The Perodua Traz was launched one month ago, but it is two years late due to Daihatsu’s ‘procedural irregularities’ safety testing scandal that surfaced in late 2023. Everything has now been sorted out, but the Traz enters a market that has evolved – in 2026, Malaysians are getting more car for their money compared to two years ago.
Yes, the Traz is still the cheapest proper B-segment SUV in Malaysia at RM81,100 (for the range-topping H, base X is RM76,100), but one can get the starter variant of the heavily-revised Proton X50 facelift and the Chery Tiggo Cross Turbo for not much more after factoring in discounts. Both those cars are turbocharged and have significantly more output.
For the practical types
But what armchair critics and ‘car people’ sometimes forget is that many people in the real world buy cars as a tool, looking for simplicity, practicality and reliability instead of fancy – there’s a reason why Toyota is the world’s top carmaker despite rarely pushing boundaries. P2 is openly seeking out this crowd and even chose ‘Engineered Simplicity’ as the Traz’s USP/theme.
The Traz is aimed at those upgrading from a Myvi/Axia or an older B-segment sedan – these folks are looking for a family car to do it all, and space could very well be more important than power when balik kampung. They’re used to NA power and maintenance costs, and want reliability. And surely there’s nothing more reliable than the NR engine used in millions of Peroduas, Daihatsus and Toyotas in our region.
This post focuses on the maintenance cost of the Traz over 100,000 km, or five years/60 months. We’ve thrown in the Myvi as a base reference point, since it’s P2’s target market (same engine too), and the Ativa as the alternative SUV in Perodua’s own range. The Ativa is more sophisticated and powerful, but also much smaller and thus less practical as a family car. Of course, we have the Proton X50 here too.
Perodua’s affordable ballpark
Perodua Traz maintenance schedule (top); compared to three other models (below) – click to enlarge
The Traz’s total maintenance cost over five years or 100,000 km is RM3,534.87. There are three patterns of regular oil change service over this time – the ‘small ones’ will set you back RM256.24, and the ‘medium ones’ with cabin filter change is priced at RM340.41.
The ‘big ones’ further add on air filter change and brake fluid service for RM340.41. The final bill on the schedule is the major 100k km service – this one includes a CVT fluid change and fresh spark plugs for RM769.38. This brings the grand total to slightly above RM3.5k.
As expected, that’s not significantly higher than what Myvi owners pay over five years, which is RM3,368.70. Upgrading to a bigger car, a ‘Toyota SUV’ at that, for maintenance cost that’s less than RM200 extra over five years – that would be sweet music to their ears.
What’s perhaps more surprising is that at RM3,539.30, the Ativa’s 100k km total maintenance cost is almost identical to the Traz’s. This is despite the Ativa’s costlier 100k km spark plug change (RM471.90 vs Traz’s RM263.60) as the items used in the 1.0-litre turbocharged engine is of a more advanced type to suit the boosted engine’s multi-spark ignition (full schedule below). All three Peroduas are in the same ballpark then.
Proton X50 – you pay for what you get
What’s not in the ballpark is the Proton X50, which will set you back RM5,048.70 in maintenance cost over five years. That’s RM1,513.83 higher than the Traz’s bill, which is not exactly small change for sub-RM100k cars. You do get a lot more performance though, so have that in mind as we go through the list.
Extra items for X50’s new 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo engine not found in the Traz menu are fuel filter (RM83.80, every other service), dual-clutch transmission oil change (RM346.92 at 80k km, Traz has a CVT oil change but it only costs RM140.7), and engine coolant (RM135.45 at 60k km).
The X50 uses four litres of engine oil per service (Traz 3.5L) and generally, all the consumables are costlier – for instance, the Proton’s oil filter at RM50.25 is more than double the price of the Traz’s (RM19.8); ditto the N95 cabin filter. Item prices aside, things are replaced more frequently too, like the air filter, which will be changed once every two visits (Traz is once every four).
Proton X50 maintenance schedule – click to enlarge
Perhaps the most stark difference is in a new owner’s first visit to the service centre. That happens at the first 1,000 km, and for Perodua, it’s just an inspection that’s free of charge. The X50 owner’s first 1,000 km visit is a full engine oil service that will cost him RM228.
Also noteworthy is that the X50’s RM5k total and RM1.5k difference from the Traz would’ve been even higher had Proton not placed the auxiliary belt change into 110k km service, escaping this table. That item appears only once in the 10-year cycle and costs RM147.57.
Again, you do get a lot more power and a more advanced engine with the Proton, and we suspect that most X50 owners won’t mind one bit paying the difference, but if maintenance cost is a factor for you, this is something to take note of – know what you’re getting into.
Tyres, battery and FC
Perodua Ativa and Myvi maintenance schedules – click to enlarge
So, the Proton X50 is costlier to maintain than the three Peroduas here, but you’d have guessed that already. What might be slightly surprising is that the Ativa’s maintenance cost is actually similar to the Traz, despite it having a more advanced downsized turbo engine offering more real-world power and speed.
However, we also need to take into account consumables like battery and tyres. Like the Traz, the Ativa’s top two variants ride on 17-inch tyres (higher profile on Traz) but its high-end factory-fitted Bridgestone Turanza T005A tyres are costlier to replace than the Toyo Proxes CR1 on the Traz. This is if you want to maintain OE attributes, such as the Ativa’s decent rolling refinement. Of course, one can always change tyre brands/type according to his budget.
On this topic, the X50’s two highest variants ride on 18-inch wheels (costlier tyres) and use premium rubber in the form of Continental UltraContact UC6 (Contis are no longer made in Malaysia, so it’ll cost even more to maintain this setup), while the base Executive comes with Giti tyres in the exact same size as the Traz – 215/60 R17.
Unlike other Peroduas, the Traz doesn’t have Eco Idle, so it doesn’t need the costlier EFB battery
Unlike other Peroduas, the Traz doesn’t have Eco Idle auto start-stop, which means that it can use the most basic of 12V batteries – no need for the costlier Enhanced Flooded Battery (EFB) ones required by the Ativa and other P2s. NS40 pun boleh.
Finally, fuel consumption. Perodua quotes 21.3 km/l for the Traz in the Malaysian Driving Cycle (MDC), while the older quote of 18.9 km/l for the Ativa was in the ECE mode. Daihatsu claims 18.6 km/l for the Rocky in the stricter WLTP cycle, so it’s thereabouts for the 1.0T. The Proton X50’s claimed FC is 6.1 litres per 100 km, which is 16.4 km/l. We shouldn’t compare all these figures though, as they’re on different cycles.
Our Hafriz Shah has driven the Traz over a few hundred kilometres (full review will be out very soon) and he reports that the Traz’s real-world FC is not that much better than that of the Ativa and X50. If so, perhaps one should look more towards maintenance cost and purchase price for Traz vs X50 savings.
Now that we know its maintenance cost, what do you think of the Perodua Traz and its simplicity-practicality value proposition?
GALLERY: Perodua Traz X, Granite Grey
GALLERY: Perodua Traz H, Electric Blue two-tone
GALLERY: Perodua Traz H with GearUp package, Cranberry Red
GALLERY: Perodua Traz H, Ivory White
GALLERY: Perodua Traz official images
GALLERY: Perodua Traz brochure
GALLERY: Perodua Traz GearUp catalogue
