zeristo

Only available brand new vehicle on the market albeit with a long waiting period. Also note that it is available only with a manual in petrol models. Diesel AMT has been suspended right now. Two things to keep in mind when considering this car it is grossly overpriced at 5 million rupees it is a failure model for Mahindra in India, hence why they're dumping excess kits to be assembled and sold here.

My bad, I was wrong ! Thanks for pointing out @Gummybr EVs are known to have a lot of power and taxing them based on power rather than battery capacity seems absurd ! Regular ICE cars are taxed based on engine capacity and not power. No wonder the EV revolution isn't coming to paradise isle anytime soon. On another note, this system can easily be cheated by importing a low powered version and updating software to bump the power output using over the air software updates.

A small correction here, albeit a bit late... The duty for electric cars is based on battery capacity ( which is measured in terms of kWh or kilowatthour ) and not output power ( measured in kW or bhp or PS or HP). In reality a Tesla Model 3 Long range with a 82kWh battery would attract a tax of Rs. 820,000 only (given that the luxury tax isn't considered here). Its not the duty but the price of the car in itself that makes it too expensive to buy. TLDR: YOU HAVE MISTAKEN POWER IN KW FOR BATTERY CAPACITY IN KWH.

@Jude@1 planning to get a Honda Vezel Hybrid 2014-15 ? Turn around, go the opposite direction and live a happy hassle free life. Yours sincerely, An ex- Vezel 2015 owner.

Thank you ! Yes its quite well spec'd. Misses out on comfort access pack (keyless go & power boot) and Burmeister Sound system. Two things I can definitely live with ! Yes I plan to put up an ownership thread sometime soon. Hope I could keep up with updating it regularly.

Finally the car got home yesterday. Pic 1: At Home Pic 2: First time I saw the car.

So true @fiat fan ! Every friend who owned a Vezel had some trouble or the other. Battery issues, ABS malfunction, DCT replacements and even parts breaking off from the dash. Luckily I sold mine off after using for a year and a half with just 25k on the ODO. The second owner had such a hard time with it after a while that when he finally got rid of it, it had depreciated 5 times more than what I lost. After all the car was a brand new personal import where a friend of mine in Japan purchased the car from a dealership and had it sent over. @nmx58 don't worry machang. Just take it to a FNG and sort the stuff out (at least temporarily) and get rid of the car ASAP. Don't go to the agent. They rip you off ! After all we all make mistakes and this is just another experience to learn from.

1. Ground clearance isn't too bad. But don't expect Premio like clearance for a 4 door coupe running on 18" wheels. 2. Obviously maintenance is high for a car that size. Mercedes Benz is high maintenance ! 3. The 1.3 motor is tuned to put out close to 163 bhp, fuel economy isn't going to be in the high teens. 11 + or - 2 kmpl is optimistic. 4. It's okay as long as you've done your due diligence and made sure its accident/trouble free. You can get it registered at the agent for a sum and get it serviced there. If you're okay with all this, then go right ahead and buy one before stocks run out or else you would be buying one later at a higher price due to the imposition of luxury tax. YOLO !

Thank you guys ! @iRage I haven't brought the car home yet. Will share pics once its home.

So getting back to this discussion, I spent the last weekend scouting CarSale Town for vehicles. This was what I learned, BMW X1 is truly uninspiring and I don't see myself driving one for the next 5 years. Specially with the 3 pot 1.5 Test drove the Honda Accord and absolutely loved it ! An amazing value for money at its price point. Would definitely recommend. Mercedes A200 & CLA200 - overpriced for its tiny size but tech is above its class. Mercedes Benz C200 - not as bad as I thought for a 1.5, finding a decently priced one was hard given that they're selling like hot cakes these days. After much thought it was between the Accord & C200. I then went ahead and test drove both again and walked out buying a C200 ? Reasons for buying C200: Its brand value is higher. 2Mn more got me a Mercedes over a Honda Rear Wheel Drive > Front Wheel Drive at least for me. Would hold better value than an Accord that would depreciate too fast like the Mazda6 mentioned earlier. My first Mercedes ? On the other hand, the Accord is definitely a car not to be missed. Had I had the money I would have bought that as well, but then reality is always harsh. So yeah folks, Bought a C200 and thankful I could get here ! ? Thanks for all the valuable suggestions ya'll ?

