kush

My sentiments too But given the gullible nature of our car buyers and vehicle importers I would not be surprised if this scheme does not come in to fruit. If you see the number of lobbing social media posts this is exactly what they are lobbing for. In my view this whole duty structure need to be revamped in order to get a decent car for the lower middle and middle class. Other fact of the matter is most of the vehicles in the past came under different concessionary schemes and at a significantly less tariffs. If you are smart you really can get a good vehicle at less tax hence there were whole heap of 1.0 Audis, 1.2L Pugs and 1.5 L CRVs and C200s and of cause the Vitz, Allions, Axios. I was going through the web for JDMs and unfortunately majority does not come within this sweet tax brackets anymore. As they are not going to have any concessionary schemes we may all end up with Chinese and Indian crap. I was at the Colombo Motor Show and majority of the vehicles they show cased had very poor material quality and did not give much confidence that they will last. Apart from the couple of Korean built. Personally at those prices you will be better off keeping your current wheels.

Not to argue on your point or I'm not a proponent of the car mafia. Personally I have always bought brand new from agent exception being the Corolla Sport (1 year used ) and a FIT GP5 (zero mileage) both of which was not offered by the agent. If 7 years is allowed it will be 2018 upwards. Government has a Rs. 800 Bn. revenue target. In order to achieve this they need to bring down 150-200k vehicles if they are looking at small vehicles. That would cost approximately 3-4 Bn. USD which the country cant afford. So the suggestion of the vehicle importers is to increase the age threshold which will bring down the exchange out flow whilst retaining the revenue target. Personally I would bring get a brand new or stick with what i have until things settle may be a year or two. In any case there may be restrictions in the numbers allowed. How this is going to be achieved is still unknown.

I have a different view on this. From what I hear from the propaganda in the social media by the vehicle importers is they want to import used vehicles up to 7 years. Rational being that they will be still newer than what is available in the used market. In the current system duty is based on the engine capacity. There is no luxury tax on CIF less than Rs. 3.5 Mn. In the case of the government tax on a new Wagon R or a 7 year Wagon R will be the same. But CIF on a 2018 would be around Rs. 1.5 Mn. where as a a new would be nearly Rs. 3.0 Mn. So landed cost will be around Rs. 4.5 Mn for the 2018 and Rs. 6.0 Mn. for the new. Knowing our market most of the people will opt for the clocked R grade instead of the new as it is lot less tan the current market price of a 2018 ignoring he fact that they can get a 2024/5 for Rs. 6.0 which is still cheaper than the current market price. In this equation the vehicle importer and the government both wins as for given amount of foreign exchange you can import more vehicles there by more profit for the importer and more tax for the government. Besides this will enable the importation of Axio and the Allion/Premio that went out of production few years back. And also the Corolla Sport and the CHR with 1.2L

Stick to your Premio You will be able to achieve the expected economy from a hybrid or a diesel. Maintenance will be at another level from the Premio

If you are even thinking about 1-3 stick to your Japaneese

Man Rs. 55 Mn. is lot of money for a car even now As you mentioned is it a good time to invest in a car? I don't think car at that price could be considered an investment. At your budget you can get a good Merc or a Rang Rover What is your preference Car/ Suv/ Coupe/ Hot hatch High end market has crashed due to economic issues and there are good bargains if you look around and prepare to wait. Is is Rs. 55 Mn. or Rs. 5.5 Mn.

Agreed 100% By the way Swift RS Turbo is a good option. Descent performance, economy and handling with Jap reliability and ease of maintenance. I would rate it above the Vitz that would be the other option Interior is very plasticy (so it is Vitz) if you don't mind that sort of things.

