So, my 1982 1.6 Toyota Corona have been giving me problems of late...the engine crankshaft has taken its toll, it being subjected to various forces...car bearings are bald, thanks to the lack of periodic maintenance...timing belt needed changing...well, to be honest, I have been talking about giving my buddy an overhaul...but have been postponing it due to financial constraint...and the fact that I couldn't afford to spare my car for a week long...
[Note : I have just sent my car to overhaul a few days back...so now I am currently transport-less...and having my favourite Walrus to drive me around...*grin*...]
Anyhow, my dad and I have been discussing about the idea of purchasing a new car since April '09...my maroon red buddy wasn't exactly fuel economical in anyway...plus, it was due time that I passed this 3-generation buddy on to my brother for his usage...and I, having a salary should start investing on assets such as these...(A house is next on the list, but that will have to wait for now...Banks won't approve my loan based on my current salary, that's for sure)...
Being a new graduate with a meagre salary, I didn't give much thought on Toyota and Honda cars, as they were very much out of my price range, and I would have to slog hard, just to keep up with interest alone...(Bank interest rate is 3.65% flat for local cars...I am not so sure about foreign cars now...)...
So I had no choice but to toy with local made cars such as Proton and Perodua, which was more affordable...there wasn't much...a 1000cc Kenari/Viva, 1.3cc Myvi/Saga and a 1.6cc Persona...all ranging from RM41k-55k...
After all these years of being away from my family, and being financially independant...one would have taught that I would be strong enough to sort out and make big decisions...this car hunting season showed the other part of me...
I did have my eye on a 1.3 Proton Saga which was the cheapest of the car listed...No, I am not at all a Proton fan...nor am I for 'Support Local Made Goods' campaign...Proton as a company suffered badly throughout all these years, thanks to bad management and corruption...but, I...being a first time purchasee, wasn't looking for anything show-off-ish, nor sporty...YET...just something reasonably priced...and most importantly, with boot space...
My parents weren't too keen on the idea of me purchasing a Proton car...they think that the quality may not suffice, and I will have loads of problem with customer services...and car maintenance in near future...yeah, we blardy anti-Protonians...but if I were to scrap out the idea of buying Proton cars, I am stuck with Perodua Viva or Myvi...which both comes WITHOUT much boot space...
Why am I so particular about boot space, you may ask...just in case you didn't know...my Toyota Corona 1.6 is a large and conservative rectangular box...a comfortable saloon car of the 1980s...it holds a little more than 504litres in boot space alone...and that is where I have been keeping boxes of music books, my violin...and spare clothes to change...yea, there was a time when I literally lived in that car...
Plus the fact that I am used to driving a big car with large space...hence, Perodua Viva (the smallest car of the lot) was definitely out of the picture...I had considered Perodua MyVi (should I have chosen it, it would have been deep blue in colour)...but it was such a common car...common not in terms of the design...but the fact that almost EVERYONE owns a MyVi...I look outside my window...and chances are...I will see a MyVi pass by me, every 5 seconds...and that has been giving me nightmares of late...
So, I went to check out the Proton Saga 1.3 that has been launched a few years back...and I could not have been more disappointed...the design of the interior of the car, looked so cheap...and plastic...that I discarded this choice completely...I even refused to give it a test-drive...the allocated space was fine...bearable in the least...but all those thinsy whimpsy buttons looked like they came from a toy keyboard or something!!...so that was that...Proton Saga...scrapped off my list...
Proton Persona was next...while it wasn't the greatest design available...but it had sufficient boot space, and I didn't mind taking it out for a test drive...it was slightly cheaper than the Perodua MyVi...and since I was not crazy of those two options...I thought I'd might as well look for something that I could get my money's worth...besides, Persona had a 1.6cc engine, whereas MyVi had a 1.3cc...I gave it a test drive...performance was rather sluggish, for a 1.6cc engine with an auto gear box...especially when I was testing the highest class of the Personas...maybe the manual transmission would give a better performance...Well, that...I will never know...as Protons do not allow test driving for manual cars...
So, Proton Persona was my best bet...now, came the tough task...convincing my anti-Protonian parents to allow me to purchase a Proton...and to get my dad to become my guarantor...that latter task was pretty simple...it was the first one, that is gigantic...
Wasn't looking forward to that confrontation, though...I don't like unpleasant situations especially within my family...and while I know that my parents are more than willing to listen to my two cents worth...the idea of not agreeing with them give me knots in my stomach...it depresses me...have you ever felt that before??...I feel like a kid once more...wanting to gain my parents' approval...
Anyway, to date...the situation has been solved...but not the way I thought it would be...*grin*...
But that will have to wait...need to catch up on my ZZZZzzzz first...Part II coming up!!...
[Note : I have just sent my car to overhaul a few days back...so now I am currently transport-less...and having my favourite Walrus to drive me around...*grin*...]
Anyhow, my dad and I have been discussing about the idea of purchasing a new car since April '09...my maroon red buddy wasn't exactly fuel economical in anyway...plus, it was due time that I passed this 3-generation buddy on to my brother for his usage...and I, having a salary should start investing on assets such as these...(A house is next on the list, but that will have to wait for now...Banks won't approve my loan based on my current salary, that's for sure)...
Being a new graduate with a meagre salary, I didn't give much thought on Toyota and Honda cars, as they were very much out of my price range, and I would have to slog hard, just to keep up with interest alone...(Bank interest rate is 3.65% flat for local cars...I am not so sure about foreign cars now...)...
