What are some good reliable cars on a budget?

Kyan · June 17, 2024

I'm looking to buy a reliable vehicle but the issue I'm facing right now is my budget for that - I currently own a Pajero which was passed down by late father but sadly I have to sell it off as of the financial situation that weighed upon suddenly, so I'm looking for a vehicle to buy which can be reliable and isn't heavy on my wallet to keep it maintained for a while, and also I'm thinking it'll be nice to have some sort of resell value to the vehicle I'm looking to buy.

My requirements are mainly a decent fuel consumption, isn't heavy on wallet for maintenance, doesn't need to meet the doors of a garage everytime I put the vehicle on the road - and here's the gut wrenching part, I'm looking for all this with an maximum budget of 10-15 Lakhs.

Any sort of recommendations are highly appreciated

Thank you!

Edited June 17, 2024 by Kyan
Couldn't finish my post

iRage · June 17, 2024

My first instinct after reading this was to say "keep the Pajero". I really mean it.

If the Pajero is trouble-free and your only concern is fuel economy. Keep it. Let's say you buy a new car for 10 to 15 lakhs...you are looking at 30 - 40 year old cars. They are going to be full of problems and will require some restorative work. Also, the kind of cars that fit your budget are going to be popular econo cars like KE72 DX wagons, box Lancers, B211 Sunny, etc...sadly most of them within your budget are going to be piles of s**t. So whatever money you save from selling the Pajero or even not running it, you will have to put it into fixing your unknown newly bought car (good parts and labor are expensive). Let's not forget that even if you buy a decent car there will be some preemptive maintenance work you will have to do as soon as you buy it. So the money you hold on to by selling the Pajero is going to be a lot less than what you anticipate.

Also,the Pajero has sentimental value. The minute you have to take the new car to the garage, you will regret selling the Pajero. Once the financial issues are sorted out, you will regret the sale on a daily basis.

So, keep the Pajero and consider all other options for resolving your financial issues.

matroska · June 17, 2024

48 minutes ago, Kyan said:

and here's the gut wrenching part, I'm looking for all this with an maximum budget of 10-15 Lakhs.

Sad as it may seem it will be very difficult to get a reliable runner for that budget. The recommendations you will see are the same as for your other thread (where you considered using that 1-1.5M for a potential investment).

Here's the thing - the cars in the 1M range are really not always for those in that budget - it's more for people with a deeper pocket who can invest in something fancy such as a resto project.

My suggestion is as @iRage mentioned do whatever is in your powers to hold on to that Pajero. I know a person who regrets selling off his Grandfathers Pajero (Palathsabha model - his grandpa was in fact a palathsabha minister). Paj's are family heirlooms.

If you MUST go for a car in that budget maybe you need to start thinking out of the box, but keep in mind you will NOT recover these costs. I really would not recommend this. This is bad advice. But if you still want to - read on...

Find the right balance between an old car that is not too popular (read overpriced) but one that is fairly common. The tricky part is finding the right balance. Popular cars are overpriced and you get lemons for your budget. At the same time , rare cars will land you in a mess. Do your home work on such a car check for parts availability, market price etc. I'm not recommending a model but just to give you an idea : something like a Lancer A72 wagon, an AE80 corolla, an AT150 Corona, a Lancer C12 wagon/sedan or (I hope iRage does not read the next one ) a Sunny B11 in acceptable condition for half your budget. ( not sure if it's even possible). Not too popular and not too uncommon. Spend valuable time and money on restoring above car - do a proper body restore, then move on to the engine and so on. Remember this takes a lot of time and effort and also you need to make sure the car you buy is not beyond repair ( a total rustbox will not work) or one that has met with an accident will not work.

Kyan · June 17, 2024

4 hours ago, iRage said:

My first instinct after reading this was to say "keep the Pajero". I really mean it.

