GTAm
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Everything posted by GTAm
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Many financial institutions will give a full lease. There is hardly anyone borrowing right now. Negotiate hard on the rate, since they are on their way down.
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It makes one wonder about how our economy has been managed all these years. Those were not the cheapest cars around nor were they the most economical, and yet the industry saw it as viable to run them. I recall even the Mercedes W115 was used. It's hard to imagine that 508s and E-classes will be used on the same scale as in those days.
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Absolutely correct. The "budget" car sector has become a lucrative business for manufacturers. Renault-Nissan's Dacia is the big earner for the group while the Renault brand itself is struggling to stem losses. Renault-Nissan is also very strong in Russia now after the Avto-Vaz JV which means this Datsun could spawn a Lada!!
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BTW almost all large franchise holder importers have applied for assembly license in the last few years but the govt. has not given approval yet. If you read some of the past annual reports of the Plc's you will see that they have.
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In one word - "Margin". When you can sell just below the price of your competitors and earn a fat profit why thin it out? Also you know consumer take price as an indicator of quality. If a car was excessively cheap many people who be suspicious about the quality. I also think that they have a capacity issue when it comes to their sticker removing assembly. Space, workers, keeping everything secret etc is not easy for any industry in SL. So they operate at the optimum level. Smart.
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Micros are definitely not made in SL. It's even hard to say that they are assembled here because they are not. We are all taken on a gigantic ride to avoid paying the correct import taxes. How do they get away with it? Because of the powerful "connections" . If we had an assembly plant here would it not be the pride of this country and would not there be factory visits by the public, school kids etc. Won't they show it on TV and boast about it? I'll tell you what the assembly consists of. Removing protective stickers off the body, pasting the badges, replacing the Chinese battery with another imported one, If leather is required it's done locally and fill in the fluids - Oils and Coolants. Voila - Made in Sri Lanka. How do I know this? I'm afraid I cannot reveal my sources, but make your inquiries from people in the know and you will see. But Sri Lanka being Sri Lanka they'll probably get away with it for years to come and no one will be bothered about it I'm dead sure.
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So obviously the battery is faulty or the charging system in the car is faulty. Just borrow a battery with all cells functioning and see if all the symptoms disappear. You may have to plug in the tester and cancel the check-engine error.
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Available here in SL too. I got a blue one maybe 2 years back. Lots of shops have Hot Wheels. Nastars @ LP, Odel, Cool Planet etc.
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Audi won again and the Toyota's were just not quick enough. Great result for Morgan in the LMP2 class and Porsche won both the GTE classes with relative ease. Here are the results. http://www.24h-lemans.com/wpphpFichiers/1/1/ressources/Pdf/2013/24-heures-du-mans/classification/race/24-heures-du-mans-2013-classifcation-after-24h.pdf
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Looking good!
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Scorpion Go Kart (Three Wheeled Go Kart)
GTAm replied to Sandun Madhawa's topic in DIY (Do-It-Yourself)
Great project. Good luck. -
I always thought 3 cars were max for me. Now I find myself owning 5! I guess it depends on how crazy and unwise you are. I think I am very crazy and totally unwise Some of the financial decisions I took in order to secure these cars, I probably will not do again. A wife/fiance who understands such passions definitely helps. On the flipside the old cars I bought and restored have inperceptibly turned into valuable assets in terms of monetary value, while giving me years and miles of pleasure which was the idea in the first place . Right now since I own 3 of my dream cars I really don't have much desire to add anymore. There is one other classic I would like to own, but it is not critical that I do. So I also guess it depends on how much the cars you own does for you. But on the other hand if I win a million dollar lottery who knows what I'll do!
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Here's my latest update. Just back from seeing Sergio Scaglietti. Progress has slowed a bit but that's a good thing as the money supply has been a bit slow for me these days. Side Valences complete and the doors close nicely. Lower panel for front door taking shape. Bonnet, Boot Lid and Hard-to-turnout scuttle panel came from Oz and UK.
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That makes life a whole lot easier. Cars which have had a collectible value for a while are sorted by remanufacturerd parts but models that were neglected by collectors for decades and only now have a following have to struggle for parts. Usually old stock or salvaged parts. I face the same issue with my Sud Sprint. Almost nothing is re-manufactured but there still is a supply of old stock and used parts For the Giulia on the other hand, almost anything is just a mouse-click away.
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Leaked pics of the new Mazda 3/ Axela. Looks very good I must say.
