We’ve bought a Perodua Ativa for a long-term review and tear down!

So, we’ve bought a Perodua Ativa for a long-term review. Having booked the car in January 2021 (way before the virtual launch), we’re one of the early customers to receive the car.

All along, we've been pestering the showroom to expedite the delivery, and we're very happy that it's finally here. 

What did we order?

We’ve opted for the AV variant with a two-tone paint job, featuring the “Pearl Delima Red” body colour and black roof. No “Gear Up” kit here, since we prefer to keep things simple and clean.

Some of us in the team aren't very fond of the door visors, but well, it's already there.

What are we going to do with this car?

The plan for the long-term review is to drive this car up to 10,000 km and then conduct a partial disassembly of the car. Yes, we will be taking the car apart and we will be getting some expert insights on the construction of the Perodua Ativa.

After that, this will be our official company car, so if we mess up the reassembly, we’ll have to live with our own mistakes.

Collecting the car

Perodua Taman Maluri was kind enough to put our car in the centre of the showroom for the best collection experience. 

The first thing we did was to inspect the condition of the car, in case of scratches or dents. Not that we're doubting the service, it's just that minor dings can happen during the delivery process.

We also went though the checklist of items for the car with the Perodua Taman Maluri staff to make sure everything is as it should be - eg. the spare wheel, tint, etc.

She also explained the insurance policy one last time so that we understood what is covered and what is not.

Our excitement got the best of us and we got busy ripping out the plastic covers in the cabin right after. 

Upon collection, the car only had 17 km on the odometer. 

Filling up the first tank

Coming with an almost empty tank, the first thing to do was to fill the car up and adjust the tyre pressure. New cars have higher tyre pressure for storage purposes, so we adjusted our Ativa's tyre pressure to the supposed 240 kPa from the initial 274 kPa.

Our target for now is to get this car fully run-in within a week, so we’ll be driving in the areas of 100 km/day to get the job done. We will update you on our 1,000-km inspection experience and continue to update you on what we notice about the car.

How does the car feel so far?

Well, it smells like new, rides better than other Perodua cars, and the 1.0-litre turbo engine should not be underestimated. How good is the quality of the Ativa? Well, we’ll see how things go along our entire ownership period.

Right now, we’re still running in the car and really taking it easy. We’re really curious about the claimed 5.29 l/100km fuel consumption and how well the three-cylinder vibrations are controlled.

Is the Ativa reliable? Is it good value for money?

We don’t know yet. That’s why we’re doing this long-term review. If you have any questions about our ownership experience, just shoot them in the comments.

Alright, now we’re now we’re going to get busy driving it up to 1,000 km first. Stay tuned!

Here's our initial review of the Ativa:

Let's see if we change our minds after the long-term review

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