Hi I need advice from sifus here.

My 2009 M-line Persona already clocked 80K km plus, and the suspension has lost its bite. I remembered how if felt so comfy when I drove it home the first time. I just bought Almera for wife, used it quite often and when return driving the Persona, my car felt lousy in terms of comfort & refinement (but still great on handling & steering feedback). I realized my Persona is ageing fast, with all type of sounds coming from the dashboard and left door assembly when driving over uneven surface or bumps. To compare, my friends' City, Altis and Livina mileage all had reached 100K but never encountered such problem nor changed their absorbers. To summarize, here are the sounds:

Kraaaaak : when alight & moving out from car.
Kiook: suspension noise when driving over bumps slow at 10kmh
krik krik krik: something inside dashboard rattling
tak tuk tak tuk: something inside the door assembly rattling

See, I don't need to turn on the radio to play music in my Persona. As much as I love my car for its brilliant handling and solid drive, the enjoyment was somewhat hampered by these annoying noises.

So, my questions are:

1. Does changing Proton original shock absorber can eliminate this? Can it make the ride comfort feel 'quite like new'?

2. Where is the best place to fix the interior (dashboard and door) assembly fit & finish to eradicate the noise? Can Proton SC do the job?


Thank you

This post has been edited by normal_user: Apr 19 2014, 12:56 AM

Yeah I haven't checked the rear drums, although I've skimmed front dics & changed brakes twice. Brake fluid is sufficient. The noise doesn't bother me much as it happen during entering/alighting from the car. Its the dashboard sound that is irritating.

Well, at least my Persona's comfort is better than Myvi with same mileage. Myvi with that mileage usually in dire need of absorber change (based on driving 4 different old myvis).

Thanks for the advice

Exactly. The Persona has the cheapest ownership cost, and yet is more fun to drive, and even more comfortable than the RM115K Honda Civic. The Japanese B-segments (City, Vios, Almera) has no match for Persona in terms of continental solid ride & handling balance. I recently owned Almera, and despite its smoothness, it cannot match Persona's pure driving fun & joy. Againts the C-segment below RM120K, only its sophisticated sibling, the Preve can beat its 'fun to drive' factor (by a small margin). Meanwhile, despite the Altis and Sylphy has better comfort, their handling & steering feel is no-where to match the Persona. It is proven reliable despite there are quite a number of lemons out there. My father in-law has one that clocked nearly 200K km, and yet it rides comfortable with no major problems and never broke down whether on garage or middle of the road.

The Persona's archilles heel remain its mediocre interior fit and finish quality, less than remarkable engine refinement and squeaky sounds inside the cabin.

I usually set to P, when the car really stops and not moving anymore. After that I pull the handbrake at 2/3 capacity (2 clicks I think). Only full when on a slope.