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If low running costs are what you're after a diesel grande punto would be the better option. These cars are well depreciated by now hence won't be loosing much in 2-3 years. Only problem being due to the low price may not have been maintained properly. Most are hacked to death with cheap parts & labour. Find a good specimen & you should be sorted. May not to do great in bumper to bumper traffic but mixed driving conditions will give you good 15-18km/l.

honda civic ek3 2000 or 1999

Lancer CS series ~ YoM 2002

Hi Guys, Good day to you. I'm hoping to buy a car with maximum 3.4M. I have Civic es8 2004 car. Now my plan is to go for bit a new model. I have interest with Honda fd series and Mazda axela too. What will be yours idea Please advice

Since you are changing vehicles considering practicality 308 will be a more viable option. However, this will be a drastic drown grade from your current ride. Whats wrong with your JAG?

And don't get caught to an enterprising mechanic, for he'll get you to overhaul the engine prematurely.

Utter nonsense. 92 RON fuel is also imported by Ceypetco for distribution. You can verify this yourself by referring tender documents (which are publicly available on the internet (http://ceypetco.gov.lk/wp-content/uploads/BK-TERM-GAS-OIL-GASOLINE-DTB-MUTHU-2018-2019-3P.pdf). It is well known that the contaminated/out of spec shipment which caused lot of fuel pump issues in 2011 was directly imported.

Is there a speed bump or pothole just before the spot? If yes, it might be that a loose connector is getting disconnected momentarily and cutting power? Also, I think Crosswind's suggestion to drive in a different direction is a pretty valid test. You should do it to determine if the car stops at roughly 400m as you say. In any case, it's got to be related to distance, time or the location IMO. Driving in a different direction will tell you if it's related to distance. Starting up the car and leaving it idle for a few minutes before driving away (with AC on and maybe racing the engine a couple of times after it has heated up) will tell you if it's something that happens after a certain period of time - my guess is that it's related to time. If not, it's the location - maybe that ghost in your bedroom is taking a ride with you and cutting the engine off so that it can stop and grab a bite to eat and head back home. ?

True. Lancer Ex's are hard to come by and most owners don't part with them. @OP - all of your choices are decent sedans. if you can find the EX then go for it - else don't restrict yourself to one model have a look at the axelas and the tiidas in your range and settle for one that you feel ticks all your boxes. There are STILL permit-imported Tiidas in mint condition with their first owner. Also worth considering 2011ish CS3s (yeah they did come until about 2012) and they are well within your budget

Both Lancer EX and Nissan Tiida were imported brand new to Sri Lanka by the agents with warranty and recall support. If you're okay with the looks of the Tiida, personally, I'd recommend all three vehicles. Go with the one that is in the best condition and has service records to verify the mileage and to verify that due maintenance is done properly. Finding a Lancer wouldn't be as easy as the other two though, asking price for 2008 ones are above 3.5mil (auto). I've heard of a rusting issue with the Axela, but that's just hearsay. Haven't heard any issues with the Tiida. Search the forum, I'm sure all these vehicles have been discussed before (at least the Lancer is). If you need to know anything specific about the Lancer ask away or send a PM, I currently drive one. P.S. - I think the Toyota 141 2008 is also within your budget.

friend..check heating plugs one by one..we had liteace van few years ago.had same issue. once plugs replaced it worked.but need to replace correct one..we had to replace plug 3- 4 times.then we went to another garage.they said we have replaced wrong plugs.they replace correct one and then it worked perfectly.

Nice....the new face looks much nicer Will you be blackening out the red circles ? (on a funnier note...now you know what your car would look like if you went mad and decided to put 4 huge fog/driving/spot lights on the bumper :D)

Yeah i used the improved design one because the old ones are no longer available to buy. and you cannot fix the new rings to the old piston since the design flaw so you literally have to get all 4 pistons and rings with the new design. and you have to use the right tools to fix the ring to the piston and install the piston into the cylinders, this guy is not a maka bass so he has all the tools and does it perfectly. if it was someone else i am sure he would have used a mitiya and taken the piston pin out and installed the new piston to the rod but he wanted it to be perfectly fitted and wanted me to personally go to D*MO engineering and get it done. I have gone around 500km so far and will keep the forum updated. i feel the smooth acceleration since they are new piston and also he suggested to change the oil to 10 w30 after 20k.

good it worked. BTW did you use the "improved" design Rings and follow correct fitting procedure from Honda GP1 owners manual which was mentioned somewhere here(so that the problem don't come back again,since its a design flaw)?

