The Proton Preve or Suprima is the first Proton car which comes with a turbo engine version if I'm not mistaken. I owned the Preve Turbo first generation and although a pretty solid car at its price range RM69k new, reliability is its Achilles heel, apart from not-very-good fuel consumption as reported by most here. These are some of my experiences, though I may have forgotten some.

1. Gearbox malfunction in the 2nd year of ownership which require a replacement. Symptoms of the damaged gearbox include a weird sound during acceleration, and the car wasn't accelerating normally although pressure was exerted to the pedal. Brought the car to the service centre and they confirmed the gearbox is kaput. Fortunately the gearbox broke just before the warranty period. OTherwise it's massive cost to repair.

2. Oil cooler hose (OCH) recall for the Preve turbo. Apparently it was reported that the OCH can't last long and needs to be replaced periodically to prevent a disaster which can lead to expensive repairs if the hose breaks.

3. Gear knob failure as the piece came out when I was changing gears to park the car. I have to live with it for few days or weeks by temporarily tying the loose piece with a rubber band as I didn't have time to bring it to the service centre to have it replaced with a new gear knob. To be frank, the gear knob of the Proton Preve feels like a toy car as it feels very flimsy even when changing through the gears. There is a looseness feel to it. It actually broke two times, once was when the whole thing just came out, while the other incident was the plastic piece was dislodged from the handle or knob.







4. Not very good NVH, loud noises in the cabin mainly due to the sound from the turbo engine, and higher than usual rattling sound.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Jun 26 2025, 02:35 PM

In mine, yes.

Sold long time ago before Covid, in 2018 or 2019.

For a car below RM70k, even though it's bad deprecation the losses are relatively minor when compared to a car which is priced above RM100k. If your car sold at RM13k after 8 years, the loss is RM56k. My Ford Focus bought RM105k, sold for only RM12k after 10 years. Loss is a massive RM93k. If the vehicle is RM150k or higher, even though resale value is good, the losses will still be higher when compared to a much cheaper car.

In summary, if you want minimise losses, just get a cheap car.

I didn't realise the Honda City is able to fetch RM43k after 8 years. To me, reliability issues aside, the Proton Preve is a better quality car than Honda City with a nicer interior, dashboard and door panels. The City looks cheaper in comparison and shows more rattling sound inside the cabin than the Preve due to loose fittings even though it's fairly new below 1 year old. I'm not sure about the current model as I'm referring to older generation City.

I guess that's the only good thing about the Honda with higher resale value but I regard the Proton Preve to be better and more upmarket model than the City. The City is around the Persona's level in terms of quality to me.

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Jun 27 2025, 03:04 PM

Yes B vs C segment so generally the interior quality of the Preve is supposed to look better and higher quality than the City. Though I'm just commenting based on prices since the City's selling price is higher than Preve and ditto resale value all driven by the market and people. As I regard the City to be at Persona's level, obviously I don't feel the City is worth its asking price new or used. People can pick whatever they prefer.

Resale value is important to everyone I guess but it's of least importance to me. I put quality and certain aspects of a vehicle ahead of everything else. To each his own. To minimise losses I avoid getting cars that are too expensive

This post has been edited by SportyHandling: Jun 27 2025, 03:28 PM