If the Pajero is trouble-free and your only concern is fuel economy. Keep it. Let's say you buy a new car for 10 to 15 lakhs...you are looking at 30 - 40 year old cars. They are going to be full of problems and will require some restorative work. Also, the kind of cars that fit your budget are going to be popular econo cars like KE72 DX wagons, box Lancers, B211 Sunny, etc...sadly most of them within your budget are going to be piles of s**t. So whatever money you save from selling the Pajero or even not running it, you will have to put it into fixing your unknown newly bought car (good parts and labor are expensive). Let's not forget that even if you buy a decent car there will be some preemptive maintenance work you will have to do as soon as you buy it. So the money you hold on to by selling the Pajero is going to be a lot less than what you anticipate.

Also,the Pajero has sentimental value. The minute you have to take the new car to the garage, you will regret selling the Pajero. Once the financial issues are sorted out, you will regret the sale on a daily basis.

So, keep the Pajero and consider all other options for resolving your financial issues.

This is very true,Also the Pajero that I own right now is a "Pajero IO GDI Model" , and more than anyone I don't want to sell this vehicle at all mainly cause that was my fathers fav vehicle he owned, this vehicle has broken down on countless times yet I still love it cause this my fathers fav, but the thing is the Pajero isn't "trouble free", my father has spent some mind boggling amount of money to get that vehicle even into the condition it is in today - yes the major repairs are done in the jeep but the thing is I currently I can't afford to maintain that vehicle in anyway.

A little bit of background about myself cause I think it should be mentioned to give a bit more context about the whole situation - so my father passed away a month ago and I'm still in my early 20's university student with a job that pays an okay amount (for a university student) - and I have 2 other siblings and my mother none of us really likes to sell my fathers vehicle but cause of the trouble that it has caused and the financial situation we're in - there's no choice but to sell it.

I was even telling my mother when I get a bit more stable and get a grip on everything, no matter where this Pajero goes after I sell it that I'm gonna buy it - that's how much I love this vehicle cause the memories it holds for family is worth more than anything.

So given the whole situation we needed a vehicle to go from point A to point B in case of emergencies and so on without breaking the bank cause we have need to use some money off the vehicle to some investment plans that we're having.

Kyan · June 17, 2024

3 hours ago, matroska said:

Sad as it may seem it will be very difficult to get a reliable runner for that budget. The recommendations you will see are the same as for your other thread (where you considered using that 1-1.5M for a potential investment).

Here's the thing - the cars in the 1M range are really not always for those in that budget - it's more for people with a deeper pocket who can invest in something fancy such as a resto project.

My suggestion is as @iRage mentioned do whatever is in your powers to hold on to that Pajero. I know a person who regrets selling off his Grandfathers Pajero (Palathsabha model - his grandpa was in fact a palathsabha minister). Paj's are family heirlooms.

If you MUST go for a car in that budget maybe you need to start thinking out of the box, but keep in mind you will NOT recover these costs. I really would not recommend this. This is bad advice. But if you still want to - read on...

Find the right balance between an old car that is not too popular (read overpriced) but one that is fairly common. The tricky part is finding the right balance. Popular cars are overpriced and you get lemons for your budget. At the same time , rare cars will land you in a mess. Do your home work on such a car check for parts availability, market price etc. I'm not recommending a model but just to give you an idea : something like a Lancer A72 wagon, an AE80 corolla, an AT150 Corona, a Lancer C12 wagon/sedan or (I hope iRage does not read the next one ) a Sunny B11 in acceptable condition for half your budget. ( not sure if it's even possible). Not too popular and not too uncommon. Spend valuable time and money on restoring above car - do a proper body restore, then move on to the engine and so on. Remember this takes a lot of time and effort and also you need to make sure the car you buy is not beyond repair ( a total rustbox will not work) or one that has met with an accident will not work.

Thank you so much for the insights and advice, I'll def keep these in mind.

Truly appreciate you helping out man, I'm so grateful

iRage · June 17, 2024

All in all...you still are making a case up for actually keeping the Pajero.

To be honest I feel like the problem you are facing is that you have been taking the car to a typical Sri Lankan garage where they just fix the symptoms and not the actual problem. Thus, it is an endless cycle of getting it fixed. These maka baases pretty much broke all and every Mitsubishi car that came with the GDI engine.

I would suggest you take it to a proper professional garage. Get a proper assessment done to see what problems are wrong with it and lay out a proper costed restoration plan. Then you can determine if you want to sell it and buy a cheaper car. My originally thought still holds. You are going ot be facing the same issue with an unknown car when you buy one of these 1mil Rs. cars. Now the added thing is because you do not have any sentimental connecton to this car all these repairs are just going to make you sick of the vehicle.