I am another victim of this issue, these were the symptoms; Oil level started to drop A/c gradually reduced during running tappet nice when slowing down to 20kmp/h high vibration during cold startup oil spill around spark plug rings. engine warning scanner show misfire on the first cylinder I went through extensive research and spoke to stafford and as usual no help since i did not buy the car from the company. but they actually know the issue and the initial suggestion was to do the piston ring clean up (cost is around 60k) and they are still not sure if thats the right option as the supervisor says it works for some car and doesn't work for some and for those they recommend to change the rings and piston (cost is around 180k) since the new rings wont fit the existing piston. went back to my usual garage (he has been maintaining all my cars for the last 10 years) and he is aware of the issue and some cars they have done the injector clean up and gone as it was enough for them. I decided to do the big repair by changing the piston and rings as i never wanted to take a chance by cleaning up. Got 4 pistons and the ring sets from Tech Motors (who bring down honda genuine parts but you should go with someone who knows to validate just to make sure you are not given A grade Thailand manufactures). the entire kit including gasket cost me 81k with a discount since my garage guy knows them well. its a three day process (quite complicated than we think since you have to remove) as you need to remove the head uni and do the clean up and then fix the piston rings to the new piston and attach to the existing rod. My mechanic suggested to do the machine push for connecting the rod to piston as it is will give the perfect finishing, you have to take the old piston and the new one (without rings) to D*MO lanka at bluemendal road and they will use the machine and press the new piston to the existing rode which was a perfect job and the cost for that is Rs. 2400. So after three days i got the car back with new piston installed and suggested to use 0w20 oil since the piston is still new and it should have more silkness. The mechanic charged me 40k for the entire work including oil and the total cost was (81+2400+37=120400). engine is very smooth now and a/c is much better and i could feel no vibration when reaching beyond 2000 RPM. I will keep updating and if you guys have plans to fix the issue i would suggest to do it once without taking chances as Stafford is not always sure about their recommendations. below is the picture of existing piston.

Hey lovely to see someone who's as equally interested in E38's! At one point I was head over heels over this car, and in September 2015 I found one of the most perfect models on the island for sale! It was a silver/grey model (post face lift) with a 3.5 engine, and an auto transmission. The body kit and rims were identical to the picture you've posted. It was a full option car and not been used a lot. Was formally owned by Harry Jayawardana, and then finally the former SL Airlines head (I believe). I called and checked with the broker in January 2016 and it was still there. I doubt its there anymore but I've still got the guys number.... maybe you could track it down. Also there were some more nice ones for sale, like a 740i which had a KX or a KT license plate as it was brought down newly by a Diplomat. It was a bit dark blue, was a bit taller and was pre facelift. It had very miles on it. I'm assuming it would have been stuck at the customs for years so it would have been an almost brand new model. The max price of these gals was about 3 mil, and the lowest was 2mil +. But one thing that swayed me away from this, was the sheer amount of electronic nightmares it contains. I read a lot on E38/BMW forums about how you should either have a big amount of your budget allocated for this or just know how to work electrical's yourself. Because this was technically a 90's baby that went on to the early 2000's as well. So a lot of the technology was new and a little experimental, so inevitably stuff would break down. Not as much as a Jag or a LR/RR I guess? LOL But the compromise here would be getting an E34 5er . It has a similar design philosophy, its as big as the E38, and on top of that its the last hand built generation 5er, also it has very little electronics = less complicated repairs. Most models came with the legendary 'M60' engine which was built like a tank and could hit 6 figures in miles (so I've read and heard). Top it all off with a good old 5 speed manual. Who doesn't love a manual on a Bimmer. These babies go for about 1mil to max 2mil. You get a lot of 518i's and the occasion 520i. But theres a rare 525Tdi , and a ultra rare 528i which I saw last week. I'd say if you want to build up an amazing BMW, go for the E34, which is quintessentially BMW and stands for all things German. You could build it into one amazing car. Check this playlist with some beautiful E38/E34 videos I've found. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeTrwNYLDy0LbrramvzmQm8fXl8kNjfwD