Vengeance

A few sections of the roads from Polgahawela to Kurunegala and then from Kurunugala to around Melsiripura were under construction. No major work, only one lane of the road was going under construction and the traffic was well managed even at night (around 8pm) back in February. Beyond Melsiripura, the road is pure bliss to drive on. I touched 120kmph when the road was near empty during the day time and went below the speed limit all the way through, beware of police aiyyas with speed guns, there are plenty of them

If I was you, I'd stay away from the Koreans and the Chinese unless I'm buying a relatively new car as they don't age all that well. Newer Korean cars seem to have a better reputation compared to their old counterparts. Suzuki Alto Japanese: 10-14 city, 14-18 outstation, 650cc, English no. plate Toyota Starlet EP91: 11-13 city, 14+ outstation, 1300cc, English no. plate Perodua Viva/Viva Elite 2010 and older: 10-12 city, 14+ outstation, 660/1000c, English no. plate Civic EK3: 8-10 city, 12-14 outstation, 1500cc, 300- no. plate Lancer CK1/CK2: 8-10 city, 11-13 outstation, 1300/1500cc, English no. plate Mazda Butterfly, 8-10 city, 12-14 oustation, 1300cc, English no. plate The fuel consumptions are for manuals so reduce 1-2 if you're going for an automatic. If you want more information on these, just use the search function as all these vehicles have been discussed excessively. These are just a few recognized models in your budget range. The range of your budget is too large imo, there are way too many vehicles to choose from, reduce it if you actually want to buy a car or atleast add in more requirements Heck, for your criteria I can list down Mazda 323/BJ5W/BJ5P, Ford Laser, Nissan B13/B14/Pulsar/March K11/12, Honda City/EG8, Perodua Kelisa, Daihatsu Mira, Toyota Coronas and the list goes on and on! All these are good cars, provided you find one that has been WELL maintained

This has been discussed so many times imo, do a search and you'll find a lot of info on this. If a lady is driving, try to get an automatic vehicle, they'll find it easier to drive unless they already know how to balance the clutch The vehicle depends on how you intend to use it, for weekend use go for an old japanese and it'll retain its market value for a considerable amount of time and will also be pleasurable to drive. A newer vehicle will be better for daily use as you'll have to face less breakdowns and the maintenance will be easier. Also you have to list down your requirements such as economy, comfort, maintenace etc as there are so many reliable vehicles! From your list, Viva Elite and Suzuki Swift would be the better options

Yes, its possible to make one, but who would be so jobless to maintain it considering the market prices that update every few months due to dollar rate changes, tax changes, demand etc? For me, just browing through the "quick site" and some classfields on papers will give a clear idea of the current market price of a particular vehicle model

If I was you, I would have gone to a learners! The basic learners fee to get motor bike, tricycle and light vehicle license is around 17k, plus they handle all the documents which will save you a few trips to the RMV and a lot of time. Also, there's a higher chance of them passing you during the trial as the learners people usually give them a bribe, typical sri lankan government system I tell you If you're too busy, there are some learners that come to your place to pick you up, train you for a while and then drop you back at your home for an extra fee. Option 2 and 3 won't be practical and will incur you a loss if you plan on selling the vehicle within an year as @fiat fan suggested. I don't see how the 3rd option is risky either, as long as you find an experienced driver to train you and begin at your garden or an empty open space (such as a ground) and then slowly progress on to open roads with few vehicles and so on. P.S. Congrats on graduating, I'm planning on studying Civil Eng soon, maybe you can give me an idea of the current job market

Just pointing out, CK1 is the 1300cc version and the CK2 is the 1500cc version. If you want better fuel consumption, CK2 is a better choice as it has a higher power to weight ratio, but these are priced slightly higher than the CK1's. Also EFI versions are easier to maintain compared to their carb counterparts

I had a similar coolant leak in a much larger tube (the one connecting to the engine block) and it already had a clip, so tightening it further didn't work. I had to use high temperature-resistant silicon to seal it off. Guess you can try that out if the clip fails

The maximum it'll do will be around 160-165km/h I bet. Maybe having 200km/h is another marketing trick, people believe anything the company sales people say these days

Thanks a lot for the helpful inputs Rumesh and Davy! Yes, I was careful to keep my dirty hands off the bulb lens and the dust boot is perfectly sealed, no signs of moisture or water entering the the lamp housing either. So my guess is that the extreme heat is causing the bulbs to burst. I replaced the bulb today and it didn't work, the contacts were heavily corroded! Cleaned them with vinegar while brushing with a wire brush and then washed the contacts off with hot water carefully. Left the bulbs on continously for about 7-8 hours and the bulbs didn't fail, but the housing does get really hot from the outside as usual. Hopefully these will last for a while, fingers crossed. I'll keep you guys posted on any updates, thanks for the help again

Damn! Something I didn't think of, is there a way to be sure? Will moisture be visible or do I have to fill the housing with water and check? Also is the the fog lamp housing getting extremely hot considered normal?

Here are both the service and user manuals for Suzuki Maruti Zen, if anyone's interested https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=A95C95A002AEBA33!3306&authkey=!ANyuGGwLG_vNadE&ithint=folder%2cpdf

First of all, I'm sorry about bumping an old thread. I thought I'd ask my question here instead of opening a new thread since the question is about fog lights. The fog light bulbs I've been installing recently end up bursting after about 2 months of use. I purchased the car recently (about 6 months back) and only one fog light was working at the time, the bulb was H3 rated at 12V 55W, so I replaced it with some chinese H3 bulb and it ended bursting within a week. Then I purchased a brand named "Narva" and replaced both the fog lights, the dealer told me they were Japanese. However another bulb has burst after about 2 months of use. The problem is that the fog light housing gets really hot which I think is causing the bulbs to burst. Yes, they "burst" not "burn", the glass of the bulb actually cracks into pieces and only the filament is left. Its not possible to keep a finger on the housing for long even on a cold evening, the housing is made out of plastic. I checked the manual as well and it didn't have any rated wattage for the fog lamps, so my options at the moment are: 01. Use H3 bulbs rated 35W - I doubt I'll find them here, so might have to get them down from eBay. 02. Use H3 bulbs rated 55W from a reputed brand like Philips or Osram. 03. Use LED H3 bulbs. I'm a DIYer and I love to work on my car, but the problem is replacing the fog lamp is somewhat time consuming, you have to take the entire front bumper out, removing the number plate etc. Oh, did I mention that the car is a Suzuki Maruti Zen 2005? Can someone shed some light into this? Any help would be appreciated

I recently bought an Exide 35Ah maintenance-free battery for 6500/= with 1 year warranty + Battmobile service