Clark'sson

Up until resently i was a complete anti prius guy. But as the opening of the new highway and having things in Hambantota decided to cut down on traveling costs amd added a prius to the garage. From experiences of hunting one down, i noticed the main comcerns on the vehicle are the, Battery pack, ABS, And steering rack. As there is a large inflow of parts for the prius most of the parts are dirt cheap. I checked the prices of each repair and most were cheap. I gave priority to the looks and some options like cruise control which is important for highway driving. I bought one with some options with low milage but with a battery issue. The battery was almlst 10 years old. It only took me Rs.30 000 to repair with few new cells and now it runs like clockwork. And there was a steering rack issues that i sorted with a refirbished rack for Rs.10 000. Even to sort out 2 major issues it took me less than the price it takes to do a service on a new euro car. Its pretty economical. Thats the reason i got one in the 1st place. It does around 18 in colombo and around 25kmpl long distance. It only takes around Rs. 2000 to from colombo to hambantota and back to colombo. Some say a new battery will increase fuel economy, but heck this economy is more than enough for me. The car is a robust car there are some units that have run close to 500 000km and still running. Most elctronics and specialy the gear box is uber reliable compared to some other vehicles. Well if you compare it with the premio it has better acceleration due to the electric assist and also better handling not to mentioned the economy. And is relatively comfortable for its class. Only used for few months so not an expert on it but up to now totally satisfied with it specially compared to its rivals like the axio allion and premio. Thing is its common as hell so if you need some sort of an identity pick a rare colour. Maybe add a spoiler etc.. So go ahead and buy one. Parts are dirt cheap and readyly available. A lot of garages know haw to reapir them as its common. And its economical as hell. What more can you ask for. Even if there are no battery issues in other vehicles other repairs will come to the battery price. When buying dont trust too much on new battery warrenty things. Because batteries can easyly be swaped. Best thing is to buy with the old battery and repair or replace yourself. And as always avoid buying from sales.

If only she decided to use a Prado or A Montero. The candle wouldnt have burned out so early. And Sir EJ will be still singing about how Marilyn Monroe was found dead.

Till that type of buses and lorrys come to sri lanka and buses are driven by non drug consuming sane drivers we would have to use some hefty vehicle to save ourselves. And my concept the big the bulkier the better stands till that day. And NCAP ratings are only for vehicles of the same size

Some times back a pajero without even airbags hit head on with a layland lomg distance bus and the driver and passenger were trough wothout a scratch. Try that in a audi or volvo car with million airbags

I can asure you that a properly maintained 15 year old japanese car will be better than a MG zs. The jap will have less trouble than the MG and it will be easyer to maintain by a newbie as it can be maintained at any garage. Dont go for small engined audis they burn oil. And if you think these small turbo engines ar economical they are not. A conventional 1.5L will do better on fuel. And they need to be kept at high revs to get the power so will wear oit quickly. The hyundai venue and raize are ok if you are hell bent on brand new. But you should understand that you will be subjected to a huge depresiation. If i were you, for that budget the options would be 2012 Kia sorento a newer Kia Sportage or Hyundai Tucson. Audi A4 2012, bmw 320d 2012. And the list goes on. Safety wise consider the worlds safest bike beimg run over by a lorry. The NCAPs all measure impacts with same size vehicles so if they hit a larger vehicle you will see some stars but thats not for the safety rating. Overall the big the bulkyer the safer. Honestly because of this our family only uses suvs as we need to protect ourselves from bus drivers These cars will be easyier to maintain. Cheaper to run and will last longer than those small engined turbos. In the new cars although the warrenty is there the company will rip you off whenever possible. And the second hand cars will hold a much better value come resale time.

City and Yaris will not do that much on fuel. Some real world highway figures from the GP5, Prius 3rd gen and 141 diesel if you know of them.

Kei cars and the picanto are a defenete no no ? It should atleast be a sedan even a little old as long as its reliable as you see in the list. And those 660cc cars although economical in the city will not do well in highway speeds of 100 -120 kmph. Afterall the meter only goes upto 140 in some of them. And driving one at that speed will be horrifying. So they are out of the list. Even the vitz is also too small. FIY im a little bit of a large guy

