• Costs RM 3051.91 to maintain a Persona over 5 years/100,000 km

• Still cheaper to maintain than the Honda City or Toyota Vios

• Also cheaper to maintain than the Bezza

The Proton Persona exists in a segment that is rather spartan, as it is the only national marque B-segment sedan on sale in Malaysia right now. The other segment rivals that the Persona competes against are from non-national brands, such as Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Mazda.

On paper, the Proton Persona offers superb value for money when comparing against the Toyota Vios and Honda City.

Apart from being cheaper to purchase compared to the City and Vios, the cost to maintain the Persona over a period of 5 years or 100,000 km is also marginally cheaper than the City and Vios.

Owners need to pay RM 3,051.91 over the course of 5 years in terms of maintenance for the Persona, while owners of the Honda City will need to fork out RM 3,880.96 and owners of the Toyota Vios need to pay RM 3,334.00.

Even when comparing against the smaller (and cheaper) Perodua Bezza, it costs less to maintain the Persona as the Bezza requires fully-synthetic engine oil and iridium spark plugs, which drives the cost of maintenance up. It costs almost RM 3,700 to maintain the Perodua Bezza over the same 5-year/100,000 km period. 

With that said, the cost of maintenance listed here does not include wear and tear items such as tires, battery, or cost of refueling.

It is also worth noting that the Honda City and Toyota Vios are more fuel efficient than the Persona. As such, if fuel efficiency is a deciding factor, then the Honda City or Toyota Vios would be a better option.