iRage

Is Amaron that bad ? I have had an Amaron on the Trueno for like ever (4 years and counting) and no issues so far. In fact when I first bought one in 2014 the car had an indentifiable drain....the electricians did all sort of things which eventually spoilt two brand new batteries (died off at least) and each time the shop replaced them both. First time they did not ask any questions, second time they asked to see the car and checked the alternator and then replaced it...

Sri Lankans really need to stop buying cars based on how easy it would be to sell a car even before they buy it. As long as we do it we give the idiotic car salesmen the power to go on doing their BS. It is quite sad that you are thinking about how easy it would be to get rid of the car even before using it.(would you date a girl thinking of the next guy she would date ? or marry one thinking of how easily she might divorce you and go for some other guy ?). Any car...ANY CAR....will get sold as long as it is honest..i.e. taken care of properly, and reasonably priced. There are plenty of so called 15A Allions and 1.5L G Superior Premios that are just rotting around without getting sold whilst decent Mazdas and Mitsubishis get sold off in a few days. For that price you are looking at buying a 10 year old car (on average)...when you are selling it off it will be 12 - 15 years old. No one can predict what the car market is going to be in 2-5 years for cars that old (with new tech...and random policies taking effect). So people thinking about resale market is utterly ridiculous and a waste of brain cells. But yes..I can understand your concern...90% of the people who buy Allions are utter morons who would have no idea if the car is a 1.5 or a 1.8. They only know the number of gold painted badges and fake wood panels. At the end of the day..with a 1.8 you will have a much better performing car for almost the same economy of the 1.5L (something our Allion/Premios buyers will never understand). Buy the car you want...stop worrying about the next bloody owner of the car Based on your main concern....forget about a 1.8L Allion or a Civic or anything else...if your main and seemingly only criteria for buying a car (and overrides everything else) is resale value...you have three options 1. 1.5L Premio G Superior (1.5L never had a G Superior grade. For a limited time Toyota dealers in Japan offered G Superior Toyota dealer package for the highest grade 1.5L, i.e. a F-EX..but 99% of those in SL are fake ones with random **** attached in SL). 2. Corolla Axio Hybrid ! WxB would be better... 3. Corolla Axio (141) G grade with RPM meter (the old Axio and Allion share he same platform) with these cars you can always ask for exorbitant prices and even if it does not get sold for months people will still think it is an amazing and you can deceive yourself in to thinking that it is gathering value.

He is missing some coconut, maldive fish and chilli to go with that

You mean like this....

Since you are looking for a long term car...do not be in a rush to buy a car just because you need one ASAP. The last thing you want is to buy something you will get tired of after a few months.... As for the Yaris....well it is a decent A to B car...does pretty much all the things a sedan in its category supposed to do in a fairly okay manner but does not do anything really well (day to day Toyotas have always been the jack of all trades but master of none kind of cars)....most people love Toyotas just for that.... As for Mitsubishis....they are like the the neighborhood dog that you have accidentally adopted and can list a 101 million things you hate about it but then forget all that and start loving it because there is this one thing that it will do to put a smile on your face. Mitsubishis are plasticy....body feels like a solid block of metal (close the door in one you feel like you shut the door of a bloody 30 year old tank). In some models the seats are benchy and you just slide off all over the damn place...the cabin is noisy like a 90 year old choir singer is singing its last note over and over and over again and not just dying off...but there is this think that it will get you hooked on and you over look every other damn bit of annoyance and defend it to death (Mitsu-fan boys echo in here). I had one of thos much loved Pajeros....it drank petrol like crazy...the interior was plasticy..seats were benchy...the engine sounded very high pitchy (lets not even talk about the tak tak noise from the injectors)...but the damn thing moved liek a bloody bat out of hell and when it did..I just forgot everything else. The Lancer is no different. Used my colleagues EX in SL for may work trips...hated the noise..hated the ride...hated the interior...but loved driving it So....if your heart is set on a Lancer...then be patient and see what comes up....

