Supra_Natural

those two terms dont really go hand in hand very well. Especially not if the car in question is a 15 year old honda civic with a nightclub's worth of neon on the bottom! Then again, no accounting for personal taste I suppose, so whatever floats your boat mate...

Can I just say.... HOLY SHEET!

That is Correct!

Not a 604 either.

nope.

Epic race that was, drama absolutely EVERYWHERE!! Six retirements in total too. Anyway congrats to button and brawn but the bloke I feel sorry for is old Rubens... Worst luck in the world!

Just giving this a bump.... here's the image again

All right gentlemen, apologies for being so late with this Here we go....

citroen Xantia perhaps? Engine was shared between this and the pug 406 I believe.

Note they mean that in the british context, where kelisas are almost cheaper than walking thanks to depreciation. When you add SL prices into the mix, it makes a lot less sense.

Not with the CVT gearbox it wont... especially for someone who is a total newcomer to car maintenance.

What do you mean "Latest model"? well the last ones were manufactured in 2000/2001 after which they were replaced by the corolla 121. A 1500 engine is the most common option in SL and that motor is pretty bulletproof, so its a good deal. From what I know fuel economy is around 10 to the liter in town and 13-14 outstation for the 1.5 liter. As others have mentioned, the Nissan Fb15/N16 is also a good choice, all of them will be newer models than the above mentioned corolla, as theher corollas have a higher market value in SL, and the N16 specially is more modern looking than the boxy corolla. Maintenance and parts will not be an issue for either cars, everybody knows them and most/all parts are freely available. The honda civic is also an oft mentioned choice in this bracket, and as has been pointed out you can get a good one for well within your price range. The Ek3 is the version most often seen in that range, they were made from 1995-2000 and the 2000 model year ones are rare-ish so if the whole year of manufacture thing is important to you, that would be a slight issue. Otherwise its a good car, ride comfort is marginally less than the toyotas but it makes up for this by being marginally more interesting to drive. Parts availability is good but perhaps not quite as good as the Toyota or Nissan, and parts prices tend to be a little bit higher for hondas, perhaps because there are fewer suppliers than for the other two. Also, If you'd like to be a bit different to the herd, you could go for a late model Mazda 323/Familia. You'll be able to get plenty of these within your price range and they are also superb cars, the best to drive out of all of the above and to my eyes the nicest looking as well. The Mazda brand tends to be misunderstood in Sri Lanka now because the agents are terrible, but there is a good independent specialist now and also a very supportive and active owners club (active here on Autolanka as well) that can help you out. So do consider the Mazda option seriously as well.

You guys do have more than your fair share of slow tinker issues don't you?

Well since you appear to be totally new to this... I guess the best option would be the good old favorites the Toyota corolla or the Nissan Sunny. Both of those can provide peace of mind and completely trouble free motoring if you find a good one. My suggestion is to find a late model Corolla AE110. Those can easily be picked up within budget and if you find one that has been taken care of properly (not that difficult to do) you will have a very good car.

Welcome to autolanka first of all and second, 1.5 to 2.0 million is a fairly busy price band. There are literally dozens of different cars that fall into that bracket all of which are excellent cars in different ways. So for us to be able to give you a clear answer, please state what you're looking for out of your potential purchase. That way we can help you pick out a good choice.

actually that statement was fairly silly whichever way you look at it. generally lightness in a car is a GOOD thing on the handling front. I think what you mean to say about the car is that it is "unstable", which is a true fact about the vios since it is a fairly narrow and tall car in relation to its wheelbase. But then the whole point of the thing is that it was designed as an economy sedan for developing asian countries, to replace the old soluna. The only reason it is quite brisk is because the engine in it was meant for a bigger car. Handling/performance etc were never really part of the design remit of the original vios, and as such it really shouldn't be thrashed hard at all. Not if one has any respect for personal and public safety anyway.

bollocks! and yes, it is an RO80

haha not at all machan! your sud story is an encouragement to us all to not be afraid of going for something interesting..

ok here we go again Edit: moved the image to the post lower down.

Was it the 1.0L auto? if it was then for the reasons explained above, it isnt all that great. The 1.3 by all accounts is quite a bit better.

Nope... It IS european, but not italian.

Maybe i saw the car your friend bought... reddish one, pics were pretty bad quality and i saw rust in various places which was why i said bad shape... could be the same car

Actually that is a fairly common misconception in the sri lankan car market... Only the 1.0L automatic version is disappointing when it comes to fuel economy because of power to weight ratio issues with that motor (and also I suspect, unrealistically high economy expectations because of the belief that small engines automatically must provide great economy.) The 1.3L autos all appear to perform very well on all counts. People really need to stop repeating these silly SL car market myths as if they were gospel.... Also, the starlet EP91s available will most likely be older models than the marchs available for the same price, since the starlet went out of production in 1999 and the march k11 was made until 2003.

Is that car in SL? I know of one that was up for sale some time back which was in pretty crap nick but complete...

Lancia fulvia Coupe?