Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

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williswoody
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Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by williswoody » 27 Oct 2013 12:57 am

I've had my 360 since October 2011, when I first got my provisional license. It has been pretty good car, had a few hiccups, but managed to get through them.

Earlier in the year, around April, I got a new car... a 2012 Proton Persona Elegance, because I was sick of everyone's negativity towards the Volvo. "It's gay! Faggy car! Blah blah blah" I was very self conscious back then... well I suppose I still am, but not as much as I was.

Anyway, the new car is pretty good, haven't had a single thing go wrong with it. It's even sort of sporty to drive.

However, lately I've been driving the 360 around (it's now unregistered, so I drive it around my parents property) and there's just something about it that I really miss. I think it's probably a lot more fun to drive.

I'm torn, because I still owe my parents $8,100 for my Proton , it was $14,000 near-new (demonstrator model, only demonstrated 43 km though haha) but I own the Volvo. I had saved up a bit, so I paid off a lot initially. But it's slowing down now, $80 a week, which is going to take a long time to pay back.

I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to sell the Proton while it's still got value in it, because those Asian cars don't hold their value well at all. But part of my loves the fact that it has things like air conditioning, and that sort of thing.

I don't know! What do you think? I partly wanted a new car for doing longer journies without having to worry to much about mechanical reliability or anything. I was worried my 360 would take a bit of work to get it up to scratch. But yeah I don't know.

Everyone's going to think I'm mad if I sell my proton... I still think I would be mad... but I'm still not sure.

I think there may be some major problem with the 360... (Well, when my mechanic told me about it earlier in the year he sounded serious), said the rear struts were sagging, or something like that? And if I wanted to get it fixed... which I would have to soon, he said... it would cost "a lot" of money. How much is that? Haha

Any advice? Cheers!
1984 VOLVO 360 GLT HATCH Owner. First car. Aussie. Uncertain of it, after it's started playing up lately :/

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williswoody
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by williswoody » 27 Oct 2013 01:02 am

Another thing, I'm slightly concerned about the safety of the Proton. It hasn't actually been rated by ANCAP or anything, so I don't know how safe it is. It does have two air bags and ABS... although no electronic break distribution :/

How would the 360 match up with today's safety ratings? Apart from the lack of air bags and all that of course... I imagine it's a pretty solidly-built machine?
1984 VOLVO 360 GLT HATCH Owner. First car. Aussie. Uncertain of it, after it's started playing up lately :/

macplaxton
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by macplaxton » 27 Oct 2013 02:20 am

williswoody wrote:Earlier in the year, around April, I got a new car... a 2012 Proton Persona Elegance
Oh lordy! sm75
williswoody wrote:because I was sick of everyone's negativity towards the Volvo.
Man up and don't give a shite about what others think. (and that includes me) Think for yourself.
williswoody wrote:"It's gay! Faggy car! Blah blah blah"
That's what I'd be saying about the Crouton. (But see my second point)

You'll have to make your own mind up on this, but consider the following.

Repair bills for Volvo as and when needed.
Do you want a reliable A to B appliance with a guarantee, or a car?
Can you afford both?
What is the real ownership cost (cents per kilometre) of the Crouton and Volvo?

The only other bit of advice I can give is never buy a new car (unless there is a massive tax incentive to offset the humongous depreciation)
williswoody wrote:I'm slightly concerned about the safety of the Proton.
Bit late for that? Anyway safety, schmafety, avoid crashing in the first place / dodgy animals. There are just too many variables to consider. (But again, see my second point)

I'm sure you'll get a different opinion on the dilemma over at www.protonpersonamania.com ;)
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williswoody
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by williswoody » 27 Oct 2013 03:11 am

Well I regret it sort of now... I was impulsive and just wanted a new car, and it was great finding one for $14,000 that had hardly been driven!

Bit annoyed though when I came across a used Audi A3 not long after for only $9,900 that looked virtually new.

But yeah, I've been working on my Volvo a little bit lately, fixing up the sound system and have just been thinking... maybe I shouldn't have rushed into this.
1984 VOLVO 360 GLT HATCH Owner. First car. Aussie. Uncertain of it, after it's started playing up lately :/

macplaxton
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by macplaxton » 27 Oct 2013 05:23 am

Live and learn, eh? I've had a two new motorcycles and it was only because I could write off more tax (business use) that I got them at the time. I was a motorcycle courier and the second new one (in amongst all the second-hand ones) did 27,000 miles in 9 months on London work (that was low compared to the 60k+ miles a year I did on long distance stuff). Never had a new car though.