Mind you this is just an assumption so don't count on it. I do not know about Mitsubishi, but Toyotas differ...the engine block is pretty much the same but there might be small differences in the head, and differences in ancillary devices connected to the engine. As I said before (and Don as well)...at the end of the day even if the car is the same and the engine is the same....the ECU and other engine components would be configured (and have specifications) to meet the model and market requirements (ie there may be differences depending on the market that the vehicle is being sold in)

Yes....at the end of the day I believe the TCO will be pretty much the same for both without the hassle of maintaining a Hybrid system

Fit/Jazz, Vezel/H-RV, Grace/City gasoline variants have always come with a conventional CVT....and this is global.

1. The 1.8L Allion/Premio does not have the same resale market as the 1.5L..just go to the Allion/Premio FB gourps and you can see why...the mentality of the typical Allion/Premio crowd is quite backward looking and narrow minded. 90% are the type of morons who will spend 1000Rs extra to save 1Rs with just 40Rs in their pocket. So where resale value is concerned it won't be any better nor worst than the Civic 2. The Vios and the Allion have the same TYPE of suspension but not the same. Makes a huge difference in ride comfort. The Allion is softer sprung, sligtly larger shocks, more dampening bushes. The Vios made for 3rd world countries like ours (I hate saying 3rd world but considering what we have done to our country we deserve to be called that), the suspension is harder and lesser compoenents because we have hard/harsh roads. This is why the Vios is quite buoyant on the road... 3. The 1.8L Allion does not feel nimble and peppy as you would find the Vios and Vitz to be. The car pulls very quick compared to the 1.5L but still has the soft roly suspension of the 1.5L. ROlly suspension does not make a car peppy and will have a floaty roll to it. But you will accelerate and go through traffic quicker. My father in law had one and did not need anything done to it in the 8 years he owned it and had 163K on it when he traded it in. It drove well and had decent pickup up but in the mountanous bends it was too soft and pudgy....but very comfy....This is in Japan ne. On the other hand you can do some sweet mods to get rid of the body roll. 4. There are plenty of 1.5s around like @Hyaenidae mentioned but finding a good example is not that easy....they are 99% crap used by the sort of people described in "1". Granted....if you do find a 1.8 or a 2L (there is one I know of and not for sale) it will be most likely in better shape than the majority of the 1.5s around. 5. Why are you just looking at an Allion ?I thikn there are a few more 1.8L Premios around than Allions 6. Give some serious consideration to the Civic, Lancer, Axela/3 and even the 140 series export model Corolla (based on the same platform as the Allion/Premio). You get the 1.6L engine in the Corolla which is not too bad....and can even find a well maintained unit with a well documented history at the agent. Try to stay away from the later imports which came from Pakistan....the first ones were from Japan and then Thailand. The Pakistani ones are a bit stripped down and Toyota had some QC issues back then.

Well.....I am going to say opposite to what Gayan said....if you are going to keep this for a long time....you buy what you want irrespective of what we in the forums say. So if a manual makes you happy....go for a manual....take a few test drives...see what makes you feel better. Don't forget you are the one who will have to live with it. Pros of an automatic...well..an automatic is easier in traffic and you do not have to bother yourself with balancing the clutch on hills etc...also...for the vintage of the cars you are looking at, automatics are much easier to come by. Cons, well....if not taken care of the transmission might be having issues Pros of a manual : more fun to drive...a little bit more forgiving in terms of maintaining it.... As for your budget...DO NOT spend all 2.8mil on purchasing the car. Save some for some mandatory fix ups as soon as you buy it and some repairs ha may come up after you use it for sometime. So out of your 2.8mil..your actual car buying budget is about 2.5mil. Maybe that will reduce the number of choices in your list. With the Yaris/Vios and the Lancer you have the benefit of finding permit imports (even first owner ones) that have some sort of maintenance history with the agents, so that helps a little but with finding an honest vehicle. Some are actually pretty good. The Lancer is a bit more fun and more refined in terms of ride quality than the Yaris/Vios...so I would go with that. The 121...well....robust, economical, well put together and comfy car. BUT finding a good one is quite hard...most of the ones around are dressed up for a quick sale and are harshly used. However, I have seen a few really good agent imported brand new units for sale but those are very rare. As for the Axela...well...good ones hardly get sold....

