VTEC

Hello.. Am flirting with the idea of getting the new Hilux 2018/2019 or the Ranger and wanted to get some input from someone who knows their 4x4 and trucks and also the pricing and weird tax structure and luxury taxes etc. Currently have a 2008 Invincible 3k turbo (fully loaded at the time) been using it for 7 years and have no complaints, rock solid, runs like a bull and is probably one of the best vehicles I've owned. I was looking at the Rocco initially which is the fully loaded one sitting above the Revo (Not sure of the difference between them) and then Toyota Lanka also offers the Hilux Fully Loaded one as normal import and permit both. They don't get down the Rocco but claim their fully loaded version is the same as the Rocco. Both from Thailand but a huge gap in the prices. Rocco grey import is about CIF $36 to 37K USD but I was told the agents are offering it at CIF $25k both being 2.8L Turbo. Importers are not sure if the luxury tax will be applicable and if so how much. Then there is the the Ford Ranger - Wildtrak and the Raptor. Raptor is probably an overkill for me and the Wildtrak sits well with decent specs and cosmetics but it comes in a 2L Bi Turbo (Not sure what that is) and so the luxury tax may not be applicable, but the CIF on grey is higher than the Toyota Rocco! Haven't checked with the Ford agents yet. Anyone who has looked into these options and have bought recently and can share their valuable insight in terms of specs, the differences, reliability and also aprox pricing (even on the permit) would be much appreciated.. Thanks

What is the recommended fuel type for the CHR 1.2L Turbo? 92 or 95? A Google search didn't help much...

Hi can you post the location of where you got the alloygators done? Will be helpful to many in the forum.. thanks.

This happens to my Hilux Invincible imported from UK quite a bit just randomly. From what I have gathered, this happens when something intereferes with it's signal or frequency etc or whatever you call it, a car passing by or a device nearby triggers it and goes off. A couple of times it kept on going, and a car came by and parked next to it and it stopped. Showed it to Toyxxx Lanxx and they were unable to figure it out because it never goes off randomly when you show it to them! They feel I was making it up ? It's not very frequent so didn't bother with it anymore but if someone has figured out a remedy do post!

I am not sure you can compare the new Civic with the A1, both are totally different sizes, category and pricing. If you really want to stack it up, it should probably be the A3 hatch againts the Civic hatch/sportsback. The Civic probably is roomier, wider and longer with a larger foot print and a bigger boot than the A3 hatch but similarly if not closely priced.

Hi guys thanks for the valuable inputs. As many of you have advised and after speaking to a couple of people also, the best route would be to go through the agents. Yes like iRage mentioned will loose a few bells and whistles, but it'll be peace of mind at the end of the day.. and the agents for Audi aren't bad as some of the other euro agents known for their lack of care... Between the CHR and Audi even though both being priced similarly, the Audi probably has more value in terms of CIF pricing than CHR on which you end up paying more duty.. the safest route would be the CHR, bigger crossover, Toyota badge, hack it to death.. but for some reason leaning towards the Q2, bit smaller that what I would want but was quite zippy and nimble when test drove.. and the Audi Premium badge ofcourse. Interestingly whislt researching these 2 came across the CRV too which apparently the 2WD 5 seater seems to be good buy at 8.5ish. much bigger and a practical cross with very good options/features... Making my choice a bit more difficult..

Hi, So was considering the Q2 since the past 5 months and have not been able to make up my mind. It's between the CHR 1.2L and the Q2 or maybe even the A3. Any advice from people who are owning either one? Also I've seen many grey Q2s and A3s being brought down by importers from Japan, South Africa and Australia.. These are priced similar to the agents price around 8mil+ but have more features than the agent imports like the virtual cockpit etc. Do you ll think the ones from the agent is still worth it paying the same price but getting lesser features than the grey imports? Also the agents won't service the Grey's according to them.. any downside on the Grey's? A little bit of advice from someone who knows about Audi's would be much appreciated. Torn between the CHR or the Q2. And if Q2 whether to go with the Agent or Grey Import. Also the fact that one can also get an A3 Sedan fully speced grey import for nearly the same price. Thanks in advance!

