Jump to content

Perodua


Ratdat

Recommended Posts

I don't understand what's so offensive about an unpretentious, reliable and very cheap small car.

For me, they're the epitome of what cars shouldn't be. I don't like 'Domestic appliance' cars (of which there are many), I like cars that were obviously designed by people, not by committee or computer.I've only driven two Peraduas. One Nippa, one Kelisa. I thought they were both truly hideous, unrefined little heaps that catered mainly for people who didn't know any better.Yes, they do a job. They will move people and things from one place to another fairly cheaply. They can be reasonably economical, insurance is cheap, and they seem to be fairly reliable. They're the Bush or Alba of cars. Cheap, nasty shite that does the absolute minimum to scrape through "Which Car" buying criteria.I have a simple rule in life, if someone is talking to be about cars - this happens a lot as I'm classed as one of "the car people" - and they use the phrase "Well, a car is just for getting me from A to B" I don't talk to them about cars again. I don't help them with their cars, I don't go and rescue them when they break down, and the only advice I give them on the matter is that when they come to replace their car to give me a call before they buy something equally shite next time.I'm not being elitist, or snobbish, or whatever. I'd be a lot happier if people with the £6k or so to buy a new Peradua opened their eyes, had a look around and bought a 5 year old Astra or whatever. I'd be happier still if they bought a 1988 Skoda Rapid and buggered off to the Caribbean for a month with the change. At least they'd have an interesting car when they got back.Kias, Peraduas, Hyundais etc are in the main just consumer goods. Lowest common denominator shit. To me, they're not in the same boat as shite like the Marina or Stanza, even though they were truly awful when new as well. People bought the Marina because "It's British" when buying British was thought of as a good thing to do. People bought the Stanza because it was "Japanese and reliable" when they'd had enough of their Marina breaking down. That is almost understandable, but to buy a Peradua - when pretty much every single alternative available is far, far better - isn't.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Perodua UK really deserve some kind of AS award for having a proper half arsed, amatuer looking and slightly malfunctioning website... check it out... http://www.perodua-uk.com.

Is it only me or can anybody else not see any graphics on that site? The only pics I could see was of the two cars and the actual logo.....
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am +1 on what Pete said. Perodua Kelisa, I will excuse. Curves. Curves solve it. The Nippa though really is quite visually offensive, and needlessly so. Look at the French, if anyone knows how to do small cars it's the French. The Peugeot 205 for instance is not only (still) a perfectly balanced piece of design visually, it comes with a spot-on chassis and a spartan but ergonomically excellent cabin. Why would you want to spend more to buy a Nippa, which just by looking at you know is going to have discomfort and piss-poor dynamics as standard?? From the second you clap eyes on a Nippa you just think "cack", it's a £12.99 DVD player, a Beko fridge etc. Can you honestly, honestly hand on heart say that you'd be happy to hop in a Nippa and drive solid for 4 or 5 hours? My old dad regularly drives 250 miles non-stop blatting down to the west country in his ancient 205, I really doubt you could do the same in a Nippa at the same speed/comfort/economy...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you honestly, honestly hand on heart say that you'd be happy to hop in a Nippa and drive solid for 4 or 5 hours?

Yes.Well...If I had to...And there was nothing else available...In the world.Put it this way, I went and bought the Bluebird off SpottedLaurel (which I didn't need) in order to avoid driving to Newcastle (350 miles) in the Nippa.I don't hate them, but have now made a concious decision that my car choice will no longer be governed by my journey to work. I will own a car I like and it will learn to cope with the daily commute!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm kind of curious to see what these peroduas are actually like as it seems the company does no in-house design work at all, effectively making their cars simply re-badged, Malaysian assembled Daihatsu models. If their assembly work is of a high standard then they could actually be a bit of a bargain as Daihatsus are pretty reliable cars.

Finally - somebody gets it!!!My 2 Nippas were great, started first time every time, and didn't have bits falling off all the time. Worst thing about them is the radio/speakers - which are installed in the uk by the dealers!Oh, and it was a Kelisa that Clarkson brutally abused on TV.What a cockhead.
Changing your tune to fit in with what other people are saying, that`s what great forums are made of alright.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Tripe more like, there's more waffle in here than an American hotel breakfast buffet.

 

Perodua are rebadged Daihatsus made in Malaysia, in my opinion to pretty much the same standard.

 

Ergo:

If you like the Daihatsu Mira, you will probably like the Perodua Nippa.

If you like the Daihatsu Cuore, you will probably like the Perodua Kelisa.

If you like the Daihatsu Move, you will probably like the Perodua Kenari.

If you like the Daihatsu Sirion, you will probably like the Perodua Myvi.

 

Any of their cars rate favourably in their class. If you're going on a long journey, a Nippa will probably be slightly painful and thrashy. So will a Seicento, Matiz, Alto, etc. That's why they are city cars. On the other hand, a Myvi is a regular sized hatchback with a 1.3 Daihatsu engine - not only that, but a really good twincam one with variable valve timing, as used in the Sirion Rally, which was the most powerful 1.3 normally aspirated production engine, etc etc. Yeah it'll have depreciation issues, but it'll have cost thousands less than its equivalents to buy in the first place (the absolute base spec Corsa costs over £3K more). It'd only hurt you if you kept buying new ones every few years and that's a bit of a chump's game, especially for an ordinary little hatchback. These are issues you get with any off-brand motor, it does not mean they are lousy cars.

