Crosswind

Seems the whole point of this topic is someone is trying to improve his permit racket. Anyway dude, in sri lanka, the vehicle market is a paradox. Goes against the laws of economics. More prices go up, more people try to buy expensive cars. They take it as an investment, not as an expense. And there are plenty of subprime lending organizations to sustain them.

isn't that the one that appeared (crashed, rather) in the original Italian Job?

A car that had run just 10000km in 3 years? That would have been the first indication of something dodgy!

Seriously are you living inside a shell? How about half of Panchikawatta and 3/4th of Delkanda, for starters?

Cars belonging to this batch would have hit the Sri Lankan shores very recently. Some (if not most) of them would not have had the upgrade done to the faulty module. So I think Maheshw's post is very valid.

12km/l??? Consider yourself lucky if it does more than 8.

She can get a vehicle modified as an 'invalid carriage'. It will also be registred in SL as an invalid carriage (PZ- number). They fall under a lower tax bracket. However, you wil have to go through a lengthy process to register it. If she is going to be in SL for a few months, try to get the vehicle through carnet.

I guess it's not in the usual place Let me make a wild guess and say it is underneath the boot. Can't imagine a weird idea like having the spare wheel in the passenger compartment.

I spotted a 104 recently in Pilimatalawa - Daulagala road (road leading to Embekke Dewale via Gadaladeniya and Lankatilaka temples), close to Daulagala town. It is a facelift version (bigger headlights) and looks pretty much to be in its original condition. Don't know if the owner is willing to part with it. If you are really desperate, you will need to take a trip to the area and try convincing the owner .

Sylvi, That was meant to be a JOKE. Whatever inhalations you take must be pretty good stuff. Sincerely, Crosswind

Mystery Solved! Did u do any makabass fixes to UW's Learjet just before it took off?

Between those two, I'll pick Trad Sunny anytime. Do your own research (rather than relying on hearsay) about spare parts availability before committing to buy one. Not sure exactly how it will perform at 'long distance travel' and 'trouble-free use', as it is good 20+ years on Sri Lankan roads. I guess only experience will tell that.

Upali factory at Homagama still exists. They manufacture consumer goods like Dettol soap and Kandos chocolates there.

UMC Mazda was based on1st Gen Mazda Luce not Familia. Luce was a bigger car than the familia at that time. Never heard of rotaries in Upali Mazdas.

Ah well... Things are not as simple as they seem to be. I have no evidence with the place in question, to back up what I am about to say but let me say a few things in general, about places that accept cars from the public, for selling. Car yards like this have two types of customers. First is the general public like you and the second type are the 'buying and selling' people (local vernacular is 'baiya'). Although general public bring in business, its the baiyas who keep them afloat. The baiyas also have relationships with everyone in the yard, from the owner to the guy who cleans the place. More often than not, the relationship is maintained by money. The battery trick is a fairly common one. They don't steal the battery. They just remove the water out of it. If an ordinary seller prices a car just below or in par with the price of baiya's vehicles, this becomes a threat to the baiyas. The easiest thing to do is to remove the water out of the battery, which makes it difficult to start. When an average buyer visits the place looking for a car to buy, he will naturally think that the car has a problem or it has been there for a long time and that creates a doubt about the condition of the car on the buyer's mind. Secondly, this trick also puts pressure on the seller. If the seller is in a hurry to sell the car, he will think he is not getting any offers (without knowing the actual problem) so he keeps reducing the price. And all of a sudden, a baiya will give an offer and grab the car. Baiyas also get information from these places about vehicles which can be grabbed for cheap. If the battery is sealed-type, they just keep the ignition on until the battery dies. Cars in yards also become bedrooms at nights for staff/their friends who wish to have female companionship. Furthermore, car yard owners maintain a 'good relationship' with the village copshed, the kuddas in the area and the local politicos. So don't expect a very fair deal if you were to approach the copshed. It's always best not to trust a third party to sell your car or buy a car. Again, I have to say I have no evidence to correlate the above with the place in question. This is general advice for people who are planning to sell their car.

Read and understand all the threads in AL about Minis and get a good understanding about the things u need to look for. That will help u to get a good Mini.

That;s the dumbest statement I heard. Minis are NOT weekenders... and no, they are NOT unreliable. Find a good one, do all the maintenance on time and u got a nice daily runner on hand.

Whats the vehicle? If the damage to the tank is severe, why not consider replacing the tank? U can get them from delkanda or panchikawatta

Seriously, if can manage to think just a little bit out of the box, there are much better options than these three.

Couple of local phone sellers have advertised for 150K in an FB group. I can think of 100 better things to do with that kind of money

Stig and Jdnet were newbies not so long ago. From day 1, they contributed to the forum. Blocking newbies (or anyone) is not the way to go imho.

Yes the rep system is similar to what I'm talking about. But the trouble is every tom, dick and harry can rep up posts just like you said. This also means loss of credibility.

For the problem of people giving misleading advice and damaging the reputation of AL, may I suggest the following. At present, we have four levels of memberships - moderators, pro members, members and newbies. Apart from the moderator group, the rest of the groups are essentially the same, with same level of privileges and these are mere titles solely based on the post count. So my suggestion is, instead of having 'pro members', 'members' and 'newbies', let's have two groups (moderators excluded) as 'Members' and 'Trusted Members', 1. Trusted Members are members who have given factually accurate, timely and relevant information to any queries continually and their advice can be simply trusted. 2. Time and again, Trusted Members can be elected by moderators and other Trusted Members. Trusted Members can also be removed if moderators and other Trusted Members see fit. Getting elected as a Trusted Member is not related to the post count. It's on a purely democratic basis. If a member has posted only 50 posts and if the posts are of high quality, he/she can be elected as a trusted member. 3. Trusted Members do not have any extra authorities on the forum or any extra privileges. They merely carry an extra tag saying that they are Trusted Members and their advice can be trusted. 4. Any member/Trusted Member has the right to post in any topic as usual. And anyone can listen, dispute or argue with any opinion as usual. Having a 'Trusted Member' title is merely the forum's way of telling any newcomer or member that 'we feel this guy's advice can be trusted'. Now the problems: Some members may see this as an offensive move to sway the forum's general opinion. However, it is the Trusted Member's responsibility to be factual and objective as much as possible. For example, even if a Trusted Member personally would'nt buy a Prius, he/she should be responsible enough to acknowledge its benefits. What do you think?

there are! there's one in pristine condition, which is kept for display at the current fiat agent's showroom... there was another with a lot of corrosion, up for sale in a local classifieds site sometime ago. i guess there must be a few with the ICE club members