Honda N-Box 2021 Review — Japan's #1 Best-Seller, Now in Sri Lanka

The Honda N-Box has been Japan’s best-selling car overall (across all classes, not just kei) for several years running. The reason is simple: Honda built a kei-class car that doesn’t feel like a kei. Premium interior materials, full-width digital dashboards on higher trims, sliding rear doors, and a body that — within the strict 660cc/3.4m/1.48m kei envelope — manages to seat four adults in genuine comfort.

This review covers the 2021 Honda N-Box Custom (post-2018 second-generation, mid-cycle facelift), the most-imported variant for Sri Lanka in 2026.

What you get

• 660cc S07B three-cylinder + i-DCD or naturally aspirated, depending on grade
• CVT
• 5 doors with sliding rear, 4 seats (kei regulation), 360L boot
• Honda Sensing safety bundle standard from 2018
• Combined output 58 hp (NA) or 64 hp (turbo)

How it drives

A kei car is what it is — a 660cc engine in a 1,000kg body. Within those constraints:

1. City driving is genuinely good. The kei dimensions (1.48m wide) make the N-Box one of the easiest things to park in tight Colombo car parks, and the sliding doors handle inch-tight spacing on either side.
2. Highway driving is fine up to 80 km/h, marginal at 100+ km/h. The lightness that helps in town becomes a liability on the E01 expressway in crosswinds or at higher speeds.
3. Hill country is the N-Box’s weakness. With 4 passengers up the Hatton or Bandarawela climbs, the 660cc engine works hard. Buyers who’ll do hill country regularly should consider stepping up to a 1.0L+ engine.
4. Refinement is genuinely impressive. The N-Box interior wouldn’t feel out of place in a 1.5L hatchback — the materials, the digital instrument cluster, the audio system are all a class above Wagon R / Move.

Real-world economy

Sri Lankan owners report 18–22 km/L in mixed driving on the naturally-aspirated variants; turbo versions are 1–2 km/L lower. Mild-hybrid versions (where available) push closer to 22+ km/L.

Annual km	Annual fuel cost (at 20 km/L)
8,000 km	LKR 155,000
12,000 km	LKR 233,000
18,000 km	LKR 349,000

Sri Lanka tax math (2021 N-Box Custom Turbo, JPY 1.1M auction)

Line	Amount (LKR)
CIF (LKR)	2,580,000
CID (20%)	516,000
Surcharge	258,000
Excise (660 × 1,200 — petrol up to 1,000cc)	792,000
Luxury (CIF below threshold)	0
VAT base	4,404,000
VAT (18%)	793,000
Business + service costs	445,000
Landed selling price	~LKR 5.4M

Real 2021 N-Box landings tend to run LKR 7–9M for desirable variants because higher-grade Custom Turbo examples command higher CIF. The structural reason kei cars land cheaply is the small engine displacement keeping excise low.

N-Box vs Wagon R vs Daihatsu Move

	Honda N-Box	Suzuki Wagon R	Daihatsu Move
Engine	660cc 3-cyl, NA or turbo	660cc 3-cyl mild-hybrid	660cc 3-cyl
Sliding doors	Yes	No	No
Interior quality	Premium	Mainstream	Mainstream
Boot	360 L	213 L	270 L
Real km/L	20	19	19
Landed (2021 mid-grade)	LKR 7–9M	LKR 5–7M	LKR 5–7M

The N-Box premium over Wagon R / Move is real — typically LKR 1.5–2M for equivalent year and grade. Whether it’s worth it comes down to:

• Do you value sliding doors? (parking convenience)
• Do you value the premium interior? (daily quality of life)
• Do you carry passengers in row 2 regularly? (the N-Box’s spaciousness advantage matters most here)

For pure city / commuter use, the Wagon R or Move at LKR 5.5M does the job at meaningfully lower cost. For buyers who want the best kei experience, the N-Box.

Auction-sheet notes for the N-Box

• Target grade: 4 or 4.5 — common in this band
• Watch for: sliding-door track wear (same as Voxy / Vellfire — high-use power doors are a wear point); turbo variants need turbo-oil-feed inspection at high mileage
• Common N-Box issues: rear seat-rail wear on heavily-used family examples; CVT shift judder under heavy loads (rare but worth checking)
• Resale: strong in Sri Lanka because the buyer pool is growing

Verdict

9/10 for the kei-class buyer. The N-Box is the most refined kei car you can import — Honda’s investment in premium materials and the Sensing safety bundle pays off in daily ownership. For LKR 1.5–2M less, the Wagon R does the basic job. For best-in-class kei, the N-Box is the structurally right answer.

Send us your spec and we’ll come back with current N-Box options alongside Wagon R / Move comparables for direct money/quality trade-off.

Read also

• Live Honda N-Box listings
• Best cars under LKR 10M
• Best first car for Sri Lanka
• Suzuki Wagon R review
• Kei car glossary entry