At the preview of the 2019 Proton Persona, the national carmaker released a service cost breakdown of their sedan against its unnamed competitors which many portals reported it to be the Perodua Bezza (Competitor B) and Honda City (Competitor C).
The breakdown suggests that the Persona is up to 32% cheaper to maintain over a 5-Year period compared to the two competitors and Managing Director of Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd, Dato’ Dr. Zahari Husin has came out to clarify that the service details of the Bezza is “inaccurate and misleading”.
According to Dato’ Dr. Zahari, the inaccuracy in cost difference was due to the Persona’s service costs were calculated as scheduled in its service booklet while the calculation on the Bezza was based on the optional Preventive Maintenance costs (Pro-Care package) which includes tyre alignment and balancing, air conditioning maintenance and replacement of components.
The basic service cost of the Bezza 1.3-litre as recommended in the service booklet are as below:
| Years of Service | Basic Service | Pro-Care Service | Proton Persona 1.6L |
| 1st year | RM391.02 | RM611.68 | RM381.04 |
| 2nd year | RM796.57 | RM848.51 | RM586.83 |
| 3rd year | RM464.19 | RM1,084.60 | RM934.46 |
| 4th year | RM759.02 | RM810.96 | RM458.57 |
| 5th year | RM684.59 | RM931.96 | RM691.01 |
| 5-Years’ service cost | RM3,095.38 | RM4,287.71 | RM3,051.91 |
At the end of 5-Years, the difference in basic service costs between the Bezza and Persona is only RM43.47 or 1.4%. Perodua attributed the higher service cost to the premium 0W-20 grade engine oil used in the Bezza instead of the 10W-30 used in the Persona as well as the use of iridium spark plugs.
Over the course of 5-Years, the difference in Basic Service and Pro-Care Service is RM1,192.33 hence Perodua is right that Proton did not made an apple-to-apple comparison when producing the chart. Opting for the Basic Service package brings the service costs significantly closer to the Persona.
However, it is also worthy to note that the Bezza, an A-Segment sedan, is a direct competitor to the Proton Saga and not the Proton Persona which is a B-Segment sedan. Let that sink in for a moment…
