based on own experience and family car.

1. Perdana 1995-2000 - Manual transmission. First batch perdana got MT. Colour was some sort of dark purple.
-After getting car noticed that the AC direction for head also come out at feet, change whatever you want, AC still come out at head. No idea why. Brought to SC, they cannot fix. Expected since bought the car the same week it was launched. SC pomen not trained yet. However after trained, still cannot fix. They say inherent problem to the car.
- few years down proton recall because of suspension problem, so that replacement part was free. No problems detected in daily usage.
- One time a katak entered the car while wearing shoe in car (late for school). The katak jump into front driver pedal area and disappear. Later AC smell very bad. Bring to SC, they found katak already dead and stuck to AC belt
- After 3 years, front bumper twist at joint area just below the front lights. Inherent problem to all Perdana's. Front bumper too heavy causing the twist.

Sold car in 2000 after:
- hujan lebat at east coast-spare tyre become aquarium. Rear seat become wet the moment you apply pressure.
- Also, if you open AC after turn on car, the car sound like one kind of elephant. Only present for first 10 mins. However, if turn on AC after 15 mins moving, no sound. SC say the AC fan got a small chip, causing sound. AC wise, nothing wrong.

2. Proton Savvy 2004-2006 (MT)
- bought this cause Myvi and picanto long waiting list. Savvy can own within a month.
- Only problem, from showroom, if you want to drive straight, need to angle steering at 11 O'clock.  Brought to SC and that was corrected instantly. No problems there.
-Sold in 2006 because I don't actually use a car in the first place. Only use motor for work. Car only needed for transportation for goods for job earlier. Unused.

3. Proton Perdana V6 (2008-)
- No major problems with the car except it is under used since using Accord. As a result, the car battery keeps dieing.
- Front passenger window not working.
- Compared with the first perdana, aside from the leather seats, upgraded HUD, the car layout is pretty much the same.
- That twisting at the front bumper exists after 3 years.
- Some sort of black sponge coming out of AC vent, no idea what this is.

TS, if you want to buy a Proton car, buy model that is at least 1 year old. Like Preve, can buy now. Safe bet. If buy early, SC cannot service, since they have no idea how to service. Also, the problems with first batch all solve with time. By the time any model get FL, problem all solved with original design, so safer bet. Also, buy a car not that old in its life. The original Perdana lasted until Inspira which is a very long time.
Will I buy a proton again? Yes, if Inspira. Not sure if Preve. Why not, SC everywhere, can pick and choose.

Will it be a MT car? Maybe not. Road now jam, unlike 10 years ago. Less fun when driving since always stop-go traffic. Want to drive long distance during raya also jam. Also, aside from the "new" Satria R3, all other MT cars have less accessories/spec compared to the AT model.

If I got tons of cash, will I choose different car?
Yes. However, if have expensive car park at house - magnet for thieves. Better buy proton

try not to blame proton, the part are made by vendor and subvendor...proton only assemble it...

how the thing happen to low quality coz of the vendor want to cut cost on material buying and use cheap material and keep recycle the material....sell it at the same price as high grade material...

however whenever proton detect reject it will be sent back to vendor for replacement and still vendor will smuggle those reject among the approve one into proton...

When buying a Proton.

Do not rush your salesman to get your car delivery in a ridiculous time frame.

All rushed order will skipped QC part from QC site at Sijangkang, Banting.

Trust me...

how much u paid for other car and how much u paid for proton?

this is the mindset of malaysian, want good quality things and pay cheap cheap oni

how do u want to control part with thousand incoming everyday...yes they have system but to catch the reject part in a sample size is very hard especially part in plastic....example like mineral bottle....low grade or high grade material is the same on final product by visually....only by testing it we know which one is high and low grade...

like i mention...even proton did found reject part and send back to vendor...still they smuggle it back into proton...

i work in these area before and i know how the things going on...it such a regret to see these happening....
im not even blame proton...i know whose the culprit doing these....but seems proton new management oso still carrying the old way management...

drb shud appoint new vendor and sack those old vendor....

yes this is true my bro work in a factory that make preve's light as from him saying that the company even sent the thing out although it doesnt pass the water test.
some time cannot blame proton for the quality its their supplier take make those components

who will buy proton if the price is not cheap . will u choose a proton instead of Toyota if the price is same ?

not only proton the company also making many audi, VW, BMW even benz head lights  
do you think they only did this to proton?  

see your sig 

Haiya... how often do I need to repeat? ASEAN cars are taxed exactly the same way as Proton and Perodua. There is NO difference. So the 40k you pay more for the Vios over the Saga goes to Toyota. With that money they can do better QC, use higher quality materials, and still make a ton of profit, unlike Proton.

