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Basic information of my car:

2018 Proton Persona VVT 1.6 Standard Auto RM46,000

Reasons why I bought this car

This is my first car, why I choose this because my family's old 2005 Myvi is breaking down and we need another car. I was looking for a car with huge boot space and good safety rating for fetching people.

Car selection process  

• I had a budget of: RM50,000
• Models that I have considered include: New Perodua Bezza, Second Hand Honda Civic FD
• Reasons why I chose this car:

When I first saw this car on the road in 2016, I was struck by the looks of it " Wow, this is a proton? They finally got better at designing their car ! " Compared to the Perodua Bezza, the persona definitely win in looks, hands down! In the size department, the Persona is a bigger car than the Bezza, as it is a B segment car. Both the front and rear seats of the Persona is longer and more comfortable for people with longer legs as it provides sufficient thigh support, whereas Bezza's seat was short and the reclining angle of the rear seats are quite perpendicular.

In terms of safety, with the HPF structure, this car was rated 5 star in ANCAP whereas the Bezza was only 4 star in ANCAP at that time. Other than that, the NVH in persona is superior compared to Bezza, as you can hear water splashing in the rear wheel well when driving over a puddle in the Bezza. In the end, the persona is the winner in my list!

User experience

• I have already done 59000 km.
• My average fuel consumption is 10km/l.

When I got this car, I noticed that you have a more direct connection with the road, as you can feel every bump and hump on the road on each tire. This is how a race car should feel I guess? Proton SAG Wira forgot to lower down my tire pressure from storage pressure of 40 psi to operating pressure of 30 psi. No wonder why my car bounces a lot.

The rattling noise inside passenger dashboard and the rear seat brace squeeky noise started to appear immediately, and I have been to 3 different Proton SC, they claim to have fixed it but it still rattles until today. The radio speaker volume is inconsistent between the left and right speaker. It will seriously makes you feel nauseated and wanted to throw up. I had swapped the Head Unit in Proton SAG Wira (had to drive without music for 1 month as they don't have replacement available) it did not fixed it. I had swapped the antenna base in Proton HQ and it also didn't solve the problem.

In the end i tried different kind and size of radio antenna, then only it improves a little bit. Unable to start my car just after 2 weeks of ownership, got it towed to Proton Glenmarie, asked to leave my car for battery health monitoring. Got my car back and it failed to start again after 3 days. Sick of having to call the tow truck so I jump started it with my friend's car and drive it to Proton Glenmarie, tell them to replace my car battery. Problem solved!

Pros of my car:

• This car rides and handles like a champ, I like the steering wheel feel, it feels heavy and stable, especially on the highway!

• Proton has nailed the seats, they should keep this seat design in all their cars. They provide sufficient thigh support for long distance travel.

• The boot space is humongous ! Did I mention it is 510 liter? You can fit 5 large sized luggage and still have room for more.

• The head unit, It may look old school with the orange backlit screen, but it got everything! Radio, Bluetooth connection, USB connection, heck it even has a CD player in case you want to rock n roll like in the 2000's, what else do you need? And not to forget the stock speakers of this car is good for the price, it outperforms the Honda's, and you can even adjust the amount of bass you want !

Cons 

• The fuel consumption in this car is high for today's standard. The best fuel economy I managed to squeeze out is 13KM/L on 100% highway drive with air-cond off sometimes, and the worst I got is 8.5KM/L in 100% city drive.

• Got your neck protected? Good because the CVT jerking is real, it only happens on low crawling speed but it can be annoying because your passenger will thought you failed your JPJ Naik Bukit exam. I did updated the latest TCU firmware from proton but it still jerks as this is a mechanical issue that software aren't able to fully solve.

• One of the contributing factor of poor fuel economy is because it is designed to constant engine brake when you lift your foot off the throttle. Proton SA claims that this design saves your brake pad but I am more concern of the CVT.

Ratings: 

Total Score: 4

Performance: 5

Quality & Features: 3

Space: 5

Ride Comfort: 4

Fuel Economy: 2

Price & Cost: 4

Summary :

Overall, Proton Persona VVT is a good choice for people who just graduated from college and people who wanted to start a family soon. The build quality may be inferior to others but hey, for the stuff you get from a RM46,000 car, I think it is the best bang for the buck car out there.

Interesting event:

So, at roughly 6 month of owning this persona, I noticed that my car keep on steering itself to the right. I thought It was because my alignment is off so I got my alignment done in a tire shop, but my car still steer itself to the right still. So I thought to myself "Maybe proton has a secret alignment recipe that other tire shop does not know about it" and I got my alignment done at Proton Rahman Brothers. After they did the alignment and checked the steering tie rod, my car still steer itself to the right, ajaib kan?

So it turns out my front left tire was thicker than my front right tire, that is why my car keep on steering to the right lol. The foreman from Rahman Brothers proved this by switching the two tires and voila! The car magically steers to the left ! I don't know I should cry or laugh at this, but the problem was solved by lowering the tire pressure of the left at 28 psi and increasing tire pressure of the right at 32 psi. LOL Oh ya, and did you know the Persona is quite a tall car? Here's a picture of it next to a Honda HRV, as you can see they are the same height!

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