I can't say anything about the new ones, but my Mom just got rid of her old Protege that she'd had since like 1990 2 years ago. That car really went the distance. We did lots of trips in it, plus she works out of her car. Like a few hundered miles in just a day sometimes.
She has a Mazda 3 now and loves it too. It's really comfy and has lots of cool gadgets inside.
My husband has one--I think its a 2002 also. I love to drive it (standard shift) I tend to drive a little on the fast side and told my husband I would love to drive his car on a winding road with no speed limit. We have about 75,ooo miles on it now and haven't had any problems. Definitely take it for a test drive.