Comments on: Proton brings forward release of Australia’s cheapest sedan

By: Jal

Jal — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:17:01 +0000

I have 2 cars, a Honda Accord and a Proton saga( the new one). The Saga is quite good. I dont have any problem with it. I think it is value for money.

By: The Salesman

The Salesman — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 04:40:34 +0000

Its going to cost you around 3 plasma T.V’s Talk about value plus. For the mums and dads still carting their kids around in VN Commodores and EB Falcons this is probebly the first chance they have had to get into a NEW car.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:48:01 +0000

Believe it or not, the swift and accent are pretty much the same price over here in australia once OTR costs are included.

Realistically, the next step up from $13k (likely $15k) would be $20k, the league of the three door manual Yaris. That’s still quite a hike.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:44:16 +0000

$13k probably doesnt include OTR costs. A $17.5k Jazz ends up being $22k OTR with insurance. So please dont harp on the $13k figure just yet. Im betting it will be closer to the indonesian price of AUD$16k.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:38:35 +0000

Accidents are really quite unfortunate.

I’ve been involved in an accident myself. I rammed a larger car (2.4L sedan) with my small car (1.5L hatch). My car only had to have the front bumper and a few panels/headlamps replaced. The larger sedan, costing about $26k (insurance compensated thankfully) was sent to the scrap yard.

Lesson: Accidents are a really poor judge of quality. Some parts of cars are designed to come off and absorb crash impact. The type of accident also matters. I hit the large sedan on the front axel at 90 degrees. It ruined it’s drivetrain and engine mount etc.

But i’ll agree with you though: The Tiara was a crappy car. It’s not even really a proton, just some rebadged continetal budget car.

My family’s experience with proton has been completely different from yours. So far, our proton sedan has been far cheaper to maintain than the japanese and continental makes we have recently owned. Say what you want about gearboxes failing. Ours died at around 300,000km…and a (recond) replacement only cost AUD$2k, and the car is running like new. The continental car we owned cost four to five times more to repair/maintain over the same period of time / mileage.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:29:54 +0000

I think I’ve only ever felt “good” quality plastic (im not sure if it’s even plastic) on cars that cost upwards of $40k (RM120k). The plastic used in protons is similar to that used in the baseline trims of just about all cars of similar size (getz/yaris/barina/jazz).

My lil jazz’s dash started having a plastic “rubbing”/”creaking” sound at 7000km ~60kmph. Guess i was unlucky.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:26:06 +0000

I say at least try the car first. $13k. Why not?

The other sedans in australia cost at least $20k on the road for basic manual versions.

Malaysians are a deluded bunch, they all think that a City/Yaris would cost the same as a Saga in malaysia if proton didnt exist. How s7upid. Proton has always made cheap cars. Even without any government protection a City/Yaris will still be significantly more expensive… as in the case with Thailand/Indonesia/Australia/Britain/etc.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:21:35 +0000

Dear Australian Readers: Please excuse this deluded malaysian poster. He probably think that you could buy a Honda City for the price of a Saga in malaysia if proton didnt exist. He is deluded.

Proton cars have no tax advantage in thailand/indonesia, and are more expensive in thailand/indonesia than in malaysia…yet they are still cheaper than all the japanese and continental cars.

Proton cars have always been more expensive overseas. The malaysian govt does tax foreign cars, but at the end of the day, the price of the hondas, toyotas and continentals are still more expensive in our two neighbours (thailand / singapore) compared to malaysia.

Note that australian prices you see online DOES NOT INCLUDE OTR costs. A 17k Jazz ends up being about $22-23k OTR with insurance, rego, plates and shipping.

Proton has become substantially more reliable since a new CEO took over, and their new models seem promising. Dont discount them just yet.

By: ezra

ezra — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:14:42 +0000

The new saga was engineered from the ground up from scratch. The only part with non-proton input was the gearbox (it’s some reliable japanese one).

By: d/p

d/p — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:19:11 +0000

OH AND WHILE IM on the topic , 99% of ppl wouldnt know what a good quality plastic looks like on a dash board , but they will all tell you they do !

By: d/p

d/p — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:15:39 +0000

LOL , had to laugh about the comment about poor quality plastics on dash boards earlier, milkyways obviously never had a look in an earlier 3 series BMW before, i just luv it when ppl talk about quality who have no F#&*@ ing clue what the word means and how it applies to such an item ! !

