The Best Suv Around Town

[kotte mafia]

guys someone who is very close to me and who i kw very well is coming down to SL to settle down ..and is planing to buy some weels to go around. he has a full family of four with one kid under 5 years. and is a fun and outgoing guy who loves the out doors

this dood is planing to go for a SUV to cover up the daily transport issue and to slove weekend outdoor problem

so in SL there are few options avalable and guess range rover / hummers is out of the list ... due to the high tax posted upon them

after a few empty beers we ended up on few models which upto the job

* toyota prado

*landrover defender

*nissan pathfinder

*Honda HRV

*subaru forseter

*jeep grand cherokee

and we choose the jeep grand cherokee to go ahead with because aboth of us we loved good old american jeep. i never came down to SL for more than 3 years and for lack of knowladge about the local market and service i ask for all your support to select this guy a good family SUV under 7-8mil cheaper the better .... and what will be the price tag on a brand new one

thankz in advance

[madmax]

If you don't mind a Korean SUV there are plenty of brand new Hyundai SantaFe diesels around for 7-8 million. Also you can pickup a Ssangyong Rexton for about the same price. There are ones on non-transferable permits going for even less, 6-7 million.

Edited March 24, 2009 by madmax

[Gummybr]

* toyota prado

*landrover defender

*nissan pathfinder

*Honda HRV

*subaru forseter

*jeep grand cherokee

Hmm interesting list, you might as well consider what Madmax says.

First of all dont consider the HRV as a SUV. Also please note that you will not find a newer Pathfinder as the ones in SL are most likely to be the old diesel units which were based on the D21.

There was a Forester Turbo advertised recently

I dont think the G.Cherokee falls into your budget unless someones to rid of it asap, unless of course your checking out the previous gen. But the the plain old Cherokee will be in your budget.

Well you could also consider a good old Nissan Patrol Y60 diesel

Loads of Prado's, Montero's are in the market within that budget

Also mind you the locally assembled Micro's will be in that range

In conclusion, if you want a newer car with a warranty check the Korean SUV's and the Micro's.

If mudplugging + comfort is a necessity try a Prado, Patrol or else something not mentioned a Discovery2.

If its just day to day run with a little bit of (normal offroading) any of the softroaders including the Korean alternatives.

Or simply if you can live with it a Forester Turbo and use the balance for fuel

[jerryda]

guys someone who is very close to me and who i kw very well is coming down to SL to settle down ..and is planing to buy some weels to go around. he has a full family of four with one kid under 5 years. and is a fun and outgoing guy who loves the out doors

this dood is planing to go for a SUV to cover up the daily transport issue and to slove weekend outdoor problem

so in SL there are few options avalable and guess range rover / hummers is out of the list ... due to the high tax posted upon them

after a few empty beers we ended up on few models which upto the job

* toyota prado

*landrover defender

*nissan pathfinder

*Honda HRV

*subaru forseter

*jeep grand cherokee

and we choose the jeep grand cherokee to go ahead with because aboth of us we loved good old american jeep. i never came down to SL for more than 3 years and for lack of knowladge about the local market and service i ask for all your support to select this guy a good family SUV under 7-8mil cheaper the better .... and what will be the price tag on a brand new one

thankz in advance

Colonials has Land Rover Defender 300TDi or a TD5 with a 20,000km warranty as in a new one. These are handpicked and fully refurbished to original specifications with many extras.

The 300TDi is rs 5.5mn plus VAT and the TD5 is 6.5mn plus VAT

[Supra_Natural]

What kinda budget are you looking at? the models you posted cover a pretty broad spectrum of the SUV market..... so let us know your buddy's budget, or at least a ballpark figure

[JadeyBlitzen]

where did the hrv come from?

my advice would be buy a montero diesel. if you can find a 4m41 for that money its a bargain. and even a tropicalised 4m40 version wouldnt be bad either. the steerings a bit numb compared to a defender. but then again you wouldnt wanna have a defender for family use. unless you've carried out a lot of soundproofing and fitted a lot of goodies. cos if you are only used to conventional cars the defender will wear you out even on the shortest journey.

the sensible choice would be to buy a montero cos they are somewhat underpriced compared to land cruisers of similar age. just dont buy the 3.0 v6. either go for a diesel or a 3.5.

the grand cherokee is full of character (not being japaese). but the montero is the sensible option. it even has fold flat 3rd row seats.

