At least the service centre acknowledge the issue and is willing to check it. Not like some Honda service centre that I've experienced who like to say "It's like that wan." No better than Proton SCs.

Dashboard sound is something no CKD cars and even some CBU cars are immune to. It depends on your luck and patience to trace it. The Cerato is also famous for it. Sometimes minor sounds is better to accept than trying to trace it which involves dismantling dashboard. Sometimes it just goes away by itself.

Knocking sound from suspension is not too serious from what I gather. Hopefully when the SCs gain more experience with M3 CKD they will be able to solve it.

This post has been edited by kluseng: May 7 2015, 12:39 AM

If you take 80% loan for 7 years the instalment will be about RM1200 a month. Assuming you don't have heavy commitments you should be able to afford this from your income. If you take a City or Vios you will still be paying about Rm1K a month which is not a lot of difference.

Changing cars is expensive in Malaysia. You take a big hit in depreciation every time you change. It is better to buy the car you really want and to drive for a long time than to buy a half-way car and change it after a few years because you are dissatisfied with it. Actually your income is at the boundary between B-segment and C-segment and as your income rises you will feel more comfortable.

Among the C-segment cars the Mazda 3 low spec is one of the best value for money if not the best. You get the full set of safety and fuel saving features as the high spec. If you are keen on this car then go for it!

Owning a car is more than just how powerful it is and how it handles on the road. You also need to consider reliability, after sales service, cost of maintenance, availability of spare parts, repair time and ultimately resale value. You can have a car which is a pleasure to drive but poor reliability compounded by bad after sales service and long repair time can turn ownership into a nightmarish experience.

I've done research on the 3 most popular Conti cars in our market, namely VW, Ford and Peugeot and unfortunately none of them can be recommended for the average Malaysian wage earner who does not a spare car or lots of time to spend in service centres. But if I am forced to choose between them I would choose in order of preference Peugeot>Ford>VW.

I choose Mazda 3 because my research indicate that it does not have any serious problem (keok-keok sound when going over bumps does not qualify as serious), reasonably good after sales service, no horror stories of months in the workshop waiting for parts, reasonable cost of maintenance and a good complement of safety features. RV is lower than T and H but far better than Conti cars.

Of course your priorities may differ. If your foremost priority is cornering fast then by all means go for a Conti but go in with your eyes open because the ownership experience is very very different from a Jap car.

This post has been edited by kluseng: May 29 2015, 11:20 PM

Yes, if you have the money to have a spare car. It's a shame we can't get good driveability and reasonable maintenance in one car.

I booked low spec in Mid-April. Also no news from SA yet.