I refer to the Malaysiakini report Consumers' vote of no confidence against Proton .

After reading this report, it does hit a nerve. It's not surprising that there's still lots of negative perception against Proton. Right now the company thinks it's doing well with the sales of the Persona. The much-hyped Campro CPS is thought to be lifting the image of Proton. Nonetheless, I would like to share my views as a consumer who has been using a Proton Wira for the past eight years.

First of all, let's talk about pricing. It's already common knowledge that other makes of cars are ridiculously taxed to ensure that they are beyond the means of many. Hence this has made Proton cars the cheapest you can get and most affordable by force (not by choice). This is the main reason I believe that is spurring Proton sales. If you were to price cars on a fair and equal scale, there will be a glut of Proton cars simply because people wouldn't want to buy the national car.

Consider a fresh graduate as a benchmark. He'd get a starting salary of between RM2,000 to RM2,500. With this salary, what car is within his reach? A nice spanking new fuel efficient Japanese car with a multitude of safety features? That is definitely out of his reach due to the exorbitant taxes.

The only range available to this fresh graduate is either a Proton or a Perodua. I picked a Proton because I would also like to take my family out from time to time. I'd opted for a Myvi if there was ever such a choice at the time of my purchase. You can do the calculations for yourself.

Next comes the quality for which Proton is so infamous for. Power windows are definitely the number one issue. All four of my power windows have been faulty in the first three years of purchase. Imagine when I looked at the bracket used, the roller was made of plastic, a cheap one that's not able to withstand heat. Proton needs to understand a big majority of us park our cars under the hot sun. We don't have the luxury of shaded car-parks. I think many people know what the temperature is like when you park your car under the afternoon sun for more than three hours.

The rest of the plastic parts in the cabin are also sub-standard. I'd say most of the air-con vents have broken. A rattling dashboard is the norm. I was lucky to have gotten a car whose paint does not have cancerous rust problems especially on the roof. My ex-boss' car was newer than mine, yet rust spots appeared within two years of use. This is definitely a major problem.

Well, the list goes on. One of the never ending problem has always and will always be the power window. Every repair costs money and time, with the latter being more important. By the way, when my glove compartment is closed, there's a giant gaping hole still visible as there's no fit.

Proton talks about zero defects. But most of the problems are with the suppliers, rather than the workmanship of Proton's employees. For many, many years, Proton accepted a lot of bad quality and passed it down to the consumer. This has put a giant dent in its brand name. Proton won't be able to recover from this perception for the next decade. Hence it's poor showing when the market liberalises.

I have very reliable information (it's not a SD) how Proton management reduces cost. They simply force the suppliers to bring down the cost or get the boot, while Proton makes the same profit year on year. How this is done smells like corruption. Let me elaborate a little. With the suppliers cost going down, Proton still engages a middleman to buy from these suppliers, and Proton simply won't buy direct. You can make your own judgements. I reserve mine.

For a fact, any right thinking Malaysian will tell you that Malaysia has lost out to Thailand as the auto production hub of South East Asia. Imagine the jobs, the FDI and the income that have benefitted Thailand. The government, especially during (Dr) Mahathir's tenure, was overprotective of Proton. We are all defending an industry that is the pride of Mahathir. Well, I am not proud when I am short-changed like this. We buy Proton cars because they are the cheapest around, not because we want to.

Again, cheap would be an understatement. The right statement is dirt-cheap, literally. The government has concerns that if Proton sinks, so will many of Proton's suppliers. Do I care when many of them produce dirt quality? The exceptional suppliers and vendors have nothing to worry about as their product quality will meet other makes, hence non-reliance on Proton solely.

Proton realises it will lose its protective crutches soon enough. Let's see whether it can still walk ever so proudly when it's car sales are no longer dominated by a cavernous difference of price and quality cars from Japan and Europe, not to mention Perodua. This is the sole reason people still buy Proton.

You don't need a survey to tell you Proton's time is almost up. Protons arrogance in the 90s is coming to an end. For many of us who were unfortunate to have had the Proton experience, I am pretty sure you can relate to this.

Right now, the government talks about creating demand and spurring the economy. How can we do that when a large chunk of our pay goes into purchasing junk? We no longer have reasonable disposable income due to the government’s policies.

No doubt, Proton is a frugal car for the frugal person - by default not because this frugal person has any choice.

There's a saying I always tell my friends about Proton - ‘This Proton of mine will be my first and my very last Proton!’