Hi guys,

I know its another pls help me decide kind of topic. But I'm lookin to buy a new car and would like sifus here opinions.
Currently i'm willing to pay up till RM1k for monthly..but I am as well considering the maintenance issues and fuel consumption, etc.

Do note, in terms of investment in property and future, I am quite secured. Thus my priority is my car as my working place is about 30km from my office(damansara) and I use the MEX highway a lot.

My top choices now are
1. Ford Fiesta XTR
2. Ford Ranger
3. Kia Forte 1.6 SX or 2.0
4. Hyundai Elantra
5. Honda City

Please advise and I'm open to any other suggestions or comments.
In addition, my current car the Naza Suria is having high mileage and in order to save it, the new car will by my daily driver and my Naza Suria will b used for driving around in short distances.


Thanks guys! Hope ppl can help me out

Fiesta or elantra. Forte is downright ugly and buying a city will get you flamed in this forum.

Hi Stix,

Thanks for the reply...currently i got a deal for the 1.6 SX with touch screen GPS headunit and leather seats as an upgrade, plus the Fiesta XTR also had a good deal from salesman..

However, after reading forums and the Ford page on fb, the Fiesta had some gear issues due to the nature of the dual clutch and ppl were complaining about the after service at Ford.

Nonetheless, I do love the Fiesta bcuz of the handling and features offered. I'm just worried my car is gonna b in the workshop a lot, bcuz this future car would b really important for my daily use.

Hopefully anyone using Fiesta or other Ford models can help here too

Cruze,insight,Prius c,inspira

watsup rudyz07;
hmm, another tempting thread

financially, being able to fork out rm1k/mth is one thing, but what about your :
1) downpayment?
2) annual maintenance/allowance?
and have u test driven the cars mentioned?

at the end of the day, after all the factors taken into account,
it's your car, your choice, be proud, good luck!

Honda City latest spec.

not that expensive considering ur budget

You didnt mention family so im not sure if you would want a family car? Also we dont know your time frame for getting a new car.

Looks are subjective and the fact that uve shortlisted the above would mean ure fine with the looks. So its kinda pointless to be talking bout design. So your criterias would be:

1) Price
2) Specs
3) Safety
4) Warranty
5) After sales service
6) Maintenance costs
7) Fuel consumption

You wont find any car which satisfies all of the above. So based on your list of cars above only, the best choice would be the Forte or Elantra. I think spec wise, the Forte 2.0L comes out tops. Its also got the best warranty terms of the lot (with the City). Since u drive alot, getting a car with unlimited mileage would be a plus point. The Elantra 1.8L is good but personally i think its too pricy (RM18K more than Forte 2.0). Also, Kia is currently offering up to RM2K discount for the Forte to push off stocks before the arrival of the new K3. Kia has also improved alot in the after sales service. Ive serviced a Kia and Toyota for the past 7 years so im well aware of the difference in standards which gave me the confidence to go for the 2nd Kia this year. Not sure about Hyundai SD though. Fuel consumption wise, i dont think ull get the best mileage from a Korean. The Japs are still ahead in this aspect. But Korean engines are more powerful although less refined but thats ok i guess.

As for the Fiesta, the Hatchback is really cramped in the rear. U might consider the Sedan but in my personal opinion its ugly at the rear (must be a reason why the sedan sales are really poor compared to the hatch). Specs wise, both are good but as you say some cars are still facing issues with the dual clutch. The new Ranger is also quite well spec'd and imho a better choice compared to the Hilux.

But i would think the upcoming Ford Focus would be a good option if you dont mind paying more for it. Specs are top class with a few luxury inclusions.

But you need to test drive all to get a feel and better understanding of the vehicle. And dont just test once or twice. Go a few times and choose different showrooms which have different routes. Combine highway, bad roads, with a full load, without passengers, etc. Take your time to evaluate. Never rush into anything as it might mean missing out on an important criteria.

Inspira.

Go and test drive it.

Also you need to consider your body size. Is Ford Fiesta a small size car? That will make you not comfortable with big body.

Personally, I think the FC is very important especially you travel a lot.

If you will have to always stuck in the jam (city drive), Forte will only can do 9-10litre/100km. I think Elantra is slightly better for city drive.

But if you always can speeding, Elantra is good FC. Forte not bad.

I will say Inspira 2.0P is one of the best choice out there. No Preve please.

You might want to consider new Focus too.

Why not Preve? It has the best specs and quite a powerful engine for the turbo. Any problems with it?

I'm also in the same situation as TS.. my current decision leaning more towards the new 2012 City..

Hi guys,

I'm really appreciating the replies and your opinions. No offence to the national brands, but i'm not intending to buy a P1 or P2.

To answer some of your questions, I'm working in the advertising/industry whereby we work a lot of late hours like till 12am, 5am oso got...thus I can get let's say around RM300-RM1k a month just on overtime plus allowances.

I'm also a fresh grad but my pay is considered good already for a fresh grad plus I'm really grateful that my parents have bought me a 2-storey terrace house in Ampang..thus in terms of property investment, i'm covered. Also I don't waste my disposable income on drinking, shopping, etc...I'm a very simple person that always go value for money. I'm not buying a nice car bcuz to show off but it's bcuz of my job as we have to travel a lot like meeting clients, go to photoshoot, etc.

I just need a car that is fast, good build quality(no rattling noise when langgar roadbump, minor potholes), good resale value so I can sell in 4-5 years time for bigger car. I do understand that Kia and Ford aftersales can improve after the Forte and Fiesta, thus I'm optimistic. This future car is really important to my job.

