I thought Proton had virtually shut up shop in this country but saw one of these little cars the other day.
Anyone own one and are they any good? They look a bit like the new Hyundai i120 but you just don't see them on the road.
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Window cleaner near me has an 09 reg Savvy - possibly one of the ugliest cars ever.
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Bet the windows are spotless, though. :)
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Ive seen one or two, problem is, they are a bit pricey for what they are and they arent very great on emissions or economy. I should imagine there are a few thousand around, prob owned mainly by daft old fellas who only ever buy a Proton.
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Anyone own one and are they any good? They look a bit like the new Hyundai i120 but you just don't see them on the road.
A bit like... because they have 4 wheels and a windscreen? Now the i20 and the Corsa on the other hand...
Avoid Proton, their days are numbered here. Even the Malaysians avoid them, the Myvi is a much better car.
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Why are their days numbered? Is the importer going under? I would say Perodua will go under long before Proton who are established with the older generation who would think you were being rude should you ask them if they had a 'Perodua' - my dad had never heard of them, but he knew wat a Proton was. Enuf said.
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I've wonered the same about Proton as you never see them. Apparantly some North East public relation services use them (i.e police force).
I think I have seen 50 times more new Fiestas than Savvy's even though the Proton has been on sale longer
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Proton dont have the advertising budget, much the same as Perodua ( which having rang them Im sure is a couple of old ladies in a shed somewhere ) or Daihatsu.
Drive around an area with plenty of bungalows with well kept gardens and you will start to discover land of the Proton. I think you have to own a bungalow to buy the Impian!
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Seen a couple of these around. The trouble is, Proton's niche of cheap and reliable has long since evaporated. Cheap and reliable is no longer sufficient: you need to be good too! Kia and Hyundai do a much better job, with fuller model ranges. Furthermore, Protons still look and feel cheap. Kias and Hyundais don't. Proton could get away with this in the late 80s/ early 90s, but things have moved on (and they haven't).
The Savvy suffered from a novel fault as I recall (which may have been put right on new Savvys). The roof lining has a tendency to come unstuck and droop into the cabin. Problems with the glue used was to blame. I have owned a couple of old bangers in my time, but nothing like this ever happened.
As for Proton dealers - I haven't even seen one since the late 90s, but they must be around somewhere.
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For some reason at least round here a lot of Lada dealers were also Proton dealers, when Lada went bust the Proton dealer went with them.
The Proton Persona was actually a pretty good car at the time I think, the problem is they kept it going far too long.
The Proton roof lining problem is not so unique, my grandads Montegos often did that.
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Well check out their website, its actually a pretty decent one and I have 7 dealers within 50 miles of me so they are about.
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Proton used to be based in Bristol but moved all but the parts warehouse and vehicle import centre up to Norfolk, in with Lotus. The last time I drove down by Avonmouth docks they had hundreds of ex rental cars sat there rotting away. I would imagine these have now been sent to Hull for the local police to use.
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In the past I had a '92 K Proton 1.3, one of the boxy shape saloons. I bought it at 80k miles with no service history and ran it to 123k with just doing oil and filter changes every 6 months. A lot of this was motorway work.
Perfectly reliable and I imagine similar to a Hyundai of the same age.
The problem is, in my opinion, that other budget manufacturers have moved on and left Proton behind. I would agree that there are still dealers around, but then I live in Eastbourne so I'm in their target market area (old people.....)
Chris.
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I guess though that if your 80 and all you want is reliable, simple transport for you and the old dears to go down the bowling green, they have a certain appeal.
Those of us who are into cars prob cant understand the appeal, but when people get older, habit is very much a set thing, so if they have always had a Proton, they always will.
Incidentally, this morning I saw a Wira being used as a minicab.
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Don't write Proton off. They are very tough cars and owe more to 90s Japanese (Mitsubishi Lancer) design - and reliablity. In our family we have a battered Persona Tdi that has 150,000 miles and goes link stink. They are the reliable Ladas of the 21st century!
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