Keep the Pajero iO. Build a relationship with a good garage. Not the maka baas types. Try to see what the bare minimum is that you can do to keep the car running. Since you do not need it to be a daily runner that makes things easier.

Trust me on this...buying a car at your budget point is NOT going to solve your problem. You will be just shifting it from the Pajero iO to whatever much older car you buy.

matroska · June 18, 2024

12 hours ago, Kyan said:

point A to point B in case of emergencies and so on without breaking the bank

Well one more option - would be a Maruti 800 from around 2005. These go for under 1.5 usually and you'll get a car that is newer than anything in that budget. Make sure it's EFI - you will have running repairs time to time but it's generally cheap to maintain as per users. Mind you I have never used nor driven one.

Kyan · June 18, 2024

20 hours ago, iRage said:

All in all...you still are making a case up for actually keeping the Pajero.

To be honest I feel like the problem you are facing is that you have been taking the car to a typical Sri Lankan garage where they just fix the symptoms and not the actual problem. Thus, it is an endless cycle of getting it fixed. These maka baases pretty much broke all and every Mitsubishi car that came with the GDI engine.

I would suggest you take it to a proper professional garage. Get a proper assessment done to see what problems are wrong with it and lay out a proper costed restoration plan. Then you can determine if you want to sell it and buy a cheaper car. My originally thought still holds. You are going ot be facing the same issue with an unknown car when you buy one of these 1mil Rs. cars. Now the added thing is because you do not have any sentimental connecton to this car all these repairs are just going to make you sick of the vehicle.

Keep the Pajero iO. Build a relationship with a good garage. Not the maka baas types. Try to see what the bare minimum is that you can do to keep the car running. Since you do not need it to be a daily runner that makes things easier.

Trust me on this...buying a car at your budget point is NOT going to solve your problem. You will be just shifting it from the Pajero iO to whatever much older car you buy.

This is true on a next level, after hearing this - it opened my eyes alot but just as I said before I'll be having to sell the Pajero to cover up some costs that needed be covered and there's no other financial source except for it - to from point A to point B, I'll consider something like an Alto 800 like @matroska said. I will definitely come back to this Jeep when I get my self out of this situation, will surely do so.

Thank you so much for bearing up with me through this, I truly appreciate you man

Kyan · June 18, 2024

8 hours ago, matroska said:

Well one more option - would be a Maruti 800 from around 2005. These go for under 1.5 usually and you'll get a car that is newer than anything in that budget. Make sure it's EFI - you will have running repairs time to time but it's generally cheap to maintain as per users. Mind you I have never used nor driven one.

Yes! I was looking onto those Maruti's to act as my space ship for now and yes I think that's the perfect option for my budget.

Thank you so much man, truly.

Edited June 18, 2024 by Kyan

iRage · June 18, 2024

2 hours ago, Kyan said:

This is true on a next level, after hearing this - it opened my eyes alot but just as I said before I'll be having to sell the Pajero to cover up some costs that needed be covered and there's no other financial source except for it - to from point A to point B, I'll consider something like an Alto 800 like @matroska said. I will definitely come back to this Jeep when I get my self out of this situation, will surely do so.

Thank you so much for bearing up with me through this, I truly appreciate you man

Well that is too bad. Then you should just make a clean cut. Many have sold cars with the determination of rebuying a car they've had to sell. It has almost never happened.

So...sorry to be blunt...but the likelihood of you ever getting that car back is next to nothing. Once you sell it, it is going to get resold only lord knows how many times and you simply will lose track of it. Even if you do relocate it there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy it at the price you want. So..at the end of the day..it is just a car. What makes the car special are the memories you made with the car and your dad. Those memories can never be sold with the car, and you will always have them. So...let the car go. If you hold on to hope of getting it back you are just going ot be miserable. So keep the memories and let it go. Get over your current situation, which you will, and then aim for bigger and better things (that is what your dad would want...not holding on and lamenting over a car).

