Recommendations for a vehicle for permit

[Don85]

I'm currently a honda owner who receives hassle free service from Stafford Motors. I'm currently searching for a family vehicle which may carry 4 passengers. I'm concerned about comfort as well as 2nd hand value. Prefer an SUV over a car. Most importantly I'm a busy person & I don't have time to search for spares & service stations. Currently I'm mostly interested in the following vehicles.

1. Peugeot 3008

2.Peugeot 2008

3. Nissan Quashqui

4. Honda Civic

5. Toyota CHR

Can any expert please advise.

Thanks

Edited July 5, 2019 by Don85

[kush]

MG comes with a 1.0L engine which has duty of Rs. 2.0 Mn. any body importing one with a concession permit of Rs. 3.6 Mn. is wasting his/ her permit.

You're better off selling the permit for Rs. 2.3-2.5 Mn. and buying the car outright (Saving of at least Rs. 0.3-0.5 Mn.)

Sunroof useless in SL context, they leak, increase heat in the cabin, you hardly ever use them

Cruise control in other words is useful if you frequent highway (no where else)

[Don85]

MG comes with a 1.0L engine which has duty of Rs. 2.0 Mn. any body importing one with a concession permit of Rs. 3.6 Mn. is wasting his/ her permit.
You're better off selling the permit for Rs. 2.3-2.5 Mn. and buying the car outright (Saving of at least Rs. 0.3-0.5 Mn.)
Sunroof useless in SL context, they leak, increase heat in the cabin, you hardly ever use them
Cruise control in other words is useful if you frequent highway (no where else)

Thank you

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[MADNESSSsss]

If you saw the MG ZS crash from Kottawa, you will probably steer waaaay clear off of it.

I was in a similar position as you around a month back, and the options for me were
Eclipse Cross
3008
CRV
(Grand) Vitara.

Eclipse Cross was pretty decent, but it's backside design and the helpfulness of the agents were a no go. + fuel economy is on the low side

3008 looked great on paper, but when you think of the Sri Lanka's second hand market and agents not fulfilling some of the previous permit holders issues, sadly had to let it go. (fuel economy is pretty good apparently, but didn't quite get to check that out)

CRV, the interior isn't as exciting as the 3008 but is quite comfy and spacious + with the all safety bells and whistles. Fuel economy was better than the EC.

(Grand) Vitara is supposed to be quite good fuel economy-wise + engine/transmission-wise but I wasn't too excited about the looks of the vehicle, so I didn't quite go after it.

End of the day, got down a CRV 2018 JDM (with all the safety bells and whistles) and am quite happy about it atm. The safety stuff lights up like a Christmas tree with our 3wheeler buggers but I guess you can always turn them off if you do not want them. Only time will tell how it will turn out in 5 years.

 

[The Don]

@iRage I think another reason some of the options are not available even for selection is the origin of manufacture. As some models imported new to SL now come from Indonesia/Thailand whatever developed for those markets is essentially what we get as well.

On the options I can see the benefit of adaptive cruise control and cruise control on motorways. I'm yet to use a car with adaptive cruise control but I use cruise control quite a lot, even in SL. The adaptive will deal with the issue of encountering traffic on the way.

I'm not a big fan of emergency brake, because sometimes the best cause of action to avoid an action is not to brake or brake lightly. Also the system completely ignores the situation behind you which you are taught when learning to consider (at least in the UK) before slamming on the brakes unless an extreme emergency. Finally as you point out a massive pain for the car to keep breaking when it thinks when three wheelers, motorcyclists etc are filtering quite close to you not to mention pedestrians.  

On the issue of the permit, I think the OP should consider the following.

#1 Buy new if at all cost effective but try to stick to models which are not too different from the JDM. That will ensure a good supply of spares and body parts and keep long term ownership costs down. The CRV is a good option in this sense.

#2 Consider the agent. I've dealt with Toyota Lanka and Stafford and both seem to be decent. Note Stafford does slap an agent commission on top the purchase price and there is a long wait, and personally on Honda's I do not consider warranties that important (to be honest this will hold true on most Japanese vehicles, except hybrids where the battery warranties can prove useful). Warranties are essential if buying a European vehicle. So on japs carefully consider third party importers as well.

#3 Make optimum use of the permit. Buy something of which the duty figure is close to the permit exemption. 

#4 If possible avoid made for the Asian market vehicles. It's not because these vehicles are bad, it's just we do not yet have as big a supply of spares from these markets, plus they are a bit like us so don't really throw away vehicles, so have to rely on the agents for new. This is somewhat true of Korean vehicles as well though things have improved a little. The other reason is some of these made for asia models are made for a lower budget, so won't have the same interior build quality of their international cousins. Often mechanical s are derived from other models so rarely an issue.  

[matroska]

14 minutes ago, The Don said:

I'm not a big fan of emergency brake

True. It's violent and sudden and at most times excessive. 

[vitz]

13 minutes ago, The Don said:

@iRage I think another reason some of the options are not available even for selection is the origin of manufacture. As some models imported new to SL now come from Indonesia/Thailand whatever developed for those markets is essentially what we get as well.

On the options I can see the benefit of adaptive cruise control and cruise control on motorways. I'm yet to use a car with adaptive cruise control but I use cruise control quite a lot, even in SL. The adaptive will deal with the issue of encountering traffic on the way.

