lahiru egodawatta

Hi, after going through maaany cars I bought a volvo s40. Bought about a week ago, currently at Swedish trading for some minor repairs. Compared to the other vehicles I checked, it was in much better condition, relatively newer and ofcourse probably the safest option. There's a good community setup here (in SL, still not easy in kandy) and they've been pretty helpful so far.

Seller called me up first thing in the morning and offered it for 18 provided I advance and confirm immediately. But i haven't seen this car in person so I had to refuse. But I'll check it out this weekend along with a c34 laurel with a RB20 😍.

Yeah, I've seen ads go offline and come back up the next day in a different location with a different owner who's had it for '6 months' since he bought it yesterday. So far the Japanese vehicles I looked at were in somewhat better condition. I found a pristine elantra here in kandy, but sadly the owner decided to up the price after I decided to buy it. Edit: Whats a "molli" engine?

Guys sorry about the constant questions. I found two s130 crowns. Both duplicate books, both auto, both converted to diesel, one 2L engine updated in the book, the other has a 5L engine in the book but a 2L-TE engine in the car. Are conversions troublesome? I test drove the 2L-TE crown, was pretty good, but it didn't downshift no matter how hard I floored it. I didn't test drive the other one but the owner said the gearbox has an issue where you have to start off in 2 and the switch to D. With the price of these cars I have about 400k of cash left over if I purchase them. That gives me some confidence that I'll be able to fix any minor drive train issues. But yeah I'm thinking of definitely going on soem vehicle before the end of this month. If not a car there's a jimny my wife doesn't approve of.

Thankyou guys for the input and info on this. I did a search in Colombo on Sunday and man... the cars in my budget are just ruined.. I'm starting to think my expectations are still stuck in 2020. But we're using our parents 2006 vitz these days and its flawless. Its sad to see these 2004-2006 elantras in such bad shape in comparison (but i heard the korean cars have cheaper plastic, idk). I think my only option right now is to lower my expectations or apply for a lease and increase my budget. I was thinking of buying a mini for a few months, so we can use it around town, and selling it off (I'm guessing it'll hold value fairly well). I've had very few issues with the cops back when I used my BIL's mini, just got stopped once because the colour of the number plate was wrong :S. But after reading Jigawatt's thread I'm having doubts about that too. But Thankyou all for your input, I feel like i would have made some seriously bad decisions if not for the advice on this thread.

I didn't even think about the process of getting the car under my name. Is it safer to apply for a minimal lease on the car, they probably do all the necessary checks because the car goes under their name right? Unfortunately for me I have no choice but to buy a car from a fellow Sri Lankan. But I'm hopeful I'll find someone in the 1%. But the guy I spoke to said he's had the car for 6 months but the last ownership change entry on the 'book' is from 2017. BTW how are elantras and accents? I'm getting alot of push towards them but frankly Im not convinced about them. As for the documents being clear, the rmv website apparently has an issue and they adviced me not to make any payment on it. But the free information service worked and the information checks out (the small plate on the car matched the info on the book and on the website). Still dunno about how I'd know if the duplicate book was legally obtained. I guess I'll look into that once I inspect the car. And would anyone recommend taking a carcheck service here? They seem promising.

Hey everyone, I'm back! Sadly my car hunt took a little too long and all A33 cefiros have gone beyond my budget. Had my eye on a p11 primera with an sr20de in trinco, went and checked it out, turned out to be a waste of time, car was ruined. I checked some u14 bluebirds (diesel) but they turned out to be pretty badly maintained (sensing a pattern here). Idk if my expectations are too high or I'm just unlucky. But I wanted to know if there's any issue with duplicate books. I read the previous forum articles (last one in 2020) where someone pointed out that valuation comes about 10% less. But what I've heard people say I shouldn't pay more than half of the 'real value' of the car if its a duplicate book, some say about 500k less than its market price. But I'm planning on using whatever I get for 3-4 years. Even then I'm not expecting to sell it off within a day. Is it foolish to go for a car with a duplicate book even if its a good deal? There's no loss if I buy it for cheap and sell it for cheap right? Aslong as its legal.

Thankyou again, I'll probably stay away from euros unless I get a really good deal then. Will update once I run into another car that sparks interest. Will keep you guys posted about them. Basically - Something that's well maintained, isn't a leaf, relatively easy to repair or with parts readily available.

Btw, what about volvos? S40 and s60 haven't really changed in pricing, are they an electrical nightmare?

Thankyou everyone for the help with and information with this matter. I've narrowed it down to anything but the leaf right now XD. Pointless asking for advice if I'm not willing to listen, and I can't be worried in the morning whether I forgot to plug my car in. As you guys suggested, I'm actively searching for P11 primeras (best bet so far, I can safely buy the car and have some cash in hand for repairs) and A33 cefiros. B14 idk, I don't think I'll get a chance of getting a good one for my budget considering it's its demand. Anyway with the budget 2022 I'll be able to make a firm decision on a car very soon. Thankyou all again. Will keep you all posted.

Actually no I'm still on the fence after speaking to some leaf users. I need to get atleast another 3 years out of a leaf without it dipping below 40km per charge and IDK if thats a realistic goal. I went on search today in kandy to check cars on sale, only thing i found in my budget that I kinda liked was a fb14. I have some test drives planned for sometime this week in colombo of some leafs? (leaves?). Someone suggested i wait out on deciding until the budget on the 12th. Some told me that vehicle imports wont go ahead until 2024 and prices will only rise. Hopefully that works out with the leaf aswell. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my justification for choosing a leaf is, i feel like theres one thing i need to really check and thats the battery, and to my understanding, there are non invasive ways to confirm its health with a good amount of confidence. But with conventional vehicles within my budget that are about 20-30 years old, i feel like any parts that should wear out would be pretty badly worn out by now and i might be buying myself into a timebomb waiting to go off and keep us stranded somewhere someday soon. And im sure this is because of my lack of knowledge but i dont know if the health of an ordinary combustion engine car can be checked and confirmed as much as a leaf battery can be.

You're correct, most of them are priced a bit high and I can't risk getting a lemon at the moment. I think I'm going to go ahead with a Nissan leaf, like supra_natural said its the safest and newest vehicle I can get for my budget. Also feels like it'll have fewer parts to break. Thankyou everyone for the suggestions and advice.

Thankyou so much for the very informative reply. The Kia i guess was just some mindset i got from watching all these movies with families having MPVs.I dug around a bit and almost everyone asked me to stay away from the Leaf. Apparently its really hard to sell and driving at night would net me alot less mileage. I really like Nissan vehicles and i LOVE the cefiro but im afraid of our country's situation with fuel shortages, the fact that its thirsty isnt TOO much of an issue as fuel is somewhat covered atleast for work. But like you said, im afraid ill have to replace something expensive soon after buying it. I did check the AE110 and Sunny b14 but their age is a bit frightening. Bluebirds are sort of out of my budget as far as online adverts are concerned. I didnt do much research on the Wingroad, we had an AD wagon growing up and i did love the extra bootspace to sleep during trips. But since both of you suggested I will definitely look into it. My gut for somereason really wants a leaf. But everybody i talk to seems to hate it. Thankyou both again for your replies. I will keep you guys posted.

Hi, Sorry about starting a new thread for this even though my budget is the same as the previous OPs post. I have a daughter coming in a few weeks and I'm looking to buy a car of my own that's reliable and safe. My budget is about 2.5mil and so far I'm really liking the following vehicles kia carens, Nissan leaf, cefiro. I read a review about the kia carens on AL but its dated 2011, is it a bad choice in 2021? Any advice or any other suggestions are welcome.