@Kavvz Generally the C Class is quite reliable compared to the CLA,GLA,GLB family. Its the prices that are off putting. A friend bagged one right from the agent earlier this year (escaped the luxury tax) fully loaded for close to 14Mn. Cant imagine paying 15-16 at a car sale for a medium spec car with very few colour choices. @fiat fan Unfortunately yes ! I'm in need of one now and don't want to settle for a Vitz/Raize ( or whatever is abundantly available right now in the market ) just to sell it a year or so later and buy another car. Regarding the shady stuff, you're absolutely right. Thats the whole reason I had Agent imported Hondas in mind. I did look for some used E Class. For close to 10Mn I found a few 2013-2014 cars with low mileage. I'm skeptical on buying a 7-6 year old car for so much money. My usage is going to definitely drop its value like crazy when I sell after 3 years or so. E300 diesels are all hybrid models whom I don't even want to dread owning one. W205 face lifts aren't available that cheap these days. Can find some high mileage 2015-16 examples but the old C180 is seriously under powered and has lackluster performance on par with a premio. You've made a screamer a sleeper and kept your peace of mind ! @tbird point taken ☝️ @fiat fan wanting to sell your A6 3.0 ? would definitely consider ! @Kavvz never know, he might want to sell ! Any how, I'm taking sometime off in the coming days to visit CarSale-Town to see if I could haggle my into buying something for a logical price.

thats what it seems like from what I hear. An agent's warranty is any day better than trusting a car sale guy's promises. Unfortunately CRVs sold by the agent are hard to come by these days in the used car market. The agent does have a few stock left, but guess what, IT IS PRICIER THAN AN ACCORD ! ? Seems logical your suggestion. Checked out some CLAs and its too tiny for the price quoted. The interiors do seem nice but the quality of materials inside don't justify the price. Sort of settled with the accord as a benchmark for the quality I'm looking for. BMW X1 I checked a few and have given up on that option totally. ?‍♂️ Yes all Hondas at the agent's place is Thailand made. Brand new vehicles made in Japan are quite few these days at any of the agents. Heck even D*MO now gets down most of their cars from South Africa. I agree on the looks but the performance figures seem too boring. Nope never had a Mazda till date and don't think I would go the Zoom Zoom route anytime sooner. This is the scariest part of this thread so far. Seriously ? a 4.5Mn hit for a Mazda ? I'm okay if its for a German Sedan but for a Japanese Sedan in the same segment as the Accord (which I'm starting to consider seriously now) it seems unacceptable. You've tipped the scales towards the Germans with one statement ! The C Class is a solid proposition, but have you seen their prices of late ? 15-16 Mn for a car nearing the end of its generation and with no rear space is terrible. Engine is weak I agree, rear wheel drive always a plus but 15-16Mn out of warranty C Class is suicide ! Machang, 12.9 Mn is quite expensive for an Acoord is true, but the value of vehicles have gone too far with the new luxury tax regulations. Premio (which isnt subject to luxury tax) retails for 9.5-10Mn these days. Given the current situation I'm sure the coming budget in November is going to jack up prices further ? A 3.0 Supercharged Audi in Sri Lanka ???? OMG ! You've gotten a mean machine man... Btw how much did it cost you brand new ? Yeah right, this morning a car sale guy quoted 19 mil for a 1.3 GLB... Insane ! Anyone would mistake this for a 1.8 ! Please share more pics of your ride.

Of late, I've had the necessity to buy a car for me as I gave mine up to my spouse. Right now I'm stuck with a few pricey choices (for brand new cars). I don't want to wait for the imports to begin as I'm pretty sure vehicle prices are gonna shoot up given that the rupee has weakened against the dollar/yen plus the govt. would logically increase taxes to fill the coffers that are running dry these days. My budget could go upto 12-13Mn Max. My choices are Toyota Premio 2020 9.5-10mn Honda Civic sedan 1.0 2020 7.2-7.5Mn UK SPEC Honda Civic sedan 1.5 2020 9.5Mn THAILAND + 3 year warranty Honda CRV 1.5 2019 12-13Mn THAILAND, AUSSIE & JAP (3 year warranty if bought from company) Honda Accord 1.5 2019 12.6Mn THAILAND + 3 year warranty with services free for 3 years. or is it advisable to go for something German like, Merc CLA BMW X1 Merc C200 (lower spec models) I'm particularly looking for new cars as I own my cars for at least 5 years and run minimum 20,000 KM per year. Could someone quite knowledgeable on this matter or someone who has gone through such a situation share your thoughts and suggestions. Would be of help while making a decision. Thanks.

just wait for the new parliament to be formed, if not for most importers, Toyota is going to be flooded with LandCruiser V8 orders to the brim

Let me put things in context for you...... My friend who bought a C220 CDI (Diesel) in 2013, went in for service at 25,000 km to D*MO in 2017. Guess the price to service a brand new diesel C Class..... Close to Rs. 275,000...... I mean regular service. No repairs, no malfunctions etc. All this for oil change, filter change, brake pad change and wear and tear parts. So think twice before buying a used German for cheap. Cost of procurement may be cheap, maintenance and parts will cost you more. Would I buy a used E class or 5 Series over a brand new premio ? Heart says Merc/BMW but brain says I couldn't afford to maintain one if anything goes wrong.... so think twice, calculate how much you're expecting to spend over the ownership period. P.S. on the other hand, if you could somehow muster up the funds to buy a new Merc/BMW, go for it.