2003 Proton Waja 1.8A from Malaysia

Summary:

A very problematic car

Faults:

Fan blade broken and hit the radiator.

Engine suddenly off when stop or slowing down.

ECU not working.

Sensor not working well, making the car very hard to start.

General Comments:

Actually this car has good power if it does not have any problems, and it is quite spacious and nice to drive.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 7th April, 2009

2003 Proton Waja 1.8 DOCH Premium from Malaysia

Summary:

Personally I felt cheated for buying a Malaysia car after all these years!

Faults:

My car gear will 'jump' for the first few kilometers. Have to restart it a couple of times, hence imagine how troublesome and insecure it is to stop my car by the road side in the middle of the night.

General Comments:

Don't know really what happened to the 'Pride of Malaysia', but be aware that the car that I bought over 5 years ago at RM74,737.92 (PFK 9201) is currently worthless. Not even RM15,000! What is going on? First the gear, then the value.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 25th July, 2008

2003 Proton Waja 1.6 from Malaysia

Summary:

Future manufacturing car/model needs a longer service interval

Faults:

Absorber replaced before 5000km.

Squeaking noise from radio compartment before 1000km.

Console box lock broken at initial stage.

Squeaking noise from front absorbers at 15000km.

Snap sound from drive shaft starting from showroom. Rectification failure by service dealer until now.

Air conditioned knob malfunction at 97000km. My previous car did not have this problem.

Power window motor failure at driver's side at 90000km. My previous car did not have this problem. Perhaps in future I should buy a Smart Tag in order to avoid keep pressing the up/down window button.

General Comments:

This car handles well. Thanks to Lotus Engineering. Suitable handling for Malaysian roads. However, the suspension needs to be more tough in order to cope up with the body and longer service intervals.

False rim specification caused a speed test failure for June 04 - Jan 05 models. Get it changed for free. Announced by Proton on 28/09/05 in the evening.

Front seats are flat.

Too bad the Waja is not scrutinised by T.U.V. like the Savvy. Otherwise it will be the most popular sedan ever made.

Engine need to be reworked. Variable valve perhaps? Future models may have this specification. Perhaps R3 spec?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 28th September, 2005

29th Mar 2006, 22:35

My experience with proton...well...I used to owned almost all proton Model except Tiara and Juara. Each car has certain unforeseen problems.Yet, I still try to support proton.Lately, my 2003 Waja recently had a fuel pump failure. Mileage clocked at 117899km.Costs me RM700.00.According to the mechanic, the car has a good engine, but other parts do gave problem after 100000km.I hope Proton need to rectify the quality issue. TUV approved on Proton Savvy is not enough. Why don't Proton allowed TUV to inspect all models. My last hope will be Proton Savvy. If problems still persist, I have to change other non-national car model.

24th Jun 2006, 01:39

I own waja 2003 model as well. Except for the problem described above, engine under power is one of the major problems that make this car very noisy when traveling at high speeds, and picking up/high acceleration, and this causes high fuel consumption too. Some modifications to the car engine are needed to improve the horse power for fuel saving.

7th Jan 2008, 23:09

I'm working on a project called waja door handle failure.. if any1 willing to give or sell (affordable rate) their door handle.. I wil be very glad.. hopefully my project can help to improve the quality of waja door handle in future.

19th Apr 2009, 03:01

I owned the first model Waja 2001. My problem was when there's a funny sound coming out from the front part. When the air conditioning start kicking in, it gets louder, but when I step on the clutch the noise is gone. It sounds like something rotating, but cannot get to anywhere, just replaced the fuel pump, engine mounting, rear absorber and a few bulb - man those thing burn out fast!

Any ideas...??