Guys, this is my proper first post at Autolanka though I’ve been strolling this forum (goofing, a couple of times) for over four years now. I’ve come here almost on a daily basis since I first started researching my first car. I know the forum tries to adhere to a strict ‘non nonsense’ code and I’m sorry if I violate it in any way. So, I’ve been researching a car to buy for more than a year now: a year because the financial situation wasn’t looking that good for that long. In hindsight, I should have just got on with it. The cars I researched were Honda Accord, Peugeot 406 and Mitsubishi Galant. Three relatively large cars because I wanted a comfy ride that looked good and performed well. Fuel economy wasn’t so high a priority because my daily running is not much. Out of the three, the 406 had the best features and the best online support including parts. But most of the 406s’ I checked had dodgy maintenance records. I was tracking the Pelawatte Pug expert on my way to work and I could tell that he was having a hard time managing all the cars in his care. Some of the cars had been with him for two months or more. Harshan mentioned about a Pug expert up the Negombo road but the 406 looked a bit difficult for me to handle. I was looking for a CF3 but the prices the owners quoted for their precious CF3s made my eyes water. It looked like a lost cause at that stage and not surprisingly some of the CF3s I checked aren’t sold even now, after more than 7 months. That left me with the Mitsubishi Galant. I could see that there was some Galants imported brand new to Sri Lanka circa 2003. Some of the better specimens were actually buyable for a fair price and I found one. The body looked straight, the engine sounded right and the bottom didn’t have any yellow/brownish spots of rust, etc. I had people telling me that a car with a 2000cc engine is a bad decision and unfortunately even my father was toting the ‘smaller-engine-better-car’ / ‘Toyota-are-the-best-cars’ placards quite high. So, even my parents didn’t know about the purchase of the Galant until I actually drove it over. I know my old man’s logic behind his beliefs and respect it. But my requirements are different. Long story short, I’m loving the bigger engine. Let me put my car experiences into perspective. The only cars I’ve driven for more than a day straight are a Maruti Alto and a Toyota Vitz 1000CC. So the Galant is a huge leap in terms of engine and physical size. The car and I have done some heavy journeying despite the short period of time. We went to Talawakelle via Gampola and Hatton and then some time later went to Kataragama, Udawalawe, Rakwana, Suriyakanda, (the Wangu 10 Road – Absolute pleasure to drive. Was driving before this happened.)
through Deniyaya, Ambalangoda and back to Colombo. While on the E01, I wanted to see how fast I could drive – daft and illegal I know - and hit 165 km/h. The car could do even more since it wasn’t under stress at all but I decided daftness has a limit and dialled back. Knowing that the car could do such a speed was good enough for me. Generally, it’s a good car and going by my previous experiences, it’s a loveable car. There are a couple things I hate. The steering is quite light & has the turning radius of a battleship and the headlights are just marginally better than a proper 3-piece torch. On my way to Gampola, I hit a dog. The dog walked away but there was a 4-inch vertical gash on the buffer along with a missing cowling. I couldn’t understand why the gash was so big until we removed it for repairs. The previous owner had hit the same spot and had gone ‘el cheapo’. The repair was done with fiber. I had the fiber removed and had the buffer repaired with what they call ‘Plastic Welding’ (Don’t know whether that’s the correct term). Total damage including the purchase of paint, was 4,200 LKR. I ended up replacing the cowlings with two original fog lights. Those cost me 15,000 LKR from Delkanda and I got them fixed at Malinga Auto Electricals (Hat tip to Komi). Here are the issues/concerns I'm having with the car. 1. I need several suggestions on where I can buy the spare parts both engine and suspension. Finding parts for the car is one heck of a job. Currently looking for some splash guards similar to this. 2. There are a couple of rust holes of about 3-5mm diameter in rear left upper control arm. I’m getting it repaired until I can bring down a replacement from eBay. One guy quoted me 14,000 LKR for the only part I could find. Hence, the repair. Some pics here. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 3. The A/C is stuck at a glacial temperature. The only way I can control it is via the A/C on/off switch. The rotary control for temperature doesn’t work and the previous owner had cut off the lines to the heater core. Would like to restore the whole thing to the original state. 4. Thanks to Davy and Trinity, came across the Spoiler guy in Kotte (http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/9443-side-skirts-a-spoiler-for-lancer/) and planning to task him with bringing down a proper vr4 spoiler. There is a corresponding body kit. But I’m mulling over whether it’s too much. Here are some pics of the thing. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 5. The gap between the front tyres and the bumper is about 4 inches. Bloody hideous. Here’s a pic. The current tyres are 195/65R/14 on original alloys. Should I replace the shocks or should I get a larger set of rims, say 15” or use a combination of both? The previous owner had used water instead of Coolant. Already followed Schiffer’s excellent thread (http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/15374-how-to-flush-and-re-fill-radiator-coolant/) on the matter. So there you go. Looking forward to your responses, ideas and comments.
