Starting To See A Few New Protons Around

[Gary A]

I guess I'm not a savvy car buyer. I buy what I like and what I consider to be fun to drive. In 2007 I bought a top of the line Ford Focus Ghia. I probably couldn't get half of what I paid for it. That's Okay because It's not for sale. My wife was quite upset with me because she wanted a Toyota Vios or a Honda Civic. Since I was the one paying for the car, I decided that it was up to me what to buy. If what I buy has a lot of problems, I just wouldn't buy another one.

I really think that every make of car on the market is a decent quality car. Unless you are a Thai lemming, you should buy what you like. My Thai lemming wife reminds me every once in a while that I would have a hard time selling the Ford. My answer is always the same. I ask her if she wants me to sell it. Her answer is always the same too, NO.

[Pdaz]

PDaz, you can get the neo with 125 hp engine and a manual?? It's not listed as an option on their website. That engine is only with the auto box. Did you have to order that especially? You 650K price is higher than thopse listed...have you got any interior pics? Nice looking car...

The one I bought is a CPS.The engine fitted is different from the standard 1600cc in the High Line model Neo. It is shown in their brochure..but don't think Proton brought a lot of them into Thailand.. There is one in the showroom but think it is auto.. Pretty sure you'd have to order one otherwise.. I waited 2 Months for mine.. but was away at work anyhow..

CPS is 'Cam Profile Switching' and is Protons take on VVT or VTEC.. The CPS model is available in manual or auto ( I hate autos ) and has a leather interior and two paint colours... White or matalic black.. It has the arch flares, skirts and spoilers fitted and comes with 16'' alloys..

Here's a couple of interior pics (not my car)

The binnacle is a bit thin and harder plastic than say in a Honda.. the switchgear all works well and the controls are very simply laid out.. It's not as 'high tech' looking and is almost 'retro' inside.. I'm 190cm and fit in okay.. but there is little room in the back for passengers (unless they are kids or smalll Thais) But practicallity wasn't really my main concern.. My GF has a jazz so we have a bigger car if needed.. I treat it purely as a two seater sporty runabout.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Pdaz

[Gary A]

Well after ummming and ahhing for at least 5 minutes I bought a Neo CPS.... 650k 2 airbags, ABS, leather.. VVT 1600cc.. 125 hp.. 2 door... Cheap as hel_l really. No it's not a Honda as far as build quality.. But for fun, handling and a decent manual gearbox it beats my girlfriends Jazz by a mile.. Even she she prefers to drive the Neo.. It't jusy much more of a drivers car... Certainly in europe it's no match for a Golf or a Clio.. But this is Thialand where the the one eyed man is king.. Who cares about resale. I just want a gearbox and two doors.. sounds great when the VVT kicks in at 4200 rpm..

Next stop..

four branch manifold, lower coilovers and a free flow exhaust..

enjoy your boring box... Lotus has had a lot more imput than you'd expect...

I like the Neo CPS but the Proton Exora and the Honda Freed are UGLY.

[ignis]

Proton Exora and the Honda Freed are UGLY.

Think the only reason the Freed will sell is that has a Honda badge..

Honda Freed 1.5L Auto

Below are about same size and 2-300,000 baht less

Toyota Avanza 1.5L Auto

Proton Exora 1.6L Auto

Suzuki APV 1.6L Auto

Chery Eastar Cross 2.0L Auto

[tomloughney]

I bought a Savvy 5 months ago now has 10,000 K on it. I get about 18km/liter on longer trips and 15 or so in Pattaya. I wanted a small car, the cherry was ok but did not like the drive. I liked the idea of the auto/manual engine.

Comfortable, drives just fine at 110 to 120 if you want to. I have a 2008 civic 1.8 also that is comfortable at 140 but then I generally only drive about 90 to 100 so not an issue.

I wanted a car to be easy for me to get into and out of, the Jazz, Yaris, and Savvy were fine, civic difficult with seat design. Proton makes a neo, great looking car but recaro seats good to drive but suck getting in and out of.

Savvy super easy to park and u-turn. Back up sensors standard (have on civic also).

Hatch needs to open from inside, not good. CD player only plays CD's not mp3's.

Not wide enough for golf clubs need to drop seat, so I can only get 3 guys and 3 bags.

469,000 with airbags from dealer in Pattaya. Expect it to drop 50% (230,000) in 4-5 years. Civic dropped 250,000 in 18 months

Difficult to find when parked can be hidden by all the fortuners out there......

[Grant]

PDaz, you can get the neo with 125 hp engine and a manual??

Yes, I've got one.

I think I'll swap the engine soon.

Nice 1.8 turbo (220hp) from Mitsu can be installed easily and cost about 75k

The problem is that there is no aftermarket parts here for this model - no break pad, no air-filter, no exhaust pipe.

