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matroska

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Posts posted by matroska

  1. 28 minutes ago, sathyajithj99 said:

    Look for service records.

    This model (141) is known for compressor issues around 100k kms

    Also CVT transmission issues if not properly maintained. Atleast CVT oil should have been changed in every 40k kms

    Dashboard cracks

     

     

    and those dashboard cracks are quite prominent as well - I've seen many fleet cars with this issue. 

  2. 15 hours ago, Kaveen Dakshitha said:

    What to look for when you are buying a nissan hb 12 station wagon diesel

    Diesel swaps were a common practice in the 90's so first of all check if the car was an original diesel.(even if it was not - a proper swap will not be an issue but advised to practice caution)  I'd assume the engine is an CD17 if it were original. Check for the usual, check for blow by (google for it), check if the vehicle pulls well, gear shifting. Ideally get a diesel mechanic to check it. When it comes to body the usual checks need to be done : corrosion, interior etc. 

  3. 13 hours ago, Lucky1 said:

    I'm planning to buy Aqua 2012 or Fit GP 1 2013. Which one is better in terms of comfort and maintenance. 

    I found an Aqua for for 6.3 Mm with battery and ABS replaced while fit for 6.0mn without battery replaced.

     

    Need your help choosing the best

     

    when was the battery replaced in the Aqua? The biggest pain points with the Aqua is the battery and the ABS. 

    The GP1 is more of an old school mild-hybrid that has lesser troubles (oil burn issue aside)

    Aqua will be more economical on fuel, be a bit more faster on a straight line. 

    The GP1, will have a bit more bells and whistles, larger with more cabin space and storage space. Less fuel efficient. 

     

  4. 1 hour ago, Gummybr said:

    Without the designer of this car (which was secretly developed this brand would have gone kaput.

    The visual clue was a bit confusing but this probably was the best clue. Ludwig Kraus would be the designer - and the parent company he saved was later involved in a massive emissions scandal in the previous decade :) 

  5. 4 hours ago, harshansenadhir said:

    Not checking forums on daily basis as opposed to those days where I used to be in the forum literally always. Good old days 

    here you go. Must be a piece of cake for classic lovers. 

    image.png.102e1aa321c0a55eee6d43bd55f8be5d.png

    A nice quad-lamped Sedan that I used to love as a kid - had a brochure when I was like 4 or 5. Sadly almost every single one of these are scrapped, and their CR's are used to run Bighorns. 

    • Sad 1
  6. I had to merge threads again. You have to stop creating a thread for each model :D ...

    well the SB12 - does the plate on the car say SB12, and the CR? Back in the 90's it was common to swap diesel engines to petrol cars. Anyway originally the SB12 comes with the CD17 diesel engine -same found on the Diesel SB13 which is a very common car. Of course older diesel engined cars are not the most sought after for various reasons and the Nissan Diesel engines of that era - CD17/CD20's are not as bulletproof as 1C/2C from Toyota.  The CD17 in particular is known to be economical but rather sluggish (on the SB13)

    We had a Diesel SB13 for a while about 20 years  ago it was ok the car pulled ok not that fast, sounded like a lorry, it was easy to drive (specially for a noob - diesel manuals are easier) but that was a 10 year old car back then  -now it's a 30+ year old car. 

    Diesels are not bad originally but based on how they have been taken care of depends a lot on how they work now. A messed up diesel engine can be a lot more troublesome to fix than a petrol. 

    The other problem with slightly lesser popular diesel engines like CD17's and 1N(toyota)'s are diesels were not very common globally. Popular in SL since diesel went at 50 Rs when petrol was 100 Rs. So parts for older diesel engines are a bit rare now (compared for petrols) for instance if you take a car like the Toyota Starlet P90 series you can easily find engine parts for the 4EFE engine (there are dozens of 4EFE engines for sale sent from yards from Japan, while parts are super rare for it's diesel variant the 1N) 

    If you are going for this - check if the previous owners have done an engine rebuild in recent times. And importantly take along a diesel-competent mechanic with you, despite all that keep aside a few lakhs for repairs. 

  7. On 3/8/2024 at 10:57 AM, iRage said:

    With an honest and educated society the government would have been able to start allowing limited imports into the country

     

    On 3/8/2024 at 8:24 AM, Gummybr said:

    A lot people will tell you that the ban will be lifted (1. car resellers wanting to buy cars cheap for  higher resale. 2. Maybe this could happen with the elections in the horizon) Other than that the main issue Sri Lanka has is the fact that we do not have sufficient foreign reserves. Why do you think they want to extend the moratorium on debt payments till 2027? The foreign reserves of the country still stands at US$ 5.5b this is without paying any debts, imagine if the country opens up for vehicles and if history repeats itself you will have thousands of cars coming in and then you look at the outflows that 5.5b will be gone in an instant. (a small car will be approx. US$ 10-15,000 into 1000, a luxury car at US$ 40,000 into 100 these are conservative figures) Just imagine with the migrant workers permits the majority of vehicles imported are luxury cars (almost 100-150) all above Rs. 40mil and only about 20-30% lower priced mass cars below Rs. 20mil. 