So I had no choice but to toy with local made cars such as Proton and Perodua, which was more affordable...there wasn't much...a 1000cc Kenari/Viva, 1.3cc Myvi/Saga and a 1.6cc Persona...all ranging from RM41k-55k...
After all these years of being away from my family, and being financially independant...one would have taught that I would be strong enough to sort out and make big decisions...this car hunting season showed the other part of me...
I did have my eye on a 1.3 Proton Saga which was the cheapest of the car listed...No, I am not at all a Proton fan...nor am I for 'Support Local Made Goods' campaign...Proton as a company suffered badly throughout all these years, thanks to bad management and corruption...but, I...being a first time purchasee, wasn't looking for anything show-off-ish, nor sporty...YET...just something reasonably priced...and most importantly, with boot space...
My parents weren't too keen on the idea of me purchasing a Proton car...they think that the quality may not suffice, and I will have loads of problem with customer services...and car maintenance in near future...yeah, we blardy anti-Protonians...but if I were to scrap out the idea of buying Proton cars, I am stuck with Perodua Viva or Myvi...which both comes WITHOUT much boot space...
Why am I so particular about boot space, you may ask...just in case you didn't know...my Toyota Corona 1.6 is a large and conservative rectangular box...a comfortable saloon car of the 1980s...it holds a little more than 504litres in boot space alone...and that is where I have been keeping boxes of music books, my violin...and spare clothes to change...yea, there was a time when I literally lived in that car...
Plus the fact that I am used to driving a big car with large space...hence, Perodua Viva (the smallest car of the lot) was definitely out of the picture...I had considered Perodua MyVi (should I have chosen it, it would have been deep blue in colour)...but it was such a common car...common not in terms of the design...but the fact that almost EVERYONE owns a MyVi...I look outside my window...and chances are...I will see a MyVi pass by me, every 5 seconds...and that has been giving me nightmares of late...
So, I went to check out the Proton Saga 1.3 that has been launched a few years back...and I could not have been more disappointed...the design of the interior of the car, looked so cheap...and plastic...that I discarded this choice completely...I even refused to give it a test-drive...the allocated space was fine...bearable in the least...but all those thinsy whimpsy buttons looked like they came from a toy keyboard or something!!...so that was that...Proton Saga...scrapped off my list...
Proton Persona was next...while it wasn't the greatest design available...but it had sufficient boot space, and I didn't mind taking it out for a test drive...it was slightly cheaper than the Perodua MyVi...and since I was not crazy of those two options...I thought I'd might as well look for something that I could get my money's worth...besides, Persona had a 1.6cc engine, whereas MyVi had a 1.3cc...I gave it a test drive...performance was rather sluggish, for a 1.6cc engine with an auto gear box...especially when I was testing the highest class of the Personas...maybe the manual transmission would give a better performance...Well, that...I will never know...as Protons do not allow test driving for manual cars...
So, Proton Persona was my best bet...now, came the tough task...convincing my anti-Protonian parents to allow me to purchase a Proton...and to get my dad to become my guarantor...that latter task was pretty simple...it was the first one, that is gigantic...
Wasn't looking forward to that confrontation, though...I don't like unpleasant situations especially within my family...and while I know that my parents are more than willing to listen to my two cents worth...the idea of not agreeing with them give me knots in my stomach...it depresses me...have you ever felt that before??...I feel like a kid once more...wanting to gain my parents' approval...
Anyway, to date...the situation has been solved...but not the way I thought it would be...*grin*...
But that will have to wait...need to catch up on my ZZZZzzzz first...Part II coming up!!...
6 comments:
I have sworn never ever to buy a Proton again, since my disastrous experience with my Proton Waja a few years back (all the power windows kept malfunctioning, the door handles break easily, and spare parts cost the earth)
I've been driving a Viva (A) for the past two years, and it's excellent: very fuel economical, surprisingly agile, and components like the CD/Radio player come with a 3-year warranty.
However, if you're the type to stuff your boot or trunk with tons of stuff, then you'd have to look elsewhere. Remember also, that having a full bootload consumes even more fuel in the long run.
Good luck, Emily.
Thanks for your advise there, Philip!!...I really do appreciate it...
True, it is against my instinct to choose a Proton over a Perodua...its just that Perodua have yet to produce a car that provides a boot...if it did, I would have taken it up without a thought...*grin*...
But thank goodness, I was provided a way out a few days later...that will come in my next post...I have made a car purchase...but it turns out...it wasn't a Proton, neither was it Perodua...*winks*...
Wow, I can only guess...it definitely must be something better!
Looking forward to your next post.
I can only think that it is either a 2nd hand car, prolly below 50k region.
If its new then there not much of a choice, it has to be either a Chinese car (god forbid) or a korean car (Hyundai or Kia) which is also pretty decent lah..
LOL...good guess, Boody!!...But not at all close...haha...
And no, it isn't second hand cars...I've checked them out as well, and found the loan interest rate to be twice the rate of a new car...so I didn't bother...
And nope...no China cars (thank God!!)...but it isn't Korean made cars either...
LOL, I simply love the suspense...
But, just a heads up...its nothing fantastic to drool over...not very sporty...but it comes with a really spacious boot, and quite good customer service!!...So far, I have not heard much complains about this car...except for the design here and there...well, there is no car that is 100% perfect...Lamborghini maybe...but that ain't happening in my lifetime!!...
Beggars can't be chooses, can they??...*grin*
Toyota, come to papa!!!! Lolx
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