iRage

You are not going to find pristine parts for a car of this vintage....if it is in pristine condition it will probably still be on a car that is in pristine condition in its entirety. Your other option is to order in reproduction parts....for a car like this it will be way too much even if you do find a manufacturer who does reproductions. The bumper can easily be fixed up...as for the grille; you might be able to find one that is in slightly better shape than your's. Either way..if you want it nice and straight...I suggest you take it to a place that does plastic/fiber repairs and get it fixed up...

I think they are referring to the old Maruti Suzuki built Swift for the Indian market; the base Inidian market variant (which I believe was also the most popular) did not have most of the safety features like ABS and Airbags which were standard in the Japanese built variant and variants built for European markets. The issue is even though the cabin stayed in tact the occupants got severely injured as their were no airbags and such to protect the occupants (usually vehicles are designed to use both features such as this and the frame jointly to protect the occupants...without one the other is not the most effective). But this was with the previous model and only the Maruti Suzuki ones...it has been rectified with the new model (even before that actually...if I am not mistaken Suzuki started offering airbags as standard on the entire line up of Swift after this saga..I might be wrong on this)

I would say : - New JDM ? Mazda 3 - 1.5L Civic Sedan - 1.2L Corolla Turbo it has been officially announced to have a 1.2L Turbo, 1.8L Hybrid and 1.8L ICE....1.2L puts out about 115hp, Hybrid about 170hp combined and 1.8L 100!!!???? I know !!! WTF !!!? I am hoping this was a typing error....either way...Corolla is the most lowest powered of the three, and the car with the least steering feedback...however, based on the Corolla Sport the driving dynamics will be good and fun...it will be comfier than the Civic and Mazda 3 and I believe the interior looks a lot more premium than the Civic but a tad lower in than the Mazda 3. Are you in to hatches ? Get a Vitz GR Sport GR !

I think this needs a bit more explaining...what do you mean a crashing sound ?

The Mark X has V6 with a standard 6speed AT....that is quite quick and has a very raw feel to it. The X120 has the same engine, gearbox (same everything except the body and some of the safety features actually...) and it was quite economical for its size. The 2.5L Mazda...no...quite quick just like the Mark X....however the engine feeling is a bit more subdued than the Mark X...

The thing is there are a lot of F10s that were brought down under for the permit by a whole lot of people who should not have bought them (sorry to sound like a vehicular racist here)....they just bought it for the sake of trying to be posh and did not take care of the cars at all....so be extremely picky about it...

1. Yes 2. As far as you find a well taken care of unit and continue to take care of it...it will be kind to you. (This applies to all cars) 3./4./5./6. : There are other BMW connoisseurs in the group..I will let them answer. 7. Audis are fun to drive....having said that...sounds like you have driven the normal average Japanese/Toyota econo boxes. Look at the following: - Toyota Mark X...there are a very few GRX130s around in SL and seen a few for sale recently on the quick site. One of the very few fun to drive RWD sedans to come out of Japan. There are plenty of X120s around but I feel you are looking for something newer ? - Lexus IS...same as above...few around..but haven't seen any for sale. - Mazda 6 quite a few around but a decent one is harder to find... - Nissan Fuga, Skyline, etc are also nice to drive but you do not get newer models around in SL.

Your car thinks that you are trying to start it whilst in one of the drive modes.　A Toyota Japan tech FAQ says to take it to the nearest dealer because depending on the time it happens it could be one of the gear shift lever sensors getting messed up, brake peddle sensor getting messed up or you are trying to start it in a drive gear. i.e. there is something electrical wrong with your car which could be anything from a small sensor going bad all the way to a catastrophic electrical issue that will make your car spontaneously explode taking out everything within a 1km radius....so...take it to a reputed garage and get it diagnosed (even if it means transporting it on a car carrier)

This is dependent on the the Audio/entertainment system that the car has and not the car itself... So see what Audio system the buyer in Japan installed in the car and see if it has Bluetooth connectivity. If not you can always change it to one that has bluetooth connectivity.

You mean an Axio Hybrid from 2018 ? Depends on the grade....the new ones have most of these standard whilst the earlier (perhaps 2018 is also included in this) they came with the basic TSS and some of the other items were optional...

Kei cars zip around on Japanese mountains all the time....granted you do have to work the engine really hard (thus the reason why I would never buy a used kei car). Won't be the same as sedan or even a 1L hatch....can't you buy a 1L hatch for the same amount of money ?

