2002 Perodua Kelisa 1.0 GXi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Because of the low mileage stop/start use, the rear tailpipe rusted and needed replacing. Kwik-fit had the intelligence to fit a £31 MK1 Sirion exhuast as no pattern parts available in UK and other places could not help.

Cigarette lighter replaced after repeated Tomtom use melted it.

I am absolutely amazed at how good this car is. I bought it off an ebay motor trader for £1700 for my wife to learn to drive in, after our great little £300 ebay Perodua Nippa got vandalised.

This car is fully equipped with remote central locking, power steering, dual airbags, cd player, electric windows, internal boot and fuel release, rear wash wipe and metallic paint.

It runs like a Swiss watch, and is a testament to the tried and trusted Japanese technology used- it is a refaced Daihatsu Cuore, built in Malaysia from Daihatsu parts. After a long product run with the Cuore, Perodua have produced a very well sorted, reliable and user friendly economy car with a good equipent list.

I find it a delight to use, very easy to drive, responsive, torquey and generally satisfying to live with. Everything is where it should be and works as it should, it drives very well and gives 46mpg with hard town and fast A-road use.

Best bits: very cheap to buy and run, easy to live with, proven technology, great build quality on these early ones, very tight turning circle, good equipment, nice to drive, a pleasure to own.

Worst bits: dealers scarce, no pattern parts so some parts may be pricey, oddball looks, suspension not up to very "enthusiastic" hooning, remote locking does not turn on interior light or flash hazards to confirm, tight in rear 4-up.

I will update this as the miles go by..

It was just so damned good as a second car that I have just taken delivery of a new Myvi as my main car. I hope it is as good as this one to own.

The facelifted Kelisa (after 2004) is far uglier and has the most awful seat trim I have ever seen! I am glad I bought this 2002 model instead as the finish is better and it looks nicer.

UPDATE.

The car still runs extremely well, and my wife has just passed her driving test in it, first time around. She was using the instructor's 2004 Citroen C3, after using a 2006 Suzuki Swift, but as soon as she drove the Kelisa, it all fell into place. The instructor was very impressed with the ease of driving the Kelisa, so allowed my wife to ditch his C3 for reduced rate lessons in the Kelisa itself. It is just a super little car for a learner, and far better than the newer superminis which are too big, too heavy, too complicated and have large blind spots.

For a novice, the Kelisa is excellent. My only worry is the lack of modern safety kit-especially ABS, but it is good to learn how to drive properly without electronic aids first. I just hope she does not crash and get hurt in the meantime...

We are so very impressed with this car, and have since replaced our other car with a new MYVI-see report.

PS Does anyone know where to source a Kelisa exhaust front pipe and box-our only option seems to be the main dealers which are expensive. The rear section is similar to a Daihatsu Mira, so Kwik-Fit fitted that part cheaply, but the rest needs doing soon-nothing else has needed doing.

I have now sold the Kelisa, and ordered a new diesel Fiat Panda for my wife. The Kelisa has been fantastic throughout and I can highly recommend the brand.

We left the interior light on and flattened the battery (£35), had to replace the rear exhaust (£30) and fitted a £60 CD player. We paid £1700 and sold it for £1950.

Cheap, reliable motoring!

We swapped to get a safer car for my wife who is now more confident, travelling further and needs ABS. We both found it extremely hard to find a car which was as easy to drive as the Kelisa, but the Panda is OK.

We are enjoying the new Panda, but my wife still looks back fondly on the Kelisa as it was the easiest and most responsive of all of the 19 cars she has driven.

A good Kelisa is well worth buying as a second car or as a learner training car; it is just a shame there is no ABS (better to learn without it, though!).

It is light and responsive and forgiving for novices, has great visibility and gives nervous people great confidence-far better than the big, heavy new cars driving schools have now; and with far superior visibility for learning manouevres.

Interestingly, the new Mazda 2 has bucked the trend to be smaller and lighter than the car it replaced-everything else gets larger and heavier-the new Polo is bigger and heavier than the original Golf, for example. This increase in size and weight hampers learners, and is why the Kelisa is so good and far better than the new learner cars.

Once the test is passed though, and they start to go out on their own, better safety is essential to be driving amongst all these new heavy and big cars; hence why we sold ours.

Very good car, though!