alpha17

Corolla 121 can be introduced as one of the most popular cars in TYPICAL SRI LANKAN vehicle market. Even being aged closed to 20 years they still sell around 3 million. So still most buyers are interested about this car, and I planned to share my 7 years of experience in this blog. I used a 2000 manufactured G Grade one which has a 1500cc engine. What it really is? Just a compact car designed for A to B transportation with good fuel economy and realiability. Driving So I’m going to start from how it is like to drive. When compared to the other cars in the same category the acceleration is really good for a 1.5L motor. The car is comparatively lighter than the 110 and Axio, so for me I’m yet to experience a better acceleration from a newer car with the same engine. It has good kick down acceleration due to 4 speed automatic transmission. For me the engine performance is better than the Civic ES5(1.5l), Mazda Axela 2004-2009, Lancer CS series and Nissan Tiida. Handling is a bit sharper than the newer Axios,Allions and Premios, but not sharp as a Honda or a Mazda. Steering is really light with a very little amount of feedback from the road. Due to the rear torsion beam setup the car is not steady in corners when compared to the older 110 and Carinas(which has independent rear suspension). But it is comparatively better in corners than the Axio.Braking is ok. Neither great nor bad. When it comes to handling Hondas and Mazdas are better. On the highways the car is steady for speeds around 100-120. After 120 there was a slight vibration(due to the resonance of the engine) but when you accelerate further around 140 the vibration goes away. There is a noticable change in stability after 140 as you can feel the car is well planted than before. You can go all the way upto 180 without any issue ONLY IF YOUR CAR IS IN PERFECT CONDITION(TIRES, ALIGNMENT,BRAKES AND SUSPENSION). I’ve tested twice and really impressed. For day to day driving around the town the car is good due to reduced length and good ground clearance. Ground clearance is really good when compared to other cars from the same class and even with never Fit,Grace and Prius. The light steering really helps for easy manouvering. Visibility is okay, but sometimes the thick front A pillars are a bit disturbing. Also there is a problem about visibility when the dashboards is reflected from the windscreen during direct sunlight. Driving position is pretty higher like most other Toyotas and not sporty at all. Feels like you are sitting on a chair. Comfort When I bought the car it was running on its original shock absorbers. But in 2015 I changed them using Japan made KYB Excel G and it reduced the the comfort level by a considerable amount. But the car is more comfortable than Mazda Axela, Honda Fit GP1 and GP5, Civic FD3, Honda Grace and Vezel, Toyota Aqua. I can really handle potholes well, but bumps can make the car wavy due to the rear torsion beam setup. The refinement levels are really good when compared to the above mentioned set of cars and it is another field that the 121 really excels. Under lightfooted driving the engine noise can’t be heard, and road noise levels are much lower. After long journeys I felt less tired than the Gp5 and Gp1. Seats are really comfortable and are a bit firmer than 110,FB15 N16s, but not firm as the Allion Premio 260 2007-2012 F grade and Hondas and Mazdas. One thing that I noticed was the rear seat thigh support is better than the Premios and Allions. Seat space is okay of you are under 6ft. Front seats feel a bit cramped due to the dashboard design beacause I’m 6ft. I always felt that Front seats are less spacious for me when compared to the other cars, even the GP1 is better. Fuel Economy Another area that this car excels. Based on my personal experienced around the town it does only about 9-10 kmpl with full time ac on 92 octane(because I live in a really hilly area). For trips like Colombo to Kandy it car return around 14-15kmpl with full time AC. It returned well over 18kmpl when travelled through highway to matara and longer trips with less traffic with 3-4 adults on borad. Also note that driving pattern hugely affects the economy level. Slow driving will never return good fuel figures. Maintaining a speed level around 70-80 will return really good fuel figures. After the first few months I never calculated fuel figures since it is much less expensive to run. Reliability This is the car which made me a Toyota fan. It never broke down. Never even had to touch the spare tire. I had done 60,000km (93,000km to 153,000km). I only had to do the running repairs and replacements. Did the tuneups and changed the ATF fluid once for every 40,000km. Used only Toyota oils.Did the services on time and never let the “makabasses” touch the car. Changed the AC cooler. Changed one hub razor. Only the running repairs. But remember that most of the cars up for sale have been through much abuse and therefore don’t expect the same level of reliability from every car. Make sure to set aside about Rs.100,000 for the repairs when you are buying a car. Also note that some cars have manufacturing defects, eventhough the car model is proven reliable. I know a guy who sold his 2010 personally imported Allion after doing 60,000kms due to excessive repairs. That depends on your luck. Options Has a good amount of options considering it’s age. Always go for a G, G limited or a Luxel grade if you buy one. I will do another entry explaining about all the grades and options. Build Quality Interior is really good with soft touch materials on the dashboard and upper doors. All trim pieces are solidly fixed so I never experienced any “creeks”. Interior material quality is better than the 141 Axio and 2nd and 3rd gen Prius. Good when compared with the cars of the same category. Notable Faults with the car -The steering rack is issue is famous with these Toyotas. It gives no problem except for the “duk duk” noise when travelling on bad roads. I repaired it but again after 3-4 months the noise came. Best thing is to replace it with a good reconditioned part. -As mentioned before the dashboard’s reflection on the windscreen reduces the visibility during direct sunlight(only when the sunlight falls directly on the dash) -The center console has a small compartment, just over the ash tray and the lid of it was broken from the begining and in most 121’s I’ve seen it broken. -Discoloration of the headlights is pretty fast due to the shape of the headlights Resale The car was sold over a month ago keeping me a 150,000 profit even after 7 years of usage. Remember that if the price is right you can easily sell it. I was quoting a really high price earlier and got a chance to sell it keeping 275,000 profit. But at that time I had no car to move on so gave up the idea(3 months ago). I advertised the car on a not-that-much-famous site on internet and next day morning two boys came for inspection and in the evening gave the advance. He still calls me due to satisfaction.? Really I loved the car throughout it’s stay with me for 7 years. Really a good car which is suited well for the Sri Lankan conditions and Typical Sri Lankan car buyer’s requirements. Make sure to look after the car well and it returns you with good reliability. Always use japanese parts and good mechanics for the repairs. Hope to do another entry to this blog about the Grades available in 121. This review is based purely on my experience and some details might differ from car to car. Please inform me if there is something inappropriate or wrong and welcome for all comments. I triend my best to provide and unbiased review.Thank you for reading? Cheers!!! -alpha17-