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Omg! Are they old stock? No one re-manufacturers them? That's the price of a whole car in rough condition.
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In theory it could happen but I think it is unlikely considering that they were the majority shareholders originally and they sold out to Suzuki. Why would you sell out your share when the company had a near monopoly? I think they lack vision unlike Tata and Mahindra who are intent on becoming glabal players. VW has managed Bentley reasonably well making it profitable but probably doing long term damage to the brand and the Skoda turnaround has been brilliant. However they are still losing money with Seat, Lamborghini and Bugatti. However they makes such a massive from Audi that it really does not matter for now. BMW has done a good job with Mini and Rolls, so they've learned from the Rover lesson. Suzuki must love to do what you suggest but how can they do it? With what resources? In any of those markets Toyota can do a deal in a much lucrative manner than Suzuki can ever dream of. It's all a matter of size. Toyota can order the parts at a significant % cheaper than Suzuki can because of the difference in volumes.The best Suzuki can do is consolidate on their strengths and cut off their loss making operations (this is why they pulled out of the US mkt) and hope for a future partnership. They have no cutting edge tech to offer. The only jewel in the crown is their Indian market share. The industry is such that when you don't have critical mass you cannot survive. Even the mighty Porsche, the company that had the highest margins in the industry was swallowed up by the giant VW group.
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+1. I got license in Oz and passed just by the skin of my teeth. I managed to remember looking over my shoulder when merging I nearly lost it when turning at an intersection I veered on to the other lane slightly. I quickly corrected myself and gave a smile to the lady tester
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Hi Don, Suzuki is the controlling shareholder in the Indian venture. So there is very little chance of that happening. Mahendra might be lured in as they are hungry for aquisitions and growth. They made a bid for the Aston Martin stake last year. Renault is being kept afloat by Nissan these days (because of the EU economic woes) so no hope there I believe. BMW and Mercedes with their current management will never try it after their blunders with Rover and Chrysler. Fiat competes in the same market but they are dsiasterous in India and the rest of Asia so it will be a good fit. But Fiat is busy swallowing up the rest of Chrysler this year so maybe it could happen later. But for anyone to be able to get access VW must decide to sell the 20% stake. And that is hard to imagine with the arrogance that they show.
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True about the Kei cars Gummy but they just don't have the scale to compete. Toyota, VW, and GM make around 8 million vehicles each. Suzuki makes under 3m units and mostly cheap small cars where margins are low. VW hasn't pulled out Suzuki has. Because VW showed Suzuki as a subsidiary in their annual report Suzuki got offended and Japanese pride was hurt. There was a big war of words that followed. Germans typically like to dominate everybody else for their benefit as can be seen in the EU crisis today. That does not go well with the Japanese culture. GM had to bail out as it was going down and sold it's stakes in Suzuki, Subaru and Isuzu and wound down Saab. Yes I too hope that the Chinese billions don't secure it - look at what they're doing to MG. Fiat could be a good partner. Suzuki is dominant in India and Fiat is struggling. Suzuki and Fiat already have agreements where Fiat supplies them with all their diesel engines - the 1.3 Multi-Jet. The SX4 was badged as the Fiat Sedici for Europe. But until VW exits nothing will happen. In the meantime VW will try every trick in the book for a takeover.
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Yes there are the exceptionally poor drivers who no matter what they do cannot master that skill. But I think the whole thing stems from our very loose driving test. For starters if you go with a so called Driving School, you are basically guaranteed of getting the license within the stipulated number of lessons. We also know how easy it is to bribe the tester (or anybody ). So we get a thousands of incompetent drivers churned out every year. In fact I am convinced that a big part of the cause of congestion in Colombo is because people drive too slow.
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Ha ha sure mate.
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You could be right. You mean responsiveness of the steering? Which is not the same as lightness of steering. What I meant with sports cars/sporting cars is throttle response as well as agility which is mentioned in describing handling. Probably for a City car it's more steering lightness and manouvarability. I'm sure the City car person will be terrified by instant throttle response and will drive such a car in the manner which is known as "bunny hopping". That's lunging forward when they hit the throttle and involuntarily jumping on the brake pedal the next moment in fear - jolting the car and its occupants. While people might refer to steering response as lightness and easy of maneuvering, in a sporting car it's how direct the steering is. The more of a sports car it is the more direct the steering gets - tiny inputs give a big response. Deadly for our city car people. They will want mushy light steering with a big dose of 'play' for safety. I've never driven a Kelisa btw.
