Having one and only car in our home, it's kind of troublesome to move around, especially when my parents are always using the car to their workplace. Public transportation in Kuantan is not as convenient as other states (before the appearance of Rapid), so we decided to add a new family member to our home, the vehicle of our choice? Nissan Almera :)
Before deciding of which vehicle would be part of our new family, we had actually made some surveys in the market. Our vehicle of choice is mid-range family sedan, such as Toyota Vios, Proton Preve, Proton Saga FLX, Perodua Myvi and Nissan Almera. All of the cars stated here have their own pros & cons.
At first, my dad was attracted by the Proton Preve model. The looks was absolute stunning, I do like the design of this car too. The price tag was fairly interesting (RM63k for the mid-range model, with 5 years warranty). But after a thorough research from the internet, I found out that there were a quite number of owners of this car out there feeling disappointed with the quality delivered by Proton (faulty engine after only few days of owning the car?). My advice for Preve-lover is that to wait for a few years before buying one, since Preve is still a Proton's pre-production car for now.
Perodua Myvi was the first car that came to my mind when thinking of owning a new car. It was because of the promotion given by Perodua for University fresh graduate (I don't really remember much about the details, but it's something about paying only RM300 per month for the instalment fees for a period of time). The thing that has taken me aback from owning this car is simply because of this simple reason: bad customer service. I had went to one of the Perodua's sales center in town with my mom. Upon our arrival to the sales center, we found out ourselves lingering in the sales center for about 10 minutes with the sales agents sitting comfortably on their chairs, watching us without even leaving their seats (this is simply rude). The sales agent would only spoke when I was approaching & asking him questions, but most of the time he just remained silent. Without any hesitation, we left the shop for good. If you are insisting of having a Perodua car, and fuel saving is your main concern, go for Viva instead of Myvi.
And next we were in Nissan Tan Chong Sales Center. When I was just arriving to the place with my parents, one of the sales agent greet us with a smile, and she even handed me the car's key, asking me to test drive the car without me even asking for it (I was a bit nervous at first, as I have never test drive any new car before). The original un-modified body of Nissan Almera, to be honest, required someone with a different point of view to see its beauty. The original body of the car looks plain to me (my mom even said the car resembles "Ikan Pepuyu"). Well, I don't mind much about it, since it's quite common for the car of this category to have odd design. Toyota Vios had been dubbed as "Dugong" in Malaysia by the way. As to make the car more pleasant to view, I do recommend for you to add the Impul Aerokit into your option of accessories, which costing around (RM1500-RM3000). The on-the-road price of the car is about RM 72k.
Toyota Vios
Pros: -Reliability (had been on the road in Malaysia for many years).
- Attractive rebates nearly up to RM10k (if you buy it at the end of the year).
- Medium-sized family sedan (easily for parking, ladies friendly).
- Cute design? (depends on the person's point of view).
- The brand.
- Higher selling price for 2nd hand model.
Cons: *RM 77k (not included on the road) price tag for the basic (E) model, auto transmission.
*Dugong-ish design (Some may love; some may dis-loved) .
*Issues with Toyota's quality lately.
*No new excitement (the current model had been made into production for a few years).
*Noise insulation issue while driving on the road.
*Plenty of people are driving it.
*Cheap plastic interior.
Toyota Vios
The legendary Dugong, it's kinda cute isn't it?
Pros: -RM63k midrange model (not included on the road).
-Fuel saving?(Campro Waja is well known for it's fuel consumption's efficiency).
-For RM63k, you get tonnes of accessories that may only present in expensive imported cars.
-Better engine performance than the rest of the cars in it's class (138 horsepower).
-Five years warranty.
-Stunning exterior design.
-Four airbags for driver & passengers.
Cons: *Reliability.
*Issues with pre-production model (engine breakdown after few days of driving, spoilt during test drive etc).
*Cheap plastic interior.
Proton Preve
Perodua Myvi
Pros: -It's compact (easily for parking, ladies friendly).
-Daihatsu's looks.
-Daihatsu's technology?
-Easily maneuvered.
-1.5 powered engine for SE & Extreme model.
-Some interesting interior features for mid range & high range model.
Cons: *RM50k SE, RM60k Extreme model are quite expensive for a compact car.
*Lack of stability during fast cornering.
*Very light body.
*Not a suitable car for people that like to speed.
Perodua Myvi 1.5 (Extreme edition)
Proton Saga FLX
Pros: -One of the cheapest car in its class available on the market (FLX 1.3 costing RM40k, 1.6 at RM 47k).
-Ergonomic design.
-5 years warranty.
-Pretty good handling.