As for alternative cars...Maruti is an option...what I do not like about the Maruti is that the consumables wear out quite easily. This might not be an issue for you since you are not going to be using it daily. The other issue is Maruti Altos were purchased by people who wanted a cheap ride to buy and use. So maintenance history is not that much better than a Corolla or Sunny that is 2 decades older (keep in mind cars like the DX wagon are far more robust than the Maruti...which is also the reason why even with all the harsh abusive use they still keep running).

Keep in mind if your total budget for the a vehicle is 1.5mil...the car you should be purchasing should be about 1mil. You will need the extra money for premptive maintenance work.
After selling the Pajero iO is there anyway you can extend your budget a little bit more ? If you can then you stand the chance of getting a better condition vehicle (of all of these models).

carboy2011 · June 18, 2024

I would also advice like others to keep the Pajero

In case you have no other choice and need to get a car then you can try the Maruti 800 (try to get the efi version,there was a 5fwd model which my uncle had and quite good,consumables are cheap as well

As for Japanese older cars (40+ years olds) I would prefer the Lancer A72 (car or wagon),Lancer Box over a Lancer C12,my dad had a Lancer A72 which I learnt driving in and was bullet proof (however ride comfort is not that good),it had an AC as well

I later bought a Lancer C12 which though good looking and stylish, the body tends to go out of shape and not at sturdy as the A72 (flat light tubelight models),The Lancer Box is of course a very good car and a good candidate

The Toyota DX wagon is good but do remember that like the Lancers above there is no power steering

You can also consider the Nissan Trad sunny earlier models ,those a good cars too

Pls do take a good mechanic when you go looking for cars as otherwise your bound to get cheated by the seller in 90% of the time

Good luck!

Edited June 18, 2024 by carboy2011

Kyan · June 19, 2024

17 hours ago, iRage said:

Well that is too bad. Then you should just make a clean cut. Many have sold cars with the determination of rebuying a car they've had to sell. It has almost never happened.

So...sorry to be blunt...but the likelihood of you ever getting that car back is next to nothing. Once you sell it, it is going to get resold only lord knows how many times and you simply will lose track of it. Even if you do relocate it there is no guarantee that you will be able to buy it at the price you want. So..at the end of the day..it is just a car. What makes the car special are the memories you made with the car and your dad. Those memories can never be sold with the car, and you will always have them. So...let the car go. If you hold on to hope of getting it back you are just going ot be miserable. So keep the memories and let it go. Get over your current situation, which you will, and then aim for bigger and better things (that is what your dad would want...not holding on and lamenting over a car).

As for alternative cars...Maruti is an option...what I do not like about the Maruti is that the consumables wear out quite easily. This might not be an issue for you since you are not going to be using it daily. The other issue is Maruti Altos were purchased by people who wanted a cheap ride to buy and use. So maintenance history is not that much better than a Corolla or Sunny that is 2 decades older (keep in mind cars like the DX wagon are far more robust than the Maruti...which is also the reason why even with all the harsh abusive use they still keep running).

Keep in mind if your total budget for the a vehicle is 1.5mil...the car you should be purchasing should be about 1mil. You will need the extra money for premptive maintenance work.
After selling the Pajero iO is there anyway you can extend your budget a little bit more ? If you can then you stand the chance of getting a better condition vehicle (of all of these models).

This is true to a certain extent aswell, even though I myself want to keep track of the buyers and go back to it whenever, It isn't practical whatsoever - what you said is true, atleast for now I'll cherish the memories with it and let it go without holding on it which gives me nothing but a sh*t ton of stress lol.

Yes, I might be able to increase my budget a bit after selling - if so what are the cars that you would recommend? are you saying buying a corolla/sunny is better than a maruti or is gonna be pretty much the same?, and what are some other robust cars like the DX Wagon that will do me good?