Just like TheFlyingFox said, I also heard that Kia Rio is very unreliable. A neighbour owned one and the car started to show it’s age really quickly. He even met with an accident due to the steering wheel being disconnected from wheels while driving.But both Rio and Accent are really fuel efficient. Accent is the best choice among them. It’s a pretty basic cat, but does the job, a to b transportation. A realation of mine owned one few years ago and he had no issues. At that time it cost only Rs.5 to travel 1km in longer trips(around 10 years ago)

Sorento is the big brother of Sportage.So the Sorento would be more comfortable.I haven’t driven both so cannot comment on them. But generally petrol engines are more reliable than the diesel ones. Most of the newer diesels are equipped with the common rail technology and require super diesel. Due to the lower quality of the fuel available in SL market, those common rail engines are not as reliable as the old diesels. Some diesel engines (navara,mazda bongo,toyota coaster as I know) are equipped with dpf and it requires various steps to clean them. The navara has to be driven for 20 minutes around 70-100kmph to clean the particles for every 200 or 300kms.Bongo and coaster has a switch to release the particles as a smoke. Newer common rail engines are likely to be much better than the ones came in 2007-2008, but again cannot comment about the reliability of the Korean made engines.Generally petrol engines are easier to maintain and much more refiened. Another fact:diesel engines produce ultra low frequencies (less than 20hz) which cannot be heard from human ear. Those frequencies are absorbed by the human body and it makes us feel tired after long journeys. Most of the newer cars might have been fixed of this issue

Gp series Fit is a really good car for the budget and you get what you really pay for. I have never driven the GE6, but have driven the Gp1,and a really balanced and fun to drive car. Only problem I experienced was the mild braking which is existent in the due to the hybrid motor, so it would be not a problem for the petrol version. Space is also really good. Also note that these cars are really steady on high speeds than Toyota’s of the same class or even than Axios.