Cons: *Manual transmission seems to be a bit clunky.
*1.3 powered engine for its size (FLX 1.3).
*Cheap plastic interiors.
*Doesn't give a full sense of safety.
*Car body feels hollow.
*Lack of performance.
Proton Saga FLX 1.3
**Nissan Almera (E Spec + Impul Aerokits)**
I had been driving Nissan Almera for about the past 3 weeks. Some of my friends are interested about this car as the introductory price for this car is very attractive considering it as an imported car (RM68k for E model). Below are my honest review about this car, enjoy ;)
Picture showing Almera with Impul bodykit, taken from Paultan.org
While driving from Kuantan to Gambang, I noticed that I could hear the sound of the cars passing by next to me clearly, which I didn't experience it when I was driving my dad's Ford Ranger 2.5 (however, some people on the internet claim that Almera has a better noise insulation than the Vios did). Almera impressed me the most when I was driving in the heavy rain while on the way back to Kuantan from Gambang. I could drive the car at 80km/h & it felt that the tyres still stick firmly to the ground despite of the slippery road condition. The steering wheels doesn't feel shaky at all when the car was hitting the puddle. Unlike with my previous experience with Myvi, Almera is way more stable when cornering at the speed of 80km/h.
Almera claims that it is the car that offers the widest legroom in its class. They didn't lie about it. Step into the rear passengers seats, there is a big gap between my legs with the driver seat in front. I could even crossed my legs without touching the driver seat in front. In term of comfortability, this car fares better than Preve & Vios.
The dashboard for E-model is quite plain. The design is simple, and it would only show you the basic infos (speedometer, tachometer, odometer, clock). It doesn't show the engine's temperature, which I think is important when driving the car in a long journey or stuck in a traffic jam. The warning sign would only light up when the car engine is beyond its normal operating temperature, that is few secs before your car engine would smoke. Almera however, has a feature that is fairly interesting, where the computerized system will estimate the distance that you can drive before the car is running out of fuel. The interior of the car is made up by an engineer who fond of circular and cubical stuff. Almost every single little thing inside the car is circular. Door handles, air-cond vents, gear knob, air-cond panels, you name it. The design suits most for driver that like cute things in their car.
The cockpit of Almera. Ignore the dog at the background :)
The dashboard of the driver's seat
up, close & personal
The audio system which support AUG., basically it's like a cable version of bluetooth.
Cup holders at the rear passengers seats. Can be pushed-in to accommodate 3 passengers.
If you're someone with a big wallet, there are literally tonnes of options for the car's customization. You could change the stock absorber to the Impul's sport suspension system costing around RM2800. Don't like the rims? Change it to the Impul's 16 inch HS-06 or 17 inch Aura SX-10 sport rims which cost around RM4000 per set. Want a quieter ride? Change the car's tyre to Goodyear Eagle F1 Directional 5 which cost at about RM400 per piece. If you are rich enough you can install the full set of Impul accessories which would cost the car nearly to RM100k. But if you are a student like me, It is much better to stick to the original stock's options :)
Circular/cubic-like gear knob
Another circular/cubic-like door handles
1 of my favorite feature; dual lightning system in the car that will dim slowly before completely switched off when you close the door :)
Exterior design of the car:
The Impul bodykits makes the car looks huge
Side view of Almera; noticed that the front part is a bit shorter
The tail lights mimics the iconic Nissan 350Z
Almera logo at the back
May the fish be with you!
Summary:
-Smooth & quiet ride.
-Fairly good noise insulation.
-The legroom is the widest in its category, larger than Toyota Vios & Preve.
-Awesome boot's space (could fit 2 adults & 1 child).
-Muscular-body looking (with Impul aerokits).
-Prioritize comfortability;plenty of space.
-Odometer would notice you the distance that your car still can run before it's running out of fuel.
-Very steady ride even if the road is slippery (raining), good stability.
-Smooth transmission changing.
-Tons of upgradable options available from Tan Chong if you've got the money.
-Suitable car for thirst-quenchers (lots of cup holders, probably more than 5 in the car).
-The ride height is slightly taller than the ordinary family sedan.
Cons: *Un-impressive audio system.
*Weird noise from the air-conditioner's compressor during engine starting.
*Vios-inception's looks.
*Performance slightly behind Proton Preve.
*Every single little thing in the car is designed to be circular and cubical (door handles, air-cond vents, steering wheels, gearbox knob, air cond's panels etc)
*Only one airbag for E-model.
*Longer body length than other cars in it's category.
*Impul still utilizing abs as its aerokits.
*And again, cheap plastic interior.
Till then my friends ;)
