Owner Review: Proton needs to upgrade their after-sales service - My 2020 Proton X70 1.8TGDI Premium

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Basic information about my car

2020 Proton X70 1.8TGDI Premium CKD Space Grey, RM119,800.00

Reasons why I bought this car

I am looking for a new car to replace my old Proton Preve that I have been using for eight years.
My family often commute from the city to my hometown such as BALIK KAMPUNG almost every month and love to going on holidays and we really need a good condition and comfortable car and also a safer car for my family. I chose this car because it turns out to meet my needs who like a high-tech car and also full of safety features at a reasonable price.

Car Selection Process

• I had a budget of around RM100k to RM150k. Thankfully the price of this car is within my budget price range.

• Model(s) that I have considered include: Honda CRV, Honda Civic, Nissan Serena, and Proton X70. I have tested these four cars and it turns out that the proton X70 can meet my needs and most importantly the price is much cheaper and worth buying compared to other cars.

Reasons why I chose this car:

I chose Proton X70 because the price is in my budget range and Proton X70 also comes with full of technology and advanced safety features and if we look at the current car market situation, it turns out that SUV has become the choice of most new buyers and I am also interested in becoming one of the owners of this type of vehicle. The design of this car is also very interesting and eye-catching to me. It looks sturdy and dashing on the road.

User Experience

• I have already done 10,000 km

Since the purchase, my thoughts about the car are:

After a wait for almost 3 months, I receive my X70 at Proton Sg Long and since I got my car in September till today, I'm still impressed with the tech, power, and smoothness DCT gearbox of this car. I am very satisfied with the overall look of this car and I do not have to do anything to make it look more attractive but I just installed a pair of a side step to make it easier for my child to get into the car as this car has a fairly high ground level. I love Proton Apps that you can download from your phone and you can control, manage, and see what is going on with your car just through your smartphone. After sending my car to do the first 1000km services, I have driven this car from Malacca to my hometown Kuala Terengganu with my family and from there we continue our journey to Genting Highlands. This car is so stable at high speed and it is still in comfort for passengers even the odometer is 200km/h. This is the highest speed I drive and I do not dare to drive faster than that but other owners said the top speed can reach over 200km/h. The overall estimate of the trips is approx almost 2000km and I'm very satisfied with this car. It turns out that this car is able to provide optimal comfort to the driver and all passengers. Even the curb weight of this X70 is around 1.7 ton, it doesn’t feel heavy and I notice the engine and gearbox give excellent performance and guess what, it was amazing that I did not realize that I was driving this car through a steep and winding road all the way to Genting Highlands. I am satisfied with the build quality of this car and for me, it is comparable to the quality of cars priced at around RM200k and above. This car is also full of sophisticated features and makes me feel busy every time I drive it. I really like all these features and though there are some owners who state not so much use it such as ‘hi proton’ features, for me, I really enjoy it and love to use it every time I drove my car because I just need to talk with my car to ask anything I need without having to shift the driving focus. Driving this car also did not make me feel tired even though it was a long journey that took more than five hours, thanks to Proton for selling a car that has lumbar support features for drivers. While first driving this car, I notice there was a bit of obvious body roll but it is still acceptable since it is an SUV, and also still better compared to its closest competitors. However, the issue can be solved if we change the steering mode on head units from normal to sport mode. After that, I always use a sport mode steering wheel and it will reduce body roll and feel firmer and more confident especially when driving on winding roads. Driving this car becomes easier with clear and bright high quality 360 camera features. Love it when every time I turn on the signal light (only works with speed below 30km/h), it will give auto view surrounding of this car from the head unit on the dashboard, and also we can see distance measurement with other vehicles or any other objects. This feature is very helpful to avoid any danger especially when turning the car or in a parking lot. This car also comes with Advance Driver Assistant System(ADAS),  incorporating autonomous emergency braking (AEB), front collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitor, and Intelligent High Beam Control (IHBC). It should be noted that adaptive cruise control works at speeds between 30 to 150 km/h only. Thankfully, this feature has 3 times saved me and my family from accidents. The ADAS system also works well and even in heavy rain, it will work in good condition. I already tested twice in heavy rain. But I rarely use this system because for me the satisfaction of driving is only when we have full control of the vehicle. Every car has its advantages or disadvantages, same as X70, the cons are fuel consumption is not satisfactory as Proton claim on their brochure. This car is always thirsty for petrol. I use this car every day to go to work and the estimated fuel consumption that I get is around 11L/100km in city driving. Considering this car is a heavy SUV with a 1.7tonned curb weight, this fuel consumption is acceptable but it should behave better readings of fuel consumption like other competitors. However, the fuel consumption is good when driving on highways for a long journey like balik kampung and you can get fuel consumption around an average of 7.5L/100km. Another thing I love about this car is the autoboot feature with a foot sensor. It is very useful and very pleasant to place items in the bonnet space!!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Full of safety features

• Full of technology

• Reasonable prices

• Smooth DCT gearbox almost can't feel the changes of gears

• 1.8TGDI engine so quiet, powerful and even in high speed, you cant hear the  engine sound coming into the cabin

• Good soundproof

• Comfortable Nappa leather seat with boss switch and seat ventilation mode

• Built-in air purifier system

• Build-in auto boot with a foot sensor

Cons

• Fuel Efficiency a bit bad. The car is always thirsty for petrol especially town driving.

• The boot space is quite small for this type of car.

• The front looks a bit outdated to me.

• Gear ratio changing too fast and too short from around 0-50km/h.

• GPS HERE maps not too good like Waze for Malaysia road/maps.

• Side mirror position too high and big that it blocks your front side view.

Ratings

• Total Score: 4.8

• Performance: 4.5

• Quality & Features: 5

• Space: 4

• Ride Comfort: 5

• Fuel Economy: 3.5

• Price & Cost: 4.5

Summary

Overall, I'm proud to be one of the owners of Proton X70. The look, the power, and satisfaction in driving were enough and worth owning for me. What is important is I can buy a new car for my family which has lots of the latest features and technology at a much cheaper price than other competitors. This car also offers the best comfort in its class.

Interesting events that happened to my car

After a few days of receiving my car, I noticed there was a slight gap in the plastic panel on the side of the door. And I asked the staff at the service centre to fix that on my first 1000km service. But, a small problem like that was not successfully resolved by the service center. I went to the Proton service centre twice to try to resolve this but the problem could not be solved either. I felt very disappointed because it was just a very small problem but the service center gave nonsensical reasons. I checked it up by myself and I noticed the problem was due to the looseness of the clip holding the plastic panel on the side of the door and they said they did not have the clip. For me, that was a shame because it was just a tool that was very easy to find anywhere. I finally got tired of trying to get help at the service center and I bought the clip on my own at the shop for only RM5 for 20PCS. Finally, the problem was solved by myself. I think Proton needs to do something and upgrade their after-sales service because they have a very great car to sell but their after-sale service sucks and is still not good.

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