[kotte mafia]

max machang .. the korians are good i heard and tried out the sentafe too one of my frinds owns it over here and it's a quality buy for buck i you have intentions on driving up country to mention kothmale , hatan or a trip to arugambe it's not the ideal ride you should be in but as a soft off roader its good to buy brand new heard the rexton is good but have fears of the Ssangyong plant closing some gosip reached our years and it stayed in our minds and with out thinking twice rexton was out of the list .....

gummy .. do they have older versions of the cherokee in SL and whats the range of the price and the parts avalability the petrol Y60 is anice ride but for a new boy in town finding a mint condition one is hard and if needed finding spare parts for a aging beauty is even harder, prado was running in our heads for some time and it was a nice pick for us but we wanted to be a bit exotic and and go for a different brand not following the trend forester is a good family soft SUV and lets see may be they will end up with one of that ...

supra machang the budget is around 7-8 mil and if theres some thing they really like may be they will spend around 10 cos this will be there family ride for some time to come ...

jerry ... they have kids machang and a long drive will wear them out pretty soon and these guys except for the dood is used to normal cars the comfy models ....

jadey ..... pagero is good but all of us we don't like it machang bcos all the thugs and goons along with politikko and smuglers use it ..... and you end up as one when u start using it ....

any one have any idea on a VW touareg ..... and how much it will cost in SL that a perfact buy for this dood ..... and how about the new grand cherokee brand new .... i told them to buy two vehicles to serve them but hte problem is they have small parking in there house ...

[JadeyBlitzen]

how much does the lr3 change hands at these days? thats a great family choice. probably the best 4x4 in the country (bar the L322 cos i doubt we have any with terrain response).

a p38 would be nice. but its old and reliability is a major issue.

forget touaregs. wut about the cayennes we had in sl? now thats uber-exclusive. same story with the x5, if you can find one.

whatever you don't buy an ml and i still don't understand how the hrv made it into your list.

if you want something sensible and less exclusive there's still the lc100. preferably a lexus lx470

[Gummybr]

gummy .. do they have older versions of the cherokee in SL and whats the range of the price and the parts avalability the petrol Y60 is anice ride but for a new boy in town finding a mint condition one is hard and if needed finding spare parts for a aging beauty is even harder, prado was running in our heads for some time and it was a nice pick for us but we wanted to be a bit exotic and and go for a different brand not following the trend forester is a good family soft SUV and lets see may be they will end up with one of that ...

Yes they do have the box like Cherokee to the latest G. Cherokee.

I meant the patrol with the TD42 engine. Dont think there's any issues with Spare Parts.

Oh and btw there was a ML320 advertised in that budget range, exclusive car.

But I'd rather go with something which is easier to maintain cos of his travelling to places you've mentioned.

Agree that the Defender isnt the best around to do a long haul.

Jadey, macho there are newer ranges around with the terrain response. And you multiply our friends budget by two you can get a LR3. Well if he so needs a Range why not a classic with a 300 or 200 tdi engine?

[JadeyBlitzen]

Jadey, macho there are newer ranges around with the terrain response. And you multiply our friends budget by two you can get a LR3. Well if he so needs a Range why not a classic with a 300 or 200 tdi engine?

well he could probably by another car with the change if he goes for a classic rr. and since he's not bothered about fuel consumption of the petrol cherokee why not have the full v8 rr? i always prefered that over the gemini engine cos its a more fitting engine for a car of that stature

sorry to go OT but how many L322s do we have in the country gummy? and what are the 2nd hand prices atm?

[CARBON]

where did the hrv come from?

my advice would be buy a montero diesel. if you can find a 4m41 for that money its a bargain. and even a tropicalised 4m40 version wouldnt be bad either. the steerings a bit numb compared to a defender. but then again you wouldnt wanna have a defender for family use. unless you've carried out a lot of soundproofing and fitted a lot of goodies. cos if you are only used to conventional cars the defender will wear you out even on the shortest journey.

the sensible choice would be to buy a montero cos they are somewhat underpriced compared to land cruisers of similar age. just dont buy the 3.0 v6. either go for a diesel or a 3.5.

the grand cherokee is full of character (not being japaese). but the montero is the sensible option. it even has fold flat 3rd row seats.

Yes totally agree and very good advise... I think you could get deisel Monetro older version ( Intercooler type ) for that budget.

