Boseth Minidu

Bro I also agree that one is hideous,not a fan of the 300 Conversions at all. The Green does look nice,these two examples are 2008’s right? There was one 2008 Red one which used to be at one of my dad’s friends dealerships in Dehiwala but it has went through alot of dealerships since last year and now it’s in a dealership in Piliyandala.I think these being the early models didn’t have an option for a Sunroof from my guess. Indeed I’m waiting bro,currently some banks has dropped the rate from 32% to 22%.Will be waiting till it drops to 9-10% like it used to,prices won’t be rising with rate’s being sky high anyways But I do think LC prices will drop by another 5 mil at least since people don’t really take out loans for cars that cost more than 20 mil.I’ll wait as long as I can and only make a move as soon as prices start rising(probably 4-5 months from now).Initially I will target for something 2013-2015ish,but will buy something newer if I do get the opportunity.Honestly I wanted to buy a low mileage 1st owner Bruno Cross at first,but that’ll be highly unlikely.Probably just stick with a UK Diesel instead.Btw my bad for telling I’ll be driving it everyday,that was kind of an exaggeration I made without me realizing it previously ig.I’ll probably drive it till my “asawa” gets fulfilled and switch it up with my current daily every now and then. The black Bruno Cross is my all time fav.This one is a 2015 with one owner with 49K Kms but the asking price is 50 mil!! The sale bayyas is asking quite the “gema” with the prices,they’d rather sell 1 car for 50 million in half a year rather than selling 5 cars for 24 million in half a year 😅 Might as well wait till I can snatch one for 40 mil at least…

Honestly fed up with the new prices,from the way I remember we could buy a 2016-2017 ZX for like 360-370 and a 2017-2018 VX for about 410-490 back in 2019. I would have waited if prices were to drop but with the current economic problems not anytime soon,so the best would be to buy one as soon as rates drop,because then prices will start to rise because demands will increase by a bit.

270? Dam bro…cheapest I came across was 315(for a ZX at least) but the interior was all beat up so I didn’t even bother.I saw two Diesel on ###### and riyasewana bro,one is a White and is asking 500 but most probably has been facelifted from Chinese parts(I may be wrong) and the other is a Black asking 450 but has a crazy Navigator facelift(not a fan personally),both are 2013’s have the “beji” interior.Are those okay prices nowadays bro? Both are fixable but will have to put facelift parts because I will have trouble if I install the original face because the paint won’t be matching because they’re facelifted,if it had an original face people may think it is accident repaired,any opinions on this? Haven’t came across a decent Diesel example yet,I was eyeing on a stock condition ICEPACK when price was dropping but the ad listing disappeared,either someone bought it or some other sale bayya traded it.But still I will continue on the hunt…. The white one ☝️ The black one 👇 Btw bro is the red example you mentioned a Diesel? Not really interested in the MP models because they lack some basic features(Like when comparing JDM Prado TX-L and the Local TX)

Guys small update on the LC,otw to Nugegoda I spotted a black on 2010 black 60th anniversary LC ZX which has been sitting for a while.Apparently it’s been fully converted to the 2018 Model Inside and out.Only has 1 owner with 95K Kms,car has been owned by a guy up north in Nuwara and the owner of the car sale showed me some pics the previous owner took of the whole procedure of the Facelifting process and the car overall seems to be very well maintained,company maintained precisely and the guy took me around the block… The guy is asking 385 lakhs and told me I could take it for 378.But I’m sure I could haggle down the price more.Wanted to ask you guys if this is a good choice when I do buy it when the rates come down. Oh and another thing,the previous owner had installed an Android player instead of an OEM head unit during the conversion.Are the Android head units any good?

Thanks for the info @matroska and @iRage !

Guys I wanted to know what are the grades of the Starlet EP71? How do you differ them from each other and how to know which what’s the country of origin of it?

What about the Vitz 1.5 Hybrid? You may be able to find one for around 7.5 million if you still didn’t make your purchase. @iRage do correct me if this is a bad choice.

This is true about EV’s,no one will buy EV’s unless there are proper charging stations,and I don’t think SL people will be ready to wait more than 5 minutes to charge their car on the way to somewhere.Some cars like Tesla will be an exception but they exceed the budget or any ordinary Joe anyways. I still find it funny that the fact people think everything will get better just because we got the IMF Bailout,people act like they don’t remember spare parts and fuel prices are still sky high which is why vehicles prices dropped,not just because interest rates for leasings and loans are sky high.Believe it or not I spent 200K in repairs on one of my Indian alto’s which would’ve only costed like 70-80K if spare parts prices weren’t sky high.

