Supra_Natural
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Posts posted by Supra_Natural
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On 7/25/2023 at 12:14 AM, firstgear said:
Thanks. I said 'my friends here' meaning here in Europe
That's honestly surprising. Are they Sri Lankan?
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Any vehicle over 10 years old will need maintenance and repairs, so you will need to set aside a sizable amount for that. Parts for anything are pretty expensive these days, so best to keep this in mind. None of these vehicles will be particularly cheap to run.
The MG will be the newest, and there seem to be a fair number on the roads. But long term durability is something that has still not been established.
The Vezel is likely to be the best on fuel, but those do have issues with the transmission.
The Kias and Hyundais are pretty good but thirsty if you're looking at Petrols. Diesels need rebuilding earlier than Japanese diesels and are more likely to have been run hard. They also need Super diesel.
Montero Sport is an old school truck and is only better than the others in a pure off road situation.
Outlanders are generally considered to be reliable but how well the hybrid components will be with age is an open question. If you;re ok with fuel consumption of 5-6 in the city, a non PHEV version might be a good choice as they are pretty much bulletproof if reasonably well maintained.
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On 6/30/2023 at 8:43 PM, firstgear said:
Hi all,
I hope there are people here with experience in the Europe. I am new in Europe and planning to buy a car.
I had few choices, VW Golf, Peugeot 308, Ford Focus. But some of my friends here are telling me these cars are unreliable in terms of electrical components and suggest me to go for Toyota or Mazda.
So I decided to go for Toyota Auris Hybrid (2014/2015).
1) Is this a right choice?
2) In general, can a 10 year old hybrid battery handle another 5 years?
Thank you.
PS: I know the reliability of each car / battery is unique as to how it is taken care of by their owners. But I am only looking answers from average use cases.
If your friends giving you advice are living in Sri Lanka and not Europe, then their advice is basically useless. European cars like Volkswagens, Fords and Peugeots hold up much better over there for some reason than they do in Sri Lanka, which is why they are popular, or else the Japanese would end up dominating the sales charts as they do in most other places.
Japanese brands are likely to be reliable (depending on how well the specific car has been kept of course), but you should not have too many issues with any of the abovementioned euro brands either. Just make sure to get a car with service history, get it inspected properly, and you'll be fine.
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On 6/7/2023 at 5:41 AM, iRage said:
Yes but no....
The Cappuccino came with both the F6A and later K6A in turbo charged form. For starters...you want to get the facelifted/technical-updated variant which came with the K6A engine. More power and torque, light weight and I believe they also went with a timing chain.
Secondly...the FA6 engine that came in the Capp was a DOHC turbo charged variant. It came in other performance kei cars like the Alto Works and Autozam AZ-1. The Wagon R came with a SOHC variant. So if you get one with a FA6 engine, parts from a FA6 powered Wagon R will not necessarily work on it.
The only Capo that's for sale in SL at the moment has the older motor. And it seems to have led a hard life too. Other points are spot on.
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On 5/20/2023 at 12:40 AM, battllefield lovers said:
Hi everyone,
I'm in the market to buy my first car, and I'm seeking some guidance from fellow enthusiasts. I have a deep passion for sports cars and would appreciate your suggestions on finding a good one within a budget of 3.5 million. While I've always admired older models like the Civic and Lancer, I'm aware that the ones from 1996 and 1997 might not be the safest or most reliable options. I would like to know if these cars can still be considered safe for purchase and what specific factors I should look into.
Furthermore, I'm also open to exploring other makes like Toyota and Nissan. If you have any recommendations for sports cars within my budget from these brands, I'd love to hear them. One crucial requirement for me is achieving a fuel consumption of at least 9-10, as I value efficiency.
It's worth noting that although I have a passion for sports cars, I'm not exclusively focused on them. As an engineer, I appreciate a well-rounded vehicle with reliable performance and modern features. I've heard some concerns about heavily used Civics and Lancers not being suitable, so any insights on that matter would be highly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for your help and suggestions!
You want a sports car, but you are looking at Civics and Lancers? Do you know what a sports car is?
Kindly be more specific in your list of requirements and we might be able to help you out, because what you've said here is contradictory. Do you actually want something with two doors, or a more practical vehicle?
