Proton Savvy (2005 - 2012) 1.2 Style 5d (2009/09) Owner Review

What does this car say about you?

Not much, its quite rare to see one on the road and turns a few heads

What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?

They laugh but when they realise that it hasnt skipped a beat and is that reliable they give it a lot of respect

Would you buy this car again and why?

yes, its never failed me and been a pleasure to own, lets be fair, its a poundland car, but if you keep it for the long term, its good value

What are you likely to buy next?

Proton Gen2 Saloon I think, or a MG TF135

Type of dealer you bought from?

Franchise

Did you buy this car new?

Yes

What price did you pay?

£7,199

When did you buy the car?

April 2009

Did you get a good deal and why?

Walked in and said, Im looking at a savvy and If I like it, ill pay a deposit today, so what can you do? Dealer nearly fell over, knocked £800 of the price and free metallic paint

Is there any special reason why you bought this car?

Having owned a old, tatty banger 1993 Proton MPI 1.5 from the auction having had a horrendous mot failure on my previous car, I drove it for a 2 years without so much as a blown bulb, put 28k on it and never let me down, so I felt that maybe a new proton would be worth a punt

What was the dealer like?

Superb, the day I went to pick the car up there was a bottle of plonk on the passenger seat, a letter and vouchers for 3 years free servicing and free mats in the footwells, plus was polite, called with regular updates and no hard sell.

What's it like to drive?

Lets be fair, dont expect Mini style interiors, the plastics look awful and dont feel much better, but they are solidly screwed together and after 19k theres not a squeak or rattle to be found, considering the farm drive I live down which is rutted and untarmaced, my old Rover 45 after a year of doing that every day sounded like a rusty bike! On the road its quite nice, has some good grunt and will do motorways without fuss, even if its a tiny bit noisy, brakes are top notch, gearbox is direct, if a bit notchy and can be good fun being a hooligan in the back roads.

What's it like to park?

a doddle in itself, small, good all round view and rear parking sensors

Have you had any problems with the car?

Only the remote for the central locking, its a bit of a poor design, but with no quibbles they replaced it and informed me the remote for the Proton Exora (which hasnt been released here yet) was a better design and compatible, so ordered one from Proton, called me the day it came in and they programmed it, nothing other than that

What's most practical about your car?

The headlights are truly superb, great in wales on the mountain passes in the dark where I travel alot to visit family

Favourite gadget, option or accessory?

The aircon is very cold, was expecting worse but came up trumps