Kyan · June 19, 2024

10 hours ago, carboy2011 said:

I would also advice like others to keep the Pajero

In case you have no other choice and need to get a car then you can try the Maruti 800 (try to get the efi version,there was a 5fwd model which my uncle had and quite good,consumables are cheap as well

As for Japanese older cars (40+ years olds) I would prefer the Lancer A72 (car or wagon),Lancer Box over a Lancer C12,my dad had a Lancer A72 which I learnt driving in and was bullet proof (however ride comfort is not that good),it had an AC as well

I later bought a Lancer C12 which though good looking and stylish, the body tends to go out of shape and not at sturdy as the A72 (flat light tubelight models),The Lancer Box is of course a very good car and a good candidate

The Toyota DX wagon is good but do remember that like the Lancers above there is no power steering

You can also consider the Nissan Trad sunny earlier models ,those a good cars too

Pls do take a good mechanic when you go looking for cars as otherwise your bound to get cheated by the seller in 90% of the time

Good luck!

This is neat, do you think a Nissan Trad Sunny out mactches the vehicles that you stated before?, personally I love the vehicle but doesn't know too much about it, and I've heard Lancer Box brings you hell (Ofcourse from the people that fell into buy piles of sh*t or doesn't know how to take car of them) but what was your experience with yours?

matroska · June 19, 2024

18 minutes ago, Kyan said:

and I've heard Lancer Box brings you hell

well not necessarily - I had one for a couple of years - it had a relatively costly gearbox issue - nothing related to the particular model - it was just a worn out gearbox in a 40 year old car. Other than that the thing never actually broke down once - mind you I did use it as a short distance runner. it's a pleasant car to drive - the 1400 motor on that has more than enough power and specially a lot of torque, pair that with the light car, and it being Rear wheel driven it's a pleasant driving experience. But most cars out there are hacked rust buckets with multiple issues. Parts are a bit expensive but readily available but a lemon can have a damaging impact on someone with a tight budget.

Edited June 19, 2024 by matroska

Kyan · June 19, 2024

38 minutes ago, matroska said:

well not necessarily - I had one for a couple of years - it had a relatively costly gearbox issue - nothing related to the particular model - it was just a worn out gearbox in a 40 year old car. Other than that the thing never actually broke down once - mind you I did use it as a short distance runner. it's a pleasant car to drive - the 1400 motor on that has more than enough power and specially a lot of torque, pair that with the light car, and it being Rear wheel driven it's a pleasant driving experience. But most cars out there are hacked rust buckets with multiple issues. Parts are a bit expensive but readily available but a lemon can have a damaging impact on someone with a tight budget.

Oh I see, well even I had to repair the gear box of the Pajero like a month ago and I had it repaired for a hefty amount aswell, if I were to look into lancer boxes - what are the things that you would recommend me to keep a keen eye on?, and only if you're okay with it can I know how you put down to repair the gearbox of the vehicle - also it doesn't come with power steering does it?

Kyan · June 19, 2024

Just now, Kyan said:

Oh I see, well even I had to repair the gear box of the Pajero like 2 months ago and I had it repaired for a hefty amount aswell, if I were to look into lancer boxes - what are the things that you would recommend me to keep a keen eye on?, and only if you're okay with it can I know how you put down to repair the gearbox of the vehicle - also it doesn't come with power steering does it?

matroska · June 19, 2024

49 minutes ago, Kyan said:

Oh I see, well even I had to repair the gear box of the Pajero like a month ago and I had it repaired for a hefty amount aswell, if I were to look into lancer boxes - what are the things that you would recommend me to keep a keen eye on?, and only if you're okay with it can I know how you put down to repair the gearbox of the vehicle - also it doesn't come with power steering does it?

Biggest worry would be corrosion - most have lumps and lumps of filler(cataloy) on them. Interiors are a pain to restore pay attention to that as well. Steering related issues seem to be common - can be fixed but a bit bothersome. My issue was the car had trouble engaging the 1st gear. Had to unmount the gearbox - worn out ring in the synchro. Cost me something around 45k to fix it . Other costs were fairly ok. And no, it does not have power steering but not a huge issue since the car is RWD - the steering on the Lancer is surprisingly nimble and pleasant for a car of it's age it was easy to understand why it was a hit back in the day.

The horror stories are mainly due to these being very common and popular cars have been severely abused for decades. The majority crowd that drive these are not the type who give a hoot about maintenance and would rather spend a few thousand on some gaudy stickers.

