Best Luxury/Performance cars around 4M

[Douglas Dragonfly]

Dear All,

I’m new to Sri Lankan roads. In my thinking best means reliability, dependability, comfort and performance. Looking to buy a such ride for me around 4M. I know I can’t go for a new one matching these criteria with my budget. So I’m fine with an old car. Following are my concerns.

- I have 3kids in the family so the car has to be bigger or it has to be a SUV

- I don't have much time to hang in the workshops, So I expect a vehicle not fragile with less frequent repairs.

- Parts must be available; it doesn't have to be in every shop here and there. but at-least in couple of shops in the country (doesn’t has to be so cheap, but available)

-Availability of reliable workshops; I can’t afford IWS or D*MO; but it doesn't has to be cheaper like a normal garage

- Having a fuel efficiency of at-least 6km per liter

- I don't care about the registered number

-having some resale capability (at-least within 4 months)

What I understand from studying a bit, different models of the same car have huge gaps in reliability and market price in Sri Lankan roads. As an example W211 E200 Komp has more market value that E240. Highly appreciate if you can guild me and suggest few options/models. Country of manufacturer doesn't matter.

 

Edited July 27, 2020 by Douglas Dragonfly
missing criteria

[lkRaven]

Thanks guys for the input. 

2 hours ago, Kavvz said:

I used a Teana of this gen for many years with little problems.

The only issue I had was with hard shifts on the CVT: It was caused by a loose power connection to the solenoid switch inside the transmission which is a common (known) issue and was an easy fix: It just required the transmission pan to be dropped, and as far as I know (wasn't there to watch) it was soldered in place while the car was on the lift. Pan was cleaned, fluid replaced, and that was that. 

No other issues other than worn out lower suspension arms which were easy to replace (but that's common with all cars and I just see that as normal wear and tear).

Its, a great commuter car with lots of room. Worked out well for me and I enjoyed owning it. The family liked it too, as the rear seats are exceptionally comfortable with lots of rear leg room (It has more rear leg room than most cars in its class). It was decent on fuel for a car of that size, and it was exceptional in traffic and was decent enough the rest of the time: A great all round car I feel. 

Its not under powered by any means: But it is however, a commuter car and not a driver's car.

The Optima however is very visually striking though. Its a very clean sleek looking car. And most of the reviews on it are complimentary. You should definately test drive that along with the Teana before making your final decision. As far as reliablity and comfort is concered though: I would say the Teana might win out on that front. 

Thanks for the info. I test drove both actually. Optima is quite striking in looks both inside and out. Its a lot of car for the money. Driving experience wise, Teana is very smooth in transferring the power. But the ride quality is really good in the Optima, I assume due to indipendent sus in both front and rear. But my wife liked the Teana, especially since she was at the back during the test drive. However, there were some niggles here and there in the Optima like the airbag warning light coming on and the head lamps seems to have been replaced with cheaper ones, so I hesitated a little. I think its sold now. 

The Teana is very spacious as you say and the interior is simple and quite pleasing. The car in question has been quite well looked after, at least from the cosmetic side of things. 

There is another J33 Teana and a SAI that is on sale at the moment, will try to see that as well, but the J33 is currently out of my budget.

 

 

[lkRaven]

2 hours ago, AVANTE said:

@lkRaven nice killzone profile pic! 

You noticed :). Thanks

[Kavvz]

4 hours ago, lkRaven said:

 

There is another J33 Teana and a SAI that is on sale at the moment, will try to see that as well, but the J33 is currently out of my budget.

 

 

How much are they going for these days (post corona) ?  Also what model year is it? 

(There were issues with the CVT's on some of those cars as Nissan had a new, allegedly improved, CVT transmission 2012 which didn't do so great in terms of longevity. I think the  model years after 2013 are okay as they sorted out the issue after the first year or so of production...)

Edited August 12, 2020 by Kavvz

[lkRaven]

The one I test drove is 2010. The other one is 2014. 

The 2010 is going for around 4.7 mil, which is a tad too high don't you think? 

----------

Also spotted a Nissan Murano 2009. Any thoughts on that?

Edited August 13, 2020 by lkRaven

[Kavvz]

2 hours ago, lkRaven said:

The one I test drove is 2010. The other one is 2014. 

The 2010 is going for around 4.7 mil, which is a tad too high don't you think? 

 

Well from a CVT reliability point of view: The 2014 is the better bet, and that's what I would buy.

(Reasoning-  The newer CVT introduced in 2012  that was to be the fix for the CVT's introduced in 2009 failed and needed a bit of sorting out; but by 2013 they had pretty much gotten it fixed and were even getting cocky enough to start putting it into larger CUV's. Generally since then (2013 an onwards) Nissan's CVT's have been more reliable. So the CVT transmission in the 2014 Teana should be a lot more robust and will probably not let you down.)

Also the interior in the 2013-2014 Teana is really nice. Quite an upgrade form the previous gen. I actually think its much better than the interior in the 2014 Honda Accord (my own personal benchmark for a well-built commuter car) of that year. The rear leg room is still class leading and the rear seat comfort is also better than the Accord (IMO). 

(The only drawback with the 2014 Teana: The high-beam headlights are crap. But that's easily solved as the high-beam headlight bulbs are independant of the low beams and come with projectors so slipping out the existing H9's and exchanging them for HID's & ballasts is a simple task.)

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Kavvz

[Kavvz]

2 hours ago, lkRaven said:

Also spotted a Nissan Murano 2009. Any thoughts on that?

Not a fan of the styling and I think it might actually not be that great from a reliability point of view (hearsay info, as I've never had one).

Edited August 13, 2020 by Kavvz