2005 Proton Waja Enhanced from Malaysia - Comments

I owned brand new Waja in 2001, and before I bought it, I already realised the potential of gearbox problems.

To over come the gearbox problem, I always change the gear oil every 10,000km. Then at every 50000km, I flush the gearbox.

In long term the maintenance it does cost more, but I don't want to spend my money on a reconditioned gearbox. New gear box? Too expensive.

After owning it for 5 years, no problem occurred.

I have some idea to solve waja 1.8,because I am a owner.if you are interested to know, i can share with you.

I bought WAJ 1.6A 2002, have a good maintenance record. I also change auto transmission oil every 20,000KM which is highly cost in maintenance. Passengers sit behind hear the cow 'mooing' sound which no idea where it comes from (engine or gearbox). That's the price I pay for.

I've recently test-driven a proton waja. I find that the feel of the car is quite good: stable, & quieter than earlier proton cars such as the wira. Sharp handling, thanks to the Lotus technology. Interior quality can still be improved though. Good fuel economy. Good job, Proton! Keep improving. If Malaysia boleh, Proton also boleh!

I own a Proton Waja 1.6 AT 2006 model.

It is not as bad as the comments made by most people like power windows always break down etc etc etc... If all of you noticed, most of these people which had made the bad comments actually have never owned a Proton Waja before. They're just merely circulating what they've heard thru hearsay to others.

Personally, I found the Proton Waja is quite a value for money car. It takes corners superbly, ride is quite solid with no rattles, the chassis is very strong. I've owned a BMW 3 series before & although Waja is nowhere near the BMW's quality & build, it is still a very solid car when compared to other makes. There's practically no vibration in this car & it goes over bumps quite solidly. However, damping bushing could have been sized up to improve the damping even further. Proton should have also use a rear sub-frame to improve damping further just like a BMW.

On the whole during the last 3 years coming to 4 years, the power windows had been working fine apart from one switch being replaced. That is all.

The only problem I had encountered so far are:-

1. Braking power not enough (Not enough grip, noisy & unusual excessive wear on disc rotors (Material used is too soft)

2. High fuel-consumption

3. On-off power lag (erratic power output)

4. Suspension parts needs tightening very frequently (e.g. struts & lower arms etc).

5. Projector headlights too dim (Not safe)

6. Slow gear changes (downshifts too slowly)

Personally, you cannot over-expect from a car which costs less than RM60K. You get what you pay for. However, a little more power would be better as the body seems a bit heavy.

So those uncles & aunties out there, please have your facts right before spreading rumours & bad mouthing a product. Make sure you own & test one before making any unfair judgement.

The handling of this car is many times better than a Perdana V6 as it has a more solid feel & tackles corners better.

It only needs more power... so that you can chase the VIOs...

The only other common complain I heard about Proton Waja so far are:-

1. Water leakage into the rear passenger seat. This is quite common among earlier models before 2004.

- The water leakage actually comes from the boot area at both sides of the wheel mudguard where there's a small hole for water to pass through. Unfortunately, the design is no good; when rainfall is heavy, the water tends to build up & drain less quickly than required hence over flowing on to the backseat. This also happens when there's body roll during cornering where water from this area would overflow onto backseat from boot area.

Remedy - Fortunately, I do not have this problem in my Waja because I got this hobby of taking my car apart when I've free time & noticed the small holes near the rear mudguard inside the boot. I had it sealed with come bitumen waterproof product for cars & it helped to prevent any further water leakage. Prevention is better than cure. Since water seeps in thru these 2 tiny drain holes, I can only assume that in the long run it would definitely cause the car to rust. So I decided to spray the rust guard bitumen product to these areas to prevent rust from happening. This in the end also sealed the hole from water leakage.

2. Another common problem among earlier models of the Waja is water leaking into the front passenger floorboard area. This is actually caused by missing rubber stoppers on the mudguard area at the front wheel area / wall separating the cabin from the outside wheel area. These rubber stoppers sometimes go missing when you send your car for service whereby the dumb mechanics removed it & never put it back assuming that it serves no important purpose. Other reasons could be someone stealing it away to put it onto their own Waja when you park your car in open areas.