Only GAB suspension from Malaysia which is not so good and cost more than 30K

Edited January 25, 2010 by Grant

[Grant]

Well after ummming and ahhing for at least 5 minutes I bought a Neo CPS.... 650k 2 airbags, ABS, leather.. VVT 1600cc.. 125 hp.. 2 door... Cheap as hel_l really. No it's not a Honda as far as build quality.. But for fun, handling and a decent manual gearbox it beats my girlfriends Jazz by a mile.. Even she she prefers to drive the Neo.. It't jusy much more of a drivers car... Certainly in europe it's no match for a Golf or a Clio.. But this is Thialand where the the one eyed man is king.. Who cares about resale. I just want a gearbox and two doors.. sounds great when the VVT kicks in at 4200 rpm..

Next stop..

four branch manifold, lower coilovers and a free flow exhaust..

enjoy your boring box... Lotus has had a lot more imput than you'd expect...

I see the break calipers on your car. Is it BREMBO? Which model?

I found some company in Malaysia which have all kind of mods for Neo.

Do you know anyone here?

[culicine]

PDaz, you can get the neo with 125 hp engine and a manual??

Yes, I've got one.

I think I'll swap the engine soon.

Nice 1.8 turbo (220hp) from Mitsu can be installed easily and cost about 75k

The problem is that there is no aftermarket parts here for this model - no break pad, no air-filter, no exhaust pipe.

Only GAB suspension from Malaysia which is not so good and cost more than 30K

Grant, what happened to your civic?

[Grant]

Grant, what happened to your civic?

Nothing.

Need second car and got Neo

[changnaam]

Just wondering what the Neo CPS owners are thinking a year on from the last comments?

Looking for a second car for the wife to get to work and I really (she doesn't care what car it is!!) like the look of the Neo. She learned in a manual and prefers manual if possible.

Will go and visit the dealer at christmas but wondered if the owners were still happy. What about the servicing and overall customer service from Proton, has it been OK?

We live near to a big dealer so no problems there.

Cheers

[Pdaz]

Just wondering what the Neo CPS owners are thinking a year on from the last comments?

Looking for a second car for the wife to get to work and I really (she doesn't care what car it is!!) like the look of the Neo. She learned in a manual and prefers manual if possible.

Will go and visit the dealer at christmas but wondered if the owners were still happy. What about the servicing and overall customer service from Proton, has it been OK?

We live near to a big dealer so no problems there.

Cheers

Still happy with mine... Only prob so far has been passenger door didn't always lock/unlock when the keyfob button was pushed.. Only a loose connection and easily fixed.. Apart from that I've scuffed the front spoiler a few times.. Still fun to drive and easy to park.. Sure it's not for everybody but I haven't regretted my purchase.

[rics21]

When in Kuala Lumpur last year, had a guy running me around who spoke good English so we had a chat about stuff. He said Protons were rubbish and fall apart, he said just look at the taxis, all Protons cos cheap. I went in a taxis a couple of times and they were knocking and creaking ( just like a Nissan truck ), not old cars either. In the UK my daughter bought one new, a small people carrier, within no time the tail gate hinges had rust on them. The Lotus thing, probably sorting the suspension out as Proton couldn't solve their own problem.

Personally wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.

- look at the 1st comment by cindyting20.

cindyting20

4 months ago 44 sometimes i wonder why our government encourage us to buy malaysian car when they drive Mercedes or bmw or watsoever car instead of malaysian car? its just so sad... ppl know how bad n dangerous it is but there are many ppl out there cant afford imported cars... because of the stupid gov taxes..

P.S. the malaysians are buying the proton because proton cars are taxed with a different bracket as the imported cars.

government scams.

[WarpSpeed]

When in Kuala Lumpur last year, had a guy running me around who spoke good English so we had a chat about stuff. He said Protons were rubbish and fall apart, he said just look at the taxis, all Protons cos cheap. I went in a taxis a couple of times and they were knocking and creaking ( just like a Nissan truck ), not old cars either. In the UK my daughter bought one new, a small people carrier, within no time the tail gate hinges had rust on them. The Lotus thing, probably sorting the suspension out as Proton couldn't solve their own problem.

Personally wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.

proton cars are taxed with a different bracket as the imported cars.

government scams.

Hmmmmmmmmm.............Sounds familiar, where I have heard this before ??

Edited November 24, 2010 by WarpSpeed

[ilyelol]

test drove both the savvy and the gen2.. Piece of shits, feels like its made out of cheap thai leggo blocks. Savvy's 85hp feels like 30hp and gen2's 125hp feels closer to 95 less than 2mins of sitting in both cars i had my back hurting close to the same as if i had sat in a normal car for 5hours would rather drive a 1990 100 000baht car

[WarpSpeed]

Missed this post by Kata did you T/A?