     

    instead our society will exploit every possible loophole. An election gimmick aside, i don't see SL go back to importing vehicles - as for the prices of current vehicles dropping - even if they do start importing I don't think any new vehicle will be priced in a range for existing vehicle prices to drop - considering the potentially hefty taxes and exchange rates. These rumors' go in cycles - car sales, and buying and selling people first propagate a rumor that imports will open up and people sell in a panic at low prices. Then the car sale folk hoard a lot of vehicles. Then they start jacking up the price and spread a few rumors that imports will not happen for many years. Price goes up. Now they have exhausted their stock and the common folk (non-car-sale people) have also jacked up the price. Then again the imports are opening up in xxx months story goes on to drop the price. I have seen this trend for the past year or so. 

    The used car market is now the car sales/brokers playground now - I   have been a  heavy critic of car-sales , brokers and buy-and-sell folk. This led to me being blocked and banned from a popular automobile group on social media(name refers to fast revs and racing) 

    • Thanks 2
  8. On 3/5/2024 at 12:52 PM, sathyajithj99 said:

    After searching for almost 2 months bought a Perodua Kenari 2007 specimen.

    On 3/6/2024 at 12:49 PM, harshansenadhir said:

    f you can stretch the budget a bit, Viva Elite will be a good choice as well. Watch out for lemons changed hands frequently with tampered mileage though. 

    Congrats on your purchase!!! That seems to fit your (or better-halfs) requirement well - there's ample space and the tech on these cars are simple. Actually I learnt a lot when we had a Kelisa - it is an ideal beginners car. 

    RE the viva elite - prices are touching 4 Mill now  - there are a lot of manuals converted to auto - using recon gear boxes from Daihatsu Mira's these are poorly done jobs resulting in various issues and most of the swaps are done using the gearbox designed for an 800 cc version of the Mira. Of course the VIN can be used to decode if it was an original Auto or not. Due to this people who own original Auto's kept jacking up the prices until a car that launched at 1.5 M just a decade ago is now going for 4M. This is just crazy and a result of the Sri Lankan mentality. 

     

    • Like 1
  9. 13 hours ago, shahan said:

    <Sorry I had to remove the link. You cannot put links to outside sites such as the quick site, vehicle shelter, etc.. - iRage>

     

    @iRage @matroska please advise advises this original auto ? And please assist abot this car and model

    Well I think I found the car you posted and had the link removed - white one in Piliyandala?

    Well it does look like it came out the factory as an Auto.  Compared to other models there are a few B12 original Auto's in the country. I came across one in 2019 (sedan)  (made me ask this question on the reparability of old Auto gear systems. 

    The California - personally I find it really nice to look at.  A nice set of alloys goes a long way on these. Not very common so stuff like the rear glass panels and lights and lenses (rear - the front is the same as the sedan) will be a bit difficult to source. Cool and distinct cars that screams 80's. 

  10. 18 hours ago, Gummybr said:

    Cresta for sale recently in the 2.8mil range

    That Cresta was so neat at least on the photos. OP, if he's patient can do his homework , wait and swoop in on a good specimen when it comes up for sale - since everyone is clamoring for hatches and SUV's a biggish barge can be bought for a reasonable price - manual's are far less popular that too presents an opportunity. 

  11. 8 hours ago, john cooper said:

    Here it is team.

     

    Gas.JPG

    Chinese off roader -  the strip seen on the right hand side of the image runs along the circular front lamp. This is made by a company named after the most iconic landmark in the country - same brand buses were available in Sri Lanka 20 odd years ago. 

  12. 2 hours ago, Gummybr said:

    Lets say they like this, you get up inside coffin and when you open the lid this would be the dashboard you see.

    hahah this was a give away ! :D the fancy dashboard put me away - I have only seen the older model of this and the meter-cluster/dashboard is a more mundane affair. 

     

  13. On 2/23/2024 at 11:35 AM, Duan27 said:

    508. C**M**t was trying to rip us off

    are you related to @fiat fan?

    WOW! That's indeed a find. The FD series Civic's are pretty special - looks way ahead of their time and quite comfy.

    and a Manual to boot!  

    While many people ask for advice very few do actually come back to the forum and tell us about what they bought! So hat's off for the follow up. Looking forward to hearing more about this car. 

     

    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 1
  14. On 2/24/2024 at 8:43 AM, shahan said:

    toyota AA60, how is the car?

    It's a pretty good car - not as commonly found as the Corollas, Sunnies, Lancers of the Era - therefore body parts are a bit of a nightmare. We did a bit of a hunt for one of my friends -most were mechanically sound but had small cosmetic issues due to lack of parts (winder handles, interior switches, lights, lenses etc)  if you notice even in the classifieds most of these have the front turn indicator lenses missing. (TBH I had this issue even with my Starlet EP71 - so not just a Carina thing : parts for 80's Toyotas barring the KE wagons are not as easily found as for Nissans and Mitsus of the same era)  Fine a complete car and you're good to go. 

  15. 29 minutes ago, iRage said:

    T190 series the Corona did not get the 1500cc engine

    Probable reason why 99% T190 Corona's are the 2C Powered diesel variant. 

     

    1 hour ago, iRage said:

    There was another reason. That being Sri Lankans (the race that is the majority) are very racist. The Corona was popular amongst businessmen of a certain race/religious faith. So the car was told to have the ****** look. 

    Now this is an interesting little bit of information I'm learning today. 

     

    1 hour ago, iRage said:

    Now...back to the OP's cars...I didn't want to bring up any diesels because....old diesels rarely ride smooth

    Sadly, this is the only option he will have for his budget if he want's to go with Toyotas. 

    • Like 1
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