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

By: carol hunter

carol hunter — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:32:55 +0000

bought a proton not even three months old, power steering rack stuffed already yes it may be cheap but i guess as the old saying goes you get what you pay for…after sales service from ian boettcher motors crap it was there a whole day and they didnt even look at it dont even get a courtesy car to get to and from work both proton and ian boettcher will not be recomended by us!!!

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).