Hi all, I am deciding to get a new car and have been driving my family's car for years now.

So when I started, only one brand came to my mind which is Honda. Either the new City or the new Civic. Coz I have been driving my sis City and it was a good car. 

For the new City, I like the new look but the interior was so plain and simple. Not much features...

As for the new Civic, I still prefer the previous sporty look, the current one is such a pain in the eyes.

So I decided to see what alternatives there are in the market. My criteria for choosing a new car are
- FC: Good FC (I usually get 12-15 KM/L for the City)
- GPS: Comes with GPS
- Looks: Not a pain to the eyes 
- Price Range: Less than RM 100K
- Maintenance and Service: Low maintenance cost and have service centers within the city.
- Speed: Good acceleration and decent speed.
- Safety: At least 2 airbags for the passenger and driver, ABS, Stability Control, Alarm system.

Well, this boils down to Forte, City, Vios and the new Nissan Almera.

On a nice beautiful Sunday morning, I decided to go test drive the Forte, City, Civic, Vios, Altis and the new Nissan Almera.
You might ask why I test drive the Civic and Altis, I wanted to see how it fairs against the Forte since they are in the same segment.

Nissan Almera
So I went to test the Almera first since it was nearer to my place. At first glance the Almera was just a stone throw away from being listed as a pain to the eyes on my list.
Either way I decided to give it a try since the highest spec was just only 79K.
The salesman let me drive it around the taman-taman only during the test drive and was over within 10 minutes... 
Didn't get a chance to fully test the car since the low fuel indicator kept blinking as if it will drop to zero anytime.

The interior of the Almera looks cheap and the buttons and knobs feels like cheap plastics.
The driver seat feels a bit small for me and my leg keep hitting the armrest at the driver's side door.
But the pickup for the Almera was good probably due to its light weight.
So at RM 80K the Almera was a good deal at that time but the looks of the Almera was still a turn off for me with or without a body kit.
The Almera meet the GPS, price, maintenance and service, speed and safety criteria on my list. The FC should be okay as mentioned by PaulTan on his blog.

Kia Forte
The next stop I went to was the Kia showroom, when I reach there I was greeted by a not so friendly salesman who obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
But still I have a look at the Forte and it was 2nd love at first sight since my first love was standing next beside me, she might get jealous. 

The forte looks sporty with the bodykit and there were lots of features offered by Kia for the forte. GPS, paddle shifter, reverse camera, keyless entry and etc.
I ask the salesman whether they had a 2.0SX for testing, unfortunately there was only the 1.6SX. Had to wait awhile while the salesman ask his partner to prepare the car.
After a couple of minutes the car was ready and me, my GF, together with the grumpy salesman got on the car.
It felt like I was in the cockpit of a Gundam when I got in, there were so many buttons and controls inside.
The salesman took his time to walkthrough on the features inside while I adjust the seat, mirrors and the sterling wheel.

Same as the Almera, the low fuel indicator was blinking. This time the salesman let me drive freely around the city and I was kinda worry the fuel will drop to zero anytime... 
While I was driving he kept on explaining the features on the Forte. What I notice was there was a slight delay of 1-2 seconds after stepping on the accelerator and the car actually moving.
Well not a biggie as after it started moving, it was a smooth drive all the way.
The sterling wheel feels a bit heavy compared to the Honda City and its more harder to turn
The forte was spacious enough for me and the armrest at the side of the driver's door was not blocking my leg.
Can't comment much on the car as I was driving within the city at the speed of 60-80 KM/h only but overall it felt good and comfortable.
The salesman quote me @ RM 84,800 for the 1.6SX and giving me the body kit, emblem and car mat.
The Forte manage to meet my GPS, looks, price, maintenance and service, speed and safety criteria on my list.
So compared with the Almera, Forte would be a better bargain.
Well time to say bye bye to the Forte as I move on to my next destination, Honda showroom.

Honda City and Civic
Honda was and still is my favorite brand because of the experience I had with it. So after lunch, I head over to the Honda showroom and was greeted by the salesman. Well not a grumpy one this time. 
Long story cut short, I had a look at the new City and ask about the price and features then went for a test drive.

Honda was generous with their petrol and the City I test drive had a full tank of petrol unlike the Forte and Almera   
This time I was able to test drive the City on the expressway and manage to go up to 120 KM/h 
Compared to the previous 4th Gen City my sis drove, this new City felt under-powered and the acceleration was a bit slower.
It was spacious inside the City but then the armrest is still the one thing that keeps blocking my leg.
The sound insulation was not good and driving above 100KM/h I could hear the wind outside.
The hand brake feels tight and more force were needed to pull it up compared to the previous City.
Heading back to the Honda showroom, I requested the salesman whether I could test drive the new Civic.

Although the new Civic looks a step backward compared to the previous Civic, still I decided to give it a go to compare it against the Forte.
Getting on to the Civic 2.0 Navi, the interior design was quite futuristic and gave me the same feel as the Forte.
The Forte and Civic had almost the same features only with a different price tag.
On the test drive I went on the same route as I did for the City and WOW it was a complete different feel compare to the City.
The sound insulation was good, the speed and acceleration was great and on top of it the handling is superb.

Overall, the new City was a disappointment and priced at RM90K. The new Civic on the other hand was a good drive but priced at RM 115K for the lowest spec and RM 136K for the highest spec.

Toyota Vios and Altis
Seeing that there are lots of Toyota users on the road, I thought to myself that Toyota can't be half bad as Honda since there are so many Toyotas and Toyota has been in Malaysia for quite a long time.

So I went to the Toyota Showroom which is located the furthest away from my home. The service center for Toyota is just behind the Toyota showroom and
if I need to service my car in the future I would had to travel quite a distance to the service center.

While at Toyota, I was greeted by a friendly salesgirl whom is so kind to go in detail on the specs of both the Vios and Altis.
Firstly I tried the Vios since it was within my price range and would probably go for it if the ride was good.
First impression on the Vios was good looking exterior but interior was plain and simple like the City.
Feature wise, it was worse than the Honda City and it was not as spacious as the City.

Next I had a look at the Altis, it was the same as with the Vios. Not much features and not spacious enough. The looks was OK though.
So I test drive the Vios first and Toyota is as stingy as Nissan and Kia for giving minimum fuel for test driving.
I wanted to test the Vios on the main road and expressway but the salesgirl said I could only drive within the taman as she forgotten to bring the license plate...
It was a very short drive and it ended within 5 minutes. It was the same thing with Altis too...

For Toyotas, the speed and acceleration was OK but the features offered was minimal.
And for such a price tag on these cars it was a major turn off.

To sum it up, I would still go for the Forte even though Honda was my favourite brand.
Was going to go for the Forte 1.6SX until a friend of my father told him that Forte breakdown a lot and no resale value.

There goes my dream of owning a Forte...

Anyway just my 2 cents on Forte, City, Civic, Vios, Altis and Almera for those who are planning to own a car.