Hi Aslam86 do you mind sharing the contact of the person or company you got the Brand New battery from? Would help a few folks here. If it's against the rules would appreciate if you could PM me. Thanks.

Would really like to get some feedback from the 1L-T Civic owners on performance and fuel consumption. If it does 8-10/Litre in Colombo traffic it's pretty good I would say. Did go for a test drive and it felt pretty well built with good materials, and was pretty zippy (I wasn't driving though). It's got some decent reviews overall, and the sports hatchback seems to be slightly more expensive than the normal in Japan (I stand to be corrected). Brand new price in UK being close to 22k to 24k pounds, I think 6.5 mil is a decent price. It's not meant to be a cheap car the ways it's price has been positioned.

Are you sure your car sale "friend" is getting down the 1L automatic? Would you mind sharing some details if not againts the forum rules or msg me if so...

I can bet none of the poster advising against it own a vezel.. just hear something and spread the tale.. our srilankan trait. There are no issues in the vezel apart from the normal ones which are prone to all cars..unlike the xtrail which actually have the gear prone issues which needs to be replaced.. It's a wonderful vehicle in it's class and maintenance is the same as any Honda hybrid.. yes there are plenty around, and the reason for that is because it's one of the best available for the price and crossover category.. I would definitely recommend it for what it is worth and intended for..

Experienced the exact same thing at the Meereehana Jubilee Post Roundadout Shed. Felt cheated for a proper 1000 rupees. http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/15647-petrol-stations-you-should-avoid/page-7?hl=%20petrol%20%20shed Seems to be a play by the employees practiced at shady sheds, credit card or cash makes no difference.

Just to create awareness to be vigilant of the ceypetco station at the jubilee post mirihana roundabout. Maybe not the station but one of the attendees seemed a crook. Resets the pump when ur not looking or engages you so your not focused on tha pump reading and immediately starts filling the bike behind and U've got no choice but to pay up the exaggerated amount since they don't want to hold up the que. Happened to us twice. Was not happy when asked for a receipt. Never going there again.

Hi, could u post the details of this Meegoda and Kurunegala guy / shop please?

Like iRage said, not all UK imports have issues and likewise not all Thailand imports are issues free. One of my relatives bought one the Thai imports and it looked all good from the outside, nothing to complain. But just 2 days on when he went for the service at Toyota they found all sorts of problems. There was a certain dent underneath affecting the suspension, sort of a knock and the gear oil tube (don't know the exact terms) was leaking. The repair estimation was about 250k+. Luckily he was able to return it and get his money back since the seller was known to him. Ive seen Cabs in Thailand and I can tell you that generally they are nt looked after that well. I would presume personal UK vehicles to be looked after better than the Thais. Also the UK cabs have a certain high quality feel than the Thai counterpart, and the Highest grade "Invincible" have more options too. The UK cabs which are brought down in 100s by all the big car sales are the worst of the crop. Mostly the highway patrol vehicles and ones used by other government / construction companies for very cheap prices. You can know some from the stickers and other badges on the cabs (if not already removed by the car sales). These are removed and the double cabs re-painted etc. Some of them even convert the low end HL2 ones to look like HL3 and Invincible. This the reason you find UK cabs in such bad shape because you would have seen them in these big car sales. We had a look around these large car sales too which had a whole load of cabs when we were looking for our cab and we felt the same as you did, the cabs were pretty bad. But when we started looking at the UK personal imports we found them very good. Specially the ones with service history etc. We finally found one in very good condition, with complete service history, all manuals cd etc and also personally used in uk. Mileage was authenticated through the mot tests and other websites and if personally used in UK it's pretty low. There was a a tiny bit of rust here and there nothing major, just with normal usage (our Japan imported van had much more visible rust than this,) but got it certified by Toyota and its not the corrosive rust which ppl tend to think. It's a thin layer which can be scraped off even the Toyota guys agreed, the rust issue has been inflated. Though maybe true in some vehicles. What I mean to say is if you look around and avoid the sales which import junk you will see that there are pretty good UK double cabs available. specially the invincible which is pretty good. else get some to look one for you in the UK and get it down. that way you are assured of the condition too. Cheers.

