RWD

i too have had very positive experiences at union place A*W. always got good service and once you get to know the workshop guys they go out of their way to look after you. toyota lanka was also very good, but extremely pricey for even the most basic issue. even when they did not have parts in stock for my car they were able to bring it down but charged a hefty premium for it. lately I have just started going to colonial motors and the car is still new. so no issues so far but they are very friendly and seem quite accomodating.

i baught a mazda3 from colo*ial motors this year. can't remember having to go through that process.

it does around 5 km/l on fuel in colombo. if you drive like a grandma it won't do much better. a friend had a 2004 type s which a 6 speed box which i drove around a lot. beauty to drive though. search the forums, rx 8 has been discussed before.

sorento has EPS from what i remember. its very very unlikely that you would have EPS issues on such a low mileage vehicle. these systems are very robust.

the hybrid version is japan only spec I believe. my one comes with the traditional 1.6litre mzr. I get around 8 in colombo, have not taken it out of town yet. the 1.6 is ok around town-but lacks torque and doesn't have enough guts when you want to have a bit of fun. I wish they had the 2.0litre skyactiv which other markets get. But its not available on permit.

in SL under the permit, mazda6 comes with 2 versions brand new. 2.0 litre skyactiv with 155 bhp and 2.5litre with 185bhp. The 2.0 litre may be a bit underpowered for hills even though its fine for around town. I own a 2014 mazda3 so I have spoken to the agents during servicing and the 6 does around 12km/l which is great for that class of car. but they will lose value quickly like all bigger displacement large cars in SL. So be prepared to take a hit on the depreciation. I wasn't willing to take that hit and opted for the 2014 3, since I just needed a daily runner to take me around town to work and back.

I've owned a TP12 but that was in 2003 just after it was introduced to SL and we sold it off in 3 years. Never had too many problems but there was zero driving pleasure and it handled like a boat. B4 would be fun but a pain to maintain and a lot of them are now abused so if you have your heart set on one of these cars go for the ES8. Its a sensible choice.

recently had to get the bumper of my 2014 mazda3 re-painted at colonial motors after it was scratched by a bicycle. i must say their paint job was excellent. and their customer service was very impressive as well.

inside of the demio looks identical to the 2014 mazda3. The kodo design has translated well across the entire mazda range, but not too much of a fan of the front of the demio. sides and rear profile looks neat.

I owned a V35 for 4 years. And it remains the most fun car I have ever owned. Cried like a baby the day I had to part with it because it was such a hoot to drive, but it was time to grow up and I had so many other commitments. Let me give you the run down: My car was a dark blue 2001, JL 2**1 plates with a rear spoiler. Since I owned it the car has changed hands atleast twice and it was in mint shape when I sold it. The engine was pretty bullteproof. Regular oil changes. De-carbonisation done at autoforce every few years since its a DI, high carbon build up was a major issue. So make sure the previous owners have done the same. Parts, I replaced shocks which came to around 70K a pair at the time. Some suspension compontents are made out of alluminium so its very expensive, but A*W stocked parts and so did Pioneer motors at Panchi. The lower arm ball joints wear out very quickly on our roads. Any decent lathe shop can repair it but they break again in a few months and cause some rattling up front, but its liveable. Otherwise you have to replace the whole arm because the ball joint comes with that and that's made of alluminium and an expensive fix. Other issues was the stock BOSE CD in dash CD changer gets stuck and chews your CD's and is not fixeable. Then the AC control unit and the Stereo and everything is all inteconnected or something. That happened once where the AC was stuck on full throttle and I couldn't shut it off and had to replace some electrical component which cost a bomb. Other than that, I replaced an air flow sensor. Radiotor top tank blew and I replaced it, and the cooling fans which I imported through the agent because I couldn't find any in SL. I think the fan cost me around 40K to import. Brake pads wear out fast, but those were available both at Pioneer and A*W. Keep in mind that I last owned the car well over 5 years ago so I don't know how things are now. Let me know if you need any more info. I loved the car. It was quick, comfy and at the time got me plenty of attention-maybe a bit too much! And it sounded lovely when you rev it. Beautiful weighted steering that all these new EPS systems truly lack. Such an underrated car.

i havn't had any problem with mine. So I can't agree on this comment.

i have got to agree with this. there is an insight in my household. Been using it for 2 years and done over 30,000 kms and its been very reliable and easy to run. Only done servicing and not replaced a thing. Fuel wise I get around 14-15 km/l in Colombo. Sure the car is as boring as hell to drive and ugly to look at but as an A-B car, its faultless.

Sorry to hear about your experience. Out of curiosity what is your SUV? It must be looking butch with 20's!