Best way to approach normal cars is get one three years old and if you feel like a new one, chop it in at six years old. If you're handier with spanners, get two even older cars and run them into the ground on a bangernomics basis. If you want to run 25+ year old cars, then the costs go up again a bit as it can be harder work sourcing parts and shelling out for them.

A new car doesn't necessarily mean more reliability on longer journeys. I laugh my bollocks off when I see a new(er) car waiting at the side of the road for the breakdown van to arrive (probably something electrical rather than mechanical). More things to go wrong and when they do go wrong it's not repairable at the side of the road. I know I'm handy with fixing things, but I took my then 33 year-old V300 round England, France, Belgium, Netherlands and back to Ireland covering over 2,300 miles without drama. I've also had to be towed locally. It's all down to maintenance. Yes it takes a bit to get up to scratch and another bit to keep it there but looked after, these things can be very reliable.

Do the sums, consider your needs. It may/may not be worth hanging on to the Crouton a bit longer. Work it out. You might be better off with neither car and getting something else. Who knows?

I'm slightly confused about these "sagging rear struts" though? :?
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Speedy88
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by Speedy88 » 27 Oct 2013 07:50 am

My friend works for a well known recovery company. The amount of times he posts on the Facebooks about another "home call" to a modern car. There's nothing he can do about it to get it on the road!

I once had a Peugeot 205 Diesel which I was running into the ground. Due to the simple design I got it working again twice by hitting it with a rock I found at the side of the road (dodgy starter and then fuel solonoid).

Currently I run a 1977 Mitsubishi Sigma in the summer and a Volvo 940 in the winter which both reliably get me to work in the morning because I stay on top of the repairs. 5 years ago I wasn't too good with spanners (although I had read many books) however after a few instances of being stuck on the side of the road and reading up on car maintenance over the years, I'm able to spot problems before they happen. In 5 years I've never been late for work.

Personally I'd get back in 360 - you can feel something when you drive it. This something is what makes me happy every day I drive my cars. Another note (I think I might've said this when you mentioned the "gay" comments before) is that it sounds like you're hanging round with douchebags. Anyone who makes you feel self conscious isn't really a friend. I used to be in a group of friends like that, then I moved away and realised what real friends were supposed to be.
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trabitom99
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by trabitom99 » 27 Oct 2013 10:21 am

I'm still struggling trying to see a MkII 360 GLT as a "gay" car. Ugly? Heard that a lot. A bit ... elderly? Yep, heard that too. But "gay"? Never.

Park it next to a Mk1 Golf convertible in white. Or a purple RAV4. Or .. I can think of a few other models. And spot the difference.

Cheers

Tom
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williswoody
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by williswoody » 27 Oct 2013 01:43 pm

trabitom99 wrote:I'm still struggling trying to see a MkII 360 GLT as a "gay" car. Ugly? Heard that a lot. A bit ... elderly? Yep, heard that too. But "gay"? Never.
Well it's just one of the many things people have referred to it as. It's been called a girls car, based on its colour I presume. It's been called a piece of shit so many times. A different person actually called it gay, referred to it as "It's like a (Holden) Gemini crossed... GAY!" although it was some random I don't know who had been drinking. I wouldn't say that guy really worried me, cause the f***wit who said it... let's just say he doesn't have the best reputation around the community (he's gotten two girls pregnant, denying he's the father, cheating on one girl with the other, bla bla bla) and he's just a general deadbeat.

But I still count it as one of the labels that it's had.
macplaxton wrote:A new car doesn't necessarily mean more reliability on longer journeys. I laugh my bollocks off when I see a new(er) car waiting at the side of the road for the breakdown van to arrive (probably something electrical rather than mechanical). More things to go wrong and when they do go wrong it's not repairable at the side of the road.
That's what my dad was happy about when we first got the Volvo... it's a lot simpler to fix, and if you know what you're doing then it'd be easy to fix yourself. Whereas these new ones, it's all proprietary and electrical blah blah blah, it has to be taken back to the dealer or an authorized repair joint to get it looked at. I suppose that's the cost we pay to have the smartness inside?
I'm slightly confused about these "sagging rear struts" though? :?
Yeah, I really have no idea what he meant by "sagging struts". He gave my dad a different explanation though (this is what I gathered from what dad told me), just say these are the rear wheels:

/ \ <-obviously not to that extent, but they lean in towards each other or something?

Well the mechanic said this is happening:

/ / <- that one wheel is leaning in the same direction as the other, and it's going to eventually make the car pull to one side.