I would say no....if this is your first car and you want something economical to run...just don't go for an old Hybrid, especially an Insight. For starters the Insight was not Honda's best Hybrid result; to top that off any Hybrid is going to require some servicing on its Hybrid system (battery replacements, etc...) I would suggest you look at a kei car or a small hatchback....if a kei car or a hatch does no have enough space for you..you could possibly look at older sedans but finding a well maintained one will be hard and pricey (although they are around)

A GP5 is a GP5 because it is Hybrid ! There are no Non-Hybrid GP5s . If you come across a GP5 (where the Vehicle ID plate/chassis # says GP5 and it has a petrol engine...walk away. I only say this because our Sri Lankans could very well yank out the Hybrid system and do some weird stuff to make the car run on petrol (seen a few 2nd and 1st Gen Prius with gasoline conversions. GK3 = 1.3 Gasoline FF GK4 = 1.3 Gasoline AWD GK5 = 1.5 Gasoline FF GK6 -= 1.5 Gasolike AWD

You are hardly going to find any average (gasoline) export model cars that come directly from Japan. Almost all the common models like the Corolla, Yaris, etc...are going to come from Thailand. Only the high-end vehicles would be coming from Japan (Land Cruisers, Crowns, Priuses, etc...), even the Camry came from Japan for a little while until the Thai, Vietnamese, etc...plants got re-tooled. As for the ECU programmings...yes...it could be different..depends on the car. Even though the car might be the same it would be configured to meet regulatory requirements of the country/region it is being sold in. As a result, the ECU might be programmed slightly differently.

If you want something fun...look at something like the Vitz/Aqua GR Sport or Vitz GR Sport GR....a certain doc who imports cars and does conversions sold one and at the time it was somewhere around your budget...but might be pricier now...but check...

Can we (I) know the reasons you took off the Swift and Vitz as possible candidates ?

That is a type of Modellista dressup kit.The other one is called Elegant Ice kit (I personally prefer that)..follow this link to see what it comes with : https://www.modellista.co.jp/en/product/c-hr/boostimpulse/ I can understand people going for it in Japan just for looks...but considering the import tax structure (and the car salesmen's loving service fees) the additional cost of the kit adds up to being rather hefty..so you have to wonder if it is worth it.

Check your private messages

1. It only means that the car was serviced and/or repaired by the agent. On one hand the assumption is that the agent has qualified technicians who are familiar with the model and have been trained to properly service and repair these cars to meet manufacturers' specifications. On the other hand..assuming that an agent maintained car is in good condition is just an assumption..not a guarantee. Agents do service bad conditioned cars....seen plenty of them..especially with popular Toyota, Nissan models. Agents give advice and recommendations on repairs that the vehicle needs that they observed during servicing. However, there is no guarantee that the repair was ever done by the agent (the guy could have just done the repair at a makabaas garage with cheap parts). These recommendations do not get logged (99% of the time) unless it is part of a requested inspection and is usually in the form of a service advisory in form of a quotation.The quotation does not necessarily get logged against the vehicles service history and show up by default. If searched within the system there might be a link to an issued quotation. Also sometimes its just a verbal advisory...(eg. in my Mark X the "workshop manager like guy" said the technician noted that brake pads will need to be replaced the next time. I got my wife to buy a set of pads from Japan...send it down...and fixed it myself...no record what so ever at the agent or the reputed third party garage that maintained my car) The plus point is that you can go and check the records with the agent and see if the things like mileages are accurate and if the services had been done on time and if the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules had been followed. So agent maintained or not...get the vehicle inspected by professionals 2. The Hybrids are plagued as people are scared of the DCT issue topped with the fact that people are aware of Hybrid system fixes (battery, etc..) that would be needed with time. The gasoline variants do not have the DCT issue as they do not have a DCT. 3. Is there an election coming around anytime soon ? Apart from that, apparently there are some good fortune tellers who do a good job in predicting political behaviorisms.

