Opinions on daughters choice of car

[Pinkbits]

Just after opinions or personal experiences with Proton vehicles.
My eldest daughter is thinking of replacing her current 96 Festiva with a Proton Satria hatch, and from what i can see they are optioned quite well.
Is it true that they have Mitsubishi running gear?
The car in question has just turned over 60,000k, had a major service and is a 2003 model one owner with full service history. The asking price is around 11,000.
Thanks, Mark.

[csv8]

She would be better with a FIESTA. PROTON's are like KIA'S, SSANG YONGS etc. I haven't read a good report on the PROTON's. Wheels reported that the Australian head of PROTON flew to Malyasia to get the correct engine mounts for the GEN 3 , as the factory installed the wrong ones !!!! Much better cars out there than PROTONS..

[Fairlane]

Sounds a bit expensive, but yes they are essentially Mistubishi Lancer hatches which ironically is virtually identical to what Mitsubishi later did themselves in making the Mirage.

They arent exactly the safest or fastest small car, in fact i found them very mediocre dynamically compared to something like the later Mazda 2's etc, but they are reliable and were not too bad in their day, though personally i would much prefer something like a Laser (friend of ours just sold a good 2001 sedan for only 8.5g's). The 1.5 is not a bad motor, but in auto form they are a sloth.

The satria GTI by the way is that far removed from the ordinary cars that its not worth mentioning.

[LUXO_8]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Sounds a bit expensive, but yes they are essentially Mistubishi Lancer hatches which ironically is virtually identical to what Mitsubishi later did themselves in making the Mirage.

They arent exactly the safest or fastest small car, in fact i found them very mediocre dynamically compared to something like the later Mazda 2's etc, but they are reliable and were not too bad in their day. The 1.5 is not a bad motor, but in auto form they are a sloth.

The satria GTI by the way is that far removed from the ordinary cars that its not worth mentioning.

they are actually OLD mutsubishi mirage hatches, early 90's!!

[Bucket]

OK,
From what i know, the Satria has Mirage 1.5L Running Gear and Chasis and the Model up, the Wira Has Lancer 1.6 or 1.8L running gear and Chasis.
Proton Bought the designs patents to the 96 Model Mirage/Colt to make the Satria...I dont think that has changed. Probably Reliable, Proabably Safe. If it was my Daughter? Not good enough and for the Price? Certainly not.

Also have a look here if you want to find out more

I'd get her a 2nd Hand Focus, Fiesta or an older model Volvo (It might be punishment but they can be nice...especially the 850R's )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_cars

[XCSEDAN]

i'm not a fan of Protons, have herd a lot of bad things about them...
also i don't think she would be very safe in a crash...
better off spending her money on something decent...

[Jeeepers]

Mark, I reckon she could do better than a Proton mate. Just my 2 cents worth, but for that money she could get into a '02 Corolla with far more reliability.


Kev.

[Outbackjack]

I really think that you could do better for 11K. There is a late 05 Fiesta 2 door LX at the local ford dealer here for 11.5K. Not sure of the miles on it. It might pay to shop around a bit more. Good luck with it.

[Pinkbits]

Originally Posted by ORSM T

Mark, I reckon she could do better than a Proton mate. Just my 2 cents worth, but for that money she could get into a '02 Corolla with far more reliability.


Kev.

Thanks mate, i am trying to get her to come with me to car city this weekend to see what else is out there. But like any 19yo, they are headstrong and think they know it all.
Then again, we were all young once. :baby bott

[Jeeepers]

Originally Posted by REDXR8BLOKE

Thanks mate, i am trying to get her to come with me to car city this weekend to see what else is out there. But like any 19yo, they are headstrong and think they know it all.
Then again, we were all young once. :baby bott

Yep, you're not wrong. good luck with it Mark. You should be able to score an '02 Lancer for that money too. And although it's rice ability is much higher than a Corolla, still a good choice for reliability and economy.

[HLC]

Originally Posted by REDXR8BLOKE

Thanks mate, i am trying to get her to come with me to car city this weekend to see what else is out there. But like any 19yo, they are headstrong and think they know it all.
Then again, we were all young once. :baby bott

get her an AU.

[MNM96]

Red,
I was the Service Manager at a Proton and Volvo Dealership in Townsville some time ago. The Proton were a great little car, put together poorly. 1000000k warranty! Thats 1 and 6 zero's! They had issues with things like mirrirs cracking, carpet lifting, coolant leaks where hose clamps were not fitted correctly, or not at all.

They were old Mitsubishi's. When then were offered at $9900 for a Satria GL and 13990 for a GLI, they were amazing value. 5 yr, 1000000k wtty.
They crept to 13990 and 17990 after a while, and then the litte dramas that occured where too much, at the price.

