Malunyerrr…my Proton Persona experience

We got our Proton Persona for almost two weeks already but I haven’t got a chance to drive it until this morning. At 6.30 am to be exact. It was still very dark when I got out of the house.

I don’t know where Proton got their technology from but they place the wiper and the signal light on the opposite site. The signal is on the left and the wiper on the right. So, when I want to turn to the right, I got the wiper and water shooting.

Lucky it is 6 am in the morning and people thought I am wiping the windscreen to clear dew drops.

But that’s not the end of it. When I got to church, all the old old uncles and aunties were slowly and happily heading to church. Most of them stay nearby. You can imagine our big church ground, total darkness except for the church building. Nice, old gentlemen and ladies slowly walking…..slowly walking….careful not to trip on stones…. wishing each other…slowly…

And I got down from my car. And I pressed the button. And the car went …

PON PON PON PON PON PON PON

with the lights all flashing!

Fulamak! Not to say I scared the uncles and aunties. I myself jumped up. And I can’t find the freaking button to deactivate it.

DSCN4040

You see, Proton is trying to be smart. They made two buttons. One small, one big. Both black. I cannot see where the freaking button is in the dark so I keep trying and trying and the car went…

PON PON PON PON PON PON PON

even more until I finally found the right button.

*haih* Scared the shit outta me.

So you would think that I am much smarter on my way home. But I still swipe the wiper when I want to turn. And when I got home, it was about 8 am. And the car went…

PON PON PON PON PON PON PON

Now, my church and my neighbourhood thinks I am trying to show off I have a ciplak Proton Persona. Haih….Anyways…one cannot complain much about the car. It is only RM52K. Cash, mid choice, one air bag, very spacious boot which is a necessity for us and better than Myvi because it is 1.6. Well, that is if you can ignore the occasional funny noises, aircond that sounds like an airplane engine (add salt and pepper lah), some blind spots, weird views on the side mirrors and the engine that ‘lajak’ at the wrong timing. Weird wei, it is like many seconds too slow. You step on the accelerator and nothing much happens, then, tiba-tiba it went vrooommmm. I only drove it for like 5 mins to and fro and already got so many things to say.

You don’t see that many Proton Persona on the road yet, right? We got it ‘cos it was the first available car and is a ready stock.

26 thoughts on “Malunyerrr…my Proton Persona experience

  1. well, my friend n i went to have a test drive on pesona, bbut was rather impressed by it. perhaps we havent’ foudn all its flaws yet.

    being the firt batch, you should proabbly bring it back to the service center for fix up in 3 months time. 😛 hehee. just to be safe!

  2. heheh.. ur the first one to report something wrong with the car in the whole of Malaysia.. haha..
    anywhere, always wondered why Proton puts the signal on the left when imported cars put theirs on the right..

    maybe trying to be original.. 😛

  3. the different side for signal and wiper is usually a feature for ‘exclusive continental cars’… proton wanna fall within the category… i think…

    of cos… they are still very far away.

  4. Dunno, but all cars here in the States memang is on the flip side wan, so when I first drove in the States, I had the same exact experience. Then I finally got used to it and when I went home I did the same stupid thing again. Takes a lot of getting used to lor…(on top of driving on the wrong side of the road…memalukan)

  5. The difference in wiper and signal indicators is because of the designers’ country roads where the driver is at the left. As for the remote control, it was already like this since the waja. Once familiarised, nothing will get wrong. Other car remotes ain’t that distinguished as well. I feel that this post has made Proton injustice. Although I frequently visit your blogs, making such a big fuss on things ain’t the way to generate site visits.

  6. There is nothing unusual or special about the wiper controls being on the “opposite side” as compared to japanese cars.

    ALL cars in europe are like that. its got nothing to do with ‘exclusive continental cars’. even the cheapest nastiest budget european car is configured in the same way.

    to be fair to proton, i think you’re just picking on stuff that are technically not problems with the car, but things that are different to what you’re used too.

    according to the papers on sunday, over 14,000 have been booked already in less than a month of being launched. i think thats a great achievement for proton. and as a malaysian, i’m very happy to see that.

  7. All North American cars have the signal on left and wipers on right. LOL Maybe yours is made in US rather than Malaysia hehehe

  8. They started using this wiper/indicator thingy in the Waja.

    They did this because they discovered that Malaysian drivers dont use the indicator. Bwahahahaha!!!! It would have been more useful if they had two switches for wipers. Bwahahahaha!!!

