| 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
2003 Mazda Protege repairs by problem area
Engine (39%)
Transmission and Drivetrain (3%)
Brakes and Traction Control (6%)
Suspension and Steering (25%)
Electrical and Air Conditioning (17%)
Paint, Rust, Leaks, Rattles, and Trim (8%)
Other (1%)
Select a problem area
Chart based on 454 repairs.
2003 Mazda Protege suspension repair cost distribution
$2500+ (1%)
$1000 - $2499 (7%)
$500 - $999 (16%)
$100 - $499 (49%)
< $100 (26%)
Chart based on 91 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.
2003 Mazda Protege5 4dr Wagon
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 5-speed manual FWD
| 161500 mi US $969 |
Right rear strut mount broke, needed to replace strut mounts, struts and sway bars links. |
| 141700 mi US $550 |
replaced both front wheel bearings, along with front springs. |
| 181000 mi US $460 |
replaced struts, strut mounts and tie rods. (accident repairs below) rear stabilizer, ladder brace. |
| 111000 mi US $460 |
Bracket on strut where stabilizer bar link connects broke. Replaced both struts and both links. Since one strut broke, I split the cost of parts. If you think we should consider both struts, cost of repair with parts and labor is $460 |
| 133000 mi US $247 |
Right front wheel bearing failing. |
| 141400 mi US $550 |
Both Strut mounts and the passenger control arm with integrated ball joint was replaced. |
| 161000 mi US $71 |
Replaced sway bar end links. Clunking and squeeking observed |
| 161800 mi US $110 |
Replaced Lower Control Arm |
| 169000 mi US $260 |
Wheel bearing |
| 181300 mi US $600 |
Wheel bearing replaced again Control arm replaced again |
| 66000 mi US $280 |
Front left wheel bearing replaced after started making a loud noise during even the slightest turns over 20 MPH. |
| 84000 mi US $303 |
Another wheel bearing. Another wheel bearing. |
| 93000 mi US $335 |
Front left wheel bearing replaced again after two years and 26,000 miles. |
| 95000 mi US $580 |
Right rear stabilizer bar link broke. Replaced both links. Shop found worn control arm bushings. Replaced both front control arms. But clunk I've been noticing in the front end is still there. |
| 97700 mi US $258 |
Replaced another wheel bearing, about a year old. Also replaced end links on front stabilizer bar. Clunk gone, handling tighter. |
| 1 mi US $400 |
Right rear strut clunking, needed to be replaced when the car was sold. |
| 181000 mi | Nut welded to subframe above control arm snapped off, control arm had excessive play |
| 115000 mi US $300 |
After 13 years and 115,000 miles on he originals, I bought a good set of struts (KYB) through the mail and installed them myself. The bump stops had disintegrated so I replaced them too. I reused the strut mounts and other parts. |
| 130000 mi US $50 |
Replaced left outer tie-rod end cap. |
| 15000 mi | Front suspension bushing replaced under warranty |
| 103540 mi R 900 |
Replaced ball joints and tie rod ends |
| 65000 mi US $875 |
stabilizer bar |
| 72200 mi US $975 |
Control arm |
| 76300 mi US $600 |
Two front control arms |
| 92380 mi C $40 |
Car was rattling over bumps. Someone suggested checking the sway bar endlinks for play. Both rear ones had play so I replaced them. Rattles went away! |
| 92880 mi C $130 |
Took car in for an alignment since I replaced suspension parts. Could not align because of bad pass. control arm/ball joint. Replaced balljoint/control arm; the boot was gone and the joint was freely wiggling around. All good now, aligned. |
| 105400 mi C $180 |
Drove down a dirt road getting to cabin, bearing went. Same trip also destroyed the passenger side sway bar end link. |
| 49000 mi US $144 |
New bushings installed for aftermarket swaybar. |
| 57000 mi US $300 |