I have a similar question. With a change in my job location i have to travel 4000+km now. So considerimg buying another car for less than 3 million for the traveling. 1. Should do a lot on fuel the illusive 18 - 20 kmpl. 2. Sould be cheap to maintain. 3. Shouldnt break down in the middle of the road. Sometimes travel at night. 4. Need to do this heavy running for around 2 years afterwards i dont mind a small losscome resale. 5. Should be comfortable and safe. Most of the traveling is in the highway My options are the 1. Prius 2009 3rd gen +Good on fuel - battery issues 2. Corrola diesel 2008 manual + economical diesel better than hybrids in motorways easy to maintain 2c engine - MANUAL. no cruise control for highways. Primitive (Fred Flinstone had one ) 3. Fit gp5 2014 L + Newer vehicle -Less economical than prius. Small car less safe. Dual cluch issues. 4. Fiat linia + Cheap to buy. Nice uncommon vehicle. Great on fuel. - no agent. Nightmare to maintain. Manual. No resale market. 5. Suzuki ciaz diesel. Dont know a nut or bolt about this car. Your openions please

Depends on you requirement. If you do not run much go for a petrol. Get ready for fuel figures of around 5kmpl in a petrol. If you streach to 10 million you will be able to get an average diesel montero. To be honest it is value for money. Its easy and comparatively cheap to maintain does around 12kmpl in the long run and 10kmpl short run. I have achived more with a feather like foot but this would be average. The 120 diesel will also have the same pros easy and cheap to maintain but its a little older than the montero and will has a newer model the 150. Although the evoque is cheap to buy it aint cheap or easy to maintain. Fuel figures will be in the same ball park. Its a much smaller crossover compared to the montero and prado which are large usable 7 seater suvs. All depends on what you expect from it. Ps dont go for those sub 10 million hacked montero. Go for a well maintained reliable one for slightly more.

Is the dealer the the authorized dealer or a car sale. If its a sale the so called brand new car may have run a 100 000km wraped it self around a light pole completely repaired with inferior parts and sold as brand new zero millage with forged certificates. Anyways if its through the company (d!m0) its brand new alright but such attention may not be given to details. Although we considered germans having great attention to details in the past now they are loosing that specialy in the mass produced cars in the lower end that we get here like the bmw318i Audi a4, A5, q3 merc cla c class etc. This should be the least of your concerns comparing to the oil birning issues infortainment screen getting stuck issues, low speed misfire issue seen on those small engined euros that filled our streets. And mind you there be a lot to come in sri lanka as most of our people couldnt properly maintain a dual clutch gearbox.

This looks fishy. I googled up the so called clearimg agency but it dosent seem to be of a clearimg agency. This looks more of an attempt buy some car sale buyyas to sell off the huge stocks of cars they have in stock.

Your one must be a company model. My UK model LC4 150 irons out the bumps even at 34-35psi

This is probably the basic computer model. Most came with a 4d56 engine. This may have a 4M40 this will have less options than the so called intercooler model which has a 4M40 intercooler turbo engine. But the "intercooler" will be much more expensive than 3.5mill some reaching close to the 5mill mark. Anyway intercooler without turbo is like a bidet without a ? toilet. Anyway its a great car very reliable and easy to maintain. Will go several times to the moon and back without any repairs and almost all should have visited the moon atleast once by now

I prefer cream soda over nestcafe

These are sister cars but Brand new a similar spec Santa fe is more expensive than the Sorento. And hyundai owns Kia. So the build quality of the santafe is much above the sorento. And there is a model change (not a facelift) during that years. So theres no sense buying the 2012 sorento over the Santafe. Actually its better to have a similar spec 2012 santafe than a 2012 sorento

Yes the company told to use normal diesel when i drove it out brand new. But i used super diesel. The one i used with super didnt get the engine issue at even 100 000km. It was manual. The cluch pump and flywheel fail in the manuals so avoid them. Then i exchanged it to a fully loaded auto. It had its overhaul at 65 000km. But there are no issues afterwards. There is nothing to be afraid of if the overhaul had been done in the company. The fuel economy reduces with time but a diesel will do above 10kmpl easyly. But never expect 10 in any petrol suv. Youd lucky if you got around 5kmpl in the 2.7 v6 petrol. So if you need fuel economy never buy the petrol varient. 10years is nothing for a diesel suv and for the price theres no other vehicle thats comes to your requirement. The other optioms would be a Palathsaba Pajero or a Prado from the 1980s You can only buy something like a wagonr or alto new at that price which is totally useless for your requirement

The description you mentioned only points to one vehicle. The Hyundai Santafe. Its the only 2007ish 7seater suv for your budget. Dont even think of converting a 5 seater to 7. Its not made to hold that weight and no proper mounts. Its a death trap. And the xtrail and rav 4 of that era never came with 7 seats. Its the vanguard a streached version of the rav4 which came later which had it. And there will be a significantly low fuel economy in the petrol suvs compared to the diesel You shouldnt be complaining about the horrible 2nd hand market of it because its the only reason it ended up in your budget. If it held on to the value like a toyota you couldnt even think of buying one. So the ones who should be upset are the ones who bought them brand new like us. The engine repair came at around 60 000km due to not using super diesel. If it was done properly. (Most were done in the company under a special warrenty). There woudnt be any issue. You could finda hacked one for 3.5 But dont be an el-cheapo and go for the cheapest one. Go for a good condition one with all the options like 4wd, 7 seats, triptronic, spped lock etc. Its better to get a well looked after one for a little bit more than a hacked one for a little cheaper and spend much more on repairs.

