ramishkad

Considering it's a Vitz, I would say go to the agents. I imported my previous vehicle (2011 Civic FD3 - Reconditioned) through an importer who offered Sterling warranty. And I was doing my services with them. Within 9000km of driving the hybrid battery started giving serious deterioration errors. Back then this battery cost around 590000 if imported from Stafford so naturally I turned to Sterling to claim warranty. I was expecting a whole load of excuses and ball passing from them but surprisingly it was a very smooth process. Within 2 months (or a month - i cant remember) I got a brand new hybrid battery for no cost. And I did not have to nag them to get it done. I was still skeptical if they gave me a used battery because it all seemed too good to be true. But the scans I did at Stafford and all other parameters were on point. I actually used that battery without issues for over 100000km and was still good when I sold the vehicle. So I believe they did give a genuine replacement. That being said: 1. This was over 5 years ago. They were still starting out with the warranty and maybe they wanted to give a few exemplary performances at the start to better market it. I don't know if the service standards are still the same now. 2. Mine was a used hybrid. And a Civic too for that matter, which is notorious for hybrid battery issues if the vehicle is parked for too long (shipping + stationary yard time alone would have triggered the issue). Your vehicle has none of these dependencies. It is highly unlikely it will develop an issue that you'd actually benefit from the warranty like mine did.\ 3. Apart from the warranty claims, their services were slightly more expensive. Sure they did an ok job with genuine lubricants (nothing extraordinary, nothing bad either) but I could have got done same, if not better, services from elsewhere for less cost. And like iRage mentioned above, Sterling/Kobe service stations would have technicians who do not have manufacturer specific knowledge as opposed to the agents. Guys in these places have their knowledge spread thin across all vehicle types and models and lack the required deep model specific knowledge to troubleshoot the not so obvious issues.

Try wiping this with 3M Leather and Vinyl Restorer. You can get it for around 2500LKR from leading supermarkets.

You seem to have missed my point. I'm not complaining about the cost. I'm willing to pay a premium for genuine parts and quality service. Otherwise I would not have chosen to do the service at the agent in the first place. What I wanted to emphasize was that the 50000 or whatever amount they charge is a flat rate. If you just replaced your filters/lubricants elsewhere and you know those items are genuine and match your vehicle, the agent will still replace them in the first service since its not from them. So anyone who is going to do the first service should consider this and plan when exactly they want to do it to avoid a loss from replacing perfectly good parts.

I did the initial service from them. The registration process took about 45 mins (I went there around 8.30AM). Once that's done a service advisor is assigned to you and he will inspect the car and bring the car in for service. At the initial service, they will remove and replace all your current Air/Oil filters and engine oil REGARDLESS of the state they are in. Apparently it's to bring grey imports to their standard. In my car which had 3700km on the ODO, the following was replaced: Engine Oil Filter, Windscreen Washer Fluid, Oil Cap Seal + Washer, Coolant Top Off, Air Filter, A/C Filter element, fully synthetic engine oil (Ow-40), sundries(??). They also do something called the 300 point inspection where they check both the hardware and software of the car. For all of the above, the bill came up to LKR 58000. I know for a fact it doesn't cost this amount to do all the replacements above (their reason for the high initial cost). It's better if they were more upfront and called this what it is; an initial registration fee for grey imports. I would have paid it anyway. However, the surprising part for me is that they do not let you watch the service. No one is allowed into the work area and you just have to take their word for it about the changes that are done.Of all the places I've been for car services (and thats quite a few), this was the only place that enforced this policy. That being said, the service was upto standards and they had covered all bases. Staff was friendly and helpful. There are other places that will get you the same service done (D*MO Bostch, Vishwa motors to name a few) for cheaper but agent maintenance always comes at an extra cost for grey imports I guess.

Yeah I inquired about it over the phone. This plus VAT. So it comes to around 58k for below 1000cc or 70k for others as you mentioned.

