Dead and reborn...

Discussion in 'Dashken' started by Dashken, Jan 18, 2011.

  1. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

    Are there dui laws there? Where I live if anyone is found to have about three shot's of hard liquor or three beers in them while driving ,The law here would seriously screw them.
     
  2. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Yeah, we should have, but it is not even close to the strictness of US.
     
  3. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

  4. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    There are reports that even some people who were not drinking also accused of drinking... :D
     
  5. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

    Cops....:mad:
     
  6. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    That's the effect of protectionism. Our government deliberately increased tax and stamp duty on non-national cars so that our country's first national carmaker, Proton, can sell junk like that for decades.

    If you want a better car, you need to pay 2.5x more for a Hyundai or Kia, or 3x more for a Toyota or Honda.
     
  7. Trinity

    Trinity Little Kiki Staff Member

    Kia good car?
     
  8. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    I don't really know. Never owned one, but it sure is better than the crap we call Proton.

    With that said, Proton has improved a little since they introduced the new Proton Saga based on the Proton Savvy chassis. Even so, they actually equipped it with only one airbag for the driver. In other words, the co-driver's life is worthless as far as Proton is concerned. The good news is they just launched an improved model, the Proton Saga FL which features a second airbag for the co-driver.
     
  9. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Airbags and ABS are still notmandatory safety features on our cars...
     
  10. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Yup.. but it's amazing why they haven't been made mandatory. At least two airbags should be mandatory features in all cars.
     
  11. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    1st Proton was the best proton, rock solid.
    After that they made crap cars.

    Owned a 1st gen Proton Saga for more than 10 years?
    No problem with it, everything works except the keyless entry.

    Owned a 1st gen Proton Waja for 2 years.
    Lots of problem with it, engine problem, brake problem, bulbs keep blowing, handles easily broken, blower doesn't blow directly to you.. LOL.
    Sold it after 2 years and got a Honda back again.

    I rather buy a used car than buying a new Proton :naughty:
     
  12. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    IMHO, it's all about quality control. Proton has very bad quality control because :

    1. Their vendors are all protected SOBs, so they don't care about making quality parts.

    2. Proton itself is so well-insulated by all kinds of stupid tariffs that they can't be bothered about QC.

    If they buck up on their QC, they "can" potentially make good cars. The current Proton Saga is a good example - good set of features at an affordable price. Quality is still a little icky but overall a marked improvement over the previous generation Saga.
     
  13. zy

    zy zynine.com Staff Member

    Proton = corruption.
     
  14. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    No way I will buy a P1 or P2. Sorry to say.
     
  15. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    Actually, I would buy a P2 (Perodua), particularly a Myvi. They definitely have better QC than Proton.

    I would also consider a P1 (Proton), but only for the new Proton Saga FL (which features two airbags) or the new Proton Inspira, which is a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer. But even then, only as a second car... :D
     
  16. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    Poor people like me... that's all I can afford. Would love to drive anything over 100k or 90k+ but sigh... Wish we never have P1 or P2. Then I can at least get a good car for 50k.
     
  17. Chai

    Chai Administrator Staff Member

    Actually, to be honest, Myvi is not fool proof. One of my friend sold his Myvi after about 3 years, because he felt incoming problems with his car.

    Although it is based on the Toyota Passo platform, but the local version is a lower spec version.

    Dashken is right, without P1 or P2, many will be driving at least Koreans or Japanese now.

    And every one thought P2 cars save fuel, but most owners complaint about high consumption.

    I was surprised that even a small car like Kancil could not even match my Sentra.
     
  18. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    If you want Korean / Japanese car but can only afford about RM 50-60K, buy second-hand.

    You can buy a 4-year old Honda City for about RM 50K, or if you want a bigger car, try a 4 year old Hyundai Sonata for about RM 60-65K.
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2011
  19. Adrian Wong

    Adrian Wong Da Boss Staff Member

    No, definitely not. Myvi is not very fuel efficient. I'm not sure why people seem to have that impression. In fact, I know quite a few who complained about the relatively high fuel consumption.

    I guess it's because people were so used to the much lower fuel consumption of the old Perodua Kancil/Kelisa that they expected the same from the Myvi. However, the Myvi is a much larger and heavier vehicle.

    I think it also partly has to do with the small 1.3L engine. The engine is really too small for a car like the Myvi, so fuel consumption suffers as a result. Even my father's smaller Proton Saga (second-generation based on the Savvy) feels barely adequate with its 1.3L engine.

    Unsurprisingly, my father's Proton Saga consumes significantly MORE petrol on the highway. I can't remember the exact figures but I remember that we calculated that it consumed a lot more petrol to drive from Penang to KL and back, than either my Hyundai Sonata 2.0L or my brother's BMW 523i.

    As for the high cost of our cars, I say BLAME THE GOVERNMENT. As much as I dislike Proton, it is ultimately not their fault. Neither is it Perodua's fault. The Barisan Nasional government and especially the PM of the day, Mahathir, chose to protect Proton and Perodua with tariffs and taxes on foreign cars.

    It may have been a good policy during the early days to build up our nascent car industry but it went on too long to the point that it stifled innovation and progress. So, blame the government. If you want cheaper cars, the first step would be to VOTE FOR A NEW GOVERNMENT!
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2011
  20. Dashken

    Dashken Administrator!

    If only I can vote for everyone. :mrgreen:
     

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