By: Mushi mushi

Mushi mushi — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:21:19 +0000

Malaysian, i mean a guy using this nickname,

U’RE SUCH A DISGRACE TO OUR MALAYSIANS COMMUNITY.. I DRIVE A PROTON, AND I HAPPY WITH IT…

By: petronasracingfan

petronasracingfan — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 19:01:08 +0000

I have uploaded some video of PROTON SAGA Electric Vehicle (EV) cars..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0N1Uzz53es

watch it on minute 2:25.. the prototype of PROTON SAGA EV

By: Amel

Amel — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:42:42 +0000

In Indonesia auto market, New Proton Saga sale at price Rp. 125 Mills (Manual)= AUD 16,250 and just launch on March 2009.
http://indonesia-cars.com/452/.....0-million/

By: Proton GTi Fan

Proton GTi Fan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:51:44 +0000

Protons make good cars too. Me, my wife, my daughter and son drive Protons. All trouble free. The new Saga is partly made of High Tensile Steel, so it is quite a strong car. CPS technolgy si similar to the variocam in Porche. And all Proton cars use Lotus ride and handling, thus corners like they are on rails.

By: Murano

Murano — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:49:49 +0000

Disgrace,
I’m sorry to say you’re missing the point here. This site is for people to state their views so it’s okay to express your opinion and past experience. If everyone were to shut up, then we might as well live in North Korea where the radio & TV has only one button-on/off.
Yes, I agree with you that we should not run down a product, a country or a marque. But I think people must be allowed to express themselves so long as they stay within the topic. It’s just my point of view. Cheers.

By: Disgrace

Disgrace — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:53:41 +0000

Nope, i’m egyptian, we have proton here especially gen2 and waja,, Yes Proton not the best cars, but most of them are value for money and they keep growing on me now.
I think proton cars are great in it class. i’m happy with proton.
and i’ve said the rude things to some malaysians because i’ve seen them always cursing their country/ proton and urge other not to buy proton, what the hell was that?? show ur loyal to ur contry atleast. If you didnt happy with proton, just stop buying it and let others judge it by theirself but some of u are very sick, blame protons for tax and bla bla bla..Pls go check car price in singapore.. and come to egypt to see cars prices here and you will know u are very lucky in malaysia.

We here in egypt have about 16 automotive assemblers since 1960s .. but none of them able to make even a cars tyre until now !!
Just be gratefull my fellow malaysian and proud of ur struggle proton and country, it wont hurt u. if u are unable to support by buying their products, just shut up ur mouth. thats better. We have our thought and consideration of things too. we dont need ur statement and bashing to brainwash our mind.

Good Luck.

By: vee

vee — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:14:41 +0000

It is plain obvious that Disgrace here is a Malaysian who is not too pleased that the national car project, Proton, attracts so much negativity in Australia.

I am Malaysian too and I apologise to the uncouth language he/she uses and the painfully inadequate grammar skills that readers here have to put up with. Sad to say, just like our beloved Proton, we do have a large proportion of cheap and nasty people with cheap and nasty English to go with our cheap and nasty cars!

In Malaysia, a 1.3 litre Saga retails are around RM35k without airbags and without ABS. A Hyundai Accent 1.5 retails at RM69k. A Suzuki Swift 1.5 sells at RM70k. A Honda Jazz 1.5 retails at RM101k. A Toyota Camry 2.0 retails at RM145k. So now we all know why Proton does so well in Malaysia.

Now, if Proton manages to sell the Saga at AUD13k, you only need to move up to AUD15k to get more options. Moving up to AUD17k or AUD20k gets you tonnes more cars to choose from.

By: Disgrace

Disgrace — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:20:49 +0000

Yeah, you can see how some malaysians poop shits everywhere, Please go shit in malaysian forum.
Let australian ppl alone see the thing with their eyes and touch the cheap junk car with their own hands. Its better to them to judge the car by theirself and then hate it and scrap it by theirself.

Malaysian pls STFU and if u dont satisfy with ur own country and proton, just shout at them and not here! Got it?

By: Malaysian

Malaysian — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:08:59 +0000

Hi Disgrace,

Go for a test drive, TRY IT YOURSELF!!!

Looking forward to hear from you.