Thanks for the info. I got it with 60km on the ODO and now its 3400km. I'll do it this weekend if there are slots available. Thanks again. EDIT: I called them and the process was well explained in detail. They also explained about the initial service. Quoting the email they sent:

This is great news. Thanks. Since when did they start this? Btw at what mileage are you doing the initial service?

Mate if the vehicle is actually good as it's claimed to be, that itself would quell the rumors. Facts would always trump opinion in the end. Besides, I don't understand how criticism of a vehicle in an online forum can destroy peoples dreams of buying it. Bulk of the negativity towards the 580 in this thread is based on the history of the manufacturer. You really cannot blame people for being skeptic in this case. It's DFSK who has to prove their new vehicles are actually good, not the other way around.

Is it the same sensor that is always going off? I had the same issue with my car (not a Civic though) and for some strange reason I first noticed in heavy rain. When I examined it I found out that the car sale guys had fixed the number plate slightly off alignment that it was too close to one of the sensors. Centering the number plate fixed the issue for me.

I meant these products: According to the label "Made in USA with globally sourced materials". I've seen these in supermarkets i.e Arpico Supercenter but only on some outlets. Or you can easily get them from any 3M authorized applicator. I personally get it these days from Echo Zone. As I remember they had AutoGlym products as well but I've never tried. Durability is as I mentioned earlier. Paste wax lasts a couple of months but you have to use the quick wax once every two weeks or so to complement it.

I've been using 3M Quick Wax (the spray on version) for more than 5 years and its pretty good( Meguiars and AutoGlym are superior products to 3M as I know). What I do with my current vehicle is that I have the 3M paste wax professionally applied once every three months (from Echo Zone Colombo), and then apply the Quick wax myself every two or so weeks after washing the car. As @iRagementioned above the spray wax wears off quickly (i.e 2 weeks). It's more of a filler to complement the professional wax job.

By point #4, do you mean your head unit officially does not support Android Auto? If so, the chance of getting it to work by some hack are virtually zero. Btw Android Auto is not officially supported in SL as of yet (the app is not available in SL play store). But if you downloaded the apk from an external site, it always worked in SL even when I tried it more than 6 months back.

Although it's not officially supported, Android Auto does work in Sri Lanka. You can simply download the APK from a site like apkmirror and get going. When @danss70 said Android Auto was not working, what cable did you use to connect to the car? It will not work with most cheap cables available in Sri Lanka as it uses a high speed data connection between the head unit and the phone. Try with the original data/charging cable that came with the phone. If thats not available, try with a UGreen data cable from ebay. I'm using AA with Audi MMI since day one with zero issues. So it does work in SL. And Google Maps beats the hell out of any proprietary maps software car manufacturers have.

The most important question is how many miles will you be running a month? And i'm also curios to know why you havent included the Axio Hybrid as an option but included the Prius?

Well I'm using a A3 sedan which AFAIK has pretty much the same engine and transmission as the Q2. So far I've got no complaints. These cars are not climatized to Sri Lanka so you have to be extra generous with the maintenance. i.e. If the manual recommends engine oil change at 15000km, agent would likely advise you to do it every 10k. Don't cheap out on the maintenance or the cars will turn into money pits later on.

I can recommend these guys too as I did some minor body repairs for my FD3 there. The prices would be a bit on the higher end but their work was neat and professional. One thing I didn't like was that they had replaced my number plate casing to one that had VTEC motors branding. Old casing was in the boot of the car - they didn't steal it or anything. But I feel they should have asked me before doing that.

Generally a reliable vehicle. But if you are buying one with a CVT gearbox, make sure to check its maintenance history. Certain models of the City/Aria lineup was prone to CVT gearbox issues and the infamous 'Honda Shudder' (vibration when accelerating from a dead stop). But if the gearbox was maintained properly with timely oil changes (i would suggest 15-20k CVT oil change interval in SL traffic and climate) it would not give you problems.