    *fell of chair*

  9. on the wiper and signal light.. i think it’s kinda lame also for them to change it.. continental car wannabe…

    me myself always got confused by that also… and sometimes, when you wanna make a turn…and your another hand is on the gear shift… the hand on the steering can still switch on the turn signal.. but with proton you can…so cacat…

  10. I also dunno kena how many times suddenly wipe the window when I drive my fren’s Waja already. That’s why they can say Proton cars are always different than others mah. Only their engineer can answer that.

  11. gallivanter – Hahaha, we despo cos no car at all and we need one for the son. No choice lor.

    Bryan – Hahaha, I wonder when I can get used to it.

    aaron – I drove a Peugeot and a Fiat before. Those are manual cars somemore.

    terence – Hoi, you don’t look down on us Malaysian Proton drivers lah. (nay…..point to those tok kok few ppl)

    romantic – They got the technology like that, I suppose.

    glee – Yayaya. Yawnnn

    seok thong – It comes with the package. 😛

  12. I dunno Proton has terbalik the wiper and signal control. This style has been practiced in europe countries and not very suprised liao. Since Proton is a national car, why don’t just follow Malaysian’s style?
    Because as a user, we tend to buy something that is fit with our needs, not after I’ve bought it, then I need to change myself to fit the goods’ needs!
    User’s experience is crucial to determine the successfulness of a product. This is opposed with the statement claimed by Glee. What I want to say is good luck to that 14,000 buyers~ muhahaha~

  13. They made it so because when they manufacture the EXPORT-batch, they don’t have to make another set of those flippers.

    And btw, Proton and Volkswagon are engaged in another round of talks regarding a possible partnership. I wanna see a PROTON BEETLE!!!!

  14. Sean ~ just wondering, what exactly is the malaysian way?

    since proton is the only true malaysian manufacturer, i suppose which ever way they do it, they are still a pioneer in the local car industry, therefore, that makes it the malaysian way imho.

  15. alexallied – Haiyor, now it makes sense (for export). But hor, this post actually was about how clumsy I was but now, jadi pro-Proton defense post pulak. Wonder why so many people are so touchy at the mention of Proton. Maybe sakit hati I diss their beloved lover (car = lover to men)?

  16. dear people, just because i have a different opinion to the rest of you regarding proton, doesn’t make you right or me ignorant. In fact, I’m posting based on the facts of the matter and from all points of view. So why does that make me ignorant lilian? please do tell.

    the “opposite config” for the wipers and signals have been in a proton since 2000. I just dont see why that is a problem. supposing you drive a japanese car today, and supposing you upgraded to a mercedes, does that make mercedes silly for selling a car in malaysia that has the opposite config for wiper and signal than a japanese car? Whats wrong with them? cant they see that malaysians cannot accept their wiper and signal controls opposite to what they’re used too..

    Just because its different to what you’re used to, does that make it wrong?

  17. glee – Cos you obviously missed my ‘Me’ page. The post is about my clumsy experience. It is NOT about Proton. But you die die also wanna try to push your opinions, so it is fun to make you write even more. See? Read my ‘Me’ page and bye-bye.

    mho – It is a good car, with very big boot space. That’s why we got it over the Myvi. It is only those who failed to come with an open mind that got all antsy that I am dissing the car.

  18. Well, regardless if the indicator is left or right, and vice versa for the water shooter (sorry duno the technical term for that one) – it’s all a matter of getting used to. It’s like when you change from a Nokia phone to Samsung, the buttons for space and caps and symbols differs so it takes time to get use to it.

    To be fair to glee, he/she is just trying to explain some facts that we may not be aware of. I myself was not aware of the left right thingy. I thought that was how it is done all along! Hehehe…

    Probably Sean needs more time to more get well adjusted to the left and right complexity of the switches. Me too if I am gonna go get one!

    And my congratulations to the 14,000 owners to their soon to be pride and joy!

  19. OK OK. Niamah! Cibai! Celaka! Read the farking post lah. Lilian did not condemn the Persona in anyway. She just mention that the indicator switch was the other way round and the alarm was confusing.

    So, you heroes can stop talking cock. May as well walk up to Proton and ask VW to stop negotiation. Pump in your own farking money and save Proton. If you got no money, shut the fark up.

    * I am closing comments. Because I can. Sue me!*

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