Best car to buy within Rs. 2.0 - 3.0 million rupees

Lavindu Ranasinghe · January 30, 2023

Hi, I was thinking about buying my very first car and I really can't decide on which car to buy. I am looking for a kind of sporty looking car and so far the ones that attracted me are as below,

- Mini Cooper

- Honda Civic EK3

- Mitsubishi Lancer CK1

I am no expert about cars (Still learning about them) so, I hope some of you who have a good knowledge about these cars could help me out in choosing one. Also if you have suggestions of any other cars within this price range which are better than the ones mentioned above, please mention them too.

iRage · January 31, 2023

Okie...

Mini Cooper: Make sure it is a legit car and not a body swapped one with questionable registration certificates (i.e. book).

Civic EK3: Most have gone through the hands of ricers and shows the suffering it has gone through. Few clean examples around but these days are not up for sale or will be way out of your budget.

Lancer CK1: Same fate as the Civic. Most have been converted in to Evos and a most of what remains has been riced up by ricers.

Apart from sporty looking, you need to figure out what you are using the car for, things you will be using it for, how often and where you will be using the car, etc...Sporty looking does not get you much.

Lavindu Ranasinghe · January 31, 2023

On 1/31/2023 at 1:29 AM, iRage said:

Okie...

Mini Cooper: Make sure it is a legit car and not a body swapped one with questionable registration certificates (i.e. book).

Civic EK3: Most have gone through the hands of ricers and shows the suffering it has gone through. Few clean examples around but these days are not up for sale or will be way out of your budget.

Lancer CK1: Same fate as the Civic. Most have been converted in to Evos and a most of what remains has been riced up by ricers.

Apart from sporty looking, you need to figure out what you are using the car for, things you will be using it for, how often and where you will be using the car, etc...Sporty looking does not get you much.

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Sadly, yeah I also heard about those issues. I'll be mostly using the car to travel back and forth to my uni daily and also drive around the city. And what about the Toyota Starlet? I heard some people say it's a good car. If you have any suggestions about some better options just let me know.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Lavindu Ranasinghe

iRage · January 31, 2023

Starlet is a good car...issue is the same as the other cars...it has been converted to GT or Glanzas or made to look like one by ricers. You are more likely to find a clean diesel than a petrol.

Apart from Starlets...there are quite a few other options that are simple no-hassle cars like
Mazda Familia/Demios

Suzuki Swifts

Nissan March (K10?/K11)

Toyota Vitz (P10 series)

Some larger options would be something like

Toyota Corolla Ceres/Sprinter Marino

Nissan Primera/Bluebird/Pulsar <I would stay away from B14 Sunny though)

Cars like the Ceres/Marino/Primera/Bluebird are not that common where you can just pop over to any parts shop to find body parts (mechanical parts will not be an issue for the most part as they are shared with other models)

Edited January 31, 2023 by iRage

matroska · February 4, 2023

On 1/31/2023 at 1:29 AM, iRage said:

Mini Cooper: Make sure it is a legit car and not a body swapped one with questionable registration certificates (i.e. book).

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Sadly this is as rare as unicorns tears 95% of the mini's out there are not quite legit.

On 1/30/2023 at 2:51 PM, Lavindu Ranasinghe said:

kind of sporty looking car

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Go for a Starlet EP8X/9X : there's still quite a many in good nick and unabused cars. 4EFE's are decent engines that are reliable and even if things go south can usually be sorted out. Parts are a-plenty. Suggest you go for an unmodded base car and do a few subtle mods as you go along if that's your thing.

On 1/31/2023 at 7:24 AM, iRage said:

You are more likely to find a clean diesel than a petrol.

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This is also true - however as I previously mentioned there are more unriced Starlets out there than Lancer CK's or Civic EK's mind you the diesel comes with a 1N engine - if you're thinking of maintenance and spares aspect 4EFE is easier to live with than a 1N.

On 1/31/2023 at 7:24 AM, iRage said:

Nissan March (K10?/K11)

Toyota Vitz (P10 series)

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two left field choices but good suggestions for OP

K11 March - slightly bland car but a 2door with a nice set of alloys does not look bad at all. The first Gen-Vitz is a bit of an underrated car.

Lavindu Ranasinghe · February 4, 2023

On 2/4/2023 at 7:20 AM, matroska said:

Sadly this is as rare as unicorns tears 95% of the mini's out there are not quite legit.

Go for a Starlet EP8X/9X : there's still quite a many in good nick and unabused cars. 4EFE's are decent engines that are reliable and even if things go south can usually be sorted out. Parts are a-plenty. Suggest you go for an unmodded base car and do a few subtle mods as you go along if that's your thing.

This is also true - however as I previously mentioned there are more unriced Starlets out there than Lancer CK's or Civic EK's mind you the diesel comes with a 1N engine - if you're thinking of maintenance and spares aspect 4EFE is easier to live with than a 1N.

two left field choices but good suggestions for OP

K11 March - slightly bland car but a 2door with a nice set of alloys does not look bad at all. The first Gen-Vitz is a bit of an underrated car.