Kyan · June 19, 2024

3 hours ago, matroska said:

Biggest worry would be corrosion - most have lumps and lumps of filler(cataloy) on them. Interiors are a pain to restore pay attention to that as well. Steering related issues seem to be common - can be fixed but a bit bothersome. My issue was the car had trouble engaging the 1st gear. Had to unmount the gearbox - worn out ring in the synchro. Cost me something around 45k to fix it . Other costs were fairly ok. And no, it does not have power steering but not a huge issue since the car is RWD - the steering on the Lancer is surprisingly nimble and pleasant for a car of it's age it was easy to understand why it was a hit back in the day.

The horror stories are mainly due to these being very common and popular cars have been severely abused for decades. The majority crowd that drive these are not the type who give a hoot about maintenance and would rather spend a few thousand on some gaudy stickers.

Thank you so much, I'll definitely keep these in mind - I see, spent nearly half a lakh on fixing the gearbox huh, also just for an idea how many liters would the car take for engine oil and so. And also is there a specific model (year) that I should look into and avoid?

3 hours ago, matroska said:

The majority crowd that drive these are not the type who give a hoot about maintenance and would rather spend a few thousand on some gaudy stickers.

This is so true, had a friend of mine that put stickers all over it and never did any maintenance then kept on flaming the vehicle haha

iRage · June 19, 2024

7 hours ago, Kyan said:

if so what are the cars that you would recommend? are you saying buying a corolla/sunny is better than a maruti or is gonna be pretty much the same?, and what are some other robust cars like the DX Wagon that will do me good?

If you can increase your budget, then you stand a better chance of finding yourself a DX wagon, A72 Lancer wagon, E80 Corolla, B11, or even a B12 Sunny in better condition than most. All these are quite fuss-free, simple cars that can handle some rough use. Given the choice between a Maruti Alto and one of these, I would place my money on these. At the end of the day..Maruti or Corolla or anything else, the better car to buy would be the most honest car in the best possible condition that you can afford for your money. So...a good Maruti is better than a hacked out Corolla. But then a good Corolla, even if its 10 years older will be better than and hacked out or mediocre Maruti.

Go look at a host of these cars...see what is in better shape. Once you are feeling attracted to a car and feel like it is the one..go get a professional inspection done (e.g. agents, car check, etc..) BEFORE you buy the car.

But I would still say try your best to keep the Pajero... only sell it if there is absolutely no other way to solve your financial issue.

Edited June 19, 2024 by iRage

carboy2011 · June 19, 2024

12 hours ago, Kyan said:

This is neat, do you think a Nissan Trad Sunny out mactches the vehicles that you stated before?, personally I love the vehicle but doesn't know too much about it, and I've heard Lancer Box brings you hell (Ofcourse from the people that fell into buy piles of sh*t or doesn't know how to take car of them) but what was your experience with yours?

Well the Nissan Trad Sunny is newer of the lot I mentioned and it has a solid reputation ,also if your lucky you will get the one with power steering as well ,there are different trim levels and all apart from the last are all Carburetor models, last model had one trim level with efi but those are very very rare and also out of your budget (do remember to keep aside 300K for repairs when you buy 2nd hand cars)

I used the Lancer A72 car and the C12 Lancer saloon ,of these the A72 came out tops,C12 though better looking is not as hardy

The Lancer Box sadly eluded me so I could not own one, but know ppl who owned and they are very good and comfy

BUT as all others said a car this old is only as good as how it was maintained and I would humbly ask you to take someone really knowledgeable about cars this old when you go to see them if not your asking for trouble

I will also advice you to Avoid cars such Daewoo,Hyundai Stellar,Hyundai Pony,Mitsubishi Tredia (lack of parts and most are hacked out) as well as Daihatsu Charades and the 11 or 12 Sri Ford Laser/Mazda 3232 (lots of them have been raced and hacked out)so stay clear of them

Good luck and please keep us posted!

matroska · June 20, 2024

7 hours ago, carboy2011 said:

I used the Lancer A72 car and the C12 Lancer saloon ,of these the A72 came out tops,C12 though better looking is not as hardy

The Lancer Box sadly eluded me so I could not own one, but know ppl who owned and they are very good and comfy

I agree - the C12 just ages badly - even at first glance majority of the C12's look like they've been through hell - interiors are in horrible state, body panels are distorted, compared to that the much older A72s and the A172's (Box) have aged gracefully - of course the Box model is overpriced - hence average ones go for like 1M. Good ones go for higher. 1.5 would get OP a decent Lancer box but will need a buffer - the A72's and Lancer wagon's are more fairly priced.