Its a 2wd station wagon car. And if you want a suv for that budget go for a santafe, sorento, or an old montero sport.

Yes the montero sport is an excellent choice at that price point. The pickup is ok for an indirect injection engine. But as tiv mentioned domt expect 1KD or 4M41 performance. And actually it has the 4d56 out of the palathsaba pajero turbo wagon. So it will perform just like that. The engine is durable. And like the new montero sport its based on the L200 of its days ofcorse but has rear indipendent suspension unlike the cab. Anyways its a much better (a million times better choice tjan vessels , chr, crv those cross overs and wannabe suvs). Probably its one of the cheapest offroaders awailable at the moment. Comfort is ok but the vehicle shows its age. Its actually a 90s model with 90s styling and equipment. But again its a million times better than those others

You can get a 2011 - 2012 well looked after low millage diesel UK model one with all the bells and whistles for that price. Most of the England models i checked out were well looled after and had descent and reliable millages while the local models had been run a lot (rented out etc ) and had unacceptable millages or high ones most of them. So in my resent hunt i decided to go for a 2011 well looked after UK model LC4 for around your budget and im loving every bit of it. And yes the diesel torque in this is really impressive and due to it being vgt it delivers enough grunt at lower RPMs

The diesel is much more economical than the petrol. But when comparing with the montero it does slightly less. The 1KD diesel does around 12kmpl long distance and close to 10kmpl short distance (not in heavy traffic). The petrol one has much more options. Duel electric leather seats with heated seats, 3rd row electric seats. 17 speaker audio system, 18"alloy wheels a optitron speedometer to name a few. I have a UK England model one which has the best of both worlds. Its a diesel and has all those bells and whistles of the petrol G frontier. Its also more sound insulated than the local and japan models so theres no road noice coming inside. Theres also KDSS a special traction control system which also minimizes body roll. A crowl control sysyem, 2nd start, cornering active headlights (AFS) and much more. Also the sound system is a JBL synthesis 17 speaker one puting out 1060w. Overall its much more comfortable and economical than the local models. So if your in the hunt for a prado i suggest you go for a England UK model one. But check for undercarriage rust. Most of this issue was settled by having a good undercoarriage rustproofing.

If your permit is the 3.6million permit you can sell it for much more than 1.5 million. Actally you can sell it close to 2.5 million. One sales guy asked 2.3 for mine could have asked for more if i needed to. If you are bringing down one eg-chr would cost around 3.3 million but can sell off for Close to 7 million+ so youll earn the 3.6 million but if you have to take lot of loans and do a lot of gil-mart to get the initial youd be better off selling it off. But you can go for more than 2.3 million for it so remember to give the hora who tried to buyit for 1.5 million a knuckle samdwitch. If your not sure about the price check i#m@n

kThe low torque figures and power coming at high revs and the insane fuel economy is whats bad with the petrols. With the low torque some petrols like the 2L na xtrail struggle to carry its own weight. Combine that and the high reving makes it difficult to use and to fill up. Did you consider the 2008 montero sport its kind of a better option than the petrol rav4s outlanders xtrails vitaras and crvs Anyway my advice would be to go for a montero or prado which has been well looked after. Using them for some time now and hasnt missed a beat. But keep some green around Rs.200 000 for the unexpected. And get the niggles sorted out just after the purchase.

Its like taking a grandma to midn*ght div@s

I resently bought a Prado uk model with the 1KD engine. I took a look at a 5L with manual transmission. The 5L never matches the 150 and stand clear of it. Frankly the 5L is being used for UN (united nations) models. Anyway the 1KD atleast in UK spec has great pulling power. Didnt drag a trailer around but with 7 adults sitting comfortably climbing upto nuwaraeliya didnt even break a sweat. Mainly due to the high torque figures it passes other vehicles like nothing. The 5L diesel engine has only has 106hp and 197nm of torque. The petrol G frontier has 158hp and and 246nm of torque. The company model 1KD diesel has 170hp and 352nm of torque. While the UK (england) model 1KD diesel has 190hp and 491nm of torque. So that makes the difference.