11.000 for a GLI is rich (Zero resale at 100k) but if its a XLI which was "Tuned by Lotus" which Proton brought, get on. Otherwise 11k is way rich!

There is way better money to spend. Give me a PM with a ph number, to help convince your youngen if required.

Cheers,
Mike

[Blue Oval Mopar Man]

Mate , I used to be a tow truck operator , and the number of protons I used to tow was not a good sign of the quality !

[Vdouw]

AHHHHHHH NOT PROTONS ... ok put it this way ... THEY DRIVE IT OVER IN ASIA ... MORE THAN MISTUBISHI N NISSIN N AHHHH NOT A PROTON ... nah i found it to be a gutless pos car

[XR8-260]

The proton actually looks pretty hot imo.

[Steffo]

Bloke I went to school with had a Proton Wira. Was a heap.

$11,000 can get you into a Fiesta LX or a later model, good Mondeo. I'd go for one of those two, rather then a Proton.

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You could just go straight out and buy her a Land Cruiser, saves upgrading when she has to take the kids to school, lol. No, really, Honda civic. I have twin sisters, one bought a '96 Corolla and the other a '98 civic for 9,2 and 9,8 respectively, both imac with low k's. The civic is sportier (1.6r revs great) and has a more upmarket feel. It's nicer for a young girl, more individual. Just make sure she gets full comp because honda parts are expensive.

Alternatively, I here EL V8's are going cheap at the moment :hihi:

[irsa76]

My sister had a Proton GTI. Hers was screwed together OK, better then I expected. But damm was it a pricey little bugger to get insurance for. Go Japanese cars at this price.

[5tumpy]

You guys are all missing the point, she's a chick.

They don't care about reliability, or anything that we do, she'll want a "cute" car.

Protons are essentially Mitsu's and from what I have heard are great lil cars.

Show her a couple of lancer coupes, see what she thinks, I bought my missus one a few months ago, and you should be able to get one easily for that money.

For info on them from the horses mouth, i'd check out Mirage Lancer Group of Australia, www.miragelancer.com there a heap of proton owners there. There are too many anti-asian car people on these type of sites mate...

[normxb]

Afraid you're stuck between a "Rock & a Hard Place" , if she has her heart set on the car , she'll never be happy with anything else . Sad but true .

All you can do is try and convince her otherwise , good luck . (not trying to be smart).

First I heard of my daughter (No1) buying another car was "Dad , do you want to look at the car I just bought " :nutsycuck 18y/o at the time and she'd got finance and all . Just lucky she'd picked a '94 KJ Laser , and it is a nice car .

Norm

[Kryton]

with $11000 your heading to the wrong place.
you should be going straight to the Auctions and seeing what is there.

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Oh, the other thing is, the civic was one of the first to come out with a 4 speed auto. I know because my sister bought a '98 pulsar for 8,2 (again imac, low k's) and it still had a 3 speed. She got the civic when a guy in a fleet XT rear ended it coming over a hill. A 4 speed really improves the cars drivability.

[XRchic]

You could nearly get an XT for that!!!

Why would anyone want to trade anything for a Proton? Its not like its a sought after kind of thing? Try and show her some sexier cars which are safer and better value (no, not the XT - sexy it is not, in stock form anyway and neither is an AU :P)

You would have quite a range for that money I would have thought... buyer's market out there!

[jaydee]

Whatever you decide on just make sure it has air bags, they are essential in my opinion so even if she forgets to wear her seat belt she's going to have some protection.

[XR8GRL]

Originally Posted by 5tumpy

You guys are all missing the point, she's a chick.

They don't care about reliability, or anything that we do, she'll want a "cute" car.

Silly, silly, 5tumpy..

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the regency red EL's don't look bad for a chick, I found my gf one and she loves it.

[killer_taxi]

How about a Holden XC Barina? It was Wheels Car of the Year for 2001.

[Steffo]

Originally Posted by killer_taxi

How about a Holden XC Barina? It was Wheels Car of the Year for 2001.

Fiesta is a way better car for the money.

[brenx]

Holden Barina's wear out the timing sprokets. They require replacing more than the actual rubber belts! Valves hitting pistons is never good.

[MITCHAY]

Proton Satria GTi are nice cars with Lotus tuned suspension, Recaro seats, flared body, nice wheels. Very nice although when I looked at them a while back it was hard to find a low ks one in a decent price range.

If then she wants more power (or you want more power incase you have to drive it one day : ) chuck in the (4G63) VR4 engine.

Since they share the same engine family (4G-original engine is a 4G93) it's an easy enough swap. I have read somewhere some have put MIVEC heads on their engines. Would be an awesome sleeper! :P