15/08/2026
👍👍
Hi I'm Ken and it has been a while. You may remember me from my viral post from 4 years ago in 2022. Back then I was 29 and today at 33, I am still daily driving my old Proton in 2026.
To recap, I started driving this 1999 Proton Saga Iswara 1.3 Aeroback in January 2018 after I graduated from university. 8 years had passed since then.
At that time, the car was in a poor condition with issues on engine, suspension and paint. Many told me to sell off this car and go ahead with a brand new car. I was considering on the cheapest Perodua Myvi 1.3G manual, priced at RM44,300. With a 10% down payment and RM40k loan, the calculation turned out to be 3.51% interest rate at RM487 of installment per month until year 2027.
Allocating around RM500 a month for loan installment is within my affordability back then but I figured out that this is a long commitment stretching at 9 years. I chose to continue with the 19 years old Saga Iswara, slowly repairing and restoring it over time. Today, the car is already 27 years old and you might be wondering what is the overall cost throughout these 8 years of usage since 2018.
The total maintenance, repair and restoration cost had now added up to nearly RM16,000. Divided by 8 years, it will come up to RM2000 a year, averaging at RM167 per month. This cost is inclusive of normal engine oil changes, services, paint respray, tyre changes, engine top overhaul, suspension system repair, etc except for insurance and road tax.
This average cost of RM167 per month is a lot lower by RM320 cheaper than the RM487 of a new Myvi monthly installment. RM487 on the Myvi is only on the loan installment alone without service and maintenance cost.
Today, after being in the workforce for 8 years my income had increased substantially compared to my starting days. Getting a new car with higher price tag than a Myvi is possible. But the old Saga is still working well without much issues for my daily drive to work. It is nearing 30 years old but still surprisingly reliable with proper care and maintenance.
My journey with the Saga for 8 years had taught me valuable lessons on car maintenance and financial planning. As we all know in Malaysia, the car that you are driving can be a status symbol especially for younger ones. Expensive and newer cars are usually seen as a symbol of success, making many people chasing for it. Driving this old Saga with a value of RM1k to RM3k is like the cheapest category of car in Malaysia which makes it furthest away from the symbol of success. But it had helped me to build my savings and plan my finances properly.
Driving an older car in Malaysia is a possible thing even for a young person. But it may not be suitable for everyone especially for those who are not keen with car maintenance. Getting a new car is better for such cases but try to keep it within your financial means. This is an update of my experience with the old Saga Iswara for 8 years. Thank you for reading it until the end.