Also, "a well rounded vehicle with reliable performance and modern features" is probably not going to be available for under 3.5 million, sorry to say. Sports cars by their nature are not particularly efficient, either.
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On 2/5/2023 at 12:29 PM, Sajeewa vinod said:
I want a place where they install turbo blowoff valves in srilanka..
Is your Honda Civic turbocharged?
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Keep in mind that parts for even normal cars are now very expensive. So ensure that your repair budget is solid (Even 300-400k is not too much). I would vote for a EE (Petrol) or CE (Diesel) 9X series corolla wagon/van. Once the basics are sorted out, they are solid runners. They aren't super comfortable or particularly good looking though, and are super basic. Alternatively you could get a sedan version with some options.
The BG series Mazda familia/323 is also a good option. They are very nice to drive and less likely to have been riced than Civics or Lancers.
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On 10/26/2022 at 11:32 AM, noddy said:
this car had the mazda DOHC similer to mazda astina only the body is different astina is fron wheel and miata is rear wheel. actually the mazda engine and the body is fiat abrath. in the us value is 5000 USD so this works out to 2mil in sri lankn rupees
Your information is kinda wrong there, noddy. The Astina and the Miata have nothing in common. Also the first generation Miata and the Fiat/Abarth 124 have nothing whatsoever in common. There was no 124 being manufactured during that time.
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Had the same thought, ended up buying a CE96 wagon/van for considerably south of 1.5 mill. Seemed to be in ok shape with actual honest mileage. Still ended up costing about 35% of the purchase price in basic repairs to get it upto spec, mostly because of long term deferred maintenance and also the crazy increase in parts prices.
If you're going this route, keep repairs in mind.
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Hi @lahiru egodawatta, any progress on your search? Did you pick something up?
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The E30 has always been on my list of "interesting" cars. Was very seriously looking for one about 15 years ago but for whatever reason it didn't happen. I kinda forgot about it until last year, when a combination of circumstances meant that the Miata had to be moved on and replaced with, of all things, an SUV. So I was looking for something fun that wouldn't break the bank and after considering various options, wound up with a 1990 E30 316i.
It's a fairly solid car that needed some detail improvements, but I was a bit shocked to find how expensive E30s have become, and more to the point, how expensive their parts have become. Also noticed that there seem to not be many good 30s around anymore, most out there seem to have been ridden more times than Maradana hookers, and show the signs of it. So I feel that my car was a pretty ok buy, although I probably overpaid.
Will try and post some updates on it, by and by.
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Duplicate books should not be an issue as long as the car is in the name of the person you're buying it from, and the document itself is legitimate of course. For best peace of mind, it's always better to check with the RMV, but that is such a pain in the Ass these days that I don't know whether you'd want to.
My personal view regarding number of owners is that I would much rather buy a car with 10-15 owners on the book that has been taken care of properly than one with 3 owners that has not.
Also, in terms of condition of car, if you really can't find one that is in very good shape then look to getting something that needs some mechanical work but has good body and interior condition (no major crash damage etc). Mechanical stuff can generally be sorted out without as much hassle, but of course this is assuming there aren't a lot of major hidden issues. This is why getting a proper independent inspection done is a very wise choice.
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Is there any reason you opted to go to the agents? Doing this somewhere else (using the genuine parts) would have cost significantly less.
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8 hours ago, Linesh Anandkumar said:
Hi All,
I've recently purchased a 1998 Nissan Bluebird SU14 with a 2.0L Diesel Engine (CD20)
I am currently in the process of overhauling the whole vehicle.
Need to know where i can overhaul the whole engine and add in upgrades (pistons etc), custom turbo & exhaust, and a performance clutch kit?
If there is a one stop shop for all ,that would be great.
Cost is of no issue.
P.s - this is a 3rd vehicle and a project car. Before anyone says turbos are bad for a non turbo vehicle, i don't care if the engine cracks open in half, ill just put in another one, as i got the car rusting off a yard for dirt cheap.
Thanks in advance!
Well as far as one stop shops for project cars go, I suppose you should talk to Lap57 or Platinum Auto.