Mazda Axela: this is the 2014 car I am referring to that they quoted 5.4. Not the current gen you see on our roads. Visshkid: what they told me was the mazda 6 is going at 6.8 with the permit.

thanks Viskhid. I went to Colonial and they actually quoted 5.4 for permit. They are bringing down only one spec to Sri Lanka though. Looking at the pics on the net, the car looks sweet. Will be definitely considering this one.

why worry? most modern cars have EPS these days. true the racks are prone to wear and tear given our less than perfect road conditions and can't be repaired. they need replacement. in my experience though, there won't be issues until the car gets quite old!

Hmmm..i must say that I owned a Toyota for the last 4 years. Whilst I don't think their service is great, I was able to stay by the vehicle whilst it was being serviced or repaired. Especially at Toyota Maharagama. I insisted I wanted to be watch them fix it even though their supervisors kept telling me to take a seat in the waiting area. I politely declined and hung around the workshop.

buy an unregistered toyota aqua for 3.5 mil. Bank the rest. The interest you earn will cover whatever little money you lose in a year when you flog it off.

interesting topic after a long time guys. i never knew that RR's were so popular in the second hand market and fetched such high prices!

so i'm looking for current generation mazda axela/3 (2010-2012) registered model to use as a daily driver. there are lots for sale and I have checked out a few already. But they are all manumatics. Does anyone know if any manuals made it to SL shores? The previous generation had quite a few but I have yet to stumble across a manual from the current generation.

from a few friends who own them, i can guess that most of the people who got these korean suv's got it on a permit. and they are depreciating fast since the second hand market has crashed for many vehicles. the more mileage, the higher the depreciation. hence they are flogging them off before they get too old and they don't have to take too hard a hit.

was on the expressway over the weekend and they had signs at the ticket counters saying 100KM/H is the maximum speed limit. The guy at the toll gate also told me that any faster than that, I'd be copped! So I maintained my speed of 100km/h the entire journey, in my 2.5 litre V6. Ironically, the guys who overtook me were in Nissan March's, Marutis and Viva Elite's! These are the guys who seem to be thrashing!

Driven so far: 1994 Toyota Sprinter, 1996 Mazda Familia, 1997 Mazda Familia, 1999 Nissan Primera, 2001 Nissan Primera, 2003 Mazda Axela, 2001 BMW 3 series E46, 2003 BMW 5 series E60, 2001 Toyota Corolla 121, 2002 Nissan Skyline V35, 2003 Mazda RX8, 2009 Honda Insight Hybrid, 2006 Toyota Mark X, 2012 Kia Sorento 4WD, 2012 Kia Sportage 4WD Love to drive:Evo X, 370z, DB9, Alfa 159, M3, M5, GTR, IS-F, 911.

I like stiff suspension too. But the RX 8 suspension is definitely way stiffer than the axela. The two are non comparable. The car my friend has is the Type S with 18 inch wheels and stiffer shocks. Maybe you drove the normal version? i know our roads are better now but its still very uncomfortable. Even a slightly uneven surface at high speed can cause the car to bottom out, especially when there are 4 adults in it. I drove it to Kitulgala and back 2 months ago. So decent roads but not billiard smooth. Whilst I enjoyed taking the bends with confidence, the car kept bottoming out whenever I hit a bump on those unevenly carpeted roads. So I had to slow down significantly. I had a blast driving it but that put a dampener on the whole experience. My friend had to do some suspension repairs soon after.

my best mate has an RX8. It is a 2003-2004 model I think. The type S with a 6 speed manual. I've had the pleasure of driving it both in Colombo and outstation several times and it's an absolute blast to drive. Superb handling, well weighted steering....and the sound of the rotary when revved...boy it does put a big smile on your face! Light as ever, so once you rev it past 6000 rpm the car truly comes into its own. Clutch and gearbox is a bit clunky and heavy so it takes a while to get used to, especially in Colombo traffic Its very thirsty, but the problem is the suspension in that car is way too stiff for lots of our roads. I don't know if it's an inherent problem with RX8's but the car bottoms out with 4 averaged sized adults. I know my friend has had to replace the shocks and the mounts a few times, and the latest issue was the steering rack when the EPS stopped working. Driving on potholed uneven surfaces is very uncomfortable in that car. Mind you, I am used to stiff suspension as my daily driver has 18 inch wheels and sports suspension but the RX's ride is too hard for Colombo roads to the point you almost feel you're destroying the car! He's also had a few electrical problems and cooling issues, which he has found difficult to sort out despite spending a lot of money and going to specialists. Again I am not discouraging anyone from buying the car. My friend may have been unlucky. It's one of the most fun cars I have driven. Just make sure it's properly checked out and you need to have some deep pockets to sort out any potential issues if you are buying an older car. There are lots for sale at the moment.