I'm not a big fan of emergency brake, because sometimes the best cause of action to avoid an action is not to brake or brake lightly. Also the system completely ignores the situation behind you which you are taught when learning to consider (at least in the UK) before slamming on the brakes unless an extreme emergency. Finally as you point out a massive pain for the car to keep breaking when it thinks when three wheelers, motorcyclists etc are filtering quite close to you not to mention pedestrians.  

On the issue of the permit, I think the OP should consider the following.

#1 Buy new if at all cost effective but try to stick to models which are not too different from the JDM. That will ensure a good supply of spares and body parts and keep long term ownership costs down. The CRV is a good option in this sense.

#2 Consider the agent. I've dealt with Toyota Lanka and Stafford and both seem to be decent. Note Stafford does slap an agent commission on top the purchase price and there is a long wait, and personally on Honda's I do not consider warranties that important (to be honest this will hold true on most Japanese vehicles, except hybrids where the battery warranties can prove useful). Warranties are essential if buying a European vehicle. So on japs carefully consider third party importers as well.

#3 Make optimum use of the permit. Buy something of which the duty figure is close to the permit exemption. 

#4 If possible avoid made for the Asian market vehicles. It's not because these vehicles are bad, it's just we do not yet have as big a supply of spares from these markets, plus they are a bit like us so don't really throw away vehicles, so have to rely on the agents for new. This is somewhat true of Korean vehicles as well though things have improved a little. The other reason is some of these made for asia models are made for a lower budget, so won't have the same interior build quality of their international cousins. Often mechanical s are derived from other models so rarely an issue.  

Hi Don,

Thanks for the useful information. Do you think any differences of ECU programming of an engine for a JDM and same engine mated to export directly to SL from Japan?

[iRage]

4 hours ago, vitz said:

Hi Don,

Thanks for the useful information. Do you think any differences of ECU programming of an engine for a JDM and same engine mated to export directly to SL from Japan?

You are hardly going to find any average (gasoline) export model cars that come directly from Japan. Almost all the common models like the Corolla, Yaris, etc...are going to come from Thailand. Only the high-end vehicles would be coming from Japan (Land Cruisers, Crowns, Priuses, etc...), even the Camry came from Japan for a little while until the Thai, Vietnamese, etc...plants got re-tooled. 

As for the ECU programmings...yes...it could be different..depends on the car. Even though the car might be the same it would be configured to meet regulatory requirements of the country/region it is being sold in. As a result, the ECU might be programmed slightly differently.

[Don85]

Thank you Madnessss & The Don for your useful opinions

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[The Don]

On 7/19/2019 at 2:24 PM, vitz said:

Hi Don,

Thanks for the useful information. Do you think any differences of ECU programming of an engine for a JDM and same engine mated to export directly to SL from Japan?

The same engine is used in multiple vehicles, and tweaked for the characteristics required for that vehicle. For example the 1.0 turbo engine used in the Swift RS is also used in the Vitara. 

But the way the engine is managed is not the same. Suzuki would tweak the engine to deliver more torque at lower rpms compromising fuel efficiency a little as the Vitara is a heavier car.

I don't think the ECU programming for a vehicle is based on country of manufacture, more on the vehicle and application. However in larger markets there will be market specific customisation 

And as the programming is static, each of those ECUs will have a different part number (hence when replacing you can't just base it on the engine). 

Also you can't really say one is more superior than the other  It's set up for the specific requirements of the vehicle and market. 

[vitz]

9 hours ago, The Don said:

The same engine is used in multiple vehicles, and tweaked for the characteristics required for that vehicle. For example the 1.0 turbo engine used in the Swift RS is also used in the Vitara. 

But the way the engine is managed is not the same. Suzuki would tweak the engine to deliver more torque at lower rpms compromising fuel efficiency a little as the Vitara is a heavier car.

I don't think the ECU programming for a vehicle is based on country of manufacture, more on the vehicle and application. However in larger markets there will be market specific customisation 

And as the programming is static, each of those ECUs will have a different part number (hence when replacing you can't just base it on the engine). 

Also you can't really say one is more superior than the other  It's set up for the specific requirements of the vehicle and market. 

Great....that sounds that we can not expect any difference in 4B40 Mitsubishi EC engine of a JDM/Made for Australian Market/Unimo import!!!! I wanted to ask this because for according to the user manual of Australia/US, the minimum RON is 91, it looks that this should be applicable for JDM and other versions as well!!!! 

[iRage]

1 hour ago, vitz said:

Great....that sounds that we can not expect any difference in 4B40 Mitsubishi EC engine of a JDM/Made for Australian Market/Unimo import!!!! I wanted to ask this because for according to the user manual of Australia/US, the minimum RON is 91, it looks that this should be applicable for JDM and other versions as well!!!! 

Mind you this is just an assumption so don't count on it. I do not know about Mitsubishi, but Toyotas differ...the engine block is pretty much the same but there might be small differences in the head, and differences in ancillary devices connected to the engine. As I said before (and Don as well)...at the end of the day even if the car is the same and the engine is the same....the ECU and other engine components would be configured (and have specifications) to meet the model and market requirements (ie there may be differences depending on the market that the vehicle is being sold in)