Then again since this is a diesel I don't know if they are the ideal choice, maybe you should talk to an off road guy since they have more experience with diesel performance. In that case try Bruce Motorsports.
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5 hours ago, iRage said:
Mazda USA unveiled the new CX-50 which was talked alot about and much anticipated for over the last few months. The launch vehicle does have a very rough and touch presence compared to the gentle and sleek shapes of Mazda crossovers we have become used to. AWD comes as standard in all models and the engine options are either a NA 2.5 or Turbo 2.5 SkyActiv engine. So they are engines we are somewhat familiar with on other previous Mazda models.
What is interesting is...this is the first Mazda vehicle produced at the new Toyota-Mazda joint production plant "Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, USA, Inc." which is also where the Corolla Cross for the North and South American continental markets are made. By the time the launch event was finished people were already drawing similarities with the Corolla Cross design and was making claims of the two cars sharing components. Mazda was quick to deny this and insists that the CX-50 is its own car and has its own parts. It is unlikely that the two cars actually share platforms or components considering the differences in the mechanicals and things like lights..but you cannot deny the fact that the buldging fenders and the body lines leading to and off of them are quite reminiscent of the Corolla Cross...
Either way it is a pretty car. Mazda Japan today claimed that th CX-50 is not planned for sale in Japan; as it is for the US and strategic export markets. However, since the CX-3 became the CX-30...it would be no surprise of this CX-50 or some of its design components makes it way over to the next generation CX-5 (which logically should be called CX-50 ?)
and now look at the lines and buldges of the Corolla Cross..you really can't blame those who picked up and went on a trip with th similarties...
Got to give it to Mazda, They've even managed to make a crossover non-fugly.
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On 11/13/2021 at 5:02 AM, MrCat said:
Thanks mate!
Yeah, the 370mm Mtech2`s are extremely hard to find these days... 😬
Yeah man, even the 385mm is pretty rare. Prices are also insane. Been on the lookout for sometime but no luck so far.
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3 hours ago, matroska said:
I can't get my head around these prices because we bought both these models for half this price
Cruze : Have one in the family and it keeps running and running. Decent day-to-day car specially in the Sri Lankan context. The high ground clearance is specially useful if you travel on bad roads. It's a very 'practical' car. It's not overly exciting to drive nor is it economical fuel wise specially considering it's got a smallish engine and a small car. The usual wear and tear will be there by now so you need to pay attention on stuff like cv joints - which are a little hard to come by for the model : but not impossible. Recon parts are there. I personally like the car for it's practicality.
Kelisa : Was the wifeys first car which meant that I basically took care of it for a long time : Very simple and nimble car. It's a little cramped for me (I'm 5'11' and weigh 85 Kg). Sweet little 3 pot engine on a light body so its a fun car to drive. Very basic but at the same time very simple : some basic maintenance can be done yourself. Car is prone to vibration and noisy but at the same time make sure there is no excessive vibration (I mean the car acts like its having an epileptic fit) specially in reverse since bust engine mounts are a very very common issue with the car. Auto does about 10-11 KMPL. Manual maybe a bit more.
OT: Matroska, been waiting to read your update on how the Starlet is doing after the heart transplant. Hope its coming!
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15 hours ago, lahiru egodawatta said:
Actually no I'm still on the fence after speaking to some leaf users. I need to get atleast another 3 years out of a leaf without it dipping below 40km per charge and IDK if thats a realistic goal. I went on search today in kandy to check cars on sale, only thing i found in my budget that I kinda liked was a fb14. I have some test drives planned for sometime this week in colombo of some leafs? (leaves?). Someone suggested i wait out on deciding until the budget on the 12th. Some told me that vehicle imports wont go ahead until 2024 and prices will only rise. Hopefully that works out with the leaf aswell.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my justification for choosing a leaf is, i feel like theres one thing i need to really check and thats the battery, and to my understanding, there are non invasive ways to confirm its health with a good amount of confidence. But with conventional vehicles within my budget that are about 20-30 years old, i feel like any parts that should wear out would be pretty badly worn out by now and i might be buying myself into a timebomb waiting to go off and keep us stranded somewhere someday soon. And im sure this is because of my lack of knowledge but i dont know if the health of an ordinary combustion engine car can be checked and confirmed as much as a leaf battery can be.