A Brand new or Zero mileage WagonR is a good option for you. It has more options than any car metioned here, except for the swift. Some people claim about sensor issues but the car will serve you over 5 years without a major issue. The amount of space inside is really amazing. If you live in a hilly area the power is a bit lacking, but it just goes. An unreg Vitz as mentioned by members is also a good option and it is the most comfortable car of the list. Then there is the Toyota’s proven reliability. Also due to the crazy Sri Lankan car market it would depriciate less by the time you plan to sell it. I’m a bit loyal to Toyota, so I would go with the Vitz. If not, WagonR would be my choice. Personally I don’t like korean or indian made cars(pure personal preference?), but they are not that bad as most typical Sri Lankan car buyers say.I know two people who owned 2008 permit imported indian made Maruti Suzuki WagonRs for 10 years without a single mechanical issue. But after 10 years the cars showed their age like a 20+ year old Japanese ride.

You’ll be okay with both of these models.Corolla 110 is another good option IF YOU ARE LUCKY TO FIND A GOOD EXAMPLE,but it is absolutely rare and will cost around 1.7-1.8million.Also you can buy a Corolla 100 within your price range, but they are really old now.But if you can stretch your budget by a little for 1.8 million you can get a Mazda Familia, which is a newer and one of the best cars in that price range. It will not be as easy to sell as a Corolla, but it’s a really balanced car for that price with manufactured years from 2000-2003.Our next door had one for around 10 years and it’s really comfortable and fun to drive.As I remember the car only had an issue with a sensor once. The car is similar to Ford Laser which is a proven platform around the world.Feel free to ask anything. Cheers

Congratz on your new ride @K.o.N.o.S??She’s a real head turner.And those “black” wheels look really sexy on her!!!May it be a ride that’ll never gonna let you down???Cheers!!!

I cannot recommend you to change the interior lights to led. Have you noticed that the dome lights are directed to the area closer to the doors? And those normal lights really blend nicely with the interior colour making a luxurious impression. So you would likely to loose that impression and the lights' aim is likely to be affected. From my experience most chinese crappy leds die faster. I also installed a set of unbranded led headlamps to my previous 121 and I could see that the brightness had decreased by a significant amount after 2 years. So always use a good brand like Philips or Osram.

I also ordered a set of sound deadning mats for the previous car and came in large packages without taxation.I have imported more than 50 things from ebay but this is going to be the biggest and the most expensive one

I’m already a Bose fan mate.My father too.I have Bose 5.1 Acoustimass 6+Bose 301 coupled together and it totally rocks. Upgrading the speakers to Bose is a bit messy since most of the Bose car speakers are rated at 1-2 ohms. So if I use them, I need to purchase an amplifier. Adding the whole system together with the amplifier will be the best option, but it is likely to cost around 50k. At the moment the car has a chinese crappy unit, but a bit reluctant to replace it with a Kenwood one because all the options are working except for the crappy “petti bass” when I turn up the bass level. So I keep the bass level around -3 which retains the punch while cutting of the petti bass.The car itself has a pretty decent set of speaker for casual listening, so for the moment I plan to install this spare tire unit to add the missing lower end. I never want to install a huge bass tube or a box in the trunk which totally ruins the original look. Certainly I’m looking forward to turn the whole system to a Bose slowly?

@PreseaLover @Hyaenidae That’s the guy?yeaaaahh....for him Nissan is a religion.I also ended up unfriending him.Behaves like a 3yr old child...For sure he might mention before his death that a nissan hearse should be used???

The guy I used to know is Tharindu, from Ahaliyagoda as I remember.He used the name as Nismo Gunawardhana in FB.Maybe his second name is Lakshan?.A friend of mine contacted him through fb after knowing that he owns a VZR. One day when he payed a visit to our home town I also went with my friend for a ride. At the moment the car’s engine was not in good condition(a Sorento easily outran the VZR?).

One of my friend’s used-to-be-friend owned a VZR. I had a ride in that too. The problem is the availability of the engine parts. Most of the engine parts should be ordered through japan and they are much expensive. p.s- I checked the classified.If I’m not wrong, that is the car that I knew. Check if the car is owned by a chap in Rathnapura district. When I rode in it there was an issue with the injectors, so the acceleration was extremely low. Now he might have fixed it becuase this was in 2016 as I remember. He is a die hard Nissan fan?