Cars that are exported are probably more expensive to build if the quality is indeed better. That they are still cheaper than in Malaysia is because they are taxed much lower than they are in Malaysia. Most countries have a 10-20% tax on cars, including Proton models. Malaysia taxes Protons at 75%. Yes, obviously it is going to be more expensive.

Look at China: They can produce well made devices that last forever (Lenovo ThinkPad for example), Apple devices (ok, one could argue about that), they can also produce extremely lousy devices that disintegrate the moment you open the box. It always depends on how much money you give them to build it. Looking at how extremely cheap Proton cars are after you take away the ridiculous taxes it's probably save to assume that Proton parts have to be very cheap.

I am a 6 month old Preve CFE owner. One month into my ownership, the CVT gearbox starts to make loud weird noises, and the whole gearbox was replaced under warranty.

6 month into my car here is what i notice.
-alignment pulls to the left, dont know why. I have the alignment specification for Preve and the guys adjust following it, it still prefer left side, but vainly nothing bad or to the annoying level.
-horrible rattling from right side of dashboard near the air cond vent area. Thought it was the metal clip of air cond vent, they took it out, took care the metal clip but the rattling noise was still there.
-horrible plastic like squeaking noise from the rear.
-Discover a new screw/washer rattling noise today, its from the rear also.
-FC is not as good as claimed.

No it doesnt mean Proton=Bad Quality. I am from a family who owns multiple Proton since the earlier model, maintain it well(maintenance cost is not high to begin with) and they are highly reliable.

All car have problems, go join all the owners forum and you will be enlightened.All cars are the same.

All i can say IMO know your spec, and pick the best car that suit your budget. Thats why i bought a Preve. It a big car/spacious for the $$ u paid, handles well, power is more then enough. T&H equivalent car is plain terrible joke.

If i can choose again will i buy a Preve ? No i will not. Just bcz i got bored with the car itself.

No, we pay the extra 75% to make the government happy (or to finance the health care system or whatever..., I have no clue where the money is actually going, Proton may be getting funds for R&D for example, which would bring down development costs).

Toyota (and other car makers) are using the ignorance of the people (thinking Toyotas etc. are more expensive due to high taxes) to charge more for cars than they should actually cost. Also, the Miti may not approve cars if they are priced too low (i.e. competitive with Proton and Perodua), so that certainly drives up prices for non-local car makers. However that basically _forces_ other car makers to make more profits. And while companies like VW, Ford etc. use the additional money to improve the specs, Toyota is using the money... well, to improve the size of their wallets probably.

In any case, I'd argue that Protons simply have to be built for an extremely low cost, because otherwise Malaysians would not be willing to buy them. But the problem is if you don't have any money to build a car with proper materials and with the required time and care, if you don't have the money to reject lower quality parts, if you don't have the money to get skilled workers and train them properly, then that drives down quality.

Other car makers don't need to cut costs that much and can still have a nice profit.

For a while Opel tried to cut costs so much by pressuring vendors to make things cheaper etc. that the quality tanked.

It is not so hard to imagine that when Proton earns more per car, they also can deliver higher quality. Likewise products by Chinese companies for China are sometimes of lower quality than the same products meant for export, simply because those products are sold for higher prices. I'm sure if the Preve were priced like the Altis it actually competes with, and that money went into the making of the car and improving the service centers, it would be a really good one, reliable and solid, well speced and safe.

As for 75 vs 10-20%... basically in other countries more money arrives at Proton - despite lower prices - to build the car. More money can lead to better quality.

What u pay is what u get. Full stop

im working in the automotive sector...

actually, all manufacturer got a same language, heard ISO? SIRIM?
yeah, they implemented ISO/TS16949 standard for automotive manufacturing,
plus QS9000 (EU Standard), TPS (toyota), plus all good benchmarking program
from various giant automotive manufacturer only to get better quality, good product.

they are no different in the quality language between these manufacturer is malaysia,
so you all cant say proton dont have a good Quality management (i know it, im in this business). but...this is the main culprit in the national automotive sector...POLITICS.
this is the thing that bring proton down. everybody want to make money for thier own greed pockets without thinking of customers satisfaction.

our company got records, cheats by suppliers by changing thier material spec (low spec) without approval and become major issues. so the end customer (car buyer)
feel the pain. the system was there. but we leak in control them. this is what actually happen...and we are improving it time by time. well, 'malaysia boleh' is always give a bad image compare to good.

This is true. Average Malaysians are terrible bunch to manage. Like to do work/tasks with a "tidak apa" attitude.
Last time I had to ask-leave some workers because of this. Quality of work compromised because of their bloody attitude.
You insist on maintaining high standards of work quality, they give you that "why you so demanding?" face...
So ask yourself, are you willing to do quality work? If yourself not willing, then we cant blame others for not doing quality work too. 

you'll be suprised. executives also this kinda attitude.
really disappointing 

i never had any problem that u all mention here with my proton...