Premio is an outgoing model. In fact in a few weeks when the new Corolla Sedan is launched it is beleived the Premio/Allion will be no more. In fact apparently the dealerships are slowly stopping taking orders for it..the platform and the technology is a decade or so old....there are much better and modern options... Have you considered something like the new Corolla Sport (unfortunately this is a hatchback)? If you can wait a month or two you can even get a new Corolla sedan (which is the replacement for Premio/Allion in Japan).or the new Mazda 3. A Civic 1.5 Sedan (not the 1L little mouse..the 1.5L) is another option. Having said that...you should know the in Japan the current/outgoing Axela and Axio are having some decent deals at Toyota dealerships. For the same amount of money you can even go for crossover...or even a more funner car like a Vitz GR Sport GR..

tested a CRV a few days ago....the 1.5L turbo is nice but the CVT totally kills it. IMO the CHR is much better in that regard. The CRV is a better sll round vehicle, the CHR us a funner funkier car to have

The thing about 4wd weight and FE is a typical story, typical car peddlers say. The only added weight in a TownAce 4wd is the transfer case and the front axles which are tiny. They say the samething about Hiace 4wd and cars like the RAV4 as well...the added weight is quite small about 50 - 100kg depending on the car and the difference in fe is only of about 1kmpl. Those who buy an awd van will not mind the drop in fe for the added benefits you get. Those who buy an awd van because it is cheaper (thanks to the bs car sellers conjure up), they will have severe periods of depression. If you want an awd van because you want awd then buy one that is decent irrespective of fuel type as long as it meets your usage needs. If you are thinking of buying an awd because it's cheap and then converting to diesel for cheap use...just don't. spend that extra money and buy a stock diesel red van. What Sri Lankans do not get is that vehicle ownership it about Total Cost of Ownership. Not just fuel cost. So what you save on fuel almost always gets spent/costed in other areas.

For starters....all those are crossovers and not actual SUVs. Some, like the CRV are midsized crossovers and some, like the CHR, are compact crossovers. If you do not care about the size, then, if you want some driving pleasure then the Audi is a bit above the others. The CHR and CRV are actually pretty nice in terms of feeling, but I absolutely hate the gearbox in the CRV because it kills a lot of the power the engine puts out. Ease of maintenance and service-ability wise, the CHR and CRV would be a bit easier. Some of your models could perhaps be purchased through the agents, albeit might not have all the bells and whistles of the grey imports; and their support can be quite useful and a relief.

Here is the thing...agents have to follow a specific SOP for all their work and each task comes with an allotted amount of time. When I took my cars to agents in Japan and Vietnam and the US...the agents had these times set but for little things they usually just forego it and do it at minimal cost and sometimes even give it as a complimentary service (I changed my timing belt and transmission oil change etc...for the Corolla wagon in Japan...they pretty much gave away the transmission oi change). The thing in Sri Lanka is that these agents for some reason have a very snotty attitude and have gotten in to their head that high quality workmanship and service means them being snotty little monkies who stand by a workshop manual (albeit for their own benefit but would take serious short cuts when it suits them or is easy for them) and charge exorbitant rates for everything. I am sure refitting your lip included some elaborate work which would have included pretty much removing most of the front end ; fixing the lip; re-aligning the bumper brackets and mounting the bumper; re-calibrating all the sensors, etc...(heck in some cars you have to remove the headlights to get to the bumper mounts...so then you have to remove/refit headlight cluster, realign headlights). This would take an entire day to do . Obviously all those billable hours should not be borne by you...call the insurance ! This is exactly why I tell a lot of people to not run to the agent and insurance every time a three-wheeler decides to give your bumper a kiss (or in your case feeling very amorous towards the pavement). Simply not worth it...save your time...save your no claim bonus...live with the little scratch or do a DIY with it (either by yourself or a decent auto handy-man....everyone should have one of those) Rant on high prices : Whilst the agents charge a premium for their snotty-ness; on the other hand the reason parts at the agents are expensive is because of the cheap parts that have flooded he market....people got for substandard crappy cheap parts most of the time so the agents are driven to keep high margins to cover up their day to day operational costs through low volume sales

What do you mean under the timing belt area ? It looks like a piece of the engine cover in the bottom, the part that covers the belts, pullies and ancillaries like the compressors from the bottom If it is part of the cover...well...the car is not going to spontaneously combust the next few days...but do try to get a cover as soon as possible to prevent mud and various stuff getting in to the above mentioned parts and messing things up.

