Elantra 1.8 Premium is RM114,888
Cerato 2.0 whatever is RM118,888

A no brainer decision, isn't it?

what do u mean? no brainer to choose which one?

For sure man.... Inspira 90k (but kena laugh by your neighbour, colleague, GF, MiL, etc)

1. Bought MyVi: They will say nothing because they are thinking "Poor bugger, at least you have 4 wheels"

2. Bought Inspira: "Muahahahahaha..." and then start the political talk about cronies.

3. Bought Japanese: They will praise you for the wise decision.

4. Bought Korean: "Stupid bugger. Why did you buy a 100K Korean crap? No resale value you know? You should have ask me first! blah blah blah blah. Almera is better!"

How about Conti sir?

I find my colleagues and friends all going conti and got instant face value...

Unfortunately I never owned a conti in my life... sadding

5. Bought Conti: "Consume fuel like drinking water, expensive spare part blah blah blah. Vios is better!". But secretly admiring you.

The point is, whatever you bought, the haters is gonna hate.

How about none? Why korean?

Haha, I love your post....Strongly agreed amongst Malaysians.....

yeah, true man..
i really dont know which car really suitable for these type of people.

Why would neighbour, colleague, GF, etc laugh if going for Inspira? It is normal that local car buyers are limited by budget due to too high tax. That car is anyway already old as the Lancer has been around since '07 with the prototype dated back in '05. Since MMC has abandoned much of its car line and focus on developing and selling engines to Koreans and Americans, less likely the Lancer will get replacement.

Back to TS topic, Elantra vs Cerato:
- build quality & interior quality goes to Cerato.
- designwise and price Elantra wins.
- specs wise, Cerato wins.

Best thing I like about Cerato, it has temperature gauge and boot release lever next to driver's seat. What I dislike about Cerato, the design and too much gadgets, wanted the less gadget LX or EX variant rather than SX. Any1 tested the Cerato 1.6 and 2.0? Which showroom gets to try both?

This post has been edited by jayraptor: Jul 13 2013, 05:08 PM

Ive driven both and i think the Cerato is a clear winner between the two. As the Driven write-up mentioned, the Elantra is very much still Korean while the Cerato has moved away somewhat from that. Yes the 1.6L is underpowered but ppl who buy the 1.6L arent the same breed of ppl who go for turbo's either so for them being underpowered isnt bad. So if power is important and yet you dont wanna spend all that much, then the 2.0L is a good choice.

But the Cerato interior quality feel is quite good. The dashboard and the way the door closes is really a class above even the K5 i must say. Very conti like. Seats were also soft, comfortable and offers good support. Kia has also improved the sound insulation tremendously despite having the crappy and noisy Nexen tyres. I was also quite impressed with the suspension set up of the Cerato. It soaks up bumps quite well. The route i took was quite bad and i pushed the car as hard as i could. Specs on the car is top class obviously.

The Cerato is more refined than the Elantra and even the K5 but still lags behind the Japs and Europeans. But for 99K you surely cant expect the kind of refinement that u'd get in a 140K car. But i think future models from Kia would be more refined im sure.

Design wise, the front needs some getting used to. I think Kia could have done a better job here. The rear is quite good especially with the lava lights. Its important to choose the right color for the car as i believe some colors dont really bring out the better side of the Cerato. But overall im not happy with the color choices. Red seems to be best suited in my opinion. Interior space is quite good and i was quite comfortable sitting in all seats (despite being a 6 footer).

So overall, the Cerato is a good buy but the price jump will take some getting used to since everybody is still very much tuned to the pricing the Forte offered. But im sure sales will pick up soon enough once more ppl realise that the Cerato is a good deal. But i see the Mazda 3 as a strong contender. It should come with good specs, better design and better drivetrain & handling, i think its a class above the Cerato if ure willing to pay about 25K more. But if ure only comparing between the Cerato and the Elantra, then go for the Cerato. U wont be disappointed.

Cheers!

This post has been edited by cybermaster98: Jul 13 2013, 05:34 PM

suggest TS to wait for 2014 mazda 3

The Mazda 3 would be better im sure. But you need to ask yourself if the 30K extra premium is worth the extra bits you would be getting. If it is, then the choice is clear.

Neither bro. I have already had a chance to test drive both. And I can tell you Japanese cars like Honda And Mazda drive so much better and had a much more solid interior even though they dont offer as much "SPECS" as the Koreans do.

But the Koreans have to offer higher specs as they cant compete with the Japs when it comes to performance and refinement.

I can tell you,even the current Honda City drives and handles so much better than a 1.8 Hyundai Elantra. So go figure.

I couldn't agree with CM98 more. His comments are exactly how I felt when I sat in a Rio and Cerato lately. KIA's interior quality has improved quite a lot starting from Rio, just try fiddle with Rio's buttons and you can feel how well these parts are put together. Why can't they do K5 like how they do Rio and Cerato?

However, I'm not a big fan of Cerato's interior design though. It needs to be swooshy like K5's interior to match that exterior design. It is looking too much like the forte, round shape like the minions. Lol.

Japs, you better watch out. The Koreans are in no doubt catching up. Try imagining how well it'll be when they launch the next generation.

Good observation

My version of Conti...

5. Brought Conti Car, "Brother, you are pro man, able to lost 100 k in 3-4 year, you much be loaded", but behind you, he will said that" what a stupic bugger, too much money"

"Too much money" shows they are jeles of you....

You can afford to throw $$ for a car that smells better (see my quotes).... compared to their hamyue proton smell...

why 30k premium?

cerato 1.6 99k
cerato 2.0 119k

you are suggesting that mazda 3 2014 2.0 130k? or more?

well put!