Owner Review: I like its minimalism best - My 2002 Proton Iswara Aeroback 1.3(M)

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Basic information  

2002 Proton Iswara Aeroback 1.3(M)

Reasons why I bought this car

My dad bought this car around 2008 for my mother's general daily use. It was handed over to me when it was time for me to go out of state to do my engineering when I first received my offer letter. 

Car selection process

• I had a budget of RM: 8500
• Models that I have considered include: Proton Wira, Perodua Myvi

The reason why I choose this car

Back in 2010, my brother had just finished his SPM and needed a car to further his studies at a university out of town so my dad bought the Proton Iswara for my mum as a little upgrade while the old Perodua Kancil she was driving was passed over to my brother. It was selected because it was one of the cheapest second-and models at the dealership. About 4 years later, it was my turn to go to university and so my dad bought a Proton Waja for my mother while I took over the Proton Iswara. Suffice to say, it was merely a hand-me-down.

User experience

I have already done about 150000 km.

The Iswara Aeroback is one of the most iconic, staple Malaysian cars to ever roam our roads. Most of our readers here are familiar with it and have even owned one at some point in our lives. Even if not, at the very least we all know someone who drives it and has at least a story to tell. 

Before I became a pure-bred petrol head, the Iswara is the first car I ever actually have the responsibility to own and look after. Because it is a relatively old car by the time it got to my hands, I had to learn a thousand things about how to maintain the car and understand all it's quirks. Thanks to it, I like to think of myself as the go-o guy in my circle of friends every time they face problems with their cars.

Powering this car is a 4G13P engine from a Mitsubishi Orion and thanks to it's mechanical simplicity, almost every part of the car can be easily tinkered making this a good car for me to learn all about it's mechanics without worrying too much about whether I can put it back together without compromising it's mechanical integrity.

In my time of ownership, I often drive it over hundreds of kilometers across the peninsular per trip. From the twisty roads of Mersing to Kuantan, the long stretches of the North-south Expressway, steep and twisty roads of Karak highway and the narrow roads of Penang, this car has seen it all done. In just a matter of 5 years, I have collectively added 150000km to the odometer.

Ratings

Total Score: 3
Performance: 2
Quality & Features: 2
Space: 3
Ride Comfort: 2
Fuel Economy: 3
Price & Cost: 3

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Reliable. It's a simple, 1.3L carbureted engine with no fussy ECUs. In my time of driving it, there have been many occasions where I had to drive the car really hard to overtake annoying tankers and timber lorries across the east-coast highways. Despite having done that for 5 years, I never faced any problems with the engine except for the spark plugs failure which I had changed for just RM50.

• Cheap and easy fix spare parts. Even the most incompetent mechanics will find it difficult to not know how to fix this car. You can actually DIY most of the repairs yourself, if you have enough patience. 
• Mechanically simple. This can easily be your project car.
• Small and lightweight. This car is easy to drive in town. Parking is pretty easy too, and having a custom-fitted power steering helps a lot.
• Big seats. Despite being an A-segment sedan and me personally being a little *scoffs* big-boned *scoffs*, I can sit on it pretty comfortably over long drives.
• Fuss free ownership. It's a liberating experience owning an old beater car as you will not worry about anyone going near your car and dinging it by accident.

Cons

• Don't drive this thing any faster than 170km/h unless you want to see your maker early. I know some of you here can mod it and drive faster than 200km/h. If you do and are proud of it, then by all means do it. 
• Doors locks are easily compromised. Metal rulers can do the trick. There is no real security. Steering lock is probably your next best car theft deterrent, aside from pedal locks.
• My odometer broke several years ago. I have probably done 150,000 km since my ownership. I just stop caring and change my engine oil twice a year.