True words said,I once went with a friend when he went to buy a Corolla 141 earlier this year.The car looked all good but the sketchy thing was it was only maintained in Toy#ta L#nka till 2020 and just have service bills after that,I thought this was due to financial issues of the previous owner.The other funny thing was it had a blue letters in the license plate meaning this was used by someone in the government som part of it’s life.The salesman said different bluffs like “Meka GLI,highest grade eka” and “Ara poddak ehen mehen gawila paint karala thiyenawa buffer ehema echcharai”,the good old tactics.Next day we plugged in the scanner and well as you expect,the Odometer has been clocked and the scanner started throwing different codes.Considering the car was 6.8 million which was about 1.3 million over other exmaples anyways,my friend didn’t even bother buying it.

The answer comes all down to you,do you actually need those extra goodies? Both have buyers but from my knowledge older cars like the Sunny,Corolla,Axio,etc… lost their value when KEI cars like Alto,Wagon-R got popular in the SL Market. But the Premio/Allion had their market,since they were near the 5 mil range anyways. @Hyaenidae is right about the Wagon-R thing tho,most are used as cabs or in rent-a-cars.But I don’t see how renting a Wagon-R makes sense with th ridiculously high prices when you could rent an Indian alto for Rs.10,000 less haha.If you do choose a newer smaller car,go for a less preferred option like the Japhang Alto/Every-Wagon,Most Japan Alto’s are home kept with the owner either driving short distances or just left at home while the owner takes his motorbike or take the bus to work.If you prefer features just go for higher grades like the X-Hybrid in the Stingray,X-Grade in the Alto.They’re rarely abused by rent-a-cars or being used as cabs.Don’t worry about KEI cars having issues,I have a Japan Alto with 86K Kms and still running strong,but make sure to service it in time because they have soft engines.But with your budget I’d say go for a Swift RS or something,it’s new and it’s within your budget Whatever car you decide to go with,I’d say get it checked before the purchases.Good luck with the buy bro. 👍

Bro have you checked out the Kia Stonic or Toyota Raize? Considering you prefer crossovers over sedans.You can very well find a 2019-2020 Example with lower mileage for your budget.I personally know some people that own the Raize,one of my old teachers owned a Kia Stonic but sold it with the Fuel Crisis.Most people seem to be happy with the Raize,the teacher also liked the Stonic.But I’m not sure if they have any issues since they are relatively new cars.@iRage what would you think of these two?

Imo it depends on what will you use it for,will you do offroading? Will you be mostly doing city driving? But from your choices I say the Harrier is the best choice,why…? The 2008 Montero Sport has bad resale value along with some issues(Can’t exactly remember the issues),these issues are one reason to affect their resale value. The 2003 Montero,the Petrol V6 has bad resale value because it’s known to being bad on fuel,the Diesel is the better choice but it exceeds your budget but you could find some 1999ish examples for about 7.5 million if you search well enough.Check with leasing companies too if you have contacts,they may have some “arrears” vehicles you might be able to grab for a bargain,or just continue their lease. The Harrier.You could find a Lexus RX400 Hybrid around your budget because the 300’s(Both Toyota and Lexus) only do 6KM/L because they’re V6’s,the Hybrid will do about 8KM/L.But the toyota variant is fine too,but the Lexus’s mostly being UK variants may have better durability compared to their japanese counterparts and better demand(not sure about the demand).But as @tiv said,maintenance cost is high,but Lexus and Toyota parts are interchangeable in the Harrier/RX. Are SUV’s a must? Most SUV’s within this range have at least one or two disadvantages.You could find some decent Sedans/Saloons for this price,or even better a flashy hatchback with never YOM.Do remember these are SUV’s and they are never as comfortable as a car because they are originated as hard-use vehicles(Some like CR-V and Harrier are an exception,they’re as comfortable as a car) Wish you luck with the buy bro.

Funny thing about this is that in some other vehicles it actually increases in value when it is facelifted(KDH,Vannete,V8,Prado,Hilux) but in the Premio/Allion it actually decreases the value.

Let’s hope someone brings a JDM variant of the 70 series in the future

I see,it’s nice to learn something new everyday.Whenever I buy a new vehicle it’s kind of a hobby of mine to learn as much as I can about that vehicle even before the purchase,and this was nice to learn especially about the Japanese laws and systems . @iRage but the new LC300 now has a diesel variant offered in Japan right? Saw some diesel variants in the japanese websites.

