Imagine buying a brand new car and almost one year down the road, you are still unable to enjoy the pleasure of driving it.

Imagine the disappointment of the buyer when he discovers that the problem is not his fault but due to the failure of the quality control system of the manufacturers.

And further imagine that ever since it was first brought to the attention of the authorised service centres, the car has been in and out of service centres almost ten times and the problem is still there.

This is not a fictitious tale. This is the plight of car owner Madhavan Kutty ever since he bought a Proton Waja 1.6 in July last year. Instead of enjoying the new car, he has been at his wits' end ever since trying to rectify the defects in his car.

Three weeks after the purchase, he took his car to an authorised Eon service centre in Kota Baru, Kelantan, where he is a research officer in a local university, and complained that the fuel consumption of his car was unreasonably high and that the new car seemed to be under-powered.

After inspecting the vehicle for a day, he was assured that everything was okay. He was not told what was wrong with the car.

However, when using the car for a further two weeks, Madhavan realised the same problems persisted. He sent the vehicle again to the same service centre two weeks later and the same tale ensued. And since then, he had sent his car for more than 10 times, both at the Kota Baru service centre and at Eon's main service center in Glenmarie in Selangor, and the problems remained.

"Hoping that the technicians in Glenmarie will identify the root of the problem, the car was brought here from Kota Baru on April 29," Madhavan's brother RK Rames (photo) told malaysiakini .

At Glenmarie, the Waja was inspected by two Eon officials and two Proton officials and they said the problem was with the timing meter of the car and made some necessary changes. Later the car was taken to the Proton plant in Shah Alam for further checks.

A test drive

And in between, the technicians at Eon agreed for a test drive to ensure that the car was indeed consuming more fuel than usual.

A test drive was arranged where two officials from Eon, two from Proton and Rames drove in the car from Sungai Buloh to Tanjung Malim.

The test, with the car filled with fuel to the brim, was conducted at 90 km/per hour for a distance of 114.1 kilometers using up 12.72 liters of petrol costing RM19.34.

A subsequent test using a Proton company car (also a Waja) was conducted in the same conditions, and this time the amount of fuel used was 7.74 liters, costing RM11.77.

"This, to any ordinary person, would indicate that Madhavan's Waja was gulping more petrol than other normal Waja vehicles," Rames told malaysiakini .

However Eon in its report thought otherwise, stating that the "tests were not confirmed tests as the proper test condition would only be confirmed and verified by the manufacturer Proton Bhd".

"What is amazing is that two Proton representatives had also taken part in the test drives and couldn't they confirm and verify the test results?" said Rames, a Port Klang-based businessman.

However even after the tests, Madhavan's car was still kept at Glenmarie service centre and then sent to Proton for further checks.

"I told them to take their time to find the problems with the high fuel consumption of the car. I also asked them for a complete report as to what was the problem with the Waja and knowing from past experiences, also asked them for a test drive to prove that the car was okay."

Unsatisfied customer

Rames said that upon his insistence a report was prepared for him, albeit an incomplete one as "it does not say what was wrong with the car".

Rames finally took delivery of the car on June 3 and on his way back was shocked to find that the Waja was still under-powered and jerking.

He returned the car to the Glenmarie service center at about 12.15am where the car was checked upon until June 16.

On June 16, Eon had written to Rames saying that the car has been tested (including a few test-drives) and confirmed by Proton personnel to meet their manufacturing specifications.

However Rames says he no longer believes what Eon and Proton have been telling him and insists upon a test drive to prove that the fuel consumption of the car is on par with other cars of the same model.

"I am very disappointed with Eon and Proton for the way they have been handling this situation. I don't want to take the car until they can assure me that it is problem free.

"How can I believe the test-drives done by Proton. I want to see for myself if the car has been properly inspected before I take it back," he said.

He also wondered if there are many other Waja owners suffering from the same problem.

When contacted, managers at Eon and Proton refused to comment. However they confirmed that Madhavan's car has been repaired and waiting to be taken by the owner.

Meanwhile, a manager from Proton told malaysiakini that a meeting with all concerned parties, including Rames, will be arranged next week to solve this problem.