Got it home this afternoon, its pretty well what I expected after a longer journey.
Car was nicely prepped for a cheap motor, looked smart. It failed its MOT with a CO2 sensor which has been replaced. Other than that very little to report mechanically, its sound as, goes, stops fine, gearbox changes smoothly, steers well, rides well.
Its very 'japanese' to drive, so everything is simple, light and works in a predictable way, no suprises at all.
The ride is much better than I expected. The little tyres get caught out on some bumps, but its well damped and its far less prone to roll than the looks would suggest, so on sweeping A-roads you dont feel anywhere near like your pushing it, so you can get a nice flow.
Its not especially loud at higher speeds, but wind noise dominates.
Seats are comfortable, firmer than they look and the velour trim holds you, which is just aswell as theres little side support. Its very, very easy to get into.
The gearbox, while smooth, its quite reluctant to drop out of top gear when you slow back down - it will do it, but you need to give it a bit of a prod, which I discovered as id slowed down for a speed bump in Uppingham on a steep hill, when to pull away at 20mph and not alot happened at first! Just needs pratice and atleast when it finally did change down, there was no horrible clunk etc.
Obviously its affected by the wind a little, but less so than similar cars ive owned, it was OK doing a steady 70 down the A1.
It is turning 4200 rpm at 70, which is high, but it does mean that you can go 60-70 quite quickly as its well into its powerband.
There is a little vibration at low revs from the engine, it reminds me of 90's autos which often vibrate a little at idle in Drive. It also sounds oddly like an Austin Mini auto in engine note.
The fuel tank is clearly tiny, just 40 litres and on the red it needs just £33 to brim it - long time since ive needed to put so little in but range prob wont be that high, im expecting a 250ish average.
The stereo is a strange thing - a CD/cassette player combo, with some cheesey graphics, its very 80's but quite amusing and it works well enough.
Its certainly a car with limitations, but they arent as tragic as you first expect and it gets better the more you get in tune with it, especially the handing aspect which is far better than it has any right to be. Im quite happy, knowing that it wasnt a choice for motoring fun.
Economy will be interesting and Friday will be the real test as thats the first day it will be used for its normal workload.
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What is a canary when it isn't a bird in a cage, please?
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According to the Malaysians, a small MPV. I suppose the saving grace is it isnt called the Poppy Big Friend or similar.
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Perodua Kenari presumably
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"Not as tragic as you first expect"
Nuff said!
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I think the image issue is that its Malaysian and viewed in much the same way as Chinese cars are, which isnt the case, its not a poorly engineered car - it may be a parts bin special, but its a decent parts bin to dip into.
You can get away from the look of it, but its entirely a functional design rather than dubious styling.
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Glad it seems OK Stu. How long will it be before the chocolate wheel bearings and tin-can-gauge exhaust manifest themselves?
Seriously, all power to you. I hope you can prove us doubters wrong and do a trouble-free five-figure mileage in it.
Incidentally, how much did your Ignis cost you overall to do 14k in? I only ask because I've done about that in the Mondeo now, with two tyres and a couple of bulbs the only expenses.
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Umm, over that distance, 4 tyres @ £270 ( fronts were on 4mm so not strictly needed ), service was £170 after 9000 miles. Tyres aside, nothing out of the ordinary.
It was coming up to needing discs/pads ( was on originals ) so if id kept it, that would have been needed.
I know the Kenari wont need a cambelt for 4 years and parts are pretty cheap, its a basic car, so it will be interesting if it lives up to that.
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I got the lancer with 19k on the clock, its now got 49k.
Other than oil and filters, its needed two new tyres, nothing else.
To get through the MOT in Feb its going to need front pads. Nothing else.
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Both the Kenari and the smaller Kelisa were based on the Daihatsu Move and the Daihatsu Cuore respectively. The larger Myvi is based on the Daihatsu Sirion.
When James May tested the Kelisa on Top Gear he rated it as a small, honest car that does what it says on the tin.
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Our Sharan is just approaching 80K. Only costs have been routine servicing (was on long life so approx 18K intervals, but now gone back to time and distance 10K as our annual mileage has dropped off), 1 set of new pads front and rear, 4 sets of front tyres, and 1 set of rear and a cam belt change (plus water pump as a precaution)
Not bad in 6 years.
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>>Both the Kenari and the smaller Kelisa were based on the Daihatsu Move and the Daihatsu Cuore respectively. The larger Myvi is based on the Daihatsu Sirion.
When James May tested the Kelisa on Top Gear he rated it as a small, honest car that does what it says on the tin.<<
Thats pretty well what the Kenari is, simple, it has a fairly straightforward role and it does it well enough.
Ive been digging around and it seems the Kenari, while based on the Move has some bits from the MK1 Sirion such as the centre console, so its quite a mix. That in a way is Peroduas strength, as they dont do much of the design themselves, the just badge-engineer japanese cast-offs.
Talking to the dealer, Perodua new car sales are pretty steady, albeit at a low level, but they are on the rise, the biggest limitation is scarce dealers and lack of exposure.
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>> Talking to the dealer, Perodua new car sales are pretty steady, albeit at a low
>> level, but they are on the rise, the biggest limitation is scarce dealers and lack
>> of exposure.
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674 Peroduas registered in 2010, down from around 1000 in 2001, but marginally better than 2009.
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Apparently this year just gone was strong and the loss of Daihatsu is seen as a gain for Perodua if they can get in the eye line of ex customers.
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Just been reading the MOT history of my car online, very curious.
This MOT just done, it had a new lambda sensor due to poor emissions - now thats fine but it also seems to have had the same fail in 2008 and 2009 - any clues what could cause a persistant issue with a lambda sensor? Is it just it needed a good run out before MOT and didnt get one? It has been doing an average of 7k a year, prob around town id guess.
I also see that in March 2010 when it had its previous MOT, there was an advisory on one brake pipe for corrosion and a fail on the other side, then on the re-test the advisory isnt there either so is it reasonable to wonder if they did both pipes as surely the advisory would still exist on the re-test?
Ive worked out the ownership history of the car - it was first owned by an old couple, then the second owner was their son, so thats nice and neat. He seems to have taken it over in 2004 so kept it a few years.
Customer reactions have been positive so far, one Jaguar owner said it was quite 'funky' ( showing his age there perhaps ). Most questions have been about what it costs to run and quite what a Perodua is. I guess they are used to me turning up in weird cars :-)
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First thoughts on the Canary - Meldrew