Remedy - Buy a rubber stopper to plug the hole or if that is not available use bitumen or glue to patch up the hole. That would solve the leakage.

3. Engine noise intruding into the passenger cabin.

Cause - The place where the steering rack enters the cabin is held in place by a white plastic bracket. If this bracket somehow goes misaligned when you go into a pot hole, a gap would be created making noise leaking into the passenger cabin.

Remedy - You may either use windshield sealant to seal the hole or either get your mechanic to realign the bracket back into place.

4. After a while using the Waja (~2 years of usage), the rubber bushing holding the steering rack in place in the engine compartment at the firewall could shrink causing free play to your steering. You would notice that your car cannot keep a straight line when travelling on the highway. It will sway left or right, and after a while of travelling, you would be struggling to keep adjusting your steering wheel to keep it on a straight line to maintain your course. It is a common problem with all Wajas... probably thru bad design or vendors supplying cheap rubber for the steering bushing.

Remedy - Ask your mechanic to replace the steering bushing with silicone ones as it can last slightly longer than the originals because of it's harder compound & heat resistance. It'll cost slightly more, but is worth it. The original bushing would last only an average 1-2 years after which you would need to renew it on routine basis.

5. Wajas also have a common problem to eat up rubber tires. I really do not know whether it's bad design or because the fact that this car handles corners so well that you get addicted & start attacking corners so aggressively to enjoy the fun of driving. Result: your rubber burns faster than usual.

6. Periodically, Waja suspension joints need to be tightened quite frequently (~almost every 5,000 km service). You would notice that the car's suspension & joints feel loose after awhile. Also the ride becomes more bumpy over potholes because of this.

Remedy - Have your mechanic tighten all nuts & bolts along the suspension, joints & struts & you would notice a big difference in ride comfort after that.

This too is common among all Wajas & it would also be due to a bad design or manufacturing defect resulting in poor durability.

7. On the whole, the Waja's sound insulation is not as good as a Wira. I owned a Wira before the Waja. The Wira after going through sound proofing is much quieter than a Waja which had gone through similar sound proofing process. This may be caused by the rubber seals along the door linings which are less airtight than the Wira. You would be surprised that a Wira after sound proofing could be quieter than a Perdana... It could be surprisingly quiet for a Msian car. The secret is not so much the floor board insulation or firewall insulation, but rather the roof insulation matters the most. Also doors. Take note.

8. Power steering would give out whining sound at full turn when the power steering fluid is due to be changed.

Remedy - Replace your power steering fluid & all will be well again. Even the steering will feel lighter & smoother to turn.

9. The braking system of this car sucks. It is not powerful enough to handle it's weight resulting in needing a longer distance to stop. This problem I haven't solved yet; after skimming & replacing with Bendix brake pads still did not improve it significantly. Also, all brake calipers had been overhauled, but still the same result. There are also no half-cut brake calipers which we use as substitute to replace the original brake system. Mechanics seems unfamiliar with what can be substituted for Wajas braking system. The majority of mechanics out there only know how to change black oil & replace original parts only. Anything further than that, they draw a blank face or otherwise accuse you of being dumb to cover their own ignorance... Sad. We should ban this ppl from calling themselves mechanics if they don't know their own trade.

I bought my waja in Feb 2005. Now almost ODO 135000 km done!!! Why? coz always travel around the world... mine is MT and 1.6 engine. The only problem is... power window on the driver side... the rest nothing... just wait, I think again and try to memorize... yes sure, engine OK, suspension, brake, all OK.. Yes I m very sure, only the power window on my driver side got the problem, the rest no... As at to date, I still can drive my waja and speed up to 180km without any problem, cornering looks superb at 130kmj!!! Fuel comp RM70 can go up to 450km but speeding average 100-140kmj. Last two weeks, I balik kampung at Kota Bharu, I spend RM70 for petrol and reached kota bharu in 6 hours!!! from kepong to KB only take 6 hours plus RM70 petrol, amazing right? even myself don't believe, coz to me, waja is superb car and as I know, no one so far complaint about waja's engine. So what you think?