2002 Mazda Protege Complaints

THE DRIVER-SIDE SEATBELT LATCH FELL APART. THE SEATBELT IS NO LONGER OPERABLE. *TR

TIRE: FIREHAWK GT BL 205/50R16 87V 50K MILE TIRE. TREAD SEPARATION WITH ONLY 13,582 MILES ON THE TIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED WHEN THE TIRE WAS OBSERVED TO BE FLAT. ATTEMPTS TO INFLATE FAILED. REMOVED TIRE AND NOTICED TWO PLACES ON THE INWARD SIDE WHERE TREAD WAS SEPARATING - ONE SPOT WAS JUST OVER AN INCH AND THE OTHER WAS JUST UNDER AN INCH. FULL SET (4) ORIGINALLY PURCHASED AT FIRESTONE COMPLETE AUTO CARE STORE, WHICH IS WHERE THE FAILED TIRE WAS TAKEN THE FOLLOWING MORNING. TIRE HAS SINCE BEEN DISCONTINUED AND WAS REPLACED BY A FALKEN ZIEX 912 BL 205/50R16 87V 40K MILE TIRE. HAD OTHER TIRES INSPECTED FOR SAME ISSUES THE NEXT DAY - SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE STATES THE OTHER THREE TIRES DO NOT SHOW ANY SIGNS OF THE PROBLEM. BASED ON TREAD DEPTH, WARRANTY COVERED CLOSE TO 90% OF REPLACEMENT TIRE. IN THE TWO WEEKS SINCE, THE REPLACEMENT TIRE APPEARS TO BE FINE - NO OBSERVABLE MIS-MATCH ISSUES. *TR

I WAS DRIVING ON 905 WEST, CLOSE TO THE 805 N EXIT, AND THE ROAD WAS BROKEN. THERE WAS A HOLE ON THE ROAD AND MY CAR'S TIRE EXPLOTED WHEN I DROVE BY IT. MY CAR'S ALIGNMENT IS LOST. I ALMOST HAD AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE OF IT. UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T HAVE A GOOD SPARE TIRE SO I HAD TO DRIVE TO MY HOUSE WITH THE EXPLOTED TIRE, AND SINCE IT HAPPENED AT 10PM I WILL HAVE TO MISS WORK TO FIX IT, AND BUY A NEW TIRE. *TR

THE CAR BEGAN TO SHUTTER AND DROPPED FROM 50 TO 25 IN SECONDS. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT (CIL) STARTING FLASHING AND THE CAR BEGAN TO STUTTER LIKE IT WAS GOING TO DIE, I PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND THE CAR DIED. STARTED CAR AGAIN THE CIL CONTINUED TO FLASH, IT ONLY WOULD ACCELERATE TO 25 MILES AN HOURS EVEN WITH MY FOOT ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THE GAS. I TOOK IT TO THE A MECHANIC AND THE CODES WERE P0421, 171, 300. THE MECHANIC DID EVERYTHING FROM ENGINE FLUSH, SPARK PLUGS, OIL, AIR FILTERS AND INSTALLED A NEW CATALYTIC CONVERTER BUT THE PROBLEM PERSISTS. ITS NOW A YEAR LATER AND THE CAR IS DOING THE EXACT SAME THING. *TR

SEATBELT WILL NOT LOCK IN ON DRIVER'S SIDE AND TODAY THE HANDLE BROKE ON THE INSIDE DRIVER'S SIDE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR! *TR