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The sticker on top of the rear (now front) windscreen - that makes even more sense.

The Government has decided to suspend vehicle Imports for a year in a bid to stop cash outflow, Cabinet spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said. He told reporters at the weekly Cabinet press briefing that an assessment of the vehicle market has shown that there are enough vehicles imported into the country to last a year. He said that due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, the country is facing a serious foreign currency crisis and hence certain curbs are needed to stop cash outflows. Meanwhile Cabinet this week approved a proposal submitted by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is also the Minister of Finance, for allocation of provisions from the Department of National Budget to State institutions who lack allocations to repair the vehicles that can be used after undergoing an overhaul. Rambukwella said that it has been observed that a considerable number of vehicles in Government institutions lie unutilised at present due to lack of proper maintenance whereas the number of vehicles that can be used after renovation has been calculated at 4,116, while the number of vehicles that can be discarded amounts to 5,588. While the vehicles that can be repaired will be transferred through the Comptroller General’s Office under the Ministry of Finance to the State institutions that lack enough vehicles, a formal methodology will be worked out for discarding irreparable vehicles, he said. Last week the Finance Ministry announced a facility for public officials to purchase motor vehicles in the domestic market using the concessionary motor vehicle permits. http://www.ft.lk/front-page/Govt-suspends-motor-vehicles-imports-for-1-year-says-enough-in-market/44-705651

Some photos of my new ride.

We don't know that FB15 is suite for you or not . That decision is up to you. FB15 is a good looking, reliable, comfortable car for that money. Better in almost every aspect than a car like alto.(except fuel economy).

Your budget category presents some really interesting options : Of your choices as @AVANTE and @Devinda_Z correctly mentioned the 406 might not be the best option (but dear lord that's one sweet car from the 90's) the FB14, and 110 will be the 'sensible' options but those two cars in particular are prone to be used by users who tend to go el-cheapo on maintenance and end up mucking the cars. The Soluna will be a relatively newer car. I might suggest the Familia/323 out of the lot though I don't know exactly how the spare-part availability is in Kandy - we had a couple of Mazda 323's in the office that were routinely abused but still refused to break-down and kept running and running and running. The Presea is a slightly left-field choice but not a bad one ... it has the same internals of a FB14 but looks a bit cooler. Interesting question - it would be good if you actually got used to a manual. Manuals will be cheaper too - in my personal opinion diesel manuals are easier to drive ( more forgiving - if your clutch balancing isn't up to the mark the diesel will be a little reasonable and not stall unlike the fussy petrol) The AD wagon : The Y11 will be a little beyond your budget (so is the same generation Wingroad) the Y10 AD is a very uncomfortable machine (trust me I've traveled a lot in one ) but a good choice if you regularly haul stuff the car is cheap (saw 300- Y10 with Automatic transmission up for sale for 12.5) - these cars were used as delivery vehicles in Japan (van) the wingroad is more expensive and a more refined car. The Avenir is the diesel counterpart of the same timeline. The Nissan Cefiro is a lovely car (used to drive my uncles cefiro quite a bit and loved it ) plenty of power and comfort but yes it is quite thirsty. I have only once albeit briefly driven a diesel Bluebird (and that too long ago when I was just out of school or so) - but for some reason it had a lorry vibe to it. The Primera is a really nice car - if OP can find a good specimen I'd say go for it since with cars this age fuel figures are not reliable and may vary from model to model and despite popular perception even the 'frugal' cars like FB14 never really achieve anything above 7-8 KMPL. I suggest you check out a few cars and figure out what actually rocks your boat. Also keep in mind that with cars of this vintage you have to keep some cash in hand for repairs. Our friend @PreseaLover had a hideous experience with a Cefiro a while back despite taking all possible precautions. If you're ok with hatches here are a couple of suggestions off the top of my head both of these cars are very common and you will not have part-sourcing nightmares. K11 March - bland little cars that drink up fuel but you wouldn't have too many nightmares maintaining. 2 Door models are waay cheaper. Starlet EP82 : Overpriced since these cars are now mostly bought for conversions. But spare parts will not be a problem as there are thousands of these around. The 4EFE engine is one of the most common and easiest to work with, spares-a-plenty and interchangeable. Infinite customizing potential in case you ever get that idea. [EDIT] Saw a few EP82s for around 1.3 -1.4 that would give you a nice little buffer for potential repairs Also consider the Corolla 2/Tercel (Engine would be the same as Starlet)

Depends entirely on the car, and how it has been used as well as maintained @rathnayake I have used cars with over 200,000 mileage but where the owners have used good quality engine oil and done the services on time (with records!) - i faced no engine issues You can get a compression test done before purchase just to be sure - if the engine is under-compressed you will need to budget for rebuild, or at least new piston rings & gasket if the rest is fine The Cefiro is a comfortable car but fuel has always been an issue - given that you live up country it will be nice to have the pulling power of the 2 litre engine but the fact that it's an automatic will hurt economy Most of the Bluebirds around are the 1.8L petrols but with manual gearboxes. The Bluebird Le Grand diesels were used for tourism and brough on permits initially so would have clocked up high mileage by now. Those were very economical but noisy. The Primera on second thought lets drop because fuel efficiency isn't it's strenght - 1.8L & 2L SR engines were nice to drive but will return less than 10 kmpl

Welcome to the forums. Don't buy any Europeans (volvo, Peugeot, etc) as your first car, and that too in kandy. The 406 is a reliable car but it does have electronic issues from time to time due to its age. Parts are almost no where to be found in kandy, but you can order them through courier from Ratnapura/Colombo area, plenty of shops that specialize in pugs. Fuel economy, comfort and handling wise it's really good. But as you are in kandy, the only place you can go to for major repairs and servicing is CarMart but of course they will most probably suck your wallet dry. As they need special tools to be worked on, you can't take it to the average mechanic as he might wreck havoc on the car. If you want cheaper maintenance, you have to venture all the way to Colombo, if you're fine with that. The service intervals are longer than a Japanese so if you get all the repairs done in one shot and spend alot of bucks, you can drive peacefully for a long time. There are some decent cars in that budget but the problem is finding one in good condition. Alot of molested and abused money pits. If you can, go for a FB14, Wingroad/Ad Wagon (they have shared parts) or even a Toyota Starlet EP82, which is a very agile and economical car with parts being cheap and readily available almost anywhere. Get the car inspected professionally at a service center, check the suspension and frame for any bad repairs or broken components. If the Year of Manufacture (YOM) is after 1995 get an OBD2 scan done, won't cost you more than 1500 - 2000/- for the whole ordeal but will save you alot of trouble. Finally, find any weak points/places of repair and negotiate the price accordingly. Take a friend who is well versed on cars or even a known mechanic with you. There is a guide in this forum on how to inspect a used car, read that too. Best of luck.

General rule of thumb is to avoid the reconditioned ones. Unless its something rare where finding new parts are an issue, I wouldn't bother with rebuilt radiators... (Having said that the last time I replaced a radiator was three years ago, when a birdstrike punched through a gap in the grill and ripped apart the radiator and the A/C core. Mad scene that was...)