 

In conclusion, a Perodua is a cheaper way into a Daihatsu, if a Perodua or Daihatsu doesn't suit your needs, just don't bloody get one. Easy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's really only the Nippa that I find offensive, oh and the Kenari is pretty visually retarded too. I've actually spent a bit of time trying to find a decent Kelisa for my folks, but old pop would really do with a badermatic these days, and they all seem to be b0rked, or b0rking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nippas are not unbearable on a long drive either, far from it, and you know what, I`ve actually been on some long drives in one, that`s how I know.

 

Sorry, should have said not unbearable in my personal opinion, maybe I have a flexible attitude towards cars, and made the mistake of thinking I was amongst like-minded folk.

 

Whilst far from taking the mindless slagging of cars personally or getting particularily upset about it - I did not design the Nippa, the 3 cylinder Corsa, the Daewoo Lanos etc after all - I do think it can only have a destructive influence on a forum like this, and surely forums are better when they are constructive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nippas are not unbearable on a long drive either, far from it, and you know what, I`ve actually been on some long drives in one, that`s how I know.

 

Sorry, should have said not unbearable in my personal opinion, maybe I have a flexible attitude towards cars, and made the mistake of thinking I was amongst like-minded folk.

 

Whilst far from taking the mindless slagging of cars personally or getting particularily upset about it - I did not design the Nippa, the 3 cylinder Corsa, the Daewoo Lanos etc after all - I do think it can only have a destructive influence on a forum like this, and surely forums are better when they are constructive.

I'm positive when it comes to a lot of shite, old Renaults, Peugeots, Citroens, Fords, Barkas, Wartburgs, Skodas, some of the old Datsuns / Toyotas (mainly the big chintzy ones), Volvos, Fiats, Lancias, Alfas, NSUs, Volgas, Hindustans, Pre-Jap Rovers, Tatras, the occasional Honda, most old exec-tat, some micro-tat, Reliant Scimitars, even big RWD Vauxhalls. Because they're interesting.

 

I'm not a fan of any 'domestic appliance' autoshite because I find them dull and strongly suspect they're not designed to be driven by people who're interested in cars or driving. The Koreans seem to specialise in catering for this kind of buyer, although they're far from being the only culprits - Vauxhall have been noticeably bad offenders for about 15-20 years. They're not the worst cars out there, but in my experience they're never very pleasant to drive*. They do tend to be reasonably well equipped, and fairly reliable, but they always feel to me like the controls just do the basics - feedback and sensitivity to inputs aren't catered for as the target buyer doesn't tend to notice their absence so it's a waste of time making them nice to drive. They're designed for "A to B" type drivers who just want a cheap car with a long warranty. GM have taken to deliberately designing cars to be resistant to quick inputs as a way of avoiding law suits from people who can't drive crashing their cars - the infamous 'sneeze factor' being a perfect example.

 

I've driven plenty of examples of this type of car over the years, earlier this week I drove a new Kia Ce'ed diesel and it wasn't a nice thing. Ok to look at, full of toys and a much better effort than the crud they were churning out 10 years ago, and not that badly put together or trimmed. No rattles or squeaks from it. Unfortunately the motor was unrefined and gutless unless in a very narrow rev range, the gearshift felt like it was pinched from a Maxi and the cables lubricated with grit, the brakes stopped it well but felt like the pedal was connected via bungee cords, the ride was lumpy, there was quite a bit of road noise, the steering was utterly devoid of feel, the heater on full speed sounded like someone had screwed a leaf-blower to the bulkhead and the whole car just gave the impression that it was just about good enough to feel ok on a short test drive. Which is all it needs to get the uninterested motorist to sign on the dotted line as it's the low price, long warranty and 'new reg' that they're interested in, after all.

 

These cars depress me. The fact that there are people out there who don't want more from a car depresses me even more. Dollywobblers old R21 is quite probably a much nicer thing to waft about in, an old Peugeot 405 would obliterate most of this stuff down a B road, A Mk1 Primera has much nicer steering and gears and can be fun to hustle, an Peugeot 604 is a lot comfier, a late '80s Bluebird is quieter and they'll all cost the average Joe less to run than a new Peradua once you factor in depreciation. The list goes on, yet people still buy these bloody things new and in the last year or so they've been scrapping perfectly good cars to buy this kind of shit.

 

It'll do the job of shuffling the family about and it should be reliable enough for the first few years (until the warranty runs out and the owners idea of routine servicing is the annual MOT) It's cheap transport and it will do the job, but it's not the kind of thing people ** will be lusting after in 15 years - that would be like lusting after a 1989 slo-cooker or a 1993 Hoover. White goods. Mediocrity. Unpleasant to drive, unpleasant to be in, unpleasant to look at and more often than not expensive to fix as no-one bothers making or stocking spares for 'em unless they really have to, so they're limited to main agent only, and the main agent has to make money somehow so it tends to be on parts. These cars tend to be scrapped when they're 8-10 years old as they're unwanted and / or worn out. The white goods mentality that created them also consigns them to scrap, so there is some justice in the world :)

 

 

 

*The Hyundai Coupé can be good fun, as can the late '90's Lantra 1.8

** Some shiters excluded, obviously.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have Perodua ever done a 2/3 door?I dont particularly like them but if one was cheap enough I wouldnt disregard it.. but I really dont like 5 door small hatches...Actually thinking about it properly I really want a Mk1 Jazz/City, which would be a whole lot more cooler than a Perodua and probably not that much different a driving experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But Pete, just think, if nobody buys crap cars built to a price, we'll have nothing to get excited about in years to come!?The cheapest car you could buy new in the UK was once the FSO Polonez. It was probably one of the most shoddily built and outdated as well, all things considered. Would I own one...?...in an instant!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...