Opinions on Mazdas, Protege5/Mazda3 Options

[elvasoshexai]

I've owned toyotas basically all my life (i currently have 3)

i'm looking to get a new car... my 93 camry is getting old and parents don't want to spend more money fixing it (in the last 3 years we've had to replace brakes, fix exhaust leak 3 times, almost time for timing belt change, it needs a new steering U-joint, had to get new tires last year)

i was looking @ protege5's and mazda3's... i was wondering if anybody here has owned these cars and what they think about them... like.. reliability... etc..

i do know/notice the interior quality of both cars is pretty poor comapred to toyota (cheap seats on mazda3, cheap dash/trim parts on protege5)

also, it will be an automatic (family car, my bro and mom has to be able to drive as well)

i test drove both already... but i still can't decide... both seem kinda lacking in low end lower... similar handling...

i'm leaning towards the protege5 while the rest of my family likes the mazda3...

[hellsyphon]

The Protege5 and 3 are both sweet cars. They handle well and are hella practical. However, from my past Mazda experiences, they arent good long term ownership cars. Reliability wise supposedly they are really good, but I remember a bunch of TSB's for the 3 when it came out. Also the interior materials are much cheaper than Honda or Toyota. The seats and carpet will wear out much faster and Mazda parts cost a fortune. I dont know about Mazda automatics today, but the one on my MPV crapped out after 80k miles...