• Everything about the car screams 'cheap'. From the thin door trimmings, faulty honk, easily-torn canvas and plasticky dashboard.
• Sound proofing is really bad, probably due to aging of the car. Changing the door panel rubber does wonders.
• Leaking problems. There is water dripping into the cabin through the driver side door when it rains heavily.
• Severe rattling issues all over the car. The doors are always causing persistent, squeaking noises as it is driven over uneven roads. The sound it makes over a prolonged period can make any sane person go mad. It took me several years of living with it and finally got annoyed enough to source the rattling problem and rectify it myself with a few strips of tape.

• Faulty electrical issue. Starting the car sometimes takes several ignition attempts. No, it isn't the starter. I was told it was the electrical connection issue but I just chose to live with it since I have been living with that problem since the day I got the car and it wouldn't make much financial sense fixing it anyways.
• Crappy suspensions. Driving it for more than 5 hours on long distance drives and finally reaching your destination would almost certainly leave your back battered. It is an old car, after all.
• Utilises only 2 small speakers at the back and cannot be modified to aftermarket parts.
• No ABS with EBD, no traction control. This car is not useful when it comes to avoiding collisions on an emergency situation.

• No airbags, poor crumple behaviour. It's not good at dealing with collisions when it happens either. Try the Youtube 1985 Proton Saga NCAP crash test and you will understand the horror of being involved in an accident in this thing. 

Summary

If I were to summarise this car in a sentence, the Proton Iswara is a car that I can't help but love despite most of its massive flaws. The minimalist simplicity of it is what attracts me the most about it. No fancy toys and gadgets, just a pure workhorse with cheap and abundant spare parts. Bear in mind that this is a car made by the manufacturers as a budget sedan, with economy in mind. While I love this car a lot, I need to deal with the fact that a Proton Saga will always be a Proton Saga no matter how much money I spend to restore it.

Some interesting events

I have had 2 accidents with this car thanks to the lack of ABS, with both incidents where the car did a bad job avoiding the accident and dealing with it when it happened. My first accident happened when I was involved in a 16 car chain reaction accident on a wet downhill. By the time I realised that I should've braked earlier, it was too late. It didn't help that the 'helpful' tow trucks magically appeared in less than 5 minutes after it happened, further reinforcing the fact that this accident might all have been rigged to happen. My frontal collision happened at 40km/h on the rear of a Proton Gen2. 1/3 of my front caved in, with severe damages to the radiator, power steering, bumper, lights and indicators while the Gen2 sustained minor scratches and a broken number plate. It was a great reminder of how the notorious 'tin-ilo' Proton reputation came about. 

The second accident happened a couple of years later when it under-tiered wide as I was going through a wet downhill with a sharp 180 turn near Subangjaya. No, I wasn't speeding :) It was a lazy drive back to my girlfriend's on a Sunday. I had Falkens wrapped on both of my front wheels. Yep, young and not well-informed on the importance of good tyres. Even after 3 years, the tyres still have 60% of tread left.

This car lock is so easily compromised. There have been a couple of occasions where I accidentally locked myself outside of my car(happens to the best of us) but I managed to open the lock with a 30cm metal ruler. You just slide the ruler between the rubber seal and window of the front driver seat, adjacent to the door lock pull pin and gently feel around. Once you feel a resistance at the end of the ruler, push it down hard and voila the car door is unlocked! This little trick saved me on a few occasions, a sad reminder of how easily my car could have been stolen had it not been for how shabby it looks.

There were too many fond memories that I have shared with this car, some were too bitter-sweet to recall. It was the car that took my first girlfriend and I on our sweet little escapades. It was also iconic to me in the sense that it has gone through so much thick and thin with me, in happiness and in sorrow. Strangely enough, it was a car that taught me that nothing in life is perfect and whenever things are broken, it is always wiser to try and fix the problem instead of immediately opting for a new one. Perhaps some of us here can relate, eh? 

Life is a balance between letting go and holding on. There is a time to hold on and then there comes a time to let go. As I progress into my later stage of life and need a bigger and more capable car, the time has come for me to bid farewell and move on.

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