Owner Review: It is supposed to be Cheap and Good, My 2018 Proton Saga VVT 1.3 MT

Basic information about my car:

2018 Proton Saga VVT 1.3 M.T (Standard)

Reasons why I bought this car:

1. Mainly getting to college when I moved to KL to study. 2. Ferry my sister or any family members as required. 3. Going outstation or driving around when needed. (Basically the most basic purpose a car is used for)

Car selection process

● I had a budget of: 30K.

● Models that I have considered include: None. Was not into cars back then.

● Reasons why I chose this car:

1. Likely the cheapest new sedan money can buy. 2. Family members have always preferred cars with a boot. 3. A manual variant was available (having "suffered" with an automatic 1.3 Bezza X, we collectively agreed we would go back to driving manual cars). 4. With no knowledge of cars and their safety features, I was of the opinion that less was likely to go wrong since there were less electronics.

User experience

● I have already done:49950 km. My average fuel consumption is 12.82km/l.

● Since the purchase, my thoughts about the car are:

*Average fuel consumption is 7.8L/100KMs OR 12.82KM/L*

1. 1st year was great. A. Tires, ride, pick up. -Having come stock with Silverstone Synergy M3 175/70/R13, the ride was quite forgiving and pick up / acceleration was quite good, -I know these may not be tires that people will talk about but in my personal experience the side walls were stiff enough for taking most corners let down by the grip which is worse in the wet of course. 2. It pretty much went like a roller coaster ride from there on. Read more below.

Pros of my car:

1. Its truely "in the drive". I find myself coming back to this car for most of my use cases, its fun to drive and will take corners just fine. -For a sedan, its quite nimble and have managed to avoid multiple close calls with the steering response.

2. Actual knobs to on my AC.

3. A radio that doesnt blind you in the dark.

4. Decent sound system.

5. Stock exhaust is perfectly balanced, it'll make some noise when you want and when you pull in a tunnel but not deafening / annnoying.

6. Sound insulation - credit where its due its a better car than the older gen Protons like the Wira, Iswara and Saga.

Cons of my car:

1. Proton' Customer Service (more on that below)

2. Proton' QC (more below)

3. Proton' PDI (pre-delivery inspection) (more later)

4. True to being a Proton, it rattles, squeaks and makes all manner of noises after 1 year of driving.

5. Fuel consumption could be better

6. Oxymoron point but some extra power would be nice (alast I dont think the non HPF body will take the impact in the event of one, and its likely to increase fuel consumption).

7. Meter clusters brightness could be toned down a bit.

Ratings: 

Total Score: 3

Performance: 3

Quality & Features: 2

Space: 3

Ride Comfort: 4

Fuel Economy: 3

Price & Cost: 4

Summary of my story in one paragraph:

Some may think that the following is harsh, especially since the SAGA is what VW is to the Germans (The peoples car), deeply ingrained in history and of sentimental value for some but I urge you to take a read, think and understand what has transpired.

Turning a blind eye to issues just because we are fans of something will eventually be detrimental. Neither does brushing one's issues off as "it only happened to you" help. These are real issues that people will be put off by, more so by the response or lack thereof from Proton.

Having come from the older gen Iswara / Saga aeroback, the Wira and the BLM myself, this 3rd Gen Saga continues the "SAGA".

There are vast improvements but more can be improved.

Till more improvements are made, "The Saga continues" for better or worse.

All in all, it has been a bittersweet experience with Proton.

The point of a new car is the warranty and if you cant count on that what difference does it make?

With hindsight, I would have purchased a 2nd hand 1.6 Iriz M.T instead of having to deal with an entity such as Proton.

Lastly:

This is gonna be a long read / rant so hang tight!

1. QC

A. Everything was signed off and ticked but C & D pillars, 3rd brake light housing were all scuffed up with a sharp object, likely a screw driver.

