I need advice

[Charley]

Hi,
I am new here. I am now looking for a Van for my new delivery job. I have asked some friends around me. Somebody say it is a good idea to get a Delica because of fuel cost saving. Some other friends ask me to consider the possible high maintenance cost/parts cost for a van around 15-year old. But none of them owns a Delica!! I do wish to get some advise here from Delica owners and experts.

I need to drive around 200km/day delivering parcels/mails/small boxes. It would be fully loaded with 100-200 small packages (about 500-800 pounds I guess) in the morning. (A good size for my job is Astro or Safari). I also need it for family (I have 2 young kids) during weekends and vacations.

My questions are:
1. Is a Delica suitable for me? (especially considering size/cargo space, fuel cost, maintenance/repair costs etc, in comparing with Astro/Safari), (I guess Delica would be much better, but I do wish more opinion from owners/experts.)
2. I am in Vancouver. What should I know/ask when I goto a dealer/seller and can someone recommend a good dealer?

Thank you very much.

[dah_hunter]

Im new to delica.. but it doesnt sound like you would be stressing it that much..

Im sure it can handle it..

then you can pop the seats back in for when you go out with the family..

there are some nice Vans for sale on this forum..

or some good local dealers that im sure will help you out..

[jessef]

To be honest, I would recommend to get a Safari if you are using it as your primary delivery vehicle.

Reasons :

The cost savings over a Delica are 5-fold (2k for an average Safari compared to 9-10k for an average Delica)

Lower insurance rate / Parts are cheaper and repairs are straightforward on the Safari.

You can buy a used Safari in good condition for $2,000. Take it to a shop and have them rebuild the engine and entire drivetrain for $4,000. Put another $1,000 on for tires/cosmetics and you have a brand new 0km fresh Safari for less the cost than a used Delica.

Safari has more cargo room (true 8 seating compared to 7 seating in the Delica), larger engine (towing/hauling), very easy to enter/exit the vehicle (huge doors) compared to the Delica with less cargo space, smaller engine, more difficult to enter/exit due to it's height.

I've worked on Safari's and Delica's for the past 5 years.

If you are factoring in cost, the Safari is a much more suitable vehicle.

Plus you can pick up the AWD version.

I would pick a Safari AWD over a Delica if it came down to cost and using it as a delivery van in the lower mainland.

My mechanic just picked up an AWD Safari to use as a P/T parts - P/T family hauler and he didn't opt for the Delica for that very reason = cost & reliability.

You can have the reliability in a Delica but it comes at a cost (maintenance/repairs are more costly than a Safari)

An AWD Safari that's had everything ground up rebuilt would run you between 7-8,000

A Delica that's had everything ground up rebuilt would run you between 12-17,000

So it comes down to cost.

[Profister]

I would never use a Delica for delivery purposes and totally agree with Jesse.

[skaguy]

While I agree with the logic of all the comments I'd like to add a few which will probably sew confusion!

I own a small company (brewery) and during the snowy time over christmas I used the Deli to deliver beer because our E 250 van couldn't even get out of the loading bay.

I smile a lot more driving around in the Deli that I did in previous vehicles.

My kids (3 boys 7,12 and 13) absolutely adore it, it's perfect for 4x4 trips, camping, skiing, boarding etc, they'll invite friends around just to show them the crystal roof blinds.

So.... if you're going with a practical logical approach then a Deli isn't the best choice, but there are benefits to Deli ownership which are difficult to quantify.

Good Luck,

Rick

[Green1]

Safari has more cargo room

not sure where you get that from... Delica has more interior length, and more interior height. it may be slightly narrower, but I'm pretty sure overall that the Delica is larger inside (the Safari was one of my alternates when I went with the Delica, I dismissed it because it didn't have enough length for my purposes)

The only big catch that I see is that the seats don't "pop in" or "pop out" very easily, they do however fold in to various configurations, if you want to be able to remove the seats easily, the Delica isn't right, but if you can work your packages around the seats, it should work well.

Costs... in purchase price the Safari will win hands down, running costs are hard to say, the Safari drinks heavily when compared to the Delica, and maintenance is also hard to guess at, the Delica's diesel engine SHOULD require less maintenance than the Safari's gas engine, however any repairs you do need may be a bit more expensive.

All that said, the Delica will be a much more enjoyable vehicle, much easier to park, and is more manoeuvrable in general. though there is one other minor issue from a delivery stand point, keep in mind that the sliding door is on the street side and not the curb side.

personally I would choose the Delica, keep in mind you'll be driving it all day, every day, it's good to have a vehicle you can enjoy and really be proud of.

[Luna-Sea]

Hey,
At this point in time I probably want to be buried in my Delica when I leave this Earth.

Having said that one thing that kinda sucks is the sliding door is on the Traffic side when you stop which is a little dangerous.
There are of course some models that have dual sliders which is cool,think most of those are 2WD though.

Those little Safari z and the like are nice and cheap to for sure,lotsa lotsa lotsa parts 4 em everywhere!
You could probably build one at the parts counter ant Canadian Tire.

You probably should buy a Deli for yourself though to get the "Safari" cooties off you at the end of the day!

[Golf Cart]

Um oh Luna

You forgot "Right On "

[Luna-Sea]

Its hard to say it when the best thing in a given situation is not a Delica
but maybe it will be so

Right on

[ccautos]

If it was not a good idea to use a right hand drive for delivery vehicles why do the US postal service use RHD delivery vans ??
Very safe for the driver to enter and exit staight onto the sidewalk. So long as the tailgate can be used for the access to load/unload and it is purchased from a dealer that carries out required maintenance before selling I would think that it would make an excellent delivery vehicle . I service several vans that are used by newspaper delivery drivers and they really enjoy them, especially in the recent snow !!!!
As for switching from family van to delivery van ......... the seats are not the easiest to remove unless you have several friends to help lift them in and out !!!!

[BCDelica]

Glen hit on one of my two favorite things about the Delica as a work van; RHD for safety and convenience, and a higher floor height for ease of loading and unloading. Almost found the 4x4 a pain cause not only did I have to do my work, but had pick up two co-workers work load too when the roads were snowy. Plus fitting in time to pull the odd person out of a ditch, including our bucket truck which is wicked heavy.

Jesse points are correct, but the Safari/Astro is thirstier (sold an Astro van when we bought our first Delica). If you do go with a Safari make sure you get a cargo model; many a cable contractor used passenger models and the cheap interior didn’t stand up to work use very well. Oh, I used a Delica as a WVO powered cable van, not a delivery van, so the sliding door on the left wasn’t an issue.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the time spent during your work day answering questions about a working Delica.

Cheers