Ohhh Seiken...I never paid too much attention to the bear logo and had no idea it said Bear Brand But Seiken is a popular and reputed manufacturer of automotive and industrial chemicals in Japan. Many auto manufacturers use their fluids (I know Toyota dealerships use their brake fluids), so who knows..perhaps Honda Japan uses their fluids in Japan under license. Either way....it is popular and reputed so its highly unlikely , as long as it is the legit brand and not a Chinese knock-off, that it will have a composition that is not good for your engine. At the end of the day, Honda engines do not use alien technology/metals that makes it ground-breakingly different from other manufacturers in this (and many other) regard

Bear brand ? as in වලහා ? or bare as in nothing ? To be fair..this whole "Manufacturer"" brand oils/fluids/parts/etc is a very non-Japanese thing (even in the US I did not have this craze of car Manufacturer oil)....if you go to a Japanese dealer you do get a OEM brand of oil/fluid/part that the manufacturer has pre-determined to sell under licensing. Sometimes you get a litte logo of the car manufacturer...sometimes you just get the OEM supplier's bottle/brand... So..do you know what the coolant was ? Perhaps it is the brand Honda actually uses...

Uhumm...I am pretty sure @Devinda_Z did not imply he strip the Bora for parts and exchange the parts He meant part exchange as in give it as a trade-in for another car (i.e. other car price = Bora price + money)

Hi Sameed..welcome to the forums...the Insight has been discussed quite a lot on the forums. Please search the forums (you will see a search option above as well). If you budget is 3mil..please do not spend all 3mil on buying a car. You should save a bit for unplanned issues with the car and some basic repairs you must do as soon as you buy the car. Especially if you are buying a Hybrid....you are looking at a really old Hybrid so battery replacements and repairs of the other Hybrid system components are a very high probability. I advice you to read the thread on "How to buy a used car" on the forum. As for the Insight....may I ask why you want to buy an Insight ? Out of all the Hybrids of the time period the Insight would not necessarily be the number 1 choice....also..why do you need a Hybrid ? For your budget there could be a few other better options especially if you are willing to go with a hatchback and gasoline (and korean or malaysian)

Yes...and No... If you ever want to do a body a swap....a body on ladder constructed vehicle would be the most safest way to go about it (I said most...not entirely...). However for that to happen..you will have to get the entire body off of a donor vehicle (like the whole thing unbolted) and then bolted on to the new ladder...however this should be done without cutting or chopping the original ladder or the new body shell and where cuts and alterations need to be made ...it should be properly fabricated so that the strength (and safety) would not be compromised. In Sri Lanka you cannot import a complete body without a proper body permit. So the only way to swap the body properly would be to get the body off of a complete vehicle already in the country. Considering the cost of these things...why would anyone do it ? Having done so....you need to understand that it will take quite a lot of engineering effort to get most of the safety features and things like the adaptive suspension, etc..working right (seriously doubt they go about doing this....) As for structural integrity...as long as the frame and chassis is not cut and chopped it should hold up reasonable well...albeit not as effectively as in the case of the original because things like air bags and points of crumpling might not exactly line up . As for registering the body swap legally...I beleive to make the proper changes in the book (which is the only way it becomes legal) you need to have the proper permits (RMV approval prior to the swap, body import permits or some sort of documentation cancelling registration, etc of a previously registered in SL)

Try to get a genuine one....there are places that bring down used units from Japan...there are also places that bring down Chinese steering wheels or switch panels...same goes with the visors. Brand new parts fro Toyota Japan would be quite expensive though..

Picture time !!!

Here is something to think about....a lot of people put down cars and freak out saying "no parts..no parts..no parts". But the reality of the matter is quite a few of us (current and past in the AL forum community) have and have had rather uncommon cars. We have not had our cars sitting on stilts for long legths of time because of the lack of parts or anything of the sort. You just need to plan ahead...have some basic parts...etc...true it takes a little bit more discipline than the average car owner in SL (in other countries the dealer would take care of all this for you) and you might not get ultra cheap parts at Panchikawatte...but it is not all doom and gloom. So a Mitsubishi tiptronic gear box might not be common, but again, its not rocket science either requiring extremely rare components. Also, isn't this a standard tiptronic ? I know people who have rebuilt tiptronics on the Toyotas...so how hard could this be in case it needs to be rebuilt ? Also, weren't there other Mitsubishi's of the same era that had tiptronic gearboxes ? The Pajero did (true it is different) and those have seem to have weathered quite well (I have not heard of a whole heap of Pajero tiptronic gearboxes being dumped somewhere because of failures)...so it is hard to thikn the Lancer unit would be any worst.