He did a temp fix, but said that it would need fixing sometime in the future. I didn't notice any difference after driving it, but that's just me.
Speedy88 wrote:Personally I'd get back in 360 - you can feel something when you drive it. This something is what makes me happy every day I drive my cars. Another note (I think I might've said this when you mentioned the "gay" comments before) is that it sounds like you're hanging round with douchebags. Anyone who makes you feel self conscious isn't really a friend. I used to be in a group of friends like that, then I moved away and realised what real friends were supposed to be.
I really want to get back in it... but my parents and everything will think I'm insane if I sell the Proton, especially after having it since April. Haha. The Volvo leaks, it breaks down, it picks up every single bump, it makes noises and squeaks, it doesn't have air conditioning, it smells like fumes. But I did enjoy driving it.

I live in a small community, and working in the supermarket you get to know everyone pretty quick. I wouldn't say some of the customers were friends, but they certainly let me know that they thought my car was shit. After hearing that constantly, you sort of just get sick of hearing about it, you know? And when I drove up the street, everyone's heads turned to see who was driving.

My mates from school, some of them liked it, some of them didn't.

But now that I've fixed a few minor things up on it, I feel like I really want it back. I live out of home now, so I store it at my parents and just go an work on it for a bit whenever I go and visit them.
---------------------------
I also have a question... how much would these 360's have cost when they were brand new? Just out of curiosity... the power windows seem really ahead of their time for a car of this year IMO. But I haven't seen many other cars from this year so I wouldn't know.
Last edited by williswoody on 27 Oct 2013 01:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by MCHUDD » 27 Oct 2013 01:56 pm

Hi mate.
I have to agree with the lads here.If anyone were to
tell me i drive a guy car ,i would be telling the to F**k off
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Cheers Mark.
sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9 sm9

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thododd
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by thododd » 27 Oct 2013 02:05 pm

If thats the case, then id ditch the silencers in the volvo, weld the diff, strip the interior and slam it on its ass!! Make it badass!

Thats what I did when everyone in my village (horsey types with range rovers, quattros etc) 'mocked me' about my 'flimsy, shitty, gay, french, heap of shit' citroen ax. 150+bhp/715kgs (as it is now) soon fixed some opinions ... and the ones that still took offence, didnt have the legs to keep up and inform me of their thoughts. :D

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williswoody
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by williswoody » 27 Oct 2013 02:27 pm

Yeah, I did tell him to fuck off. I was pretty drunk myself. My cousin was driving, couldn't get away quick enough. The fuckwit wanted us to do a skid, and we wouldn't, so he reached in and crumpled up the P plate (provisional plate) at the front of the car.

We drove away from him. The c*nt.

In unrelated news, I found the BEST Audi! Looks like it even comes with roof racks... woot woot.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/robina/c ... 1027168859

I'm fairly certain I saw it on here earlier in the year though. MINT car, but it seems a bit suss. Oh well, sent an email, can't wait to get a response.
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macplaxton
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by macplaxton » 27 Oct 2013 02:38 pm

thododd wrote:'mocked me' about my 'flimsy, shitty, gay, french, heap of shit' citroen ax
I don't think they were "mocking", they were being rather "polite" :P
MCHUDD wrote:If anyone were to
tell me i drive a guy car ,i would be telling the to F**k off
Mark, mind your vowels, you DO drive a GUY car!
Speedy88 wrote:I got it working again twice by hitting it with a rock I found at the side of the road
PMSL :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: caveman/bush mechanic! sm4

Anyway, when I was 17, this was my third car. Yes it was mocked. Did I give a monkeys? Of course not. Any mockers would soon change their tune if it was raining.
Image
SKR679H 002 by macplaxton, on Flickr

Still have it, although it was last on the road when I was 17 too. It keeps slipping down the resto list :oops:

Personally, I'd be chopping in the Crouton and searching around for a Morris Nomad (I'm partial to a bit of BL tin)
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thododd
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by thododd » 27 Oct 2013 03:47 pm

Cheers mac, a fan of the ax? Or just citroens/french in general?

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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by macplaxton » 27 Oct 2013 04:25 pm

thododd wrote:Cheers mac, a fan of the ax? Or just citroens/french in general?
Obvious not a fan of the AX. I can understand why some like them, but they're not my cup of tea. Crisp packets are sturdier in construction. They are quick because they are a similar weight to a crisp packet. I have driven one some years ago. I'm not much of a fan of French electrics. Of the time, I would rather have a Renault Clio for my money. I've had a couple of older Citroens. A Dyane 6 was my first car and I currently have a GS on the fleet. I've also had a Pug 405 and 106. I think the 106/Saxos were a good bit better than an AX.
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Re: Torn between my Proton Persona and my 360

Post by CBA » 27 Oct 2013 05:27 pm

the mk1 persona.. it was a fun car but front grip much lacking, in the wet it was like driving an ice skate.. the mitubishi technology was not perfetly transposed into the malasian korean... whatever. That said, it looked good enough tarted up a bit.

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