But there seems to be a overload of the V6 monteros and seems that a lot of people find it very difficult to get rid of them. Also the prices are very low ( Maybe due to the fuel )

Another alternative would be to rent a montero as this sometimes is cheaper, 3 years ago I had a rented Montero V6 and paid something like 70k per month as rent, which was very cheap. But the fuel consumption was terible around 4/5 Max . Maybe you could rent till you make a firm decision....

[JadeyBlitzen]

Yes totally agree and very good advise... I think you could get deisel Monetro older version ( Intercooler type ) for that budget.

But there seems to be a overload of the V6 monteros and seems that a lot of people find it very difficult to get rid of them. Also the prices are very low ( Maybe due to the fuel )

Another alternative would be to rent a montero as this sometimes is cheaper, 3 years ago I had a rented Montero V6 and paid something like 70k per month as rent, which was very cheap. But the fuel consumption was terible around 4/5 Max . Maybe you could rent till you make a firm decision....

i think he can get the 3rd gen model for that budget cos most of the prices are hovering around that bracket. my uncle bought a 4m40'd one on g plates which was imported brand new for 7.5 mil last year. a friend of mine sold his 4m41'd one (the one i'd recommend) which he imported used from japan for 8.5. the 3.5 v6 jap spec model is hovering around the 5 mil mark depending on the version and the vintage. its quite a gutsy car as well. will shame most of the saloon cars on sale today. it'll be hard to get rid of though.

[Kavvz]

jadey ..... pagero is good but all of us we don't like it machang bcos all the thugs and goons along with politikko and smuglers use it ..... and you end up as one when u start using it ....

Okay man, that makes NO sense. You haven`t by any chance been smoking any of the foliage that`s featured in your avatar and signature now have you...

[Gummybr]

well he could probably by another car with the change if he goes for a classic rr. and since he's not bothered about fuel consumption of the petrol cherokee why not have the full v8 rr? i always prefered that over the gemini engine cos its a more fitting engine for a car of that stature

sorry to go OT but how many L322s do we have in the country gummy? and what are the 2nd hand prices atm?

Well you can get a classic Petrol V8 (if you can find one) for less than 3.0mil. There was a LHD advertised sometime back on AL for 2mil something.

What if I say there are 11 L322's in the country? One has terrain response. there was a white with 4.2unit for sale asking price was about 29mil.

[kotte mafia]

so i guess the VW touareg and the LR3 is out from the list and i spoked to my friend and he is telling he can't afford that kind of a huge ammount of money for a bloddy SUV .and become a target for all the underworld car thiefs and kidnappers he owns a LR3 here with 4.2 motor in it and damn thats some ride ... the only thing is when ur thinking to bring it down to SL u face the problem of LHD & RHD

kawz macho what i was trying to point out is that the mitsu is wide spread and so common upon the society and yah i wished theres that foliage mentioned by you over here where is stay cos i really miss it alot ..

so i guess theres only two comon things to go for in SL ... a mitsu montero or a toyota prado .... and for the cherokee hope we are lucky enough that we will stumble upon a good one soon

and thankz for the help guys and let me posted on any good ideas except all what you came up with ....

[Supra_Natural]

so i guess the VW touareg and the LR3 is out from the list and i spoked to my friend and he is telling he can't afford that kind of a huge ammount of money for a bloddy SUV .and become a target for all the underworld car thiefs and kidnappers he owns a LR3 here with 4.2 motor in it and damn thats some ride ... the only thing is when ur thinking to bring it down to SL u face the problem of LHD & RHD

kawz macho what i was trying to point out is that the mitsu is wide spread and so common upon the society and yah i wished theres that foliage mentioned by you over here where is stay cos i really miss it alot ..

so i guess theres only two comon things to go for in SL ... a mitsu montero or a toyota prado .... and for the cherokee hope we are lucky enough that we will stumble upon a good one soon

and thankz for the help guys and let me posted on any good ideas except all what you came up with ....

you can probably pick up a grand cherokee towards the higher end of your budget.... can definitely get the previous model (upto 2004) for less than that.... even the 2005 on model can be found if you look in the right places.

[Devinda_Z]

a p38 would be nice

there is one on the market at present...

