Supra_Natural

Awesome post jdnet, great stuff!

Depends on what you want from the car. If you're one of those types that is considering buying one simply because you've heard they are cheap to buy and you want the "look" and "status" that a Euro car gives but you dont actually LIKE the cars themselves particularly then please save yourself the trouble and avoid them. I'll have a stab at answering the questions anyway for what it's worth. 1. Market Price - The PassAt and Bora are two very different cars, and Skoda has an entire separate range so you cant give one market price for all. Sticking with the Passat and the Bora, Boras retail for between 1.6 and 1.8 Million realistically. 1998-2001 (pre Facelift or B5 Model) Passats realistically should be priced at between 1.2-1.6 Million although asking prices vary wildly. The 2001-2005 Facelift (or B5.5) versions go from anywhere between 2.0-2.5 Mill depending on condition, seller, buyer etc. 2. Spares Availability - Much better than before with several importers who have most of the major parts in stock. Body parts might be a bit of a hassle but definitely not unobtainable. They will be more expensive than Toyotas and Nissans. 3. Fuel Efficiency - Not really 4. Secondhand Market - Good cars are in high demand but difficult to find. Most of these cars have already depreciated to their lowest point so any massive drops in value are unlikely unless a major shift happens in the overall market like a huge tax drop. The actions of the agents and lack of parts have given them a bad reputation hence the low prices. But now that the parts problems are mostly sorted and since there now is an Independent Specialist for them, things are slowly looking up. Essentially, if you're just looking for something big, cheap and flash that you can abuse and run on the cheap, go buy a "Jaguar Light" Hyundai Sonata and get it diesel converted. Passats/Boras et al can only properly be run by people who understand that they will definitely have random issues and are prepared to deal with these because they appreciate the many other qualities that make these cars stand out from the Allion/Axio/121 crowd. If used that way, with the proper care and maintenance, they will serve you well. Otherwise they will become a nightmare that will make you curse everything and everyone ever connected with them. So consider yourself warned. When you buy one of these you aren't only buying a car, you are buying a hobby as well.

Each tab is opened as a separate instance... It's chromes way of managing the memory or something. Plus, if one tab/instance crashes it usually doesnt affect the rest of the browsing sessions.

double post

As someone else has stated Carmarts exploits are pretty much among the stuff of legends now when it comes to screwing the customer. They single handedly manage to ruin the reputation of VW, Peugeot and to a lesser extent Mazda in SL thanks to their half-assed cons. For Mazda owners, Im told that Mazna is the place to go although some report are now coming in of them suffering from "Monopoly Syndrome" Peugeot owners have two or three good outside options now and VW /Audi drivers now have the option of Vishwa Motors, who really know the cars.

Many happy returns of the day man! hopefully the new year brings less automotive annoyances...

Belated b'day wishes to the GP. AL was refusing to log me in y'day and thia morning.

Toyota Camry

Yawn.... Classic Isurujosh, nothing logical to contribute so on with the personal attacks! You do provide a fair bit of entertainment mate. As for your assessment of my "driving and evaluating skills", well I'll let you know if an occasion arises that it becomes important to me what you think of them. I must add that the possibility of such an eventuality is fairly remote at the moment. Of course, I tend to give a definite opinion on a vehicle after driving it for a period of time, I dont have your gift of being able to tell what a given vehicle feels like to drive by reading the brochure/spec sheet or standing next to it. What to do, not all of us are born with that talent I suppose. I suppose it didnt occur to you that Honda may have a different set of priorities in their car building other than making fanboys wet their pants? Like meeting World fuel economy and emissions standards perhaps? Y'know, since they always have been a company that has cared about their green cred....

To clarify, this thread is about the Motor show that will happen in November which has the backing of the Motor Traders Association which means that most of the agents will have their new vehicle on display. The previous Motor Show that happened last month was organized by a different group.