You can check old archive.org snapshots of autolanka which will have the prices: https://web.archive.org/web/*/autolanka.com

Did you check the Audi A3 Sedan or if you are ok with a crossover, Audi Q2? Both of these are 1.0L Turbo so the money you pay would be more towards the actual cost of the vehicle, rather than taxes. A note on the A3, even most of the fully loaded models do not come with Audi Pre-Sense radar which means it won't have auto breaking, lane assist, adaptive cruise etc. This applies to agent imports as well because Audi apparently discourages the use of it in SL traffic conditions. It does come with 360 degree collision warning/parking sensors. Also, although the back seat can comfortably seat 2 adults, seating for 3 on long trips might not be that comfortable. A3 S-Line would cost you around 8.2-8.7 (without permit - permit price should be around your budget) from a car sale. Q2 should be even less. I don't know much about the resale value of this other than that it won't be anywhere as good as a Toyota in SL. On the other hand, I, just like you switched from a Honda Hybrid to an A3 and have no regrets.

Guess 90% "capable off road" SUVs in Sri Lanka aren't being used beyond the paved roads anyway, but for some reason it seems to me like a souped up Bolero, something feels wrong with it but I can't put my finger on what Dumi##a Bodykits. That's whats wrong with it.

From what I've seen on SL forums and Facebook groups, most people go for the MG because of the sunroof. Whichever vehicle you buy, don't make sunroof the deciding factor. My vehicle has one too, and its near completely useless in Sri Lanka.

I would suggest you not decide what to buy based on options such as Sunroof and cruise control. My vehicle has both these options (I had to go with them because they anyway came with the trim I selected), and I rarely ever use them. You will likely open the sunroof maybe once or twice just to see what it does, and then never use it ever. Cruise control may be useful on the highway but even adaptive cruise is not that practical in SL slow moving, dumbass driven traffic. So these options at least for me are good only for the looks , and not practical in Sri lanka. You're better off spending this money on core vehicle features that will actually matter. As for MG, I personally didn't like the interior. It felt a bit cheap and 'mass market oriented' if you know what I mean. But this is a personal opinion that is subjective. Cannot comment on the durability or maintainability of the vehicle since I haven't used one. I have not heard a lot of good about Micro after sales service. In fact, almost every experienceI heard from my friends who had Panda, Kyron and Geely MX cars has been negative. Lack of parts, long time to import parts, long time to get repairs done, etc. So do some more research if you are locking in on MG.

1. There is no engineering requirement I can think of to always keep your wheels straight when parked. In fact, most vehicle user manuals would tell you to turn the wheels towards the curb when parking on a hill. This is to prevent the car from rolling down the slope (so that it will hit the curb and stop) should the parking breaks fail. 2. Turning the steering while vehicle is stationary is called 'dry steering'. I'm not sure about the impact of this on the EPS system. However this will have an impact on your tires wearing out if you do it frequently enough.

Thank you for the input. My concern is that mine being a grey import, I do not have agent assistance available to me. So I was asking around from other places such as Bosch service center and Vishwa Motors. I'll try to contact the agent and see if they are willing to provide this info.

Speaking of 1000CC Turbo engines and the recommended engine oil, I have a couple of questions. My cars (Audi A3) service manual does not explicitly state the viscosity of the oil to be used. It recommends Castrol Edge Professional (full synthetic of course) and mentions that I should refer to the agent for the correct viscosity. I've asked around a couple of reputed service stations and they recommend 5W-40 oil. However, Castrols website has an option to enter the car model and find the correct oil for the given vehicle. When I used this, the oil that was suggested was 5W-30 Long Life. When I mentioned this to the service stations, their reply was that 5W-40 is more suitable to the Sri lankan environment. Can someone please shed some light on this? I am obsessed with putting manufacturer recommended oils in my car and I cannot verify this 'better for SL' claim the service station personnel are making.