Owner Problems: Every Car in Life Is Not Perfect - My 2002 Proton Wira 1.3 GLi Aeroback

I have owned a 2002 Proton Wira 1.3 GLi Aeroback for 5 years. In case you didn’t read my previous article about my review of this proton Wira. Long story short, I absolutely love and adored it. It drives and handles well, plus it’s practical as well.

Let’s face it, everything is not perfect in life. The same goes for cars as well. No matter how well you take care of your car, things will eventually break from wear and tear overtime. That said, unless you’re Takumi Fujiwara or Ken Block, your car will probably last as long as you take good care of it.  That said, there are some cars out that have their own signature problems. Notable examples like, the BMW E60 M5 which have a V10 that have a tendency to blow up any second. Or the Mazda RX7/8 with their rotary engines needing a completely overhaul every few years or so.

In the case of Proton, such problems have become a meme within the Malaysian car community. Problems like the Milo tin body panels, the build quality and lastly, the legendary power windows issue.

That said, let’s dive in to the problems that I’ve faced with my Proton Wira over the period of 5 years.

Problems I met on this car:

• Problem 1: Broken Temperature gauge

When I got the car, the temperature gauge is already faulty. Usually, when you start your car, the temperature gauge slowly goes up as your car engine warms up. In my case, it sometimes works and sometimes not. So, the first remedy to this problem is to give the dashboard a few quick love taps. If you got it right, you can see the needle slowly rising up to the correct temperature. Alas, as of now, I think the gauge is completely kaput. It wouldn’t work no matter how many times you tap the dashboard. So, I tried to look for replacements. Unfortunately, because Proton discontinued the production for Wira spares, it’s really a game of luck on whether you can find the spare parts that you want. In my case, I can only find the temperature gauge for the Auto Wira. Mine was a manual. So, my only option is to head to the scarp yard and pick one up and pray that it works properly or spend a fortune to get the Mitsubishi gauge cluster imported from overseas. As of now, I have yet to fix the broken temperature cluster in my car.

• Problem 2: Power Windows

Specifically, on the front right passenger side. Having power windows problems in Proton cars, especially from the 2000’s era Proton is quite normal. In my case, the power window still works, but barely. Every time when I want to lower the front right window, I always cross my fingers. The problem comes when I want to close back the window, the moment I press the button, the window slowly raises up with the motor humming and taking its own sweet time to do its job. When the window got stuck sometimes, I’ll just push it up with my own hands. There, problem solved! For now...

I still have not fixed it yet. So, temporarily, I just remind anyone who gets into my car, not to use the front right power window. I doubt it's going to be a cheap fix since parts are as scarce as finding a shiny Pokémon.

• Problem 3: Oil leak

This is a problem where I’m still scratching my head. Till now, I have no idea where the leak come from. All I know that it’s leaking engine oil, so my guess that it’s leaking from the oil pan or somewhere underneath the engine. I need to bring the car to the mechanic to solve this mysterious oil leak and see where the problem is. One thing for sure is that I have to clean the porch when there’s too much oil on the floor and they aren't exactly easy to clean. I have to get some detergent and then scrub the living daylights out form my hands to remove it. Ughhhhhhhh.....

Suggestions for other drivers:

• You should pay attention to these potential problems in daily use:

One thing to keep an eye out for is the radiator fan motor. I’ve went through 2 of these over a period of 5 years. Somehow, they don’t last very long and when your Wira starts overheating, it’s probably a good idea to check whether the radiator fan is working or not. Other than that, the Wira is a pretty much reliable car if you take good care of it.

• If you have/want to buy the same car as mine, you should know the potential problems of this car: 

Arguably the biggest problem that faced by a Wira owner is maintaining it. Since Proton discontinued the spare parts for the Wira, you either have to go for the recon parts or the scrap yard. As the Wira is practically a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer, you can of course go for the Mitsubishi spare parts as well but boy it is very expensive. That’s basically the number 1 item to look out for.