I test driven both and Inspira fares much better. Although Inspira is non-turbo car, it still have decent power and build quality.

Then you can remove Forte. I owned for 1 month car but hear irritating rattling noise from dashboard and very difficult to fix unless take out the dashboard. Not sure about others.

Daily working car, B segment car should be enuff. Economical. 30km not quite a long distance, no need bigger car. - option 1 and 5
Option 5

No offense to you, and your preference, but seriously, go and test drive an inspira.

Sure, it has a proton badge to it, but you want advice, right? Just test drive it, no harm done.

There are tons of people who changed from non-proton cars to inspira after they test drove it. Do you think people who bought a 90k inspira has no money to buy non-proton cars? Get out of the old mentality.

I do agree with cokelatpanda...B segment might be enuf as the Forte and Elantra are under C segment(do correct me if i'm wrong) bcuz I'm still young and not planning on getting married/have a family in a long time.

maybe narrowing it down now to Ford Fiesta XTR, Honda City, and maybe the Forte too bcuz I'm gettin a good offer with the GPS touch screen and leather seats

I'm aware as well that the new Forte(K3) is coming out soon..but it will probably reach our shores by end of next year or 2014..thus, buying Forte now should be ok.

I just need a car soon, my Naza Suria ady making noise..really kesian her, hehe

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Added on September 5, 2012, 11:20 amHi Xeda,

I appreciate your opinion and thanks for the idea, will try and get an Inspira test drive this weekend. How's the build quality and can add touch screen GPS? GPS important for me as I'm travelling a lot to places I'm not familiar to during tv commercial shoots, etc...

Furthermore, I want it built-in to the car so it's much safer..i think, please do advise

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Added on September 5, 2012, 11:23 amHi Xeda,

I appreciate your opinion and thanks for the idea, will try and get an Inspira test drive this weekend. How's the build quality and can add touch screen GPS? GPS important for me as I'm travelling a lot to places I'm not familiar to during tv commercial shoots, etc...

Furthermore, I want it built-in to the car so it's much safer..i think, please do advise

This post has been edited by RudyZ07: Sep 5 2012, 11:23 AM

New Inspira comes with touch screen GPS. Though I don't like looking at a huge 2-din screen at my dashboard, but that's my own preferences.

I was in the same place as you were last time, I was considering a few cars to choose -:

a) Honda City
b) Honda Civic
c) Ford Fiesta
d) Kia Forte
e) Kia Forte Koup
f) Proton Inspira

I test drove all of it, except for the fiesta. Honda City, was just absurdly underpowered to me, and I felt like driving my Gen 2 while I was test driving Honda City. Funnily enough, the sales person showed me her "Honda City Selling Booklet", and it was written there that the target market for Honda City is young people driving a proton that's upgrading their car. I laughed in my head thinking "This is just the same as my proton, what upgrade?" It was severely underpowered, felt empty and cheap. Though, this is my own opinion, I might have a high standard for a car.

Honda Civic, I fell in love with it, every single part of it, but too bad, the old gen Civic was no longer available, and maintenance on a Civic would be a killer too.

Ford Fiesta, was too small for me. I love the car, but the size was just....and the design is a little bit too girly for me.

Kia Forte - hated the absorbers and the suspension settings. It was too soft. Apart from that, it was good too. But, it lacks the low-end acceleration, and felt a bit slow and sluggish. The evil twin brother Koup, was just, just awesome. Was about to get the Koup, but a 2 door car, is not really that practical.

Inspira - This will be a biased review, as it is my preference and I love the inspira.

It's a 10 sec car. With a huge-ass body like that, it can go from 0-100 in 10 sec. So, it's fast. Went for a test drive, the sales person sitting next to me kept telling me to floor the pedal. Take corners without braking, go high speed in corners and trust the car.

I did. And the car could turn corners at 80-100 km/h, easily. If you want a civilized car, that could give you a very comfortable ride cruising at around 100~120km/h, you'll fall asleep driving the inspira. No kidding, I travel from JB-KL-JB every month, and I have always find myself dozing off cuz it's too comfortable. You want a car that can bring the "dark" side out of you.....well, just rev it up to 4k RPM, and you'll fly. 200km/h, easily achievable. Though, take note that the stock tyre's maximum speed is only 210km/h, any faster, you'll probably burst it (Conti CC5 tyre, comfort tyre, not for hardcore driving).

A fair bit of a warning here, if you drive like a madman, Inspira will drink your fuel like an alcoholic. Drive it normally, the FC is average. If you want a car that does 700km per tank, get a myvi or kancil, not an Inspira.

Maintenance, around 200 per servicing if you use semi, even 5k km. Use full syn, around 300 per servicing every 10k km. Spare parts are easily available as there are an abundance of Inspira/Lancer on the road.

But at the end of the day, test drive, all your car choices. People can only tell you so much based on their experience. I went on my car hunt and was dead set on getting a Civic/Koup, I was even willing to go all over Malaysia looking for a Civic that would be available, but that was befoe I test drove Inspira. Inspira was the last car I test drove (since my parents told me to give it a shot), so I did, and I couldn't be bothered with Civic/Koup anymore.

Test drive the cars yourself.

If you're looking to travel from home to office, office to multiple event places (which most advertising ppl does)... I think the Fiesta HB would suit you great! Easy to find parking, good fuel consumption when u r stuck in the jam in damansara during rush hours. Do note the cramp space available at the back... only good for 2 person travelling... 4 person for short distance only. Eg: lunch time.

Just my 2 cents