I’ll order one within the next two weeks. Is it necessary to order from a Top Rated Seller when buying parts like these? @Hyaenidae @iRage @kush

Woow!!!Is it a Bose??In your Q3?Usually Audis use bose

@Hyaenidae Thanks mate. Is it the same process for all the large items?

Hello guys, I’m going to import a Bose spare tire subwoofer from Ebay. It weights around 4-5kg(not sure), and size is of the inside radius of a 15’ rim. Since it is a large item, is there a specific process for tax payments and collocting from the customs? This is my first time of importing a large sized item, therefore expect some opinions. The price of the item is around $100 and shipping rate is around $30-$40, but both of these figures vary. Cheers

Sadly, all the 3 cars you’ve mentioned have famous issues which are costly to repair. The Fit and Vezel have the DCT replacement which would cost you around 200,000 according to a friend of mine.This is not an issue, but just a running repair which comes prematurely due to SL climate and traffic conditions. Aquas are prone to battery failures. One close friend of mine had to replace the battery around 73000kms(he had brought down and registered the car in 2013) which costed 300,000. Also another friend of mine owns an Aqua which was one of the earliest imported ones to SL and it is still going strong. From what I’ve heard, it is really useless to own a hybrid unless if you do over atleast 2000ks per month.I’ve never heard any complaints about the battery from Fit,Vezel and Grace owners. At the same time the GP5 is a really enjoyable car to drive, and one of my favourite among the mass imported models. It corners pretty well and has plenty of grunt for daily driving. At the same price you can find a 2007-2008 Allion/Premio but most of them have been beaten to death. But you can find a nice 141 2011-2012 GLI model for the same price with genuine mileages and service history.The car is really comfortable than the mentioned 3 models and has a proven relaible powertrain which can run well over 300,000kms if properly taken care of.Also the car is specifically designes for the SL market, so the suspension components can undergo much abuse than the Axio,Allion and Premios.Just take a look at it

The thing is finding a really good car is becoming an a bit messy in SL market, even if the budget is around 6-7 million.Always remember, the car you are getting is a used car, so don’t expect it to be as good as a new car.My advice is to always search for a car with Good Body Condition, because body is the hardest part to repair and even after a repair, it shows minor signs. Avoid dark colours, since all the repair signs of the car are much pronounced after a repair compared to light colours.You only have a rare chance of getting a car with original paint, but if you keep on searching, you can get a good example. Search for a few months atleast. I also gave up the idea of going for a 2007-2009 Allion, few months ago after inspecting. My budget was around 4.3 million. So you need to find a bit mate. I know a guy who bought a DX wagon with spotless condition for 1 million. Don’t worry you’ll find a good car, but make sure not to loose the patience. Also search for the posts of our forum member PreseaLover, who has mastered that particular quality?.He’ve been hunting for a Presea for a really long time and finally found a really good example.

The CS Lancer is really comfortable. I think it is really ahead of cars like Axio,121s.On the other hand fuel economy is not so great and you are getting a comparatively old car. Demio is a really good car. I know a Demio owner who had done over 200,000kms and he became a Mazda fan ever since.I have never driven one,but since it’s Mazda it would really shine in Driving and Performance.But it might not be as good as CS1 when it comes to comfort and space. For me, I really love sedans and good comfort, so I’d go with the Cs1 despite the age.

I too agree with you mate?

For me, I really love when the Turbo kicks in, specially in double cabs and jeeps. In relavance to the topic, Allions and Premios have a considerable amount of body roll when cornering, but the way you dive in to the corner can vary the amount. I’m still new to the car and I’m totally satisfied for what I’ve paid for. I moved from a car which is closer to 20 years old to 5 years old and paying an extra over 2 million. Really amazed how the same engine from the 121(with many tweaks) perform extremely quiet and economical while giving okish acceleration for day to day driving in a much heavier car. Also the extra 2million really showed me good people and bad people. Only about 4-5 were happy about what I had done and really appreciated. Others...yeah they were not happy at all

?Really I said what I felt.But it has more driving pleasure than the Axio Hybrid.I have driven most of the mainstream jap cars imported to SL and among them, I think GP5 is the best for driving. Allions and Premios has the barge like feeling.Numbest car I’ve ever driven was the Axio hybrid.Anyway I’m yet to push the Allion to a corner in an aggressive way? I think he is refering to the smoothness of the car as driving pleasure

I own a 2013 Allion machan