The 
of the Proton SAGA
I am relieved to finally be able to write this blog. That's because I acually have a Proton SAGA to speak about, as opposed to one supposedly ordered but not materialised.
So what is a Proton SAGA?
It's a car. Chris decided 5 years of Malaysian public transport was enough, and we came to the conclusion we could spare enough money to get a second car (Cindy depends on her car to get to work in Klang every day - approximately a 25km journey one way). We chose Proton because, being a local company, their cars are cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. We chose the SAGA because it was the cheapest! It also has a 1.3 litre engine, so it isn't going to guzzle petrol.
So Proton make cheap cars... but are they any good?
Well, Proton (like other developing-country car manufacturers - think Daewoo, Korea) have cunningly made a living out of rebadging someone else's cars. Namely Mitsubishi. Now they DO make their own models. And did you know Proton actually owns that marvellous British automotive company 'Lotus'? Anyway, despite having a range of brand new models, they still get away with rebadging increasingly old Mitsubishis.
Ok, so what exactly is...or was... the Proton SAGA?
It is a 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer (yep, almost as old as me! Well, almost...). A fine car in it's day. And still fit for the roads today.
Nice. And why do you call this blog the "Saga" of the proton SAGA?
Well, that is what I'm getting to. You see, after some deliberation, Cindy and I decided to settle for the Proton SAGA. We found a dealer just round the corner from where we stay - very convenient, so we were feeling good. The salesman was helpful and seemed professional. All was looking good.
Then we wondered if these salesmen couldn't offer a bit of an incentive to buy their cars. So we asked around and managed to squeeze a meager discount out of a couple of salesmen. We reasoned that the car was already cheap, so we couldn't expect much discount anyway, yet it was still a bit disappointing. We went back to the first guy that we liked and asked him what he could do. He laughed (evil cackle?!) and assured us he could "do better than that." Thus, buoyed up with confidence we went to see him again.
This time, we went armed with credit card and cheque book. We felt we could just about pay for the car in cash and avoid any more bank loans (both of us really dislike loans except when absolutely necessary). Well, maybe it was a rush of euphoria at finally getting my own set of wheels, but we did a silly thing. We wrote a cheque for the full amount and went home, expecting a car in less than 2 weeks time.
Later we reflected on our situation. We paid a LARGE sum of money and went home with nothing! Not even a receipt, since their finance office was closed by the time we made the payment. What were we thinking?
The next day Chris got a faxed copy of the receipt. A few days later, feeling increasingly uneasy, we called our friendly salesman to find out when the car was coming. We were told the colour we wanted was not in stock. Could take two weeks more. Maybe three. Can't promise anything.
Gulp. Money paid. No car. What could we do?
When I got home that day, my Father-in-law thrust the newspaper in my face. There was a new ad from Proton. They were promoting the Proton SAGA in celebration of Malaysia's 50 years of independence...with a 25% discount. That was it. I suddenly felt completely cheated - although I really only had myself to blame for being so naive.
After much deliberation of our options (including going straight to Proton HQ to beg for mercy!!!), my Father-in-law agreed to see our salesman the next day. Well, he was also very unsure of how to approach this issue. So he prayed. Of course, he didn't want to get nasty and he hoped the salesman would be reasonable. He asked our Heavenly Father to make the way smooth for a decent resolution. He was an example to me since I was hardly able to sleep due to the issue, let alone commit it in prayer to God.
And what was the resolution?
My Father-in-law first asked for the original receipt (of which we only had a faxed copy prior to this) and then - Praise the LORD - the salesman himself said "oh, and by the way uncle Proton is now offering a discount on the SAGA, so we will be issuing you a refund for the difference once the car is registered." That's right - because he couldn't get his hands on a car earlier, he hadn't registered it so he still had the money. By the time he would get a car, the new price would be in effect!
I called him that evening to tell him we were willing to change our colour preference - if the offer was for a limited time, we might have missed it by the time he found our first choice. We went for black. Sporty, yes. Sleek, yes. But hot in a country like Malaysia. But I figured with the savings from the discount we could invest in a bit of window tinting to keep the heat down.
It took another week after that phone call to get this:
of the Proton SAGAI am relieved to finally be able to write this blog. That's because I acually have a Proton SAGA to speak about, as opposed to one supposedly ordered but not materialised.
So what is a Proton SAGA?
It's a car. Chris decided 5 years of Malaysian public transport was enough, and we came to the conclusion we could spare enough money to get a second car (Cindy depends on her car to get to work in Klang every day - approximately a 25km journey one way). We chose Proton because, being a local company, their cars are cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. We chose the SAGA because it was the cheapest! It also has a 1.3 litre engine, so it isn't going to guzzle petrol.
So Proton make cheap cars... but are they any good?
Well, Proton (like other developing-country car manufacturers - think Daewoo, Korea) have cunningly made a living out of rebadging someone else's cars. Namely Mitsubishi. Now they DO make their own models. And did you know Proton actually owns that marvellous British automotive company 'Lotus'? Anyway, despite having a range of brand new models, they still get away with rebadging increasingly old Mitsubishis.