It would be even more exciting if OP or someone who owns a Vitz actually do all this upgrades and report back Yes ! So lets stop scaring the bugger like some posts have

The AWD has about 150mm of ground clearance and the 2WD about 140mm. The AWD system is an updated version of Toyota's Dynamic Torque Control AWD. Basically the torque gets sent up to 10% to the rear under normal conditions. On more challenging terrain the torque can go up to 20 or 25 % or something (not sure about this), and typically happens when the vehicle detects excessive wheel spin in the front (as if it is on extremely icy roads or slippery mountain terrain). There are three onditions under which Toyota's system diverts torque to the back a. Acceleration from standstill b. Cornering c. Front wheel slippage The system originated with the Active Torque Control system in the mid 2000s with models like the A30 series RAV4, Highlander, etc.... Overall, it was pretty decent albeit the system performed a lot better with VSC under cornering conditions. The ATC system has a rear diff which has an electro magnetic coupling mechanism which engaged and disengaged when wheel spin reached certain threshholds. The torque that was sent was step wise (at each threshold it would send X% of torque to the rear, which is also the reason why it didn''t work well with cornering and barely did work in cornering) .Then they upgraded it to Dynamic Torque Control system around 2012ish...where they stuck an ECU in front of the EM coupler. The system would dynamically change the level of torque being sent (they did this to improve performance as opposed to keep the car moving on a slippery surface). This sucked !!! Like really sucked. Now they have finally fixed the software and is a lot better.

Just a long shot...are there any street vendors where the car is parked ? or a security guard in a near y building who has line of sight to the car ? You might want to befriend one of them...worked for me when I had to park the car on Marine drive and walk down Melbourne Ave to the office. Just bought the security guard drinks and chocolates and was nice to the guy and he considered my car äpe mahaththaya ge kar eka"" Might work...

1. There has not been a RS since mid 2017 or something. So you are not going to find unregistered RSes anywhere. Only chance is a used one. The RS was replaced by the GR Sport. 2. Considering that the RS (now GR Sport) only comes in a 1.5L pure gasoline or Hybrid variants, it is quite expensive and no one brings them down. However...there is one GR Sport that i know of in SL There might be more.... 3. The easiest would be to find the GR Sport parts...new ones are rather expensive....you can try finding used parts off of Yahoo Auc Japan but that will require sometime and money. 4. There are plenty of OEM parts that work for it...so go for the known OEM parts...there are some decent brands with local agents and they are rather cost effective too. 5. Yes to what Davy said...it is just a standard brace.... 6. Right now....get the front upper one and then the rear lower one. Later on once you have gone though the items you might want to upgrade the lower front. On a side note....its really exciting to have a proper thread on AL after a long long time instead of the usual fuel efficiency, what fist my budget, help me with my permit threads

yes but no...strut bars are reasonable in price....wheels if used can be reasonable too...then if you go with lowering/sport springs then it would be possible (assuming he doesn't lower it to an extent that he will need short stroke dampers)

Yes....the Vitz changes quite a lot with suspension upgrades...which is exactly what Toyota does to make the GR Sport and the GR Sport GR to improve handling (granted they also have a few more extra welds). But the other issue is 90% of the Vitzes in SL are the 1L variants...that engine is an old dog that has been groomed...and re-groomed until its fur has fallen off. Yes...a Vitz stock will have a lot of body roll and I suppose it can't get through a corner at 60 without body roll (its surprising that the 1L engine can keep the car moving at 60kmph)...eliminate the body roll...put some braces on..lower the car a bit....then put some wider wheels to increase the track width. Granted this would also mean the slushy ride would also be gone

The LC70s are very old school whilst the other Land Cruisers have gotten a bit gimmicky with its 4WD system. Granted the base and outdoorsy versions Toyota specs out and sells the UN and NGOs and in markets like Africa still have the old fashioned 4WD systems. THe LC70 on hard terrain feels...well...still feels like a 80s/90s off roader. Perhaps the only difference is that the interior feels a bit ore civilized in its upholstery padding. The steering has an old fashioned "circulating ball system....at low speeds it is heavy and feels like you are steering a bloody boat (like an old fashioned jeep)..but you put it off road it kind of all works well together..