counter query time!
1)'Not interested in Gen 2 CPS. Just want the model with the lesser problems.'
i want to understand what you mean by that line? if this is a 'problematic' car to you .... depending on your answer i have diferent bad news for you. 

2)still don't think you will be able to get a the last batch waja for 13k....

anyway you already know my pick between the 2.

ahh thought you were going to say it was problematic in some way haha if its a personal preference, no problem...

comparing this 2, and given that they are in decent condition, the waja is a sort of 'higher end' car. better engine, nicer interior, that kind of thing.

haha cps is more complicated, more expensive to make and if you have a heavy foot it can drink a crapload of fuel (same idea as 'real' vtecs and mivecs, able to run a diferent set of cams)
btw the cps is still used now fyi, the exora is still sold with the cps so its production is still ongoing.
The persona is a more modern car haha thats why its nicer

Gen 2/persona, now these 2 share alooot of parts. almost the same thing but one has a larger arse. I still like the gen 2 cps, comes with all the goodies the persona has but with a better engine and smaller boot. They did fix some flaws with the gen2 on the persona but.... i suspect some fixed didnt pan out that well...

Waja.... yeah some variants came with their issues, power window related stuff, door handles snapping off... and the very sad renault engine... But the late batch cars were decent. Last batches came fully loaded and were basically as reliable as any other proton out there.

Savvy.... on paper, a decent town car! stable with wheels at basically the 4 edges of the car, fuel sipping with that renault engine (it really was frugal if driven that way), amt geabox which was a fancy feature. However it was not to be, the fancy gearbox gives way and costs more tha the car to replace, the impressive engine has soooo many sensors that need to be maintained (by renault, proton cant fix em properly), crap happens when modified, and the looks.... well some liked it, others found it absolutely disgusting. all in all? a potential money pit.

Honestly at this price range the best option is usually a used Persona or Myvi.
Proton only really started to make their own cars with the Waja.
With the platform/chassis from Mitsubishi (then next generation) Lancer which is known as Lancer GLX here.
In layman terms the Waja was something between a Lancer GLX and Proton's own efforts.
Then things started to change to more Proton with Gen2 with that model Proton felt they could be seen as independent and the start of their 2nd gen with a car and engine designed by them from the ground-up albeit with reference designs from elsewhere.
Waja and Gen2 were good efforts but usually consumers don't like to be lab rats so my suggestion is to get a Persona because all the problems from Waja and Gen2 including the much sought after Campro CPS engine is in the Persona. So Persona is like a stable Windows 7 release in ktard terms.
2008 Nissan Sentra 1.8 - if you're looking for something non-local but still good value plus decent maintenance cost you can consider this model, this particular advert is for the 1800cc variant, you may want to consider the 1600cc variant if you want to lower fuel consumption and maintenance cost. Although this car is fairly new in terms of age the design is rather old so the engine is the older not so efficient type but still very cheap to maintain today.

requirements:
- resale value not an issue
- reliability must be good
- maintenance cost? unknown

i forgot persona uses campro iafm engine which is the first gen iafm, the second gen iafm is in the saga blm and preve non-cfe.
iafm advantages is less complexity over cps + vim with a better power range but losing out on top-end power.
but since proton is making consumer cars the trade off works as everyday normal consumers want a broader power range and cheap maintenance with less complicated engine.

yay zenix is back!!!!

itu iafm has a few 'issues' punya.... its prone to getting screwed up 'tak tak tak tak tak' and its sad torque dip (which i feel isnt really a problem if you are not the heavy footed kinda guy).
the cps on the other hand is actually less problematic but can start drinking fuel if you are not careful (applies to vteks and meveekks, just less hardcore).