B. Wiper panel cover / Garnish was brittle after about a year. Replaced under warranty and Proton blamed it on the vendor, surprised that no recall was issued as this is one of the most replaced items, that are to me, defective.

C. Left front passanger door was misaligned, causing it to rub against the body requiring a realignment and repaint (a common issue with even the 2019 edition).

D. The bottom of the front seats are razor sharp, be more cautious if you have curious kids. Proton didnt seem to think this was an issue at all.

2. PDI

A. Effing wipers couldnt even wipe clean on the day of collection which was pouring.

B. People's trash were sitting on the car near the wiper during collection, everything was dark and no one was there to ensure a smooth delivery process.

C. Car had some 30+ KMS on it during collection but somehow missed that the front right suspension boot or damper was defective, made lots of kruck kruk noise till it was replaced during a 2nd service.

3. CS

A. Service centers

1. Refused to change or warrant parts, preferring to pass the blame to salesman or HQ. 2. Radio replacement will take days and is troublesome hinting the amount of work they'd rather not do. 3. Staff member that talks behind the customer's back. 4. Terrible and low quality car washes, one or 2 cloth / sponge for the whole car, rubbing all the brake dust into body panels after washing the tires. NONE so far passes as proper washing. Talk about DISM (Dealer Installed Swirl Marks). 5. Seems like there isnt much control over what they should service, my "free service" can range from Rm 0-200 depending on service centers. They are borderline if not outright upselling.

B. HQ

1. Ignored complaints for effectively a year till Geely got wind of it. 2. SOP for servicing cars seem hit or miss. 3. Ran out of semi syn engine oil at 60K km service interval, no notifications, just poor poor planning and forecasting. Had to pay up for fully syn and no sorry voucher. C. "We(Do not) Care" I think the name says it all. D. Upper Management (COO) No response to email sent. 4. Body and Paint - (Car got smashed in a Hit n Run) Constantly messing up things. A. Undercarriage exposed and rusting, took 3 visits and all they did was likely dump a whole lot of silicone sealant. B. Fuel tank would not close and open properly. (Still rubs against the car body as of this day)

C. Used screws and drilled into car body, left the rest of the screws exposed. HQ had to step in and redo most of these.

D. Got the car paint corrected and it came back with more swirl marks. Nicely sealed under a coat of "sealant".

E. Spare parts. My gosh the complaints mounting on this issue. You'd expect that the backbone of Proton wouldnt face such issues but they sure did take about 3 months to get my replacement boot (which was rusting mind you, with pressure from upper management, it leaves me to wonder how much longer it would have taken if I just sat around and did nothing).

F. Rust in radiator. For a car that was serviced wholly with them, this shouldnt be happening.

G. No solution in sight for noise from lower arm. It truly makes me wonder if they are fit to diagnose such things. Wouldnt it be laughable if the manufacturer cant find it but a 3rd party can?

H. Not sure where but car came back with its new front bumpers scuffed up after a gearbox replacement. HQ resprayed and took corrective action before adding another deep scratch on my driver door which would not buff out.

I. Jerking in first and reverse gear after GB change. No solution, no checking.

Quirks

1. Speedometer A. Has a tendency to go from 0-160 and back to 0 in a split second. Guess this car takes the crown for fastest accelerating and stopping car, if it werent doing it in idle. B. Trip meter decides to self reset from time to time, often below the 1000km mark. - Both still unresolved and experiencing radio silence for 5 months and counting.

2. Radio a. Parasitic Draw related to radio. It would still draw power even when engine is off causing many "sagas" for owners. No recall till this day. b. Hangs and self reboots every now and then, losing time and saved channels. Radio finally replaced under warranty but broke center console clips holding the AC vents... (also no response as of yet).

Possible design flaws

1. Fuel tank cap holder / string is too short, placing it on the holder gets knocked away by the fuel pump.

2. Side fender knocking onto rocker panel causing rust to build up.

3. Water from boot drips directly onto wooden tire cover when open.

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