A JDM (Johor-Domestic Model) project that will not come to be.
Hello. There is a silver lining with the face-value idea of the “Top Gear Special” budget.
For Efini, it was definitely obvious enough that its not as simple – those who have owned old bangers know the purchase price is only the start of a financial pit. As a newer saying goes: The $3,000 purchase will be the best $8,000 investment you will ever make for $15,000.
Context is us as a group were planning for the temporary use of another vehicle as we are planning a several-man trip that involved two cars’ worth of occupants. This was the rationale for sourcing for another vehicle although it is flawed to begin with. In the end to save you the trouble: we never bought any new car, and so there will be no new additions to the Ownership Talks segment of the website.
With a budget of RM3,000 and a thought-out and unthought-of risk planned and unplanned, Efini went looking for two Wiras that fit his requirement: 1.5GLi, manual, Gerhana Grey. It didn’t take long while camping the classifieds for Efini to find that meeting all three requirements was not going to be in the cards for the budget of S$1,000.
7545
“7545” was the first Wira that Efini went to view. Specification met requirements but it was resprayed. Resprayed pretty badly if anything, with several points of discoloration and evident accident damage.
7545 proved to be a risk too far gone as soon as Efini peeked into the trunk. Have you seen rust this bad?
Bad brakes, broken gauge cluster (tachometer slow, speedometer fully non-functional) and bad alignment. I had reminded Efini that those “Top Gear challenges” almost always included cars halfway broken, but he never seemed to catch on.
447
“477” became the lovechild that Efini fell for. It met all requirements, but this unit wasn’t any better mechanically than the red Wira shown above.
The paint as seen is in very rough condition with severe clearcoat peel especially on the roof, most controls stayed broken and nearly every panel was damaged.
The only saving grace was it was essentially unmodified – which is also a weak point. Unenthusiastic owner is an uncaring owner, which is represented by the cosmetic and exterior condition. Apart from the usual impurities, space inside was also hoarded.
Below is the list of issues Efini concluded from the viewing session alone:
Exterior
Rear bumper dented, scratched and chipped
FL and RL door dented
Left fender dented
Right fender paint problem
FR door burnt clearcoat
RR door dented and scratched
Roof burnt clearcoat
Rear right quarter panel scratched
Trunk paint bubbling
Lights
Rear left taillight lens broken
Front right signal lens broken
Right fender signal broken
Left front signal broken
Modified relay for right-hand side signals (hazards no issue)
Gauge door light broken
Suspension
Bushings worn
Misc
Engine plastic hanging from front
Mileage supposed 5650#
Rear tyres 3 years old, front 6 years old
Interior
Clock, hazard and A/C switch sunken into dashboard
Center console perished
Shift boot perished
Armrest perished
Front seats tearing, minor
Trunk & Fuelcap release not secured and loose
Meter 90% broken (Mileage, Speedometer, Temperature, Fuel all non-functional)
Central locking broken
Doors need lubrication
Front left window actuator (passenger side) broken
Drivetrain
Serviced 56502km, 30-6-2025, unspecified oil
Engine mounts extremely worn, rattles entire interior (specifically steering column)
Timing belt suspected to squeak on throttle
Clutch has high biting point
Throttle actuation soft
Efini was very adament that the most severe issues (engine mounts and clutch) could be replaced by himself, but to fix up the entire car to a better state was around RM5,000, excluding purchase price. Frankly, he and we knew he doesn’t have that spare few thousand to part with for something like this.
The new project ultimately never happened due to legal, space and cost concerns. While we are keen on another possible vehicle to add into the Ownership Talks segment, it likely will not happen in the next few years. For Efini, he has Feriko, and I – I need a parking space to even consider.
~Inspiron
Read more: MY Archives: Proton Wira “Evolution II”
Consider subscribing to our website! Most of our posts are uploaded before they reach our social medias, so such means you get to see posts early and some that we may not feature. Cheers!