Left wheel bearing shot, replaced with new one. $300 including labor and parts. |
| 88000 mi US $450 |
Right wheel bearing failed with loud grinding noise. Replaced just under 2 years since left side wheel bearing needed replacement. |
| 107200 mi US $150 |
Can't remember, something about the sway bar end links being worn/broken. Made squeaking noise over larger bumps. |
| 80000 mi US $75 |
1 front wheel bearing, 2 rear sway bar bushings replaced. |
| 82000 mi US $100 |
Driver side front wheel bearing replaced. |
| 143400 mi | Front passenger side shock was leaking and clunking. The shocks (Tokico Illumina) have 100K miles on them, so installed old one that was laying around and it is fixed now. |
| 153000 mi US $110 |
Strut top mount came off and ended up replacing the strut top mount and the strut itself. |
| 156000 mi US $200 |
Replaced front and rear wheel bearings. |
| 172000 mi | Replaced rear sway bar endlinks. |
| 174500 mi US $75 |
Oil Cooler Hose rusted through and leaked out the power steering fluid. Replaced with a new hose and new PS fluid, and no further issues. |
| 119000 mi US $185 |
Left front wheel bearing had been going out for some time. Replaced. Excellent shop, labor charge about half dealer.. Able to buy Mazda OEM parts from dealer at "shop rate". |
| 97340 mi C $320 |
rear sway links made creaking sound, dealership replaced. |
| 101060 mi | need new rear brakes, bad front wheel bearings, bent front rim, alternator belt needs replacing |
| 75000 mi US $40 |
RF wheel bearing howling loudly. Repladed DIY. |
| 79000 mi US $150 |
RF outer wheel bearing was making very loud noise. I removed carrier myself, but could not replace bearing as I do not own a press, so I took it to a shop where they replaced the bearing. I reinstalled carrier. |
| 112000 mi US $120 |
Previously replaced front wheel saddle bearing repair did not last- either I did not properly tighten the spindle bolt (not likely, but could have happened) or the part was defective. RR wheel has +3.0 degrees camber- WAY out of spec. Will need a kit to adjust. STAY AWAY FROM FAIRGROUNDS BODYSHOP, MARIETTA GA. THEY DO TERRIBLE WORK AND DO NOT STAND BEHIND THEIR REPAIRS. |
| 144000 mi US $50 |
RF wheel bearing was very noisy. Had replaced it twice already; the real problem was the hub/bearing carrier had worn and allowed the bearing to become cocked slightly- which in turn caused the bearing to fail prematurely. Replaced hub. |
2003 Mazda Protege5 4dr Wagon
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 4-speed shiftable automatic FWD
| 67040 mi | drivers side wheel bearing replaced |
| 115000 mi US $320 |
Sway bar links replaced. |
| 106400 mi C $500 |
Full rear suspension and ball joint on rear wheel |
| 128960 mi | 1. Forward links require repair |
| 54560 mi C $200 |
front right wheel bearing |
| 63860 mi C $300 |
Support links on all 4 wheels replaced. all worn out badly. rear sway bar bushing worn out, replaced |
| 76460 mi C $200 |
another wheel bearing went kapoot. |
| 80680 mi C $280 |
another wheel bearing. third one in 3 years. |
| 93620 mi C $1100 |
Too much play in tie rods. Had them replaced. |
| 101680 mi C $1100 |
Front stabilisers replaced |
| 115800 mi | Fumbled repair. Shop installed on drivers side(front} bad bearing was on passenger side(front) This repair took 3 days to do the one bearing then it failed at about 7000 miles. I picked the car up and dropped it off at another shop to get the correct wheel bearing replaced and had it back in 2.5 hours. |
| 125000 mi US $350 |
The original wheel bearing repair by idiots failed in 7000 miles. I had the good shop replace that one too. No problems since and very quiet. |
| 57040 mi C $300 |
Suspension stabilizers at all 4 corners making pronounced knocking sound on anything but absolutely smooth road; badly, corroded and had to be cut out. Parts replaced were after market as Mazda parts double the cost! Solved the problem completely. |
