It has been one week since we collected our Perodua Ativa and we have managed to cover more than 1,000 km on the odometer. We’ve been really good boys & girls during the first 1,000 km, following the instructions in the owner’s manual on the run-in (or break-in) period.

The schedule has been busy for all of us at WapCar, and not everyone has managed to have a go with “Cik Tiva”. Those who have, however, seem very delighted and impressed.

Cik Tiva has yet to travel beyond the borders of Selangor, but she has experienced just about all weather conditions in Malaysia.

How is she coping? Well, the air-conditioning is fantastic for our hot weather and the cabin noise is acceptable in heavy downpours.

A nice touch in the Ativa is the Velcro-like bottom surface of the floor mats that help to keep them in place.

One week in and the Ativa still makes us feel like superstars while driving it. For the first time in my life, a cop smiled when he drove past me while I was driving, and just about anywhere we went, heads were sure to turn.

Do we have any complaints on the Ativa?

Having passed Cik Tiva around, one complaint that I’ve heard more than once is the rather thick A-pillars that compromise visibility.

We’ve also noticed that the tyre size is quite hard to find for Ativa variants with 17-inch wheels.

The AV variant, which we have, uses 205/60R17 size tyres. A quick window-shopping session for tyres tells us that this is not a very common size in tyre shops for the time being.

It is much easier to shop for tyres for the lower “X” variant of the Ativa with 16-inch wheels (205/65R16).

Have we noticed anything weird with the Ativa?

Well, yes actually. There’s a rather distinct rattle coming from the back when driving through rough surfaces. At first, we thought the spare wheel was not securely fastened, or some plastic parts in the boot were a bit loose.

We tried tightening those things and the sound seemed to go away for a while. We thought we had solved the problem and didn’t raise the issue during the first-1,000 km inspection. In hindsight, we should have done that.

*We have sent in Cik Tiva for the 1,000 km inspection, but that’s a story for another day.

Not long after driving away from the service centre the rattle was still there. With Furqan checking for the source of the noise while I was driving, we think the sound is coming from the rear right suspension.

We’ll go the service centre again next week to get the problem sorted, and hopefully it’s nothing serious.

How much have we spent on fuel so far?

Having driven 1,032 km starting with a full tank at 20 km (distance travelled 1,012 km), we have spent RM155.05 on fuel and used 75.63 litres of fuel. So that gives an average fuel consumption of 7.47 l/100km. This figure during the run-in period and we’ll begin testing the post-run-in fuel consumption soon.

*Not including our first fill up from an empty tank, since dealers usually provide a full tank upon collection.

So, for the time being, we’re still figuring out the source of the rattling sound coming from the back of the car. We think it’s the rear right suspension, but we could be wrong. Is it a bug or a feature? We shall have a look next week and update you on what the source of the noise is.

Click here to view all articles on our long-term test drive.

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