I purchased my 2001 Mazda Protege brand-new. At about 60,000 miles the overdrive light started blinking. Going from second gear into third, the transmission would buck. I took it to the dealership and was told that it needed a new transmission, so I had a new transmission installed. Now at 154,000 miles, it is happening again. I have read numerous complaints similar to mine. Mazda refuses to accept any responsibility for manufacturing faulty transmissions.

- Villa Rica, GA, USA

While driving my Mazda Protege to work when automatic transmission would not shift down into first gear. After shift to neutral and back to drive, trans shifted to first gear. Drove normally for next 15 miles to work. When leaving for lunch, transmission failed completely after 15 seconds in drive. Car is 3 yrs 3 months old, was bought new and had 53,000 miles at time of failure. Car had been carefully maintained according to manufacturer's schedule. Dealer's service rep said car was out of warranty, and would not consider any assistance due to fact that the car had not been maintained there. I contacted area manufacturer's rep and was told same thing. Tried one last time to get help by calling dealer's service manager - he was able to get Mazda to pay for half of a rebuilt transmission (about $800), but by this time (10 days after the event) I had already had the car repaired (rebuilt trans installed) at another shop, so the assistance offer was withdrawn. Total repairs cost me $1835 (as opposed to $2650 from Mazda), and car was out of service for 9 days. Transmissions should not fail at 53,000 miles. The trans shop I dealt with said they see Mazda Proteges and 626S quite often with this same problem. I am trying to pursue complete reimbursement of my out-of-pocket costs, and will continue to do so.

- Piedmont, SC, USA

A loud ticking noise can be heard coming from underneath the hood. Consumer feels source of the problem is automatic transmission because gears can be heard changing while driving and vehicle stalls on an intermittent basis. Dealer has yet to be contacted.

- Largo, MD, USA