Though this is kinda outdated, but i think its good that i share this bit of experience for your info.
Went to a couple of car showrooms a few weeks back to assist a mate in looking at possible candidates for him to buy later this year. First on his list was the new City, which he liked the design so much especially with the modulo bodykit. i however find it... challenging. Exterior wise, quality seems to be okay, up to par with the previous Cities. But inside, dare i say i find it quite... dismal. OMG! what sort of manufacturer gives this kind of sh#tty plastics on a RM80k car? Heck, the plastics are just as good (or bad) as Aoi-chan's. I was hoping some better, softer plastics were used, kind of moving upmarket from the rather okay previous generation. Nope. If you think i'm just bluffing, the car was totally removed from my friend's list (he too found the interior to be totally unacceptable) and if you've spare time... go to a Honda showroom and see for yourself.
After this encounter, the next manufacturer fared better. Volkswagen is kinda known for the vastness of the group and their model lineup. But somehow they've small presence here in Malaysia. No wonder then since their cheapest car that we looked into; the Cross Polo, was priced at RM108++k. Ouch. But, the car itself justified the price. A rather handsome exterior (don't go for the bright colours, darker ones make the car look grown up), an interior made like it was hand-crafted (read as OMG high quality plastics), an array of airbags and a host of safety features (EURONCAP 5 star rating, no doubt about safety here). But since the price is above the friend's upper limit, he had to take it off the list as well... sad.
Next, we stumbled upon a Mazda showroom. Knowing very well that their baby was the 3, i didn't expect it to cost as much as the VW. Nope, wrong again. Although dealer said that it was CBU (completely built up; the car was shipped to Malaysia in one peice... not pieces) and after the bar for cheap (okay, not so cheap) CBU car was set by the VW, this one was scored off the list as well.
Another showroom that we went was Suzuki's at Damansara and no, we weren't there to see possible two wheel alternatives. Although Suzuki cars aer typically well made and reliable, we both find it hard to remember what we liked about the car in general and it's interior in specific. Though a special offer was made to us for the last unit of the hot Suzuki Swift Sport, seeing that the friend is looking at their SX4 Sedan and how mundane it's interior design was. Another car was scored of the list. Gaaahhh!!!
Okay, i had to admit that i did persuade him into looking at Proton cars as well, but guess what? He was glad that he did. And more surprising was that he even considered the latest Persona (SE or not) and the facelifted Gen.2 as nice to drive (he did have a short test-drive of the latter), well built and designed (and i'm not making this up). Considering the price, he found this as more than acceptable. Truth to be told, the Gen.2 FL with CPS manual is currently on the top of his list and that in a way is an honour to me and all fellow colleagues of Proton. Who says we can't build good cars?
Again, let me remind you that this is our experience from my perspective. If you do have the time, go and visit these mentioned manufacturer's dealerships and maybe... just maybe, you'll be surprised as well.
Too long! End here! Tatata~
