I drive an Exora (same gearbox and engine as Suprima, minus the paddle shifter option)
My dad drives a City Idsi and a HRV. Both also CVTs. I have to admit that Honda CVT are better than Protons.
My dad's City have a paddle shifter but to be honest its better to let your right foot tell the accelerator what you want rather than shifting yourself. The accelerator takes in your command and tells the gearbox what you want. Thats where CVT and most hated Drive-by-Wire accelerator does the job for u.
paddle shifting have fixed gear ratios. Kills the whole purpose of having infinite gear ratio.

For my exora. Sometimes i switch on the SAT mode just to feel the virtual gear shifts and the virtual engine rev up and down. In real life it hampers / slows down the acceleration. (And i have to press harder just to get it moving. Can feel the turbo working harder to push the 1.5 ton MPV with SAT mode on)

Yes i know older CVT makes driving rather boring / souless. But newer CVT nowdays have virtual shifting (like in the HRV) points even without turning on the SAT mode.

Suprise to see the mark x also on the ts list. If it is a recond model, do allocate some budget to change all wear n tear parts as well, especially the tyre, absorber, that engine mounting (which all of this can cost few thousand for parts n install). Then normal engine servicing with gb oil change. Since it is toyota, expect it to be reliable for use.
Suprima is on of the best looking proton car, especially compared it to preve and other proton model. Just that the CVT with clutch based might not jerking free on daily use. To be save better get suprima with under warranty as I see many Preve (same brand punch GB) had a cvt gb replacement under warranty. As i experienced on my office suprima, its FC is kinda high side, i can say my honda 2.4 have a better fc for daily working use (city jam around KL to Kajang back & forth daily)
Other than that, the HU on my office car is always hang n restart by itself especially when using gps on it.

Thanks for the insight . So I take it the suprima's cvt will be sluggish as well regardless of whether it's the suprima or inspira   is your exora the turbo one? If so how's the maintenance of it? Do you have to spend alot to fix parts related to the turbo and how much do spend yearly on maintenance? Very curious. Thanks

Not sure why would people keep praising a first gen mark x but my experience with it ain't no fun. Drove a 3.0 mark x back in a small town getting out of the car is a pain especially for elders. The driver and passenger safety belt is extremely annoying with rapid beeping.

I never sit in another mark X but I guess it's a bit lower. From outside the car does not seems lowered and everything is original. The car is still equipped with the original head unit in Japanese where the radio FM at max 90mhz.

Yeah the car is just slightly lower in std than most if it's a sport package version, and maybe your seat position was also set at the lowest.
The car is direct import from Japan so that's why the radio is like that. I think can modify, or many just change.

Hi there.
Yup. Mine is turbo version.
In regards to turbo. They call for the usual every 10k / 6 mths for oil change or 5K / 3 months if you are driving mainly around town frequently. Its just like maintaining a regular car although recommended to use semi synthetic oil and above. No special requirements though if the engine oil is too black you better off change it quickly before it damages the turbo.

And if u ask do i spend alot to fix the turbo the answerr is "no" . Im still on my original turbo even after 4 yrs later.

To answer  your question to ayamxxx whether is it underpower. For my exora turbo , its capable of catching up with 2000cc and above. 205nm of turbo charged torque plus CVT makes it a real challenger. Its not slow either.
The reason why initial acceleration from 0km/h to 20km /h is slow acceleration is because the initial clutch slip . Yes. Suprima / Exora has a maintenance free wet clutch for the CVT. Therefore it will slip first then only it bites around 15km/h.
But once it engages fully with the turbo kick in then you wont say its slow anymore.

Okay thank you for the explanation it really helps. So your average yearly maintenance costs is around 1-2k? Thanks

Hey! Do you own a Mark x?  If you do could pls share some maintenance costs and what is the average cost of ownership per year? Thanks !

I see, so amongst the 3 which would you recommend ? Or any other cars within that range ? As I mentioned previously if the cvt is really slow then I'll have to consider other options as the last cvt car I drove I could barely over take other cars in day to day traffic so definitely a no-no for me.

Hey! Do you own a Mark x?  If you do could pls share some maintenance costs and what is the average cost of ownership per year? Thanks !

Hi skrtskrt,

I found this in Proton website:

http://www.proton-edar.com.my/pdf/service-...vice%20Menu.pdf

This will give a good estimation on how much it costs. But i dont feel it will reach Rm 1k per annum.

It depends on how much you use.

For me personally, if I have the cash to maintain it (bear in mind it is not an official import and will be subject to non-official mechanics and you might need to be a bit resourceful to get the best of the mechanic), I will go for the Mark X. Will not comment on the other 2 though as I only have experience with the Inspira 2.0P. Well for the Inspira, it will hustle if you want it to. Just don't whip it to move. Gotta coax it gently to get the best of its CVT.

Okay, duly noted. Looks like I have to find the right mechanic before thinking of getting one. Thank you.

Hi sifus, been a lurker here for a while now but as I'm planning to get a car soon, thought i create an account and ask for advice. So as the title denotes, I'm looking for a used car to be daily driven. As of right now I have the Suprima, Inspira 2.0 and 2006/2007 Mark X in mind. The reason I've included the mark x is because I've heard it is remarkably reliable despite being an older car and I am looking for a car that can suit my driving style that is rather aggresive and heavily right footed. Need a car that can be a reliable daily driver as well as a good zippy one for the occasional spirited drives. I like the suprima but am abit worried about the maintenance as it is a turbocharged car although my friends tell me it handles great. The inspira looks nice for me, but as with the suprima has a cvt and I'm not sure how bad is the delay and whether or not the throttle response is weak in the lower gears( drove a nissan once, the cvt was awfully draggy and irresponsive below 80kmh) and in that sense I much prefer AT cars with the better power delivery. I know performance doesn't go hand in hand with reliability but I'm pretty much trying to find the best balance between the 2. 

So as I see it all of these options each have their respective pros and cons and wanted to get advice to choose between them or any other cars that I've missed out on that fit the bill. Thanks

I drive an Exora (same gearbox and engine as Suprima, minus the paddle shifter option)
My dad drives a City Idsi and a HRV. Both also CVTs. I have to admit that Honda CVT are better than Protons.
My dad's City have a paddle shifter but to be honest its better to let your right foot tell the accelerator what you want rather than shifting yourself. The accelerator takes in your command and tells the gearbox what you want. Thats where CVT and most hated Drive-by-Wire accelerator does the job for u.
paddle shifting have fixed gear ratios. Kills the whole purpose of having infinite gear ratio.

For my exora. Sometimes i switch on the SAT mode just to feel the virtual gear shifts and the virtual engine rev up and down. In real life it hampers / slows down the acceleration. (And i have to press harder just to get it moving. Can feel the turbo working harder to push the 1.5 ton MPV with SAT mode on)

Yes i know older CVT makes driving rather boring / souless. But newer CVT nowdays have virtual shifting (like in the HRV) points even without turning on the SAT mode.

Thanks for the insight . So I take it the suprima's cvt will be sluggish as well regardless of whether it's the suprima or inspira   is your exora the turbo one? If so how's the maintenance of it? Do you have to spend alot to fix parts related to the turbo and how much do spend yearly on maintenance? Very curious. Thanks