IllustrationWHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED THE VEHICLE HESITATED WHEN THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS PRESSED. THE DEALER EXAMINED THE VEHICLE TWICE AND REPLACED THE FRONT PADS AND FOUND THE REAR CALIPERS WERE WARPED. DUE TO THE WARPED CALIPERS, THE REAR PADS CAN NOT BE REPLACED WITH OUT NEW CALIPERS. *JB
2002 Mazda Protege
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2002 Mazda Protege do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 66.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Protege years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
160–25K
825–50K
1550–75K
1175–100K
12100–150K
3150K+
65 reports with mileage · 33 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Seat Belts. Review the 20 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Power Train. Review the 17 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Air Bags. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
12 crash reports2 fire reports11 injury reports
What owners actually said
98 reportsTRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING AT HIGHER GEARS ON SAT. (03/20). WOULD RACE TO HIGH RPM'S AS THOUGH LOOKING FOR ANOTHER GEAR. HUSBAND TOOK TO SERVICE THIS MORNING. PROBLEM BECAME WORSE AS HE DROVE TO DEALERSHIP. WOULD "THUNK" INTO GEAR, WOULD RACE TO HIGH RPM'S AT 35-45 MPH. WHEN ARRIVED AT DEALERSHIP, THEY CHECKED AND CONFIRMED TH…
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TRANSMISSION WAS SLIPPING AT HIGHER GEARS ON SAT. (03/20). WOULD RACE TO HIGH RPM'S AS THOUGH LOOKING FOR ANOTHER GEAR. HUSBAND TOOK TO SERVICE THIS MORNING. PROBLEM BECAME WORSE AS HE DROVE TO DEALERSHIP. WOULD "THUNK" INTO GEAR, WOULD RACE TO HIGH RPM'S AT 35-45 MPH. WHEN ARRIVED AT DEALERSHIP, THEY CHECKED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE TRANSMISSION HAS FAILED. CAR WAS BOUGHT NEW AND ONLY HAS 34,000 MILES ON IT. *AK
AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY DURING A FRONT END COLLISION AT 35 MILES PER HOUR. THE FRONT END WAS TOTALLED AND ALTHOUGH THE INJURIES WERE MINOR, THERE IS A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY.*AK
WHILE DRIVING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DIDN'T SHIFT PROPERLY, NONE OF THE GEARS WORKED. DEALER INSPECTED VEHICLE SEVERAL TIMES, AND COULD NOT DUPLICATE OR CORRECT THE PROBLEM.*AK
WHILE MAKING A RIGHT HAND TURN AND DEPRESSING THE BRAKES VEHICLE ACCELERATED AND RAN INTO FRONT PORCH. *AK
I BOUGHT A NEW 2002 PROTG LX IN JUNE 2002 AND HAD NO PROBLEMS FOR 6 MONTHS. EARLY JANUARY 2003, BLOWER MOTOR WOULD NOT WORK ON SPEEDS 1, 2, AND 3. TOOK THE CAR TO DEALER AND THEIR REPORT WAS THAT BLOWER MOTOR AND RESISTOR WERE DEFECTIVE. IT HAPPENED AGAIN LESS THAN A WEEK LATER AND DEALER STATED AGAIN THAT THE PROBLEM WAS A DE…
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I BOUGHT A NEW 2002 PROTG LX IN JUNE 2002 AND HAD NO PROBLEMS FOR 6 MONTHS. EARLY JANUARY 2003, BLOWER MOTOR WOULD NOT WORK ON SPEEDS 1, 2, AND 3. TOOK THE CAR TO DEALER AND THEIR REPORT WAS THAT BLOWER MOTOR AND RESISTOR WERE DEFECTIVE. IT HAPPENED AGAIN LESS THAN A WEEK LATER AND DEALER STATED AGAIN THAT THE PROBLEM WAS A DEFECTIVE BLOWER MOTOR AND RESISTOR. THE PROBLEM HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS ALL WITH THE DEALER STATING THAT THE BLOWER MOTOR AND RESISTOR WERE DEFECTIVE. THE PROBLEM DID NOT OCCUR AGAIN UNTIL OCTOBER 2003. SOMETIMES NONE OF THE SPEEDS WOULD WORK, AND SOMETIMES JUST THE 4TH SPEED. SOMETIMES THE PROBLEM WOULD HAPPEN WHILE DRIVING OR OVER NIGHT, AND SOMETIMES THE PROBLEM WOULD GO AWAY. THE BLOWER MOTOR AND RESISTORS HAVE BEEN REPLACED 5 TIMES BY DEALER AND TO NO AVAIL. THIS CAR IS CLEARLY A LEMON AND A HAZARD TO DRIVE WHEN NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE THROUGH THE FRONT WINDSHIELD BECAUSE OF NO HEAT TO DEFROST OR DEFOGGER THE WINDSHIELD WHILE DRIVING. *LA
REAR DISC BRAKES WITH EBFD PREMATURE WEAR OF ONE PAD ON ONE SIDE OF DISC BRAKE TO 0% WHILE OPPOSITE SIDE AT 30% AND OPPOSITE BRAKE AT 50% *JB
PURCHASED A NEW 2002 MAZDA PROTEGE ON 2/20/02 FROM RAMSEY MAZDA, RAMSEY, NJ. OTHER THAN REGULAR OIL CHANGES, ONLY SERVICE TO VEHICLE DONE BY MAZDA DEALER ON 5/8/02 WHEN CAR STALLED AND DEALER INSTALLED NEW COMPUTER. ON 8/24/03, WHILE DRIVING CAR STALLED AND I SAW SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. OPENED HOOD AND SAW ENGINE CO…
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PURCHASED A NEW 2002 MAZDA PROTEGE ON 2/20/02 FROM RAMSEY MAZDA, RAMSEY, NJ. OTHER THAN REGULAR OIL CHANGES, ONLY SERVICE TO VEHICLE DONE BY MAZDA DEALER ON 5/8/02 WHEN CAR STALLED AND DEALER INSTALLED NEW COMPUTER. ON 8/24/03, WHILE DRIVING CAR STALLED AND I SAW SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. OPENED HOOD AND SAW ENGINE COMPARTMENT ENGULFED IN FLAMES. FIRE DEPARTMENT CALLED AND PUT OUT FIRE BUT NOT BEFORE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE TO FRONT OF CAR. INSURANCE COMPANY HAS DEEMED CAR TOTALLED. MAZDA CLAIMS THEY HAVE NO INVESTIGATIVE TEAM TO DETERMINE CAUSE OF FIRE AND THAT MY INSURANCE COMPANY SHOULD HIRE AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR. INSURANCE COMPANY REFUSES TO HIRE INVESTIGATOR. *AK
WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH VEHICLE WAS INVOLVED IN A FRONTAL COLLISION, NEITHER AIR BAG DEPLOYED. DEALER AND MANUFACTURER HAD BEEN NOTIFIED. *AK
DRIVER'S SEAT BELT CAN'T BE USED DUE A FAULTY RETRACTOR. DEALER NOTIFIED. CONSUMER STATED VEHICLE STILL UNDER WARRANTY, DEALER STATED SEAT BELT WAS WARRANTED ONLY 2 MONTHS. *AK
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.