Malaysian car subscription service Flux is on a roll. Last week they announced that new units of the X50 would be available for subscription (there’s only one unit left as of 11pm, 9 December 2020). Now they’ve quietly introduced some more local favourites, but of a very different vintage. As of this week, the Flux website has 3 units of the previous generation Perodua Myvi 1.5L and one unit of the pre-facelift Perodua Bezza 1.3L. Oh, there’s a 2013 Proton Saga too, which is now Flux’s most inexpensive entry at RM825/month on the default package.
The Myvis are all of varying trim levels and aged between 3-6 years and have between 40,000 and 60,000 kilometers clocked. One of them even has a set of body-coloured aftermarket rims if you’re into that sort of thing.
Otherwise, there’s little reason to choose the 2017 model over the other two. Prices range from RM975-RM1075 a month based on the default 3-year subscription with the Lite mileage package.
Here’s the real strange part. Flux provides a break down of expenses in the first year of ownership vs subscription. If I’m not mistaken, this would be the first time a car’s actually cheaper to own than to subscribe to!
This only applies to the most inexpensive of the three Myvis listed. However, the one with the aftermarket rims only presents a first year savings of approximately RM122… So you might ask why Flux bothered introducing these cars?
After sitting down and talking to some actual subscribers, I think I can see a reason why this might work. Some Malaysians and expats just don’t have access to a loan. Their assets and savings are tied up overseas, so local banks are unwilling or unable to release loans to them. With Flux, they can put their car subscription on a credit card AND they get to benefit from the included concierge service too.
Another theory is that they just needed to bring the entry price into their car subscription down. When they launched last year, their fleet included the excellent Kia Picanto for under RM900 a month. That disappeared pretty quickly and for the longest time, the most inexpensive car one could subscribe to was the Honda City at RM1,269 on the default package. Now with GoCar Subs introducing a more streamlined pricing structure with a category literally called “Cheap” starting at just RM999 a month on the default 3-year package.
Quite a situation the subscription market is now in. At the end of 2020, Renault Subscription has expanded beyond new cars, GoCar Subs has a nice and simplified pricing structure and Flux is now unofficially the most inexpensive way into car subscription. How very exciting.