| 65100 mi C $135 |
A rear bushing "making noise even over slight bumps - annoying to me; my wife [the owner] was oblivious. Shop owner had to work to find it, but I knew it was there! |
2003 Mazda Protege5 4dr Wagon
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 4-speed automatic FWD
| 68820 mi C $1350 |
Both front wheel bearings and stabilizer bars replaced. |
2003 Mazda Protege
Engine not specified
| 120000 mi | 2nd wheel bearing in one year. |
| 89900 mi C $250 |
Front passenger wheel bearing was replaced |
2003 Mazda Protege 4dr Sedan
turbocharged 170hp 2.0L I4 5-speed manual FWD
| 30187 mi | replaced end links, bushings, and rear sway bar due to design flaw. replace rear sway bar, end links, and bushings |
| 54000 mi US $250 |
replaced bushing and brackets for rear sway bar replaced bushing and brackets for rear sway bar |
| 63000 mi US $612 |
replaced leaking rear struts |
| 57000 mi | One of my struts was clanking and needed its top nut to be tightened. |
| 108000 mi US $250 |
Right side control arm. Right side wheel bearing. |
| 23000 mi | Clunking noise when driven over small bumps or uneven roads was noticed coming from rear of the car. During routine oil change, mechanic checked and discovered rear suspension buhings were worn. Dealer shop installed bushings that were ordered. |
2003 Mazda Protege 4dr Sedan
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 5-speed manual FWD
| 77500 mi | Front wheel bearing. |
| 53000 mi US $1300 |
humming noise; fixed by replacing front wheel bearings; it has failed again twice and repaired covered by warranty |
| 151000 mi US $300 |
Replaced rear struts and mount. Price reflects friend doing work. |
2003 Mazda Protege 4dr Sedan
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 4-speed shiftable automatic FWD
| 124000 mi US $550 |
Wheel bearing went out, taking wheel hub with it. Protege ES has rare hub, making repair expensive and difficult to source. |
| 87580 mi C $170 |
Both front sway bar links were replaced due to wear. |
| 41500 mi US $217 |
Loss of Power Steering. Power Steering replaced. Repair facility experienced delay in deliver of replacelment part by Mazda distributer |
2003 Mazda Protege 4dr Sedan
130-horsepower 2.0L I4 4-speed automatic FWD
| 132489 mi US $250 |
New LF wheel bearing |
| 140000 mi US $175 |
New LF wheel bearing |
| 146136 mi US $395 |
New LF Wheel bearing and hub |
| 170000 mi US $787 |
Wheel bearings replaced |
| 63240 mi C $52 |
front sway bar-drivers side replaced |
| 104780 mi C $180 |
Replaced left lower control arm and Ball joint |
| 109820 mi C $350 |
Rear sway bar links replaced. Coolant fluids flush done. |
| 132060 mi C $1500 |
Front axle bar needed welding. |
| 52080 mi C $650 |
change the shocks and the link kits Change the Shocks and the 4 link kits |
| 88040 mi C $400 |
Front wheel bearing. Had already been changed, but housing out of spec. Replaced bearing (warrantied) and housing. |
| 89240 mi C $300 |
Other bearing |
| 122640 mi C $700 |
Making funny noise from front when turning |
| 78740 mi C $90 |
Ball joint was replaced. |
| 127500 mi US $338 |
Worn lateral links & bolt, LR. 2 new lateral links, new bolt, alignment. |
| 99000 mi US $1600 |
Front left and right wheel bearings req'd replacement - were severely worn out. Rear suspension knocking noise -- found that entire rear suspension needed replaced (strut mounts, struts, etc, etc,) estimated cost $3000 + labor. Declined repair and sold car. |
| 32569 mi US $9000 |
the only thing that had to be repaired was the wheel bearings at like 50k. it now has 90 thousand miles and is going strong |
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