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Thanks a lot. I was thinking of buying a starlet, but then I came across the Mitsubishi Galant (1999 and early 2000 models) and fell in love with it's look😅. I know it's not the best when considering fuel economy, but I kind of like it's mean aggressive look. But I am not sure how reliable and easy to maintain the car is. Do you think it's a good option for a beginner like me?

iRage · February 5, 2023

On 2/4/2023 at 9:26 PM, Lavindu Ranasinghe said:

Thanks a lot. I was thinking of buying a starlet, but then I came across the Mitsubishi Galant (1999 and early 2000 models) and fell in love with it's look😅. I know it's not the best when considering fuel economy, but I kind of like it's mean aggressive look. But I am not sure how reliable and easy to maintain the car is. Do you think it's a good option for a beginner like me?

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I suppose you are looking at the EA series Galant.

Galants are wonderful, simple and robust cars as long as it has been properly taken care of (but then that will be the case with most cars). The car is seriously underrated due to the larger engine capacity,the fanboydom of the Lancer and a direct injection engine.

There isn't anything horrendously wrong with the car. If it has a GDI engine then it would have had fuel quality issues at the beginning of its time in SL However those issues would have been fixed by now. I have not heard much about these old )or any) GDI engines going wrong for a long long time, except when the country has bouts of fuel quality. However, most of the Galants you would find are permit imports so they would either be diesel or non GDI petrol engines. The car is quite comfortable too.

Watch out for twitchy electronics, rust and general power/drive train issues as you would in any car. Sadly there have been a few who have gone through poor ownership (users who either riced them up or didn't want to spend that extra 1000Rs or time/effort to get the proper part and fixed by proper mechanics). Then on the other extreme you get a few that have been very well taken care of and then lovingly brought back to factory new condition. Those will either cost a pretty penny or simply will not be for sale).

Last time I checked (which was some time ago), general mechanical parts were available at the agents (might not be in stock but were able to get it down at most). The issue will be...body parts are not going to be easily found at every body parts shop in Delkanda or Panchi. However, there are other options to get parts down from abroad. It just needs to your patience (after all there are people who have car models that are just 1 of 4 or 5 cars in the country and they use it as daily drivers).

Lavindu Ranasinghe · February 5, 2023

On 2/5/2023 at 1:24 AM, iRage said:

I suppose you are looking at the EA series Galant.

Galants are wonderful, simple and robust cars as long as it has been properly taken care of (but then that will be the case with most cars). The car is seriously underrated due to the larger engine capacity,the fanboydom of the Lancer and a direct injection engine.

There isn't anything horrendously wrong with the car. If it has a GDI engine then it would have had fuel quality issues at the beginning of its time in SL However those issues would have been fixed by now. I have not heard much about these old )or any) GDI engines going wrong for a long long time, except when the country has bouts of fuel quality. However, most of the Galants you would find are permit imports so they would either be diesel or non GDI petrol engines. The car is quite comfortable too.

Watch out for twitchy electronics, rust and general power/drive train issues as you would in any car. Sadly there have been a few who have gone through poor ownership (users who either riced them up or didn't want to spend that extra 1000Rs or time/effort to get the proper part and fixed by proper mechanics). Then on the other extreme you get a few that have been very well taken care of and then lovingly brought back to factory new condition. Those will either cost a pretty penny or simply will not be for sale).

Last time I checked (which was some time ago), general mechanical parts were available at the agents (might not be in stock but were able to get it down at most). The issue will be...body parts are not going to be easily found at every body parts shop in Delkanda or Panchi. However, there are other options to get parts down from abroad. It just needs to your patience (after all there are people who have car models that are just 1 of 4 or 5 cars in the country and they use it as daily drivers).

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Is the petrol version of the Galant better than it's diesel version?

iRage · February 6, 2023

On 2/5/2023 at 7:16 AM, Lavindu Ranasinghe said:

Is the petrol version of the Galant better than it's diesel version?

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Not really...its more or less the same but different. So it is not like the diesel is a disaster and the petrol is heavenly or vice versa. Both are decent....it is more about past maintenance. If a diesel engine has not been properly taken care of in the past it will take a lot to bring it back to good running condition. Whilst fixing an equally poorly maintained petrol engine can be a bit more easier.

Lavindu Ranasinghe · February 8, 2023

On 2/6/2023 at 5:08 AM, iRage said:

Not really...its more or less the same but different. So it is not like the diesel is a disaster and the petrol is heavenly or vice versa. Both are decent....it is more about past maintenance. If a diesel engine has not been properly taken care of in the past it will take a lot to bring it back to good running condition. Whilst fixing an equally poorly maintained petrol engine can be a bit more easier.

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Thanks a lot. Think I might buy a Galant now.🙌

iRage · February 8, 2023

On 2/8/2023 at 3:59 AM, Lavindu Ranasinghe said:

Thanks a lot. Think I might buy a Galant now.

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You should buy the car that is in the best condition (from the list you have). So...if you find a really really good/clean Mazda Familia...buy that instead of buying a very questionable Galant (just because you wanted a Galant). If your heart is set on buying nothing but a Galant, then buy whatever comes along ONLY with the expectation that you will have to restore it. If you find a good example, you are lucky, if you find a bad one..then...well...you should have planned for a resto anyway.