7 hours ago, carboy2011 said:

Daihatsu Charades and the 11 or 12 Sri Ford Laser/Mazda 3232 (lots of them have been raced and hacked out)so stay clear of them

Charade is a good and pretty looking car - diesels should be avoided like the plague. Petrols too have the parts issue. Good point regarding the Lasers - pretty sure the ones that crashed at foxhill recently will be dressed up and sold in the near future

12 hours ago, iRage said:

hen you stand a better chance of finding yourself a DX wagon, A72 Lancer wagon, E80 Corolla, B11, or even a B12 Sunny in better condition than most.

Of these the DX wagons, B12 Trad along with the Lancer box form the holy trinity of 80's motoring and hence overpriced. The E80 Corolla and B11's not being that popular are solid bargains. Most of the average ones go for well under 1Mill. So 1.2 should get you a fairly decent car ( specially the B11 - as they're competitively priced) if you're going for an E80 corolla I'd suggest finding an EE80 as opposed to AE80 or AE81 as the EE80 comes with a 2E engine which is fairly common as opposed to the 2A and 3A.

12 hours ago, iRage said:

Given the choice between a Maruti Alto and one of these, I would place my money on these

The only thing going for the maruti is that consumables and spare parts are cheaper and easier to find if the car is in good nick. The driving experience, and the overall ownership experience of a Japanese 80's car is far far superior. Even for a noob driver i'd always recommend an old Jap simply because they are much pleasant to drive. Driving a Maruti 800 is work. Driving an old corolla, a sunny lancer etc is pleasure.

Kyan · June 20, 2024

15 hours ago, iRage said:

If you can increase your budget, then you stand a better chance of finding yourself a DX wagon, A72 Lancer wagon, E80 Corolla, B11, or even a B12 Sunny in better condition than most. All these are quite fuss-free, simple cars that can handle some rough use. Given the choice between a Maruti Alto and one of these, I would place my money on these. At the end of the day..Maruti or Corolla or anything else, the better car to buy would be the most honest car in the best possible condition that you can afford for your money. So...a good Maruti is better than a hacked out Corolla. But then a good Corolla, even if its 10 years older will be better than and hacked out or mediocre Maruti.

Go look at a host of these cars...see what is in better shape. Once you are feeling attracted to a car and feel like it is the one..go get a professional inspection done (e.g. agents, car check, etc..) BEFORE you buy the car.

But I would still say try your best to keep the Pajero... only sell it if there is absolutely no other way to solve your financial issue.

Thank for the solid recommendations man, to be dead honest - Maruti never appealed me, an old B11 caught my eye than Maruti's. So if I'm gonna get a car that I feel attracted to, it definitely isn't gonna be a Maruti and that's for sure lol.

Will surely take someone who's good with them before I go to inspect the car that I'm gonna buy, and will share the link to a vehicle if I find them online (Don't know if it's against the rules, please do tell me if it is).

Sadly, I'll have to let the Pajero go, it's sad but that'll have to be done - what's even more sad is all the Major repairs are done from the Gear Box, Engine, New Tyre, New Shock Absorbers and much more, but it is what it is.

Kyan · June 20, 2024

10 hours ago, carboy2011 said:

Well the Nissan Trad Sunny is newer of the lot I mentioned and it has a solid reputation ,also if your lucky you will get the one with power steering as well ,there are different trim levels and all apart from the last are all Carburetor models, last model had one trim level with efi but those are very very rare and also out of your budget (do remember to keep aside 300K for repairs when you buy 2nd hand cars)

I used the Lancer A72 car and the C12 Lancer saloon ,of these the A72 came out tops,C12 though better looking is not as hardy

The Lancer Box sadly eluded me so I could not own one, but know ppl who owned and they are very good and comfy

BUT as all others said a car this old is only as good as how it was maintained and I would humbly ask you to take someone really knowledgeable about cars this old when you go to see them if not your asking for trouble

I will also advice you to Avoid cars such Daewoo,Hyundai Stellar,Hyundai Pony,Mitsubishi Tredia (lack of parts and most are hacked out) as well as Daihatsu Charades and the 11 or 12 Sri Ford Laser/Mazda 3232 (lots of them have been raced and hacked out)so stay clear of them

Good luck and please keep us posted!