Does anyone have any experience of a Proton Persona NGV? I'd be interested to hear anyone's experience of them.

When compared to other 1.5litre engined car manufacturers, why is only Proton offering a factory-fitted NGV car? Are they more expensive for insurance?

Proton has many years of experience with CNG/NGV since almost all Kuala Lumpur taxis are Proton running CNG.

Insurance in LOS for new car is based on vehicles value/cover only.

Chevrolet Optra and Mitsubishi Lancer are other B/C segment cars offered with factory CNG. Toyota Corolla Altis too, now also with automatic.

[PatLogan]

Well probably because I had 2 Proton years ago (a Wira, then the Waja), and because I knew so many people having one over my 8 years in KL, I swear I would never ever buy one, or recommend to anybody to buy one.

Or maybe it is because after 2 months on my brand new Waja the whole electric circuitry burned and I had to wait 4 weeks to get back my brand new car.

Or maybe it is because any Malaysian who is not into the whole "Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional" idea (if he is, he is also probaly singing Satu Malaysia ) will buy anything BUT a Proton if he can. Which might explain a drop in market share from 60% to less around 25% in 8 years, and letting Perodua (Dahaitsu) becoming the number one in Malaysia.

As for comparing the tax on cars between Malaysia and Thailand, let's take some figures: my Pajero Sport cost nearly 50% more in Malaysia, while a Proton is about the same price here than there. As far ASEAN made are concerned, it is not quite comparable, everything was made to artificially sustain Proton. I don't think there is a "National" manufacturer totally sponsored by tax payers in Thailand, and using this tax advantage to fund their exported cars in some countries?

So one could wonder: if Malaysian don't want to buy Protons and don't if they can, why would you buy one?

Edited November 30, 2010 by PatLogan

[Pdaz]

Well after 10 or more years of living and working in Malaysia and Singapore I was very familiar with Protons 'bad' rep. Yes they aren't cutting edge and I would never have bought a Wira or even a Gen 2 if there were other options. However this it Thailand and I wanted a sporty 2 door hatchback with a manual gearbox.. What is there ? 15 year old Honda civic, New Mini or Fiat 500 or posibly if you look hard enough a secondhand Peugeot 205 or VW Golf ( like finding rocking horse shit belive me I looked )

So with no interest in resale or interior quality I bought the CPS Neo.. Wouldn't have bought a standard Neo as the regular 1600 is gutless and has a huge hole in it's torque curve.. The CPS I'm pleased to say is much better. The chassis is still a bit heavy which blunts performance a bit and the motor is probably not enough for the four door Gen 2. But for great handling, road holding and steering the Neo is streets ahead of the usual (brainwashed) 4 door choices,. Jazz, Yaris and March/Tilda. I belive that the new Mazda 2 maybe a fun drive but again it has 4 doors and the top level of trim is only available with auto..

Sure I'd much rather have a 205,VW GTI or a Focus RS.. But they ain't available new here for 600+ K Baht..

I'm restoring an old 2 litre BMW as I prefer RWD it should have 160-170 hp and be good fun once finished. If you like cars for driving and fun not economy, resale and shopping then the CPS Neo makes a good choice.. But if you not buy a Honda..

Car is still going strong and the motor has gotten sweeter since freeing up a little..

[WarpSpeed]

Too bad you didn't consider an older model SEAT, either Cordoba or newer Toledo. I overlooked them previously too as we don't have them where I originate from but the performance is as good or better with a 1.8L in either model but the newer Toledo's have 20 valve engines and plenty of package offerings.

The Older Cordoba is even significantly lighter then a Golf by 350lbs. and much better aero package with many manuals available and can easily be upgraded with any 20 valve 1.8L from VW or Audi and even upgrade to a 2.0L (also readily available here) and mated with a 20V head..

SEAT's are MUCH cheaper then any VW but virtually the same in all performance aspects with some pretty impressive enhancements in aero package.

Edited January 25, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[Caliguy]

I'm thinking about buying the Proton Exora H-Line. Anyone have experience with this car? All I've read are good reviews. Most complaints seem to be coming from M-line owners. Mostly small beans nothing major.

[Kwasaki]

Please may I nudge this thread back to Protons, as I have a good friend interested in buying one, or similar.

cheers

Ken

PS Or are we to believe we have no Proton owners on Thai Visa

Edited to add postscipt

If there was I don't think they would admit to it.

I had a looked at them when were on show at Phitsanulok, I only had to see the pull up and push down door locks, the interior and slam the door shut to walk away without looking further.

