual hatch new in 2024, while Hyundai killed off the Elantra GT entirely a couple years ago.
This was easy. Picking the Mazda for the condition and ZoomZoom. I DO appreciate that Elantra ad, though. That’s how you do it!
That gen Elantra was a fantastic value proposition. Super cheap, super simple cars. Easy to fix. Also very flimsy! Great new car, great used car proposition 15 years ago, not a great option today for $2900. But this is a beautiful example! Mazda takes this one hands down.
I’m a simple man. I see manual wagon, I want.
A silver Protege5 like that one is the only car I ever bought new (although mine had the sunroof and side airbags, too). My mother had a five-speed Elantra in Black (not the GT, the sedan) at the same time.
Can confirm there is a world of difference between these cars; the voters have it right (for once).
So glad we meet your approval today haha.
The number of running and driving Protoge 5’s I see on FBM and Craigslist with over 200k miles is actually surprising given the age. I cannot remember the last time I’ve even seen an Elantra GT of this age in person or for sale, and I live in a college town with lots of hand-me-down beaters. Zoom-Zoom all day long.
I sometimes try to be contrarian by making an argument for the objectively worse option. I can’t do that today. The Protege5 is a cool car. This particular Protege5 looks to be in great shape and has the right transmission.
The Hyundai is fine and probably a decent car, but there is no rational argument for choosing it over the Mazda.
Only 9 votes in, but 100% of folks have made the right choice! Protege5 for the win here. Even if the Hyundai had similar miles, I have always loved the Protege, and I have come so close to buying one many times. Today is the day! Except only in fake internet money, because as much as I would love to have a protege to sit next to my Miata, I have no room or appetite for another car right now.
Can I pass on both and take the Vibe?
Otherwise, Ill take the Mazda.
No. Any other questions?
Will the SVT focus driveline plop into a protegê?
Uh… Didn’t see that one coming. No idea, but the Mazdaspeed protege one certainly will!