Proton gen 2 - car buying
Discussion
Hi there,
I'm looking at a 2009 LPG from the factory proton Gen 2 manual 1.6 l.
It's up for £1,200 although on for bidding but have messaged the seller. The MOT has no advisories and expires in December this year and the previous ones only have advisories for stuff like tyres and breaks which is quite normal.
I currently have a 2005 LPG converted citroën Berlingo at nearly 90,000 miles this proton is 78,000 miles.
Do you have any advice on protons I know they don't really exist anymore but they're made of parts from Mitsubishi and lotus right?
Are tyres and stuff expensive on them will I be able to get it fixed at a Halfords autocentre etc?
Reason I'm looking at replacing my car is I got advised by someone at Halfords who I trust saying that it will start to cost me a lot of money and I already need to lay down £400 getting the exhaust fixed and tyres obviously tires I understand any car will need new ones.
Any advice would be much appreciated especially if you know about protons or have owned ones yourself.
I'm looking at a 2009 LPG from the factory proton Gen 2 manual 1.6 l.
It's up for £1,200 although on for bidding but have messaged the seller. The MOT has no advisories and expires in December this year and the previous ones only have advisories for stuff like tyres and breaks which is quite normal.
I currently have a 2005 LPG converted citroën Berlingo at nearly 90,000 miles this proton is 78,000 miles.
Do you have any advice on protons I know they don't really exist anymore but they're made of parts from Mitsubishi and lotus right?
Are tyres and stuff expensive on them will I be able to get it fixed at a Halfords autocentre etc?
Reason I'm looking at replacing my car is I got advised by someone at Halfords who I trust saying that it will start to cost me a lot of money and I already need to lay down £400 getting the exhaust fixed and tyres obviously tires I understand any car will need new ones.
Any advice would be much appreciated especially if you know about protons or have owned ones yourself.
It sounds like you're replacing one problem with another.
1) Tyres are a consumable, there's no guarantee that the new car has more tread left than your current car. It may also be worth checking the tread depth yourself, some places recommend changing tyres way before they're due so that they can make an easy sale - Needless to say these are not the type of garages you should be using.
2) For spares, I'd sooner have the Citroen and a wealth a spares at the scrapyard, rather than the Proton which will be harder to source parts for.
3) A Berlingo with 90k miles on it should be fine to keep going, if you've been maintaining it then I'd probably stick with it knowing that you've been keeping on top of the problems that have arisen. A £1200 bargain basement Proton is likely to have a boatload of other issues, especially as the only bi-fuel Gen2 I see on AT is 2.5x the price (admittedly lower mileage and 2 years newer than what you're looking at). You might be looking at a bargain but I'd imagine you're actually looking at a car priced so low because it's a bag of problems.
1) Tyres are a consumable, there's no guarantee that the new car has more tread left than your current car. It may also be worth checking the tread depth yourself, some places recommend changing tyres way before they're due so that they can make an easy sale - Needless to say these are not the type of garages you should be using.
2) For spares, I'd sooner have the Citroen and a wealth a spares at the scrapyard, rather than the Proton which will be harder to source parts for.
3) A Berlingo with 90k miles on it should be fine to keep going, if you've been maintaining it then I'd probably stick with it knowing that you've been keeping on top of the problems that have arisen. A £1200 bargain basement Proton is likely to have a boatload of other issues, especially as the only bi-fuel Gen2 I see on AT is 2.5x the price (admittedly lower mileage and 2 years newer than what you're looking at). You might be looking at a bargain but I'd imagine you're actually looking at a car priced so low because it's a bag of problems.
Indeed. I'd not worry about the Berlingo until it actually starts costing real money to keep on the road (similar to the Ford Powershift worrying thread).
As above, one thing to count against cars like the Proton is they were sold in tiny numbers compared to similar sized Fiestas or Corsas so parts costs could be much more and certainly less likely to get anything used to do a cheap fix (eg. interior or bodywork).
As above, one thing to count against cars like the Proton is they were sold in tiny numbers compared to similar sized Fiestas or Corsas so parts costs could be much more and certainly less likely to get anything used to do a cheap fix (eg. interior or bodywork).
Truckosaurus said:
Indeed. I'd not worry about the Berlingo until it actually starts costing real money to keep on the road (similar to the Ford Powershift worrying thread).
As above, one thing to count against cars like the Proton is they were sold in tiny numbers compared to similar sized Fiestas or Corsas so parts costs could be much more and certainly less likely to get anything used to do a cheap fix (eg. interior or bodywork).
Gen 2 was up against the cars the next size up, the Satria Neo was the supermini. Worked with a guy with a Gen 2, it was a dreadful car, not much to recommend. He hated it even though he got it for free.As above, one thing to count against cars like the Proton is they were sold in tiny numbers compared to similar sized Fiestas or Corsas so parts costs could be much more and certainly less likely to get anything used to do a cheap fix (eg. interior or bodywork).
My grandfather had two gen2's as he previously owned an old Proton MPI for about 25 years with no major issues so had considerable brand loyalty. When he suffered a stroke and moved into a care home, I had the task of selling his car and it was very very difficult. Not from an emotional point of view in that he would never drive again, but because no one wanted it. It was absolutely awful and the worst thing I have ever driven. No redeeming features at all and I ended up selling it to WBAC for pennies.
TL:DR- I do not recommend
TL:DR- I do not recommend
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