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Found a Mitsubishi Delica cheap - cheap enough to say good bye to my little escudo and buy it.

Any thoughts, opionions, ideas, gems of advice etc.. from those who (have) own(ed) one. Its the new shape so I guess its about 1993-1995 and has 120,000km on the clock. but its cheap (so cheap im a little suspicious)

 

any comments?

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i like the Delica i dont like Mitsubishi. from the 1980s to around 2000 they lied about their recalls. a firend had an rvr and the thing got about 3 free service jobs done. "oh bring it in get a free oil change". yeah they changed the oil but what else did they do to the car? take a firend with you who really knows cars or test drive the thing at least.

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were talkin 24man with no shakin - im trying to get a price that includes a new shakin. It doesnt matter if it never gets another shakin after this one as I'm likely leaving japan in 2 years time.

 

anyone wanna buy a nice but smallish Escudo?

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I currently drive a Delica 1995. FYI the new long nosed Delica's began production around 1998 so perhaps you are talking of a snub nosed Delica?

 

My Delica has done 140,000kms and records show that it has been sireviced until the time I purchased it solely with MMC genuine parts and by MMC serice outlets. This means absolutly crap except to say that I was able to track it repairs and service record.

 

It throughs a lot of blake smoke as the engine requires an overhaul, but I can only use it until 2006 and I paid jack for it so I don't care about this little problem. Besides its good when cars are tailgating and really p-ing me off. Slam down the accelorator and you get an instant smoke screen.

 

Fattwins, I would be cautious wiht my comments if I were you. The only thing that spereates Toyota and Nissan and all the others recall scandals is that MMC got caught. This is Japan!

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yes - snub nosed, I forgot about the new new shape.

I have also got to stop saying that I am getting a new car. people assume that this means new from the factory but I mean new to me. I'll only buy a brand new car when I have everything elce that I want (likely some time away).

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Subaru fixed my transmission and also put in new rubber sealant around the driver side door - and gave us a new substitute car while they did the work. All absolutely free. (It looks like they polished the car too - it needed it.)

 

I wonder why... eek.gif

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I wonder why too - car companies always seem to be inclined to rip you off left right and center whenever they feel like it.

 

A refreshing piece of news there. (Are you lying?) ;\)

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Can't give you too much in the way of recommendations as my vehicle has been raised 2 inches and has Rancho shoocks so it rides like a concrete block would, but watch for:

 

1. Rubber seals around the doors and windows.

 

2. Rusted screws on the head and tail lamps. If you need to change bulbs or some reason it is much cheaper to do it yourself only if you can get the screws off.

 

3. Tail pipe rear most rubber bushing & bracket. Watch for rust on the weldling and any small cracks as these will surely grow. However if they do I have some wire left over from mine that I can lend you.

 

4. Find out when the front brake pads were changed.

 

5. Check the outside rim of the front tyres for any obvious wearing. Becasue of the weight of the front it is normal that there is some, but excessive wear means there is an alignment problem.

 

6. Timing belt change and state of alternator. Alternator is important for those cald days when you wanna run your heater and stuff!

 

I guess if you are buying cheap you have to do what I did and accept that you will have to pay money to keep the thing running, but I have had no major problems and I love my van.

 

Good luck with the buy and remember it is an old vehicle, but the deisel engine in the van is the falgship engine for MMC and if regularly serviced(oil change every 5,000ks, oil filter change every second oil change, air cleaner change every 10,000-15,000ks) it should run upwards of 400,000ks. In fact the rest of the van will probably break down before the engine.

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i don't know much about the technical stuff, but i say buy it! my friend got a delica for free last spring, just paid about 24 man for shakken and it is so great!! before you spend the money to buy and then to shakken, ask around to see if anyone has one without shakken they want to get rid of. thats how my friend got his for free! delicas kick ass- they are super easy to go camping, on road trips, etc with lots of people and gear so it really cuts down on parking, expressway tolls. plus its great for going out in the big city (like nagano haha) bc you can sqeeze lots o people in and then pay that special taxi driver to drive your car home. def lots of fun to be had with delicas!

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Got a space gear (razor nose). Snub nose=star wagon. The long noses have been around a lot longer than 98, but the new model long noses came out then.

 

Had a (sneaky) recall when I took it in for a strange engine noise. New drive shaft and a damn fine polish job. At the time they said it was under warranty, but two years later I got a recall card through the post for the same problem...

 

Fantastic vehicle, apart from the recall, no probs for nearly six years now.

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Part of the 12man is taxes for the first year on the vehcile. About 45 for me this year I think.

 

The rest is a mystery! Anything wrong with the damn thing and you have to pay for it.

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depends on what the place does to your car. we go to a recommended place. some things are optional so make sure they call you before they do that work. example is rust proofing.

 

mogski your right about not being caught but they really f-ed up. I like the design of the delica but ill more than likely buy a stepwagon, i hate its shape but i like honda.

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jazz, shop around mate. Shaken is basically a roadworthy that has the taxes included ( as already mentioned) They will usually replace parts that don't need changing if you aren't careful. The citys have places that you can get shaken for around 10 man. but the most important thing is to not agree to buy the car till it has shaken. Sometimes there are major problems that you will have to pay for.

Timing belts, mine just cost me 5man ( on the cheap) for a super GL Hiace. they must be changed at 100,000km's.

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 Quote:
Originally posted by Fattwins:
I like the design of the delica but ill more than likely buy a stepwagon, i hate its shape but i like honda.
Would you be one of the poeple like me whom if the Honda Element were just one metre more longer would consider it a pretty cool car?

Jared how's that Delica going? BTW forgot to mention to expect alot road noise in the thing if you fit it with all terrain tyres.
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I'm having my man from the local repair shop go and have a look at it, price the shaken and a new cam belt.

It's mildly concerning that the guy selling it (who should know better) said it didnt need a new cam belt. That means he is either a liar or just not up with the play.

 

jared

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So, what I want to know is, do you think that 20-24man for the car is a little on the expensive side?? We kinda have a weakness in that we have been dreaming about getting a Delica since we had no money in NZ...

 

Anyways, I'm arranging for the guy who we bought our last car from to go take a look at it today(nice guy, gave us free snow tyres with our last car!)... fingers crossed he will say yes since he will get to do the shaken if we buy it!

 

Siem

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When I bought my space gear I looked into star wagons as well. The way both held their value was amazing, so much so that I decided to buy new (a forecourt end of season deal). Given that, I reckon any working delica for 24 man is a deal.

 

I cant see how you can go wrong with the one you're looking at, as long as it can pass the shaken for a decent price.

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no mogski i dont like the element. I stated my point about the recall. I know at leats 3 people burned by that recall scam. I know of nobody burned by honda, yet.

 

If you knew the same amount of peopled burned would you go out and buy it anyway?

 

24 man is good i see lots of older delicas around here about the same amount. Most of then have to go through the shaken. buy it if you really like it. you can also ship it back to nz for about 3000 bucks i think.

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Shipping back to NZ is about that but be warned that you must have used the car for a year post registration in your name or you will not be exempt import duties.

 

Fattwins, I apprecaite your point, but like I said the only thing seprating MMC from all the others is getting caught. In fact I think now MMC is more of a trust worthy company than any other motor manufacturer in Japan. When you are being watched like a hawk you do things very very very right.

 

Anyone who thinks that other manufacturers do not undertake the same practice as MMC did are awfully naive to the reality of the corruption rid and finger pointing automobile industry. Case in hand, how many other manufactuers lifted the bashing bat against MMC? Zero. Why? Fear of implication themselves in the same mess.

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