The 2026 Proton Saga MC3 was launched in November with a RM1,000 early-bird rebate (making the prices RM37,990, RM43,990 and RM48,990), but this has now given way to January rebates of up to RM500 plus up to RM300 if you trade in. So RM800 is now the maximum you could potentially save.
Small difference it may be from before (RM200-500), but those whose loans have been approved with the old price may need to re-apply, and in the budget segment, loan approvals are not always a walk in the park. Some banks or dealers may allow customers to simply top up the difference instead of having to re-apply for the loan.
This is the first time the early-bird rebate offers of recent Proton launches have been rescinded. Usually the launch rebates become permanent or extended indefinitely, and are normally increased over time. For instance, the X50 facelift‘s launch rebate was RM4,000 (now RM6,000 + RM800), the X90 now offers RM20,000 off and the S70‘s free bodykit can still be had, plus an RM8,000 rebate.
With over 10,000 units already on the road and over 30,000 names waiting, it’s small wonder Proton has chosen to pull back on offers for the new Saga – it clearly doesn’t need much help at this point. Read our full review, see maintenance costs, compare specs and dive deep via our launch report.
GALLERY: 2026 Proton Saga 1.5 Premium CVT MC3
GALLERY: 2026 Proton Saga 1.5 Executive A/T MC3
GALLERY: 2026 Proton Saga 1.5 Standard A/T MC3
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About 3 years ago, my senior colleague initially wanted to replace his old 1st gen Persona with a new 2nd gen Persona VVT, but his mechanic friend advised against it, because the width of the 2nd gen Persona radiator is slightly more than half the width of the 1st gen Persona radiator, which means that the 2nd gen Persona is more vulnerable to overheating than the 1st gen model. My colleague ended up buying the Saga VVT MC2 which has a radiator that is about the same size as that in the 1st gen Persona, although the MC2 has the smaller 1.3L Campro. He did consider the Bezza 1.3 but he was advised that the Bezza 1.3 radiator is about half the width of the Saga MC2 radiator.
From the photos, the width of the Saga MC3 radiator appears to be less than the MC2’s, but it is still wider than the Bezza 1.3 radiator.
Radiator width not important as long as adequate coolant in good conditions. Ultimately the oil cooler does matter, bezza using a small round type that cause the gearbox to fail when coolant mixed with atf fluid. Saga mc2 and persona vvt got a square radiator type oil cooler that anytime better. Sadly saga mc3 using same small type as the x50 that should change after 100k km of mileage. But then the mc3 safe the mess of timing belt changing at every 80k km.
If I’m not mistaken, it is the earlier Saga VVT MC2 with CVT that has an external tranmission fluid cooler just like in the Saga FLX. The later Saga MC2 with 4AT has the transmission fluid cooler or heat exchanger inside the bottom of the radiator. This means that other than engine heat, the radiator coolant also needs to deal with the heat from the ATF, and not too forget that the heated air from the air-cond condenser in front of the radiator makes the cooling process more challenging.
Yes, I’ve heard about that ‘tuna can’ shaped ATF-coolant external heat exchanger in the Bezza, Axia & 3rd gen Myvi which is prone to causing fluid cross contamination before reaching the 100k km mileage mark. There are Axia, Bezza & 3rd gen Myvi owners who have converted to external ATF coolers, placed in front of their radiators, for better peace of mind. May be this can also be done on the MC3.
Buying a car based on the size of the radiator…
That’s a new theory that I haven’t heard…
Your friend must be driving the car really hard…
My colleague was just following the advice of his mechanic friend who must have had many experiences fixing engine cooling issues.
wow…i have never seen someone decided to buy a car base on the width of the radiator. This is indeed ground breaking.
They say that the radiator with the larger frontal area will dissipate more heat from the coolant. So, if the 2nd gen Persona VVT radiator has a smaller frontal area than the 1st gen Persona radiator despite having the same displacement 1.6L engine, there will surely be some doubts over the engine cooling capability in the 2nd gen Persona.
The new saga becomes hot cakes now, even premium variant cheaper than a myvi 1.5x without reverse camera and the unwanted bugging eco idle.
For bezza x maybe still win in fuel consumption due to lighter body. But perodua if couldn’t gives a 1.5L engine, please give a not blurry reverse camera to the rm45k bezza x lah.
hidup B40
At least proton don’t do side ah long business like Perutdua leasing
Drove by new Saga on highway, notice their dash board and car player has same brightness… wonder how long does it takes for Proton to update their meter gauge cluster.
OR still waiting for vendor to get it done?