thanks everyone but the responses are very contradicting. According to vvti and terrabytetango the 3L diesel should be giving very less fuel efficeincy around 6kmpl but according to kasun and dpbtagoda its 8+kmpl in the city. Confusing! Not an aggressive driver at all, just normal avg driving, no smoke from the muffler, and odo is around 110K. Just surprised to get even less than 5kmpl with AC. Should we get the injectors and diesel pump cleaned up and checked? Dont think this was done by the agents. Does the Hiace kdh give out the same mileage? A known person using the petrol version of that said he gets 6kmpl. But thats ok I suppose considering its a petrol. Diesel should definitely give more than 7 to 8kmpl should nt it? Anyone using a nissan e25 or a kdh2xx could share their experience?

Anyone? Need advice on how to solve this diesel engine issue and what to get checked? Dont know much about diesel's so any help would be appreciated.

Hello, We got a recon nissan caravan e25 2007 3L diesel auto recently and after using for a few days we realized the fuel consumption is very high. We are getting only around 4.75 kmpl! We topped up the tank, and after a day topped up the tank again from the same pump untill it autostopped, and realized we had pumped in about 17.75L for only 85km on the odo. We've heard from users this vehicle does around atleast 7/8kmpl in the city and 10+ outstation. We did a full service at A*W before using. Appreciate your expert advice and opinion on what we should get checked and what could be the main causes/factors for this high fuel consumption. Thanks, V

Just checked out some reviews and forums on the doublecabs (specially UK sites since most of them seem to be coming from the UK) and got to say the nissan navara seems to have very poor reviews and major issues. Seems like the vehicle starts giving trouble in just a couple of years. Hilux seems to fair better then comes the L200 and Navara the last. All in all all of the 3 models seem to have their own issues. Navara: http://www.whatcar.c...sultPageCount=4 L200: http://www.whatcar.c...sultPageCount=4 Hilux: http://www.whatcar.c...sultPageCount=4 Most of these cabs in the reviews start having issues in the first 3 to 5 years and since they seem to be under warranty over there the costs are covered, but the repairs and parts really seem to be expensive and the owners seem to dispose them once the warranty is up. Someone in the UK would be able to shed some light on this. Since most of these doublecabs brought down to SL from the UK are older than 4 to 5 years, one cannot be too sure of the reliability. Plus no warranty here in SL and something like a half shaft replacement or a turbo issue like in the reviews could be quite costly, seems to be GBP 2000+ for a busted turbo! I was torn between deciding to go for an unreg japanese van or a unreg uk / thailand doublecab myself and after reading the reviews and forums going for a recon double cab seems to be scary. Best is to look for one with a proper service history! Maybe experts or owners of recon doublecabs could elaborate on this.

What is the difference between an AWD and a 4WD? is nt it the same thing? I had posted a query with regard to the 4WD in vans and dint get a response, is it AWD or 4WD in vans which come with this option? Specially the new Nissan Caravan VWME25 and Toyota Hiace KDH205? I have seen Nissan has a seperate switch to put it on 4WD where as Toyota has a sensor. Why does the AWD/4WD have a lesser market value than 2WD as its an added option where as the opposite for Doublecabs and Jeeps where AWD and 4WD have a better value than 2WD?