[JadeyBlitzen]

go for a montero mate. its a much newer car and there's not much difference between the 2 when it comes to reliablity. plus you get fold flat 3rd row seating, a wacking big sun roof and tiptronic transmission (personally i'd go with a manual and you can easily lose the back end if you are feeling 8 years old )

you can probably pick up a grand cherokee towards the higher end of your budget.... can definitely get the previous model (upto 2004) for less than that.... even the 2005 on model can be found if you look in the right places.

fab car mate. one went rumbling past me this morning. and i thought it was muscle car

there is one on the market at present...

where? where???

[Devinda_Z]

where? where???

elabourating further would be tantamount to advertising so i can't divulge much more i'm afraid

[JadeyBlitzen]

elabourating further would be tantamount to advertising so i can't divulge much more i'm afraid

its ok. at least tell me some specs like engine, yom. and how much is it?

[Kavvz]

kawz macho what i was trying to point out is that the mitsu is wide spread and so common upon the society and yah i wished theres that foliage mentioned by you over here where is stay cos i really miss it alot ..

That`s the best part about it man; the Montero is one of the few high-end cars you can buy in Sri Lanka that don`t draw too much attention...and err where exactly do you live again?

[ferrarif50]

Just sharing a Range Rover offroading video -

[Parak]

guys someone who is very close to me and who i kw very well is coming down to SL to settle down ..and is planing to buy some weels to go around. he has a full family of four with one kid under 5 years. and is a fun and outgoing guy who loves the out doors

this dood is planing to go for a SUV to cover up the daily transport issue and to slove weekend outdoor problem

so in SL there are few options avalable and guess range rover / hummers is out of the list ... due to the high tax posted upon them

after a few empty beers we ended up on few models which upto the job

* toyota prado

*landrover defender

*nissan pathfinder

*Honda HRV

*subaru forseter

*jeep grand cherokee

and we choose the jeep grand cherokee to go ahead with because aboth of us we loved good old american jeep. i never came down to SL for more than 3 years and for lack of knowladge about the local market and service i ask for all your support to select this guy a good family SUV under 7-8mil cheaper the better .... and what will be the price tag on a brand new one

thankz in advance

Hi

It look like U comparing apple and pears mate, Haven't seen Subaru Foresters going off-road. U can not compare HRV with a Prado. In my knowledge Prado and Grand Cherokee fall in to mid size 4WD category. Don't U consider the seating capacity. One of my friend use a Prado which got 8 seats. I do not know about how many seats in Grand Cherokee. Why don't you consider X-trai, Rav 4 etc in Small SUV category. I am not familier with the Mitsubusi Montenero but lot of people in here(Australia) buy Mistsubusi Pajero ( got 7 seats) which they say good value for the money.

This two cents from me

[xXx]

jadey ..... pagero is good but all of us we don't like it machang bcos all the thugs and goons along with politikko and smuglers use it ..... and you end up as one

man you sure must have had a puff or two when this popped in to your mind. any super luxury ride (according to SL standards) that falls into the mentioned budget bound to be a fairly common site in colombo.

i think your mate first need to decide weather he should go for a diesel or a petrol. if his choice is the latter one, tsunami permit LC 100 will be a supper buy followed by the LC120 prado, nissan Y61 and a mitsu montero V6 not the GDI as the V6 is easy to dish out compared to the GDI. (this day and age good luck selling anything)

if the choice is diesel i`m afraid there aren’t too many options for him to play around with. i can only think of the earlier model prado and the 2000/01 montero. if he can push his budget over 9mil, will be able to accommodate a LC100 on a 65- plate

all the fancy models you have mentioned is way over his budget.

If he wants something flashy to make a statement best thing is to drop his craving for off roading and get himself a euro sedan. now you have opened a whole new can of worms

don’t forget with great bragging rights comes great headaches (in the form of high maintenance costs)

[xXx]

Hi

It look like U comparing apple and pears mate, Haven't seen Subaru Foresters going off-road. U can not compare HRV with a Prado. In my knowledge Prado and Grand Cherokee fall in to mid size 4WD category. Don't U consider the seating capacity. One of my friend use a Prado which got 8 seats. I do not know about how many seats in Grand Cherokee. Why don't you consider X-trai, Rav 4 etc in Small SUV category. I am not familier with the Mitsubusi Montenero but lot of people in here(Australia) buy Mistsubusi Pajero ( got 7 seats) which they say good value for the money.

This two cents from me

8 seater prado???? how does that work???? 3 seats in the front?