Ok, so what exactly is...or was... the Proton SAGA?
It is a 1983 Mitsubishi Lancer (yep, almost as old as me! Well, almost...). A fine car in it's day. And still fit for the roads today.
Nice. And why do you call this blog the "Saga" of the proton SAGA?
Well, that is what I'm getting to. You see, after some deliberation, Cindy and I decided to settle for the Proton SAGA. We found a dealer just round the corner from where we stay - very convenient, so we were feeling good. The salesman was helpful and seemed professional. All was looking good.
Then we wondered if these salesmen couldn't offer a bit of an incentive to buy their cars. So we asked around and managed to squeeze a meager discount out of a couple of salesmen. We reasoned that the car was already cheap, so we couldn't expect much discount anyway, yet it was still a bit disappointing. We went back to the first guy that we liked and asked him what he could do. He laughed (evil cackle?!) and assured us he could "do better than that." Thus, buoyed up with confidence we went to see him again.
This time, we went armed with credit card and cheque book. We felt we could just about pay for the car in cash and avoid any more bank loans (both of us really dislike loans except when absolutely necessary). Well, maybe it was a rush of euphoria at finally getting my own set of wheels, but we did a silly thing. We wrote a cheque for the full amount and went home, expecting a car in less than 2 weeks time.
Later we reflected on our situation. We paid a LARGE sum of money and went home with nothing! Not even a receipt, since their finance office was closed by the time we made the payment. What were we thinking?
The next day Chris got a faxed copy of the receipt. A few days later, feeling increasingly uneasy, we called our friendly salesman to find out when the car was coming. We were told the colour we wanted was not in stock. Could take two weeks more. Maybe three. Can't promise anything.
Gulp. Money paid. No car. What could we do?
When I got home that day, my Father-in-law thrust the newspaper in my face. There was a new ad from Proton. They were promoting the Proton SAGA in celebration of Malaysia's 50 years of independence...with a 25% discount. That was it. I suddenly felt completely cheated - although I really only had myself to blame for being so naive.
After much deliberation of our options (including going straight to Proton HQ to beg for mercy!!!), my Father-in-law agreed to see our salesman the next day. Well, he was also very unsure of how to approach this issue. So he prayed. Of course, he didn't want to get nasty and he hoped the salesman would be reasonable. He asked our Heavenly Father to make the way smooth for a decent resolution. He was an example to me since I was hardly able to sleep due to the issue, let alone commit it in prayer to God.
And what was the resolution?
My Father-in-law first asked for the original receipt (of which we only had a faxed copy prior to this) and then - Praise the LORD - the salesman himself said "oh, and by the way uncle Proton is now offering a discount on the SAGA, so we will be issuing you a refund for the difference once the car is registered." That's right - because he couldn't get his hands on a car earlier, he hadn't registered it so he still had the money. By the time he would get a car, the new price would be in effect!
I called him that evening to tell him we were willing to change our colour preference - if the offer was for a limited time, we might have missed it by the time he found our first choice. We went for black. Sporty, yes. Sleek, yes. But hot in a country like Malaysia. But I figured with the savings from the discount we could invest in a bit of window tinting to keep the heat down.
It took another week after that phone call to get this:
6 comments:
The black 80's styling of the car reminds me a bit of Knight Rider.
So that must make Chris the Malaysian David Hasselhoff!
Congratulations on your new set of wheels! Even though it's a Proton, I think you're quite safe as the earlier models seem to have less problems... I would know, wouldn't I? ;-) Besides, the Merdeka deal is a pretty good one.
Excellent but didn't fancy a MyVi? You should have done - there's even a club: http://www.myviclub.com/
Is yours a lazy automatic or proper manual?
Next time, you're up here, we must have a race across Penang Bridge or on the new'-ish' expressway.
With the babies strapped in, of course!
(Ironically today, I took our Nissan Sunny to the mechanic to get our radiator welded as it was drinking coolant like me & Lucozade.)
Thanks for the comments, guys. Noticed no females made any comments. Maybe I should have snapped a shot of Hannah in the car?
Knight Rider was exactly my thought, too, Brian. Just need the pulsing red light. Oh, and the bouffant hairdo.
Eddy, nice to see your blog. Will delve into it in more detail later.
As for the race, Dez, is it fair to race 1983 technology against a 2005 car? My only hope is the fact that your baby is heavier than mine ;-)
Congratulations! I'm glad that you made a decision to get a car, with a child and a wife that works, you would need one eventually. The discount you got was a great one, I didn't get any when I got the Myvi..:( no wonder I saw the car but kept wondering whose one is it...lol. Happy driving around.
Just read this.
"Chris decided 5 years of Malaysian public transport was enough.."
I wonder when he'll decide driving on Msian roads with Msian drivers is 'too much'. LOL!
Post a Comment