Hi, Thinking of getting a Nissan Caravan 2007/2008 Auto for family and domestic use and wanted to get some views on this. Seems to be quite powerful with a 3Litre Intercooler Turbo Diesel engine. Some say this vehicle is much powerful than the Hiace KDH and also more hardy. - Have seen a few around from 4.5 to 5.5 mil mark (DX to VX) models. Is this about the right price for this vehicle? With the new tax increase? - What is the difference between the DX and the VX? Is it somehting like the DX and GL in Hiace? Anything particular we should be looking at? - Saw some 4WD versions also and surprised to find that the 4WD is slightly less 50 to 100K cheaper than the 2WD version, whereas it should be more as it is an additional option with a switch which can be engaged / switched on-off when required. I would personally prefer the 4WD option as you can go offroad or would come in handy for those off the beaten paths. I dont see 2WD cabs fetching a higher price than their 4WD counterpaths, hence is there a rational explanation for the 4WD for these being slightly less? - How much would it cost to fix a Dual A/C to one of these? Also fixing proper adjustable seats and doing up the interior? Also fixing a chrome grill in the front etc. If anyone has fixed one or done up could share their experience. Appreciate if anyone could give their views and experience on this. Thanks V

I dont know how you guys get these fuel figures or even calculate the consumption, but we used both and I can tell you for certain both of these cars will never give you 12/13 in Colombo city! They are definitely bloated! In reality Vios gave around 9 to 10 and the City/Fitaria gave around 8 to 9! Bottom line - City/fitaria: good performance, fun to drive. Vios: same engine as the 121, easy maintainence, cheaper spares, higher selling price than city/fitaria, better resale than city/fitaria, also interior and plastic feels of better quality than city/aria.

Right, so I tried the battery trick and that didnt work. Kept the battery out for quite a long time. So I went to the agents A*W at Narehnepitiya. At first it seemed like a holiday there because of the match fanfare even though it was supposed to be open. Luckily I found the service manager who was a nice chap. He just asked straight away if we had dropped it! And said the exact same thing what Bluehaze mentioned, the transponder gets damaged if there is a vibration or some sort of shock to the key. He was doubtful it would be fixed by reprogramming the key but he tried nevertheless with no luck The second key also stopped working since he tried to reset the 1st one and thus had to reprogram the second key again! He was nice enough to not charge anything for this. The only option as to buy a new key and get it programmed. So I went to the stores to get the price and guess what, the key will cost around 15,000/= minimum and there is NO stock. Earliest date to get it down is a month! I asked them if they could disable the immobilizer but that is not possible according to them. So im stuck with just one key at the moment. Its pretty ridiculous if you ask me if keys can damaged by just dropping them! The agents did mention they would reprogram a new key if I could get one myself, but has to be of the exact type! Anyone could suggest any alternatives? Anywhere else we can buy these chipped keys and get them reprogrammed? How about ebay or anywhere else online? I will do a search in a while but if anyone else has any ideas would highly appreciate. I have only 1 key for my Vitz 2007, and I definitely need to get another one made for that as well. Dont want to get stuck with a non functional key and keep the car in my garage until I am able to get new keys from the agents! And if they are out of stock, thats the end of it! Have to start treating all the car keys like babies form now!

Ok, just like Kelum said ordinary key without the buttons also seems to have the transponder in it. Its sealed inside the plastic and cannot be removed. This is true since I tried with a normal manual cut key and it would nt start either. SO there s definitely a transponder in all the keys with buttons or no buttons. Now for the key with the buttons which is not working, I removed the screw from the housing to expose the battery and the chip, but inside was another sealed transmitter housing with the buttons built into this. There is no visible physical damage. Snapped opened it and the battery and the chip are inside, again no damage or physical signs of abuse. Removed the battery and waiting for about 15 mins now. Ill post what happens next.

Its factory fitted. There is no immobilizer button on the key, but the Engine Car PadLock indicator does blink on the dashboard (Im assuming this is the immobilizer indication). Yes she did drop the key while trying to catch it form the first floor!! So yes there is a possibility of the chip / IC getting damaged like you say if there is one, but there is no physical damage as such. I guess I will have to open it and see if there is a chip in it. How do I get this fixed if this is the case? I will give removing the battery a try.