Every Malaysian knows Proton Saga. In fact those who can afford it would have owned a Proton Saga or Iswara once before. The Proton Saga is the first model that came out from the national carmaker’s stable and it has made a lot of difference in the life of Malaysians all throughout the country.
It is a great first car and a lot of us still own them. In fact, it is hard to find the Sagas around now but the Iswara is still very much roaming around town.
With the standard of living rising and people earning better, they will eventually change cars. Some have retained their Iswara as their ‘spare’ cars while others keep them because no one wants them.
So what are your options if you still have a Iswara that you have paid off? Below are some ideas.
- Use it as a spare car – If you do this, you need to maintain the car. This means that you still need to send it for service very 5,000km and if there are parts that need to be repaired, you need to do so. Maintaining the car is not cheap as the older it gets, the more expensive the parts would be.
- Change the engine – apply with JPJ to have the engine changed to a newer one. Basically, the car is still usable but the engine might be worn out. So to avoid more costs in the future, maybe you can replace the engine with a newer version (from Mitsubishi or Proton) and it can go on for a good couple of years. However, take note that if you are changing to a higher capacity engine, the road tax might be higher. Alternatively, you can give it the NGV treatment.
- Use it to book parking space – if you need to book a parking space in front of your house, the Iswara makes a good choice. After all, you don’t really drive it that much anymore.
- Use it as a hobby – You can try refurbishing it little by little. Give it a makeover by repainting it. Changing the gearbox from manual to automatic and change the cushions. In time, it will look pretty awesome.
If you are keeping the Iswara, then you have to consider the fact that you need it to operate when it matters. Keeping it dormant for too long will wear off the batteries. So it would be best to drive it every other day. Use it as a weekend car or one to nearby places.
