mazda protege 5 good car?

anyways, i tried posting this on a mazda forum, but it sucked too much balls, so im going to post it here.

so im gunna cut it down short and sweet.

im looking to buy a mp5, for around 10k...

reliablilty: how reliable are these cars... i've heard that theyve had tranny issues. are there any years to stay away from?

insurance: how much should i expect insurance to be (please post your $$ if you dont mind)

speed: 130HP isnt alot, but if i do wish to give it a little more UMPH, are there easy bolt on power options

gas consumption: is this better on gas than a 2.5rs/maxima/prelude/1.8T? see how the gas is on the rise, i dont want to get one of those other cars i wanted a while back.

anything else you wish to tell me, or maybe anything you think i should know, would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

SB

also... is high mileage ok w/ these cars? for around 10k, they will be approaching 100k miles on the odo.