Kembara a knockoff of the Daihatsu (Japan) Terios

Buy at your peril... My own account of buying a car from the 2nd National Carmaker in deary old Malaysia. First of all, I already had good experience in this field as my other car is from Proton (the 1st National Carmaker). I thought why not give it a try with another Malaysia carmaker, so I went ahead foolishly, I would say, and bought a Kembara Aero. With the cost of fuel nowadays it was supposed to be a prudent choice and good especially for in-city driving. Bull.... the mileage was anything but cost-saving. I wonder why? It was a compact vehicle (compact is an understatement) but heck what to expect from something that's handed me down from Japan. Amazing technology transfer? Nooo. So there it was, my first mini 4WD. A Terios by make and a Terios by design but with a Malaysia brand plate.

Lovely modifications...The standard bodykit was out of proportion and poor fitting. QC definitely out. A lot of plastic trimmings and uneven lines on the body panel..oh and yes, a chair that rocks. Out of the 2 years that I had the Kembara, a good deal of time was spent frantically pushing the manufacturer to take responsibility and rectify all my complaints with time spent at the factory (although they did force some poor sales manager of one of their sales outlets to let me have his "similar" Kembara for use during that time). By the end of it all, I gained a "reputation" at Perodua for being a real pain in the b... . I must also say that they moved the Customer Service Head to another department by the end of the whole hellish affair. What gives? So many questions but so little answers.

So there it is. Made in Malaysia? Think twice.