On the subject of the Leaf, yes it is definitely newer and safe but as others have pointed out the infrastructure issues and the battery problem will continue to dog it. For example, if you need to travel in a hurry from Colombo to Kandy, most of the cheaper examples won't be able to do it as efficiently as a similarly priced petrol car, thanks to range totals that are in the 50-60km band at best.
Any vehicle can be properly checked by a service like Car Checks and/or a competent garage. Ideally you'd want to do both as Car Checks does only a static inspection whereas a mechanic would take a test drive as well. Between those, you'd be able to ascertain the condition of a car pretty well.
If Fuel is not too much of a concern I would suggest seriously looking at P11 Primeras and A32/A33 Cefiros. The odds of finding a car that has been taken care of is a bit higher than for something like an FB14.
Bear in mind that anything mechanical can usually be sorted out on any old car with the right expertise and parts. The only time you'll have an issue is if there are any structural problems (bad accidents, severe rust through and such)
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2 hours ago, lahiru egodawatta said:
Hi,
Sorry about starting a new thread for this even though my budget is the same as the previous OPs post. I have a daughter coming in a few weeks and I'm looking to buy a car of my own that's reliable and safe.
My budget is about 2.5mil and so far I'm really liking the following vehicles
kia carens, Nissan leaf, cefiro.
I read a review about the kia carens on AL but its dated 2011, is it a bad choice in 2021?
Any advice or any other suggestions are welcome.
Welcome to the AL forum and congratulations on your new arrival! With a newborn around, reliability and safety are excellent priorities to look for in a vehicle. Sadly, our market being what it is, the choice available at your budget is not optimal. There are still quite a few options, but most of these will be somewhat older.
I would advise sticking to models that are popular and well understood in the SL market. All old cars will have their issues, and when you have a kid around it's quite important that these can get fixed quickly and reasonably without a lot of hassle.
The above would rule out the Kia Carens. They were not numerous here to begin with, and are now almost non existent, so one could safely assume that parts could become a struggle.
The Nissan Leaf is definitely the most modern and safe vehicle you can get within your budget, but that comes at the expense of being electric and having issues related to the battery. Most leafs in that price range have batteries that have significantly depleted capacities, so be sure you'd be ok with a range of 50-60 Km or less. Replacing the battery is possible but there appears to be a supply issue at the moment and anyway it is not cheap. Aside from the battery though, the leaf is said to be quite cheap to run. The EV club Sri Lanka FB page will give you more information if you choose to go that route
The Cefiro is a pretty solid car overall and fairly well understood in SL. Parts should generally be no problem as well. The only concern may be fuel economy as these are big, comfy cars with 6 Cylinder engines, so they are naturally somewhat thirsty on petrol. If this is not too much of an issue, the Cefiro will be a good bet.
Other options you might consider are the Toyota Corolla AE110, Nissan Bluebird U14 (Both petrol and diesel models are available in that general range), Nissan Primera P11, Nissan AD wagon/Wingroad (if you want the most space) and the Mazda BJ Familia/323 and related Ford Laser.
Whatever you buy, do keep in mind that these days you should negotiate hard to get the best deal, and always keep a float of around Rs 250-300,000 as a backup for any necessary repairs before you start using the car.
Best of luck with the search, and do keep us updated.
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On 9/20/2021 at 4:58 PM, MrCat said:
Kinda sad day... 😖
Sold the last significant item from my BMW E30 parts collection..
An Mtech-2 370mm steering wheel... Wasnt planning to get rid of it, but I wont be getting in to the E30 game anytime soon so...
30 years later, still looks good compared to the current MSport wheel in the 140.. 😬😬
Oh man, had I known you had one of these!!
Congrats on the new ride, it seems very cool indeed!
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Since this thread has been resurrected, anyone remember how many AE111 GTs made it to SL? In the last few months I saw a couple advertised, one Corolla and one Sprinter. Sadly both ads are gone now.
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Sell the car, and buy a 1.5 litre, or an evo.
