My 3 Year Saga Flx Review

well its 2 and a half year exactly.....

bought it at end of 2011...its third card so mileage is not that high...currently at jus less than 20k

its the 1.3 excutive variant , dual airbags,abs and so on....


i will make it in a points format easier to read rather than a long essay , hope it helps potential new buyers and existing buyers to understand the car even better

lets start with the pros first...

*first and foremost , most people(reasonable that is) who purchase this car are looking for value,its cheap and have good specs...for a normal fuss free city car is more than u will ever need

*good and large interior space,be it legroom,shoulder room or headroom , its a tall car so space is generous although it doesnt look like it from the outside,boot space is big enough for 99% of buyers

*fit and finish is actuall not bad at all,most gaps fit well,no sharp edges

*engine power is good , pickup is good for a 1.3 , highway speed is easy to get to 3 digit speeds , it revs freely bt max rpm is around 5800-6000 rpm only

*Fc is ok not so great,normal moderate driving a full tank will get around 400km...slight heavy foot wil easily drop to only 300kms

*aircond is great,as for most protons.

*ride is on a firm side,surprising considering dis a city car,but although its firm,the damping is good...
handling is good as well ,front end washes away quite early bt its very stable,no wallowing japanese car style

*realiabilty is ok so far , only the dreaded rear drum tak tak sound have ben claimed so far , everything else is no problem

*Front headlights are great , far and wide angle is very good

And now , The Cons , i understand its subjective and different people have different opinions ,but here are mine

*CVT , godness gracious me , i HATE THAT THING!
although to be fair its smooth and contributes to relax driving , bt its noisy,unrefined,jerks at low speed and there totaslly no point in flooring it , only way to get momentum is half throttle n wait for the cvt to get up to speed , u definatly feel the engine has been handicapped by the cvt and not the other way round,put it this way , i wil never ever buy a cvt again,not in a proton,not nissan,not any brand,a generic traditonal 4 speed is heavens compare to cvt....its nothing to do with protoon , its jus the way it works,terrible technology...
i did get the cvt warning sign on the dash one time but i somehow knew it was electrical rather than hardware ,so i jus opened the fuse box,take out the cvt relay for a while and put back,settle...

*General powertrain is unrefines , engine power and response is good , bt u do feel that campro is a generation or two behind in terms of everyting ,

*althought the car body,chassis is very strong for a car this class , the interior is definatly not rattle free , doors,rear,dashboard,thrs always sting to entertain ur ears , its gets iritation stimes ...

*front end,steering geometry doesnt feel right , u always feel the front end drifts away kinda feeling , u know the feeling when ur tie rod is gone and the wheels always drifts left n right??? that exact feeling , obviously its not a tie rod issue,ive checked the heck out of it,the front arms,steering ,bushes an all , all in brand new conditon,my mechanic and proton SC verified that,once i drove other TWO Flx few mnths back,thy all drive the same , either design flow somewhere or sting not right somewhere...its apparent on highways...like the front end is not tight enough or the car sits too high hence too much air terbulance??

not much else......

things that i have done to the car since purchase....

*AutoFoam whole body , A,B,C pillars
*Sound Proof 4 doors , Entire Floor and Boot Area
*Ultra Racing Front Strut Bar,4 Point Lower Arm Bar and Lower rear Arm Bar
*K&N Air Filter Drop in
*Works Lightened Crank Pulley
*Denso Iradium SparkPlugs
*15" Rims with Falken 912 tyres
*leather seats
*dot 4 brake fluid and bendix brakepads


so thats for the time i had with the FLX , but to be reasonable n fair , the price and the pros are heavier than cons

at the end of it , the price is cheap,expectations must be lowered obviously , thrs so much u can do with the car if ur into that sort of thing ...

do i regret buying one ???
definatly not , stil content with it , drives well , n importantly has a potential to be better than what it really is...!

as for the cvt jerking. go to those workshop that have proton diagnostic tool ( pdt ) and ask them to do CVT adaptation tuning. its help.

i have no issue on rattling with my 1st batch blm.

its doing what it suppose to do and a bit more.good car for its price.

Done abt 3mnths back... Maybe 5% better...!

Hmmm... have you tried others even the same company's Inspira? To me it is only the Punch CVTs that are "not so good", the rest are marvellous. Test drive them & you should see the whole picture.

drive the manual, to feel the potent of the engine.

Try other model CVT, you will love it.......this Punch pair with CAMPRO big suck...

You are right is adding all those sound insulation, mine is like your full spec FLX .I am disappointed that PROTON doesn't even bother much about sound insulation even for the high range model.
However, I have decided this will be my last PROTON as they have refused to answer my question on service interval after writing to them officially.
In any case, PROTON is expensive, without unfair tax on imports they can never hope to sell anything.


You are right is adding all those sound insulation, mine is like your full spec FLX .I am disappointed that PROTON doesn't even bother much about sound insulation even for the high range model.
However, I have decided this will be my last PROTON as they have refused to answer my question on service interval after writing to them officially.
In any case, PROTON is expensive, without unfair tax on imports they can never hope to sell anything.


You are right is adding all those sound insulation, mine is like your full spec FLX .I am disappointed that PROTON doesn't even bother much about sound insulation even for the high range model.
However, I have decided this will be my last PROTON as they have refused to answer my question on service interval after writing to them officially.
In any case, PROTON is expensive, without unfair tax on imports they can never hope to sell anything.

Well for those who say they will never buy a proton again blah blah blah... well if you got lots of cash and you wish to give it for free to the government in AP and exhorbitant taxes to buy other makes, well go ahead nobody is stopping you...

just a note. A top spec Vios is Thailand is 59k Rm. The same car or less, you need to fork out 90k Rm or more here. Of course if you are so beng, you have to be seen driving a vios....

I actually did that, I bought a new Nissan Teana, @#$^ PROTON