I can already tell from your post that you are a very hard to please fella. Granted, nobody wants to wait for 3 days but if it's their SOP then what else can you say? What they probably should have done is to offer a courtesy car ( I know they don't always do that), that would have been the right thing to do to keep the customer happy.

In your case, you should just stick to Honda, Toyota or Nissan. As far as I'm concerned, these 3 companies are the only companies in Malaysia at the time of this writing that has the biggest service coverage and support across the nation. Forget about the others in your case, I would recommend selling off the Polo TSI in exchange for an Altis/Sylphy/Civic or similiar car. It's suitable for your character who cannot tolerate any fault a car develop or when problem occurs, it must be rectified in 2 days or less.

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Added on December 7, 2012, 12:57 pmWhat I have is the RCD510, there is now an aftermarket made for VW Kenwood player available so this can be rectified easily. I personally don't care for the auto-braking, park assist or lane assist. I would like to have the adaptive suspension and Dynaudio sound system though, they would be what I consider nice candies to have.

This post has been edited by zweimmk: Dec 7 2012, 12:57 PM

Auto dimming mirror is a standard.
Lane assist will alert you when you run off the lane but that is not a standard feature.

Only the following is desirable to me

Electric seats
Adaptive Suspension
Dynaudio Audio System (very desirable)
Adaptive Cruise Control (very desirable)

I am less particular, but that don't mean I don't care. 3 days is still considered reasonable to me. Besides, my car is not the only car those people need to attend to so I don't expect miracles. As long as they get my car fixed within the week, i'd be happy. 3 days without courtesy car fine.... i am still ok but beyond that then i expect some form of compensation in the form of service voucher or courtesy car or i woukd surely make noise.

My verdict still stands, you don't want to deal with potential problems and easy fuss free ownership, just go with Honda, Toyota or Nissan. You want to buy Peugeot or Ford or VW then be prepared to deal with whatever problems which may arise. After all, these brands haven't been that active in our market until a few years back so you'd need to adjust your expectations in line with their current capabilities.

Actually that's what I thought too. For anyone whose got 180k to splurge on a car, hasn't bought a car yet and it has to be a Toyota, then why not an Alphard instead?

Comfort 5*
Safety 5*
Space 5*
Convenience equipment 5*

Seats 5 to 7 comfortably I believe

That's why my statement was directed to those who have yet to buy a new car but have the budget to do so. If a buyer only has 160k or so budget, why get the 2.0L? There are better choices available at that price, besides, it is almost 2013 and there's going to be a selection of new cars coming.

If the buyer has 180k or so, again, the 2.5V Camry is still considered a semi-decent purchase but at this price point, I actually would consider the C180 since it is now priced at RM212k and there are further discounts which drops the price of that car to RM198k. If you do a calculation, the installment difference between the 2 cars is at most RM500 or so if the loan period is 7 years with a downpayment of 80k. It is not as big as the Camry for certain, but it surely does not lose out to the Camry in terms of brand image, safety, comfort and handling. And in my experience unlike BMW, Mercedes have a lot less breakdown or electronic problems which means it's a reliable car as well.

For prospective new buyers, I think it's best to wait if you can. Take a look at the new Mazda 6 and new Honda Accord. Unless you live in a place where only Honda or Toyota is available, then no choice, you have to buy either the Camry or Accord.

The most impressive thing with the new Camry is the size, even though its wheelbase actually isn't bigger than the K5, but interior space is still bigger (surprisingly)

Camry: 2775
K5: 2795
Teana: 2775
Mazda 6 2013: 2830
Mazda CX5: 2700
Peugeot 508: 2817
Passat: 2712

All dimensions in mm.

Eh, if you want your kids to be able to sleep. You don't need to spend that much to buy a Camry. Just buy a Nissan Grand Livina or Serena. The latter being more comfortable but the Livina will easily just do the job as well, fold down the rear seats and they can sleep like a bed. I think the Honda Stream can fold down its rear seats too. Why would you let your kid sleep on the car floor???

The Passat rear seats will actually fold down to access the trunk when required, so basically if I really wanted to... I could buy a cheap mattress and have kids sleep in that manner... but erm, no. LOL

Does the Camry rear seats fold down to access the trunk or is it just a trunk through from the armrest?

Space was never an issue when it comes to the Camry, it's always famous for being one of the most spacious D-segment sedans available on the market today, so you haven't said anything that people don't already know.

Btw, I don't consider the Grand Livina or Honda Stream RSZ as MPV even though they are designed to have the same seating function of one. They drive more like a sedan than an MPV because of the way they were designed. I think it's the same case Mitsubishi Grandis. All of which, I believe are a far cry compared to the Naza RIA

Did you change your blown Nexen tyre to the GEF1A2? Or did they replace it with another Nexen?

I wonder how reliable those reviews are for the GEF1A2? Have you any personal experience using those tires?

CSC5 is good, but rather expensive and reviews online also point to GEF1A2 as the better tyre but I wonder how reliable those reviews are.

Thinking of switching my tires once the thread wears out, that should at least be another 6 to 12 months from now. But that means, no more conti-seal protection :/

My solution to you is just hire a personal taxi driver. No need to worry about parking, insurance, fuel, maintenance, reliability, resale value and still cheaper than owning a new car in the long run!

I'm scheduled to get my tires rotated there soon. They were saying CSC5 is pretty much one of the best tires right now but I wonder.

Michelin XM2 was default with my Altis. Over time noise performance and comfort went down as the thread wore out but I guess that's to be expected.

Toyota Camry wins Korean Car of the Year.

But the K5 has already won the 1st year and the Elantra (i40) won the 2nd.

I guess they probably would not give it to the Sonata since it's been around for awhile.

But this is the US Toyota Camry and not the Australian based Aurion which Asia uses.

http://www.cbt.com.my/2013/01/23/toyota-ca...the-year-title/

I don't think that's true. Or maybe it could be. But I do see a large number of new Camry on the road these days.

But competition is quite stiff and there are much better alternatives out there so I'm not surprised if it falls short of UMW's sales target.

Hahaha, 50k discount from what? the 2.5? That's about 130k which is still overpriced. If they take off 80k, then yeah, 100% can consider

If you driven into Setia alam or the residential area (setia eco park), you'd see a bucket load of new Camry all parked there. In the last few days, I've seen quite a bit more 508, K5 and Passat on the road than I've seen Camry but it's also possible many of the owners went back hometown or is outstation.

I don't think anyone can come up with a solid figure but what we do know are the following:

1. VW is the no.1 selling European Marque in Malaysia based on the numbers summarized by MAA at the end of 2012, VW outsells Peugeot by slightly over 2:1.
2. The Passat is selling almost 3:1 compared to the 508 from the period of Jan-May of 2012.

Based on these numbers, we can conclude the high likelihood that there are more Passat on the road than there are 508. Unfortunately, there are no figures available for the K5 and I do see more K5 on the road compared to either the VW Passat or the PUG 508.

I wish. Lol. No I was there to visit a friend over the lunar new year holidays and happen to see the number of new Camry being parked. Lots of Penang and Johor plates but still quite a large number of owners nevertheless.

Well, I don't need any figures to tell me how popular the K5 actually is. Just drive around the city and count the number of K5 you come across in a day. Visual information alone should already tell you what you already suspect and you can reasonably conclude that the K5 is selling as many if not more numbers than the Passat or the 508.

I strongly suspect car numbers could be higher for all D-segments, but many people are just taking a wait and see approach until after the upcoming GE before committing.