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1969 Volkswagen Beetle Part 2 - How not to restore a Volkswagen
When we left off the search had just ended due to lack of patience and I had pulled the trigger on a car. Despite my previously decided idea to focus on a solid running car instead of a cosmetically nice one, I ended up picking up one that had been sitting for months but looked quite pretty inside and out. So bright an early one saturday morning I went to pick the thing up from the seller's house. Collecting it went smoothly enough, and I figured the best bet would be to fuel it up first of all. So we rolled up to the nearest petrol station and I proudly said "full tank". The pump was running for barely 30 seconds when people outside the car were yelling "Petrol halenawa!". So I jumped out to see what was up and fuel was streaming to the ground! So I popped the frunk (Beetle tanks are in the front of the car) and checked, to find that the seal around the fuel floater (at the top of the tank) had given up, causing fuel to escape from there. Also, the hose from the filler cap to the tank was past its best so that was leaking too.... Not an auspicious start overall.
Still we managed to fill up to a point it didn't leak and rolled on homeward. I had noticed that the brakes seemed a little bit iffy but I figured it was good enough to get home and then to the garage for a check up as long as I kept my braking gentle. Unfortunately for me, as we were approaching Rajagiriya, a gent in a Mahindra Scorpio decided to come to a sudden stop at a junction. So I hit the brakes hard, only to find the pedal sank all the way to the floor! Pumping it a bit achieved not much, and we were still doing about 20 km/h when the Beetle impacted the tow bar of the Scorpio with a solid thump. Got out to find a very large dent in the front end, and the frunk lid not closing properly. Great start!
Beetle with its face punched in
Anyhow managed to limp the car to the garage where I was given some unfortunate news. Firstly, the impact had acted on the spare wheel (which was right at the edge of the frunk) in such a way that it had moved back, bending the structure behind it quite badly. In addition, what I was assured was a rust free car turned out to have floor boards that were crumbling into dust, as well as rusty door bottoms and quarter panels covered with cataloy. So my plan of gradually sorting it while running suddenly turned into a full on frame off restoration. D-oh!
That ended up taking several months and costing a lot more than I originally thought, but at the end of it the car came out looking rather decent and driving well. The only real issue was that the front never exactly lined up to close perfectly, but I could live with that.
With it finally done I set about enjoying the freedom that my own set of wheels provided, using it as the daily driver to work and driving around with my girlfriend at the time. It didn't always provide sterling service: there were recurring issues with running smoothly and cutting out that were caused by some combination of coil and plug wires, which was eventually sorted out but was a real headache until then. I missed two Volkswagen Beetle Club drive events because the car crapped out on the day, which was really annoying.
Still after it was sorted I did manage to get good use of it, even took it on a roadtrip or two. Drove it on the beach
Then promptly got it stuck on the beach
and various other shenanigans that you get up to when you're young and dumb. It served as the daily for about 2 years, but the lack of AC was beginning to tell during the commute and eventually I got hold of the vehicle that would become my next daily. I kept the beetle around for another year or so after that but it was being used less and less so I decided to part with it a while later.
I often wondered what became of the thing and got into the habit of searching Beetles for sale over the years just to see if it survived. Had no luck for years and then lo and behold, last year all of a sudden it appeared on a classifieds site. But it didn't look anything like the car I had sold sadly. Some j***a$$ had decided it would be best without a roof and had gone and cut it off, replacing it with what looked like a 3 wheeler's top section. The side windows too seem to have gone. I consoled myself with the thought that at least the thing was still on the road, but I do wonder if it would rather be put out of its misery.....
So there ends the story of the Beetle.
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5 hours ago, GK_007 said:
Oh too bad, one of my dream cars. Haven't seen any come up for sale apart from 2 red ones year 2017 which has been for sale for a while now. Unfortunately the asking price is too much for me. Was yours a metallic orange one ? Remember seeing one sometime back in a Car sale around Kaduwela.
As far as I'm aware, there are 5 examples of the ND generation Miata in SL and all of them are Soul Red. There is one that has been for sale since 2017 at a car sale in pepiliyana with a rather high asking price, that's the only non registered one around. Certainly no metallic orange ones.
Looking for a second car
in Car Buying Information
Posted
Sorry mate, can't seem to find it. Keep an eye on FB, it pops up every so often.