That said you get what you pay for, so whatever suits your wallet.

Edited April 21, 2011 by Kwasaki

[Velocette]

Too bad you didn't consider an older model SEAT, either Cordoba or newer Toledo. I overlooked them previously too as we don't have them where I originate from but the performance is as good or better with a 1.8L in either model but the newer Toledo's have 20 valve engines and plenty of package offerings.

The Older Cordoba is even significantly lighter then a Golf by 350lbs. and much better aero package with many manuals available and can easily be upgraded with any 20 valve 1.8L from VW or Audi and even upgrade to a 2.0L (also readily available here) and mated with a 20V head..

SEAT's are MUCH cheaper then any VW but virtually the same in all performance aspects with some pretty impressive enhancements in aero package.

Yes Seat, and of course not forgetting Skoda, both of which have a good reputation and are very popular in northern Europe. I'm not familiar with all their bits and bobs, but believe they are both on VW platforms, with VW engines and running gear, they also have really good diesel engines.

The problem for many is finding a mechanic and spares, I know that you did a lot of work on a VW Vento ? correcting all the Thai irregularities, not everyone has the time, equipment or expertise to do their own repairs, although it must be very satisfying.

I come from an earlier time (Jurassic period) I've replaced carbs, distributors,water pumps and adjusted tappets, but todays cars are so much more sophisticated, so it's a more daunting prospect finding someone trustworthy and knowledgable to fix them, granted this applies to Jap cars also, it's just there's a larger choice of dubious mechanics and of course spares.

Anyway, glad to see that your in VW heaven with your recent purchase, you must be buzzing with all the different possible engine configurations, and all at reduced prices, which must sweeten the cake. Even if you don't go down the mix and match route, you have good responsive wheels for a relatively cheap price, and that is satisfying .

[WarpSpeed]

Too bad you didn't consider an older model SEAT, either Cordoba or newer Toledo. I overlooked them previously too as we don't have them where I originate from but the performance is as good or better with a 1.8L in either model but the newer Toledo's have 20 valve engines and plenty of package offerings.

The Older Cordoba is even significantly lighter then a Golf by 350lbs. and much better aero package with many manuals available and can easily be upgraded with any 20 valve 1.8L from VW or Audi and even upgrade to a 2.0L (also readily available here) and mated with a 20V head..

SEAT's are MUCH cheaper then any VW but virtually the same in all performance aspects with some pretty impressive enhancements in aero package.

Yes Seat, and of course not forgetting Skoda, both of which have a good reputation and are very popular in northern Europe. I'm not familiar with all their bits and bobs, but believe they are both on VW platforms, with VW engines and running gear, they also have really good diesel engines.

The problem for many is finding a mechanic and spares, I know that you did a lot of work on a VW Vento ? correcting all the Thai irregularities, not everyone has the time, equipment or expertise to do their own repairs, although it must be very satisfying.

I come from an earlier time (Jurassic period) I've replaced carbs, distributors,water pumps and adjusted tappets, but todays cars are so much more sophisticated, so it's a more daunting prospect finding someone trustworthy and knowledgable to fix them, granted this applies to Jap cars also, it's just there's a larger choice of dubious mechanics and of course spares.

Anyway, glad to see that your in VW heaven with your recent purchase, you must be buzzing with all the different possible engine configurations, and all at reduced prices, which must sweeten the cake. Even if you don't go down the mix and match route, you have good responsive wheels for a relatively cheap price, and that is satisfying .

Yes both approximately 80-90% VW. Buzzing yes, but that's the rub though, I have to resist the temptation of not thowing money into this car that I won't get back on resale as it won't be appreciated here . I was misled into thinking that finding spares was going to be a problem too originally, and mechanics too but that has not proven to be a problem except on the mechanics front which I always try to avoid anyways. I just haven't seen anything up to my standards here in ANY used car I've looked at or owned so I'm resigned to doing it myself but that's ok too as you said it's quite a challenge that keeps one occupied, I just can't bring myself to pay for something I'm not only qualified to do but more detailed about doing myself.

The engines are actually kind a limited though a diesel is still a possibility and with turbo and chipping possibilities could be sweet, but a nice 1.8l 20V with a possible turbo added would be nice in this light platform and actually my problem is resisting the temptation to do these things to it and just keep it to minor tweeks so it still remains street sweet..

The beauty of all of these VW products though is they are also not that sophisticated mechanically as one would think, they kept them very basic here for cost purposes and the engine packages offered were all well proven, long time technology that is virtually bullet proof and not complicated to work on, the problem with most local mechanics is "thinking out of the box". In reality an engine is an engine and mostly only the specs change between them but most all the same rules in maintenance and repair still apply but since the training is lacking so is the original thinking and thus limiting themselves..