How safe is our Proton Saga? (Or What your Proton salesman would not tell you!)

Further to my entry on safe cars, here is anANCAP Crash Test report for Proton S16 or better known locally as the Proton SAGA.

S16 receives 3 star rating, and scores 19.96 out of 37 for the overall score. S16 also scores 9.29 (out of 16) in offset crash test. The passenger compartment held its shape reasonably well. Protection from  serious chest and leg injury was marginal for the driver. Saga scored 10.67 out of 16 in the side impact crash test. There was high risk of serious chest injury for the driver.

For full report, please go here.

We pay RM42,000.00 for this car.

And the conclusion?

""High risk of life threatening chest injury in side impact!""


As a comparison, here are the test results for a sub-compact car Ford Fiesta.

Overall score rating is 34.45 (out of 37). Five star rating applies to Fiesta with 7 airbags, while variants with 2 airbags receive 4-star rating. Fiesta receives 14.90 (out of 16) in offset crash test. The passenger compartment held its shape well. There was a slight risk of serious chest and leg injury for the driver. It scored 15.55 in side impact crash test. There was a slight risk of serious abdoment injury for the driver.

We need to fork out about RM78,000 for single airbag and RM83,000.00 for the two airbag variant. Is it worth the extra money?


What kind of car are we getting for ourselves, and our family? Is the SAGA a kereta rakyat? Can you see the difference other car makers do their business.

Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to bash Proton. In fact I would categorize local car makers including Perodua into the same category.

When will Malaysian companies and the big brothers protecting them grow up?