I see, is there any known common issues when it comes to the Trad Sunny's? 300K for repairs alone even if I get one in good shape? Damn.

That's so neat, I really love the way A72 looks, I'll keep the list in mind, I do know the old lasers are a pain as my friend owned one haha, as for the Daihatsu Charade - I like the vehicle solely cause my father used to own one back in the day, so so long ago haha

Thank you so much for the help man, I'll definitely update.

Kyan · June 20, 2024

3 hours ago, matroska said:

Of these the DX wagons, B12 Trad along with the Lancer box form the holy trinity of 80's motoring and hence overpriced. The E80 Corolla and B11's not being that popular are solid bargains. Most of the average ones go for well under 1Mill. So 1.2 should get you a fairly decent car ( specially the B11 - as they're competitively priced) if you're going for an E80 corolla I'd suggest finding an EE80 as opposed to AE80 or AE81 as the EE80 comes with a 2E engine which is fairly common as opposed to the 2A and 3A.

Do you think the B12 is also overpriced greatly compared to the other two?, and where exactly can I find the rates that you're aligning with, are you adding a estimated price to total for repairs or just the stand alone vehicle price?

Cause I've looked a bit into them and I can't find a B11 for even 1Mill, most of them are in the rage of 750 - 950, and as for the B12's the highest I saw was around 1.3 Mill

cars · June 20, 2024

I think you have to be rational than emotional at this venture. With the bad experiences in repairs of the Pajero you have to know quite well about consequences of a 40+ years vehicle. Those who used those cars did not have information like now 40+ years ago. 90% people they did not what is proper maintenance and top of it lanka did not have proper mechanics i assume. So cars are hacked to death. Most of them are now projects.

Considering your situation and budgets going for a maruti 800 is the best option by far. You can always bargain and come down on prices.

Reasons for a maruti 800 are

*it is one of the most reliable vehicles on the road,

*you cannot get that fuel efficiency in any 40+ years vehicle,

*spare parts are cheaper and lot cheaper, and spare parts are abundance

*Service and maintenance costs are insignificant

*you are a kid you whose studying and working you can't waste your time in garages

Go for a good condition maruti is my advice it ticks all your boxes when it comes to finances.

Study well and get a better condition better Pajero in near future.

Good Luck

Kyan · June 21, 2024

12 hours ago, cars said:

I think you have to be rational than emotional at this venture. With the bad experiences in repairs of the Pajero you have to know quite well about consequences of a 40+ years vehicle. Those who used those cars did not have information like now 40+ years ago. 90% people they did not what is proper maintenance and top of it lanka did not have proper mechanics i assume. So cars are hacked to death. Most of them are now projects.

Considering your situation and budgets going for a maruti 800 is the best option by far. You can always bargain and come down on prices.

Reasons for a maruti 800 are

*it is one of the most reliable vehicles on the road,

*you cannot get that fuel efficiency in any 40+ years vehicle,

*spare parts are cheaper and lot cheaper, and spare parts are abundance

*Service and maintenance costs are insignificant

*you are a kid you whose studying and working you can't waste your time in garages

Go for a good condition maruti is my advice it ticks all your boxes when it comes to finances.

Study well and get a better condition better Pajero in near future.

Good Luck

I agree with you more than anything, I've been considering a Maruti cause of all the pro's it offers within my budget and maintenance work, I personally don't like the vehicle solely cause it looks but still I think there's some steps we needed to take even though we don't like it, it's not what the appearance what matters at this time but the reliability and saving as much as I can on some cash.

I've been looking into Trad Sunnys cause I've always loved the car, but still I'll lean more into a Maruti than anything now - also I can resell it without having any hardships I believe.

Thank you so much for help, truly appreciate you.