Buying A Japan Domestic Market(Jdm) Vehicle

[tilvin]

Dear Guys,

One of my relative is planning to buy a Toyota Caldina(2001 manufactured) - petrol version. His mechanic guy advises not to go for it since it is a JDM car and it will not be upto the standard. As per the machanic, he tells that the car would not sealed properly and the under carpets will not be correctly put and when running with AC in traffic there are chances the outside smoke could enter. And also as per his opinion, he tells that the recirculation unit also will not be upto the standard and it might allow out side smokes to enter through that..... . Since my relative runs mostly in the Colombo city traffic he is highly worried about his comments and now have decided to drop the idea of buying the Caldina... . Can this be true?

Thanks,

Tilvin

Edited May 14, 2014 by tilvin

[Jaliya48]

Ane manda....That has to be the most bizarre "advice" I've heard. Are you sure this mechanic is of sound mind?

[similarnames]

Is this caldina at malabe you r takin about ?

[tilvin]

I do not know where he inspected the car. May be at Kandy.... . Anyway in quality wise what are the differences between International Version and JDM cars? I remember in wiki I read a portion that these JDM cars have been built with intention of short period use and NOT intended to use for years(long term)? Is that true?

[Sampath Gunasekera]

I remember in wiki I read a portion that these JDM cars have been built with intention of short period use and NOT intended to use for years(long term)? Is that true?

Machan, don't tell me that White "Premios" and " Allions" are behind you.

If it is true, simply you can't see such number of vehicle sales places along roadsides in Sri Lanka.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Sampath Gunasekera

[Komisiripala]

I recently had a look at a few caldinas as i wants a cheap runabout which was easily disposable. I never even heard of such issues in those cars. They're great little numbers. They'll hold their second hand value and bein 1.8 liter four pots, do reasonable well on fuel. There's a caldina gt in thalawathugoda which must be an absolute dream. Not so sure about reselling that tho.

I really don't know what the mechanic is on about. Another car your cousin could consider is the Toyota dx wagon. Or the corolla wagon. Worth their weight in gold.

[Davy]

This mechanic guy must have had bad experience with just one Caldina on which the fresh air vent was leaking outside air into the cabin.

Drove a friend's Caldina once from Ratnapura to Colombo last year and was obviously behind smoking busses and lorries during the drive. Never did I feel the smell of smoke or if the AC was not working as it should. The car had done over 200,000km back then and it was still running pretty good. The interior, if I remember correctly, was as same as the Toyota Carina AT210 series which probably means that the AC and recirculation system behind the dash is pretty much the same. I know for a fact that the Carina doesn't have such a problem, so it should be the same with the Caldina as well. Just my 2 cents.

Edited May 15, 2014 by Davy

[tilvin]

Thanks guys for your replies and comments.....

[chan5]

Our family has caldina for last 14 years and ts 97 made diesel.

There are no such issues so far.

It shares all the mechanicals of corona/carina 190 series.

Dashboard is exactly same for corona /carina 210 series.

So the issue he mention is incorrect.

Our had 270k on odo and running strong until met with an accident 2 weeks back.currently under repair.

Its a pretty strong car and all seats and interior similar with carina 210/211/212.Rear seats are diffent beacuse those are adjustable incline seats indipendantly.

Our had rear indipendant suspension and its equally comfortable as carina/corona.though most of specimens are with rear leaf springs.

Since you are talking about 2001 version it must be 210/211 version.Second generation caldina.which in fact the station wagon version of carina/premio 210/211/212.on eraly 2000 and late nintees.

Buffed look and rear round lights and redesigned front make its different from 1st gen.i have seen 2 in sri lanka so far and think that white one is up for sale.GT trim if i remember correctly,but not a true GT as it has rear drum brakes.may be cosmetic modification.

If you feel, go fo it. Such a nice car. All mecanicals you can easily find at any shop this being the brother of carina series.

Some body panals may difficult to source but its not absent i must say.avoid average jonnies opinions on this.

Anyway,you cant go wrong with caldina.proven with 250k odd miles on our hands over 14 years across every imaginable road in sri lanka.

Edited May 15, 2014 by chan5

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Catalogs

Toyota Caldina AT211

2000 January

http://cdn.toyota-catalog.jp/catalog/pdf/caldina-w/caldina-w_200001.pdf

2001 August

http://cdn.toyota-catalog.jp/catalog/pdf/caldina-w/caldina-w_200108.pdf

Toyota Caldina ZZT241

2002 September

http://cdn.toyota-catalog.jp/catalog/pdf/caldina-w/caldina-w_200209.pdf

Edited May 15, 2014 by Sampath Gunasekera

[Jaliya48]

and although we daily a CE106, I've always fancied a Caldina Van (the version with the unpainted urethane bumpers) more.