I do suspect that it’s the same case with the Japanese,they only offer them in petrol variants as well which is unfortunate.If there was a Diesel variant of the Bruno Cross I’d snatch the moment I see it.They offer other heavy vehicles such as trucks and vans but never an SUV,I’ve noticed even the 70 series is petrol there.They even offer bodykits from Modellista which basically makes it more of a city cruiser than an offroad SUV.Strangely,Even their base model GX looks like a base model VX if compared to the Australian/Middle-East market But at the end of the day TRD does offer bodykits that gives the LC more of a rugged look but people buys them less compared to the Modellista offerings But imo the TRD offerings doesn’t give it a rugged look but makes it look like a combination of street bling and ruggedness.Can’t beat the classic look of the GX(Australia/Middle East)

I do have a taste for LC’s with that workhorse’ish look,only thing that’s keeping me from offroading is the horrendous prices of vehicles in SL 😕 . One reason I like Australia is their offroad culture.Once saw a chopped up LC turned into a UTE,looked absolutely amazing imo. Honestly the only thing I don’t like about the GX which you showed in the pic @iRage(Correct me if I’m wrong) is the trunk/dicky door

Thank you so much for the info bro,tough luck with the cars that you let go increasing in prices(been experiencing that for a while too) and I do agree with the LC200 being overhyped,in other countries it’s an ordinary SUV but in SL it’s just a massive status symbol,funny thing is people give way even for the older LC200’s like some Amathi thuma is being transported in it or something haha. I’ve been eyeing on LC200’s for a while and I did notice as well that none got sold after the economic crisis began,just the same units have been circling around by the Sale bayyas. One again I really appreciate the reply bro,will keep everything about the specs in mind and will opt for a Diesel like you said so.Since the ICEPACK is basically the LC200 which was offered in the UK It may probably fetch a better demand than the local “palathsaba” and “manthri permit” models(Plz correct me if I’m wrong).Once again thanks bro,will opt for the diesel and will post some pics on the thread after my purchase

If you haven’t made your purchase yet overall I’d recommend the Indian Alto,from my experience they’re one of the cheapest cars you can own. Question,do you plan having more than 1 extra passenger? Back seats are alright but not the greatest with the cramped legroom. If you can afford it I’d recommend the Japanese version of the Alto.The shape of the car gives alot of interior room and the comfort level is quite decent for the price.It’s one of my daily drivers currently so I can recommend(2017 L Grade with 85K Kms). But again if you want to sell it within a short period of time I’d recommend the Indian alto,people these days are downgrading from bigger cars because they can’t bear the maintenance because of economic issues,so the Indian Alto has a good demand compared to other cars since it’s a newer car you could maintain with minimal costs so you won’t have much trouble selling it.

Thanks @iRage,will do take that into consideration! Once again I appreciate the help 😀 Will post some pics after my purchase on this thread.

Thanks @iRage! Will take that into consideration. Also does the ZX has less resale value since it is petrol or does it have a reasonable resale value since it’s the highest when it comes to features?

I see,good one about the Corollas and Premio/Allions haha.Overall I can still handle the fuel problems,if I’m really short on fuel I could grab one of my econ boxes(Japan/Indian Alto) I have so that’s not really an issue basically.Overall I was wondering which would be better to buy in the long run,I was planning on driving it about 5,000-7,500Kms a year or just drive it rarely like I mentioned in my above reply with the KDH,I honestly wanted to buy an LC200 because it’s the second in line in my bucket list for my dream car after the NSX(since imports wouldn’t be allowed anytime soon).Like I said previously,the two options I have are the Bruno Cross edition and ICEPACK edition. Thanks.

Yep,the cost of the spares.Thanks for letting me know about it @matroska

Thanks for the opinion bro,tbh the LC200 has been one of my dream cars ever since it came out back in 2008,the Bruno Cross which came back in late 2014 has been my favorite out of all the 200’s out there too. Plus I am a bit concerned about the reliability and resale value overall as well with the Euro options out there because I’m planning to own it for another 8 years at least.And you probably might’ve guessed I’ve mostly driven cars and vans most of my life and rarely been in SUV’s,so kind of curious to try out an 200 too.Had a 2015 KDH221 too which I rarely drove so I sold it around late 2019 before the prices went up like crazy.I was planning to buy something around the 20-24 million range but with these prices I may have to opt for a lease,so waiting for either rates or prices to come down. @fiat fan,I’ve also been aware that LC200’s have been rising up in value since the V8 has been discontinued,but I may think it will drop down by a little bit since LC200’s around the world haven’t increased by 2x in price like in the SL markets.But I also think that it won’t drop to the intial price it was in. Thanks.

@iRage wait like seriously? When I researched it said the 4.6L did 5.5-6 in traffic or like 18L per 100KM according to foreign sources(can’t exactly remember how much per 100KM).I thought the Pajero did more than that too surprisingly.A friend of mine said he went to Kandy and came back to Nugegoda with half a tank too which is like 46.5L Also @iRage I sincerely hope you don’t find me as some spoiled brat, I’m just confused on what trim to buy.