Tuesday 12 April 2016

Proton not so bad

I read with interest this post by Dave Avran,

After Maxisgate, Peugeot Malaysia gets flamed on social media.

It basically tells a story about someone who complained about Peugeot.

Well, it's not Proton for a change.

Actually, I have friends who drive Peugeot.

They have their complaints too, but not as severe as the one told in Dave's post.

Peugeot has some nice looking cars, but I don't care much to own any of them.

French cars can be a bit troublesome.

Hard to maintain, don't last very long, no resale value, etc.

Except for the Germans, the Europeans are not really good at making cars for ordinary people.

Japanese are much better at that.

I wish Proton had stick with Mitsubishi as its partner back then, instead of trying to be more European.

My father has a Preve and sometimes I borrowed it.


Hate that the signal indicator lever is on the left like European cars.

Because of that, I can't drive with one hand as I need both to steer and signal.

Troublesome.

Anyway, the Preve is not such a bad car.

I love driving it especially along twisty roads in sports mode gear.

Superb handling and more than sufficient power.

If only Proton could iron out all those small but irritating little problems, it would had been a great car.

For instance, my father's Preve always have one of its main light bulbs burnt out.

The car is just three years old, but I think my father had changed up to seven light bulbs so far.

At the moment, he's driving without the right main light.

He said he is waiting for the other one to go off as well before he fix them.

Save him time to go to the workshop.

I think it has something to do with the wiring.

The people at Proton service centre didn't seem to know what's wrong with it.

My father had given up on them and accepted it as it is.

But still, he's not angry with Proton.

At least, not anymore.

He said it's just his bad luck to get a slightly faulty unit.

"It could be the same, if I had bought other than Proton," he said.

For him it's like dealing with a troublesome woman that he love.

Like my mom :)

Well, my father is a very patient man.

If it's me, I would probably cause quite a ruckus.

But then again, bitching about Proton is a normal thing.

Everyone seem to enjoy doing that.

Maybe now that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is no longer associated with it, things will improve at Proton.

As it is, everyone blames the old man for everything wrong with Proton.

He really shouldn't make all those noises and just rests at his old age.

What a pity.

Whatever it is, I hope Proton will really improve from now on.

Notwithstanding all the complaints, it's still nice to have our own national car.

Besides, it create thousands of employment and saves the country a lot of money...among other things.

Honestly, I would prefer a Proton except for a Honda :)

17 comments:

  1. I love Proton cars! They have their own idiosyncracies but on the whole, they are pretty reliable. They hold up real well in minor fender benders (ehehehe).

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  2. "At the moment, he's driving without the right main light."

    I think this is very dangerous. At or after sunset, an on-coming vehicle might mistook your father's car as a motorcycle riding on the left side of the road. Where the road is quite wide, overtaking small vehicle, one can still squeeze in-between an on-coming motorcycle, which seems to be riding on the right-edge of the road.

    Its safer if the left main light is kaput. On-coming vehicle might think your father is riding a motorcycle on the center of the road.
    Therefore, I suggest you tell your father to fix that headlight or avoid using the car at night, especially along federal or kampong roads.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the advice. Will scold the guy some more.

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    2. Maybe your father is awaiting "peruntukkan kerajaan" before he will change the light. You know, cannot even self help without government help and even you won't help.

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  3. Aku suka proton cars. And aircon proton cars the best.

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  4. save the country a lot of money? you are a fucking idiot.

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    Replies
    1. For you hollow brain ...

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLew1TjXx9hc6q44uojWrLcaGVFst5g76W&v=HQjJbQuGlI4

      Delete
  5. Please get the faulty headlight fixed asap. Safety first, that of self and other motorists.

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  6. I've only had a Wira and Waja. My Wira was 1st generation and its transmission and engine from japan. I never had a single problem with it! My window (notorious from proton cars) only jammed in its 11th year!! And that also just changed clip for 20 ringgit. Only problem was paint job faded on hood. Proton mechanics said it was biasa for that generation. Sold my car after 16 years.

    Sadly my now 7 year old Waja has been a lemon from day one. Drove out from workshop, tyre punctured!! Refused to compensate me. ABS and handbrake lights come on despite no problem. Gave up repairing it. Door handles get brittle and break (already changed 4 times), power window several times tukar, car lock system twice jammed, and yes... the damn right side tail light!!! It MELTS!!! Dah change whole set Twice and light bulbs almost 10 times!!! And the car is only used in KL for errands. Only 88000 km.

    Have finally decided to get new car. I want to be loyal and buy Proton but...cannot afford to go back and forth to workshop. Sad.

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    Replies
    1. “Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it.” ~Peter Drucker

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  7. Hi Annie, thanks for sharing my blog post about the faulty Peugeot.

    Please do convince your dad to fix that faulty headlight for his safety's sake ya.

    Cheers

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    Replies
    1. My pleasure Dave. It's interesting.

      I've been telling my dad that for the past two weeks. The guy's a bit stubborn, but I'll paster him some more. Thanks for the advice and cheers.

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    2. Annie ,

      Old man is like that , just drive the car to the nearest workshop and change the bulb's for him.
      He will adore you for the concern .

      Delete
  8. What a coincidence for you to write this posting today, Annie.
    Just before noon today a very young Mivi driver knocked behind my wife's wira aeroback which I was driving along the MRR2 near Pandan Indah.Our car just had a dent on the rubber bumpers , no big deal at all.The guy's Mivi was quite a wreck. His whole lower bumper caved in until the engine hood was pushed up. Fortunately for him his radiator was not affected and the car can still move on.One up for Proton in the ongoing Proton vs Perodua as Malaysian National car.
    wak

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  9. "Besides, it create thousands of employment and saves the country a lot of money...among other things".

    Hmmm.....at least Proton is much much much better than 1MassiveDebtBomb. Better still for the rakyat. TDM is laughing all the way. He has the last laugh. Haha...Hihi....Hoho......

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  10. i have been using proton saga and so far it has been 3 years now and no problem at all. now am thinking of buying the proton perdana if the price is gonna be around 100k or cheaper.

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  11. Annie I've been using the Saga BLM since it rolled out from the factory. Other than the minor "hiccups" of my left door power window going bonkers and my signal lights playing up at times especially after the car has been left "sunbathing" for too long to soakup too much sun; its really served me well. My previous car was an Iswara Aeroback. It was with me for 16 years before I sold it off.

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