This is the whole idea. When you are in Rome you have to be a Roman. Driving my Macan as a daily driver to work was rather painful affair due bumper to bumper traffic and the stress of having look out for the tuk-tuks and the occasional Mazda / Lancer guy who wants to do fast and the furious (no offense intended for the Lancer, I was one on the first to get one of the EX's down in 2007 and had a wonderful 3 years) Wagon R will keep up with the traffic up to around 50kmph which is more than enough to keep up with the city traffic and due to the size you can manure darn thing around people who hog the road not knowing which lane to keep on to. It can use the lane in parallel with motor cycles which a large car will not be able to do. It is at home with the tuk-tuks at busy city traffic. And parking, size, the turning circle and the ease of getting out of either side of the vehicle. I can't even recollect the number of times I had to park and walk due to not having a large enough parking slot. Believe me it is the faster in traffic and I have kept up with much faster machines with 3-5 times the power. Wagon R or any Kei car should be used for the purpose it was designed which is not the case in SL. Agree it is a pain to drive in the highway, for what ever reason if i get in to it I keep it around 80kmph at the curb side led let the faster traffic overtake me. It will do 100-120 kmph but at that speed if you will not have control over the vehicle. It accommodates my three kids with their school and sports gear. They are allowed to eat/ drink change believe me which is a requirement when you huddle them from class to class or practices. Once the seats are folded it can accommodate large appliances, small furniture (Wagon part) It is all about the intended purpose and how it fits you life. When it came to a decision which car to keep my wife choose the Wagon R over Kia Picanto. Picnato was much fun but the Wagon R was the more practical sensible option. It has given me 5 years of reliable service and sadly I have no alternate to replace. So most likely it will stay with us until the imports open up.

Why don't you buy a Wagon R. I have one and it is pretty fast from light to light in Colombo. Because of the size it could keep up with the took tooks Handling is not too bad as you do not have enough power to get in to trouble and you can drive at the limit at decent speeds. In way of a 2CV body roll and under steer can be controlled if you carefully managed the speeds and the throttle. Once in a while you get this other car guys in so called super Axios, Lancers, Mazdas who get embarrassed and wants to race with you when you over take them. especially when my wife is in the driving seat. Sometimes I beat the s**t out of the poor thing in so called sports mode which allows you to rev up to 7K (if you can bear the engine drawl) After all it is not the number in inches that matter it is what you do to make the best out of what you got.

Sunroofs gives trouble in SL. They leak when the rubber is get harden especially if parked outside In my view troubles it gives out weight more than the occasional use.

We have a 2018 FZ Premium only does 15-16 in the City (School run) driven with very heavy right foot. I have seen 30kmpl when driven leisurely early morning with absolutely no traffic. Highway does 35kmpl @ 60kmph, 25-30 @ 80kmph, less 25kmpl @ 100kmph if the fuel economy gauge is correct. Average calculated by the car economy gauge is generally correct. I have checked full tank to full tank. It is all about your right foot. 🙂

I was told that you can check the mileage from the ECU and that it cannot be tampered Unless of cause you change the ECU it self I may be wrong any thoughts on this. In my case I go by the condition and the service records etc. And I always keep records of my vehicles including any accident repairs I tell the truth to the buyer and had no issues selling any of my cars at market rates or slightly above. Even emission test cannot be trusted these days as I have heard of vehicles that do large annual mileage (hire/rent) being clocked annually prior to emission test

IMF might condition to relax import restrictions that might allow vehicle imports However Duty might be increased Dollar/ Yen unlikely to come down to 2020/21 level In the world market vehicle prices have increased. Corolla that was around Y 2.2 Mn in 2020 is now Y 2.8 Mn No permits will be offered at least for a considerable period until we get our reserves build up At the moment vehicle prices have comedown due to High interest rates no one can afford to finance unless buying for cash Those who were on personal loans and floating rates are on trouble due to high installment and they are down sizeing High cost of living and taxes forcing people to look at alternate transport/ down size/ sell the 2nd vehicle etc. Lot of business are in trouble and they are forced to sell their vehicles to payback finances Migration of middle class In my view vehicle prices may increase if at all when the stability comes Anyone with cash this may be a good lime to buy.

If you are no concern much on handling Vitz will be the best provided you do not drive fast on twisty roads. But GP5 may be bit more planted on twisty roads and will have more power for that critical overtaking a lorry or a bus and will have much more room in the back seat and the boot. Economy will be more or less same. However GP5 is a much more complex car and expect higher maintenance costs.

what was the performance drop power or economy There can not be a significant drop due to difference in viscosity. 10W-30 should be ok for the ALTO, 0W-20 will give you little more economy and better emissions. However if the car has run on 10W-30 for the last 80K km it may have got run in for the thicker oil and changing now could increase oil consumption. 40 grade would be too thick for your car and i would not recommend it at your current mileage. It may be ok for a older high mileage car when the oil burning stats to kick in. My view is your issue is not oil related