8th Apr 2010, 12:20

The Myvi is more modern, but the Kelisa more of a true driver's car; light, intuitive, responsive, crisp and sharp.

I have driven a huge number of cars, and think James May got the Kelisa right; comparing to food he said, "it's not with a jus of this on a bed of that, it is simple - it is a bacon sandwich. The essence of driving.. no garnish".

I adore the Kelisa and would highly recommend one, they are what the original Mini should have become, and drive somewhere between the old and new Mini. All of my mates drove my Kelisas, and as you say, grinned from ear to ear with the sheer fun of it.

Cars are too lardy and over-complicated now - the Kelisa is wonderfully mechanical and direct.

My wife ditched the tuition vehicle Citroen C3 and passed her test first time in our Kelisa. She has now driven 30 or 40 cars, but still reckons the Kelisa is the very best to drive.

Very under-rated and misunderstood, but great for those in the know.

Enjoy it! We had three, all excellent and would buy another tomorrow. Check out the www.perodua.com.my/ site and the various old TV adverts for the Kelisa on there - very funny!!

Kelisa is little fish ahaahahaahahaaaa...!

(Kelisa is another name for Arowana, a tiny, nimble silver fish, which the car is named from, for its ability to change direction and dart about). Very apt!

8th Apr 2010, 16:50

I agree with you.. The Kelisa is such a nice car to drive and a fuel efficient car.. However Perodua no longer produce this car, and changed it to the Perodua Viva... Miss this car so much, because it is nice to tune up, and has many accessories to make it more funky...

9th Apr 2010, 02:17

Perodua UK won't release the Viva over here, due to crash test performance, but it is safer and more fuel efficient than the Kelisa.

I have driven the Daihatsu Charade, which is the base car for the Viva, here in the UK. It was characterful and lively, but nowhere near as good to drive as the Kelisa. The Charade/Viva is tinnier, and has far too much body roll in corners and nowhere near as much front end grip. The Kelisa is far better to drive, as the components all match each other well, and come together as a fine package, which as you say can be modified further.

The Myvi is a far more mature and practical car, with more modern controls and much more space, but the Kelisa beats it and the Viva hands down for actual driving enjoyment.

One of the UK racing circuits runs Kelisas as track tuition cars!

10th Apr 2010, 03:06

Amazingly, a dealer in Weston Super-Mare UK, is STILL selling new Kelisas - must have bought a load of the final production run!

At £5650 OTR for the GXi or £5750 OTR for GXiSE they are expensive though - I remember Grovebury selling them for £4499 in 2009 before they ran out of stock. Considering a Myvi is £6180 OTR and this is bigger, has the 3 year/60,000 mile warranty instead of the Kelisas 2 year/24,000 miles and also has air-con, 5 seats etc etc, it makes this deal look like one for die-hard enthusiasts who want a new Kelisa. The Myvi has a chain driven Yaris engine, so no cambelt to change like the Kelisa, either.

I saw on ebay today a metallic 2004 GXi with 30k miles for £1490 - now that is a bargain; with £90 tax, £180 cambelt (due), £80 major service, some upgrade bulbs and a full polish plus underbody wash and waxoyl, that would last ten years without fault. Hard to believe you can get a five year old car with 30k miles, all electrics, power steering, CD player, fully sorted for long term use for under £1900.

The icing on the cake is how lovely to drive the Kelisa is and how endearing they become - it is a car you get a soft spot for. After having three, the Kelisa is a top favourite and I would jump at the cheaper one I saw today if I was looking for a car, but £5650 new is steep. At least you can still get them, though!

11th Apr 2010, 06:24

Now found what seems to be the last ever unused Kelisa EX on-line; a 2010/10 plated, silver car unregistered at £4925.

Where have they been hiding these? I thought production stopped in 2008?

As said before, Kelisas are ace, but approx £1000 difference from a new Myvi is not enough considering the size and spec difference.

11th Apr 2010, 13:41

Hello.. I too agree with you.. The Viva has no more stability than a Kelisa.. by the way, do they still sell the Kelisa? In Malaysia they have stopped Kelisa production and sales... The price for a Kelisa is RM38000 for the manual version and 41000 for the automatic. If I manage to find a brand new Kelisa, for sure I will buy one.. hehe... have a nice day.

Syed from Malaysia.

22nd Dec 2010, 05:10

Mileage update: (was 25k when I bought it) 45,000 miles.

It's been a fantastic car so far, nothing has gone wrong with it. The windscreen had a leak, which is why floor was getting wet, all sorted now!

I've done numerous oil changes and filter changes (every 6k miles), and other than that, it's been superb!

It's time for a new set of discs and pads, and going to go slightly upmarket, as demanding driving seems to have warped the discs and munched through the pads rather quick. I think going to try APEC ones next time.

Also, the ride of the Kelisa is fantastic, but on very twisty roads, it does have excessive body-roll for my liking. So I've invested in some OMP coil springs for it. They are lowered 30mm, but really just wanted them to reduce the body roll when hard cornering on country lanes. It should be a stonking car after this!

Will update again in 6 months or so, and let you know how I've got on.

This car is a keeper though. Think by the time I finish with it, it'll have about 150k miles on the clock, so that'll be nice and impressive...

Oh on another note, changed the tyres the other day as the original ones are rubbish. In the bad weather and snow recently, the car handled awful. So got some Goodyear Duragrip tyres, and it's transformed the car - 165/65r13 on the standard rim seems to work well.

Thanks, and happy Kelisa'ing.

28th Dec 2010, 05:55

I'm so jealous of you owning a Kelisa... FYI, it's hard to find Kelisa pre-registered nowadays, due to high demand, especially with low mileage ones... :(

8th Aug 2011, 08:37

Mileage update: 60,000 miles.

Cambelt due now - getting sorted out in the next couple of weeks.

Still behaving very well, still got a bit of wind noise going 70-80; just touch the passenger window down a touch and then it stops the noise.

Someone knocked off my driver's side mirror - need to get a replacement.

Still doing oil changes every 6k miles, and it's been fine, nothing to report, it's just been reliable!!

Will update again when something goes wrong, or maybe in 15-20k time - doubt much will have changed!

Still great, cheap motoring!

30th Dec 2011, 07:28

I have driven my manual transmission Kelisa GXI for around 5 years.

Although it looks small, there is plenty of power from the DOHC 3 cylinder engine... I like it simple, and of course the good fuel consumption.

To all Kelisa owners, we know the best what this car delivers! It may look cheap, but it is quality for the money. :D.

31st Dec 2011, 11:01

I agree; great engineering and a car with genuine driver appeal for a very low price with minimal running costs, low tax etc.

It has no image or marketing, but those in the know, know how good it is, in many ways regardless of price.

The manual Kelisa feels like the car the original Mini should have become - instead of being killed off and replaced with an over-competent replacement. It has pure driving feel, and makes driving fun and enjoyable.

It is still my wife's all time favourite car to drive, and certainly one of mine - a great little car that few have heard of!!