Well Elvis' post did contain information of value, unlike the one which said, Quote "What the hulk?" or the one thats been quoted here. Anyway, turned out to be an interesting race. Unfortunate that Hulkenberg couldnt capitalize on the pole position. R*D B*LL wrapped up the constructor's title and now we have a three horse race going into the Abu Dhabi Finale. All in all, has been quite an interesting season. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS The Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil; 71 laps; 305.909km; Weather: Sunny. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel R*D B*LL-Renault 1h33:11.803 2. Webber R*D B*LL-Renault + 4.243 3. Alonso Ferrari + 6.807 4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 14.634 5. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 15.593 6. Rosberg Mercedes + 35.300 7. Schumacher Mercedes + 43.400 8. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 9. Kubica Renault + 1 lap 10. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 14. Massa Ferrari + 1 lap 15. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 17. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 18. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 2 laps 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 21. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps 22. Klien HRT-Cosworth + 6 laps Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:13.851 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 63 Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 50 World Championship standings, round 18: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Alonso 246 1. R*D B*LL-Renault 469 2. Webber 238 2. McLaren-Mercedes 421 3. Vettel 231 3. Ferrari 389 4. Hamilton 222 4. Mercedes 202 5. Button 199 5. Renault 145 6. Massa 143 6. Williams-Cosworth 69 7. Rosberg 130 7. Force India-Mercedes 68 8. Kubica 126 8. Sauber-Ferrari 44 9. Schumacher 72 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 10. Barrichello 47 11. Sutil 47 12. Kobayashi 32 13. Hulkenberg 22 14. Liuzzi 21 15. Petrov 19 16. Buemi 8 17. De la Rosa 6 18. Heidfeld 6 19. Alguersuari 3 Race report http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88034

OT Nothing is more amusing than a former fanboy who feels "wronged" by his previously worshiped Icon.... You're welcome to your own opinion of course but personally speaking, having driven a 1.6 VTEC FD Civic with the (rare in SL) Manual box I was totally impressed by the drive. The willingness of that engine can only properly be exploited by the manual and it is a fantastic gearbox! Handling is also pretty damn good for it's class. IMO compared to an Axio purely as a driving experience, the Civic is definitely a much more enjoyable car. Although the Axio is better in the ride quality and refinement departments. When you think about it, that has pretty much been the same story for every generation of civic previously as well when compared to the corresponding competition. So "FD is not as good as EK and Eg was against the competition" is really not a valid statement IMO. Mind you that is just my opinion based on driving and evaluating the cars mentioned.

So you mean to say that Car Mart is an international operation or something? I suppose you havent heard of Mazna Motors in Pepiliyana, recognized independent specialist for Mazda? People have fallen into the mistaken assumption that Toyotas and Nissans are the only makes that can be maintained outside the agents and that is NOT true...

Amen to that, Id be happy to get 7! and people are wondering if there's something wrong when they get 14 to a freakin liter!!

I would be willing to bet that in comfort, driving pleasure, "feel good factor" etc the BMW would have the edge by far. An unreg allion premio or similar WILL have the advantage that as practically new cars, they wont need any major rectification work for a couple of years. Whereas if you do buy an older euro, you will need to initially set aside some time/funds to sort out the wear and tear that will inevitably be present in a car thats been used in SL conditions for a few years.

The Brand I meant IS Euro, and they own Audi.

If you're willing to opt for a slightly less Posh badge than Audi, you can have basically the same ability level as that A4 for a couple of Million less

Wow, what an amazing reason to buy a car!

+1000 lol

Maybe cos its newer?

You want valid reasons? Fine, lets sort that out in hope of bringing some sense back to this thread. The FB15s that are around will be on average at least two years newer than the Ek3s available for the same price. And before you say "that doesnt matter the Ek3 is BETTER etc" allow me to point out that it matters to some people, especially when they think about resale. Also when it comes to wear and tear on components and such, obviously newer vehicles have advantages. The AE110 is always going to have higher demand in the market than the an Ek3 (despite being the same age or even older), thats just how it is and no matter how much Honda fanatics yell and scream, that isnt going to change. Put simply, it will always be easier to quickly sell a corolla 110 than it will be to sell an ek3 if they are the same age/condition. Plus, the 110 has a considerably more comfortable suspension set up that is better adapted to the various different road conditions in sri lanka than the Ek3s. Spec sheets can only tell you so much after all. Both the Nissan and the AE110 have wider spare parts availability than the Ek3 and because of this parts prices are cheaper. I am not certain of the prices at the agents for genuine bits of each model but the simple fact that there are a much larger number of parts suppliers for Toyotas and Nissans means that parts will remain comparatively cheaper for a while. Mind you, all of the above are valid reasons the average car buyer would consider when comparing these cars. The Honda Ek3 is admittedly a bit better to drive than the corolla or the sunny but that again is a minute difference which the ordinary car buyer would not notice or care much about. So there you go. Valid enough for you?

eh? Really? Thats quite odd.... I got to know him a couple of months back when a friend of mine bought a Passat and he was always available to do my friend's work. Thanks to him, I went and bought one myself last week and my car is with the guy right now. He IS fairly busy but havent had problems getting hold of him personally...

Man its been awhile since we saw you here.... good to have you back! Done with the Evo? Give me a buzz, might be able to direct you towards a competent bloke.