Experiences with Silk Road Auto

[freeheelsteve]

Hi there,

Considering some Delicas coming into Silk Road. Curious of people's experiences with them.

Cheers,
Steve

[fexlboi]

http://www.delica.ca/forum/advanced-sea ... mit=Search

http://www.delica.ca/forum/delica-deale ... =Silk+Road

[Profister]

My personal experience with them was 50/50. You play a game of a chance: they do not do anything with what they sell, even tires were not DOT compliant; either they have 'connections' or they swap tires after the inspection. Karim is a sweet talking used car salesman though...Good luck.

[patty]

i quite liked them (thats where i bought from) though my tires were rotten out... and probably almost killed me when they blew out. i also seem to be having problem after problem. so i dont know, maybe he is just a slick talker.

[Profister]

i quite liked them (thats where i bought from) though my tires were rotten out... and probably almost killed me when they blew out. i also seem to be having problem after problem. so i dont know, maybe he is just a slick talker

This is exactly what I am talking about. The cost of having peace of mind was about $6000 within a year since I bought the Delica. If you read the ratings between the lines you can find that buying from this dealer is a game of a chance.

[lrp374]

I bought my Delica from Karim in December. He definitely is a salesman and not a mechanic. He does however have his own guy now ( Abdul ) and my unit was completely serviced, belts fluids etc. just as he said. It is important to check the units carefully. He does disclose any body work done after he got the unit and did this for a couple I wasn't even really interested in. I have Emailed him with a few questions and he has had the mechanic Email directly with answers the same day.

My van has worked perfectly since I got it but as yet I have only put about 2500 km on it. I would buy from Karim again, if he had the vehicle I wanted.

Larry

[impalator]

On a slightly separate "Dealer-Note":

VIB Motors in Richmond, where I bought my van (which had a number of issues) and where - until a little while ago, there were always around a dozen or so Delica's on the lot, appears to have gone out of the "Delica" business... Just drove by there last Thursday and there was exactly one Delica left visible on the lot... - at least I didn't see any more Vans.... lot's of Acura's, BMW's and stuff like that though....

Anyway - probably better that such guys don't deal with Delica's anymore -

Cheers, Chris

[josh]

i think the silkroad guys are great.


josh

[Strada 92]

Really good experience for me.I have a Mitsubishi Strada coming from SRA.
Karim is a good guy,you can trust him.

[rdub]

Me too! ive put on 57,000k in two years and all ive done is kept up with fresh oil and fluids,i did take it in for a Deli Tune and its still a great people mover.Besides i like mine better than all of yours,it's a personal thing.

[dah_hunter]

I have met him a couple times.
at the dock.. he had some advice and seemed like a good guy..

as for quality of his cars i wouldn't know..

I had a glance at a couple of his vans at the dock once, they seemed fine, however i was busy with my own cars to move.

My personal Rule of thumb is never buy from a dealer.

[jessef]

My personal Rule of thumb is never buy from a dealer.

So no one should buy from you then ?

That made my day

[bikepoor]

Speaking second hand, (i got my bus from a Silk customer). All within less than one year from purchase the bus required, get ready for this: timing belts, idlers, bearings, tensioners, etc, diesel pump, and all filters, water pump, and flush to clear the crud to stop over heating (all of this while on vacation in the US just to get them home) tires (before they left), both batteries, (suprise good in warm BC, on the dealers lot, useless on the Alberta side of the Rockies) All of this from a vehicle that was sold with a BC inspection passing grade. BUT WAIT THERES MORE! Now I buy the vehicle with the inspection papers saying everythings good (my own fault for trusting but not checking, and I paid dearly for it) and take it to be Alberta certified. Imagine my suprise, when I find out it needs ; u-joints on both the front and rear shaft, complete front brake job, new front, and rear wheel bearings (rusty originals from the factory not to mention the retaining snap ring to hold the bearings in was missing all together on both front sides) left inner tie rod end, and all boots (not just worn, litterally falling apart, or gone) all inner sway bar bushings and hardware, drivers rear brake cylinder, and free siezed drivers side e-brake hardware. Not to mention things like being told that the blinds only work when its's warm so don't try them, the AC won't turn on because it's too cold outside, but don't worry it comes with a 3 month warranty (through the winter) No AC, 1 blind works. All of the things i've listed where said to be new and replaced before pick up, or in 100% condition. Seems like a lot of problems from a vehicle that was sold with a guaranteed passing grade if you just take it down the road to buddys garage, and he'll get ya fixed right up.
I think PT Barnum summed it up best, he just wasn't talking about Silk.

Jeff (Bikepoor, and Delipoorer)

[silkroad]

Don't actually remember selling any car to someone named, Jeff and especially one taking it to Alberta. So, this guy is not talking about us. All delicas I have sold in Alberta were taken for a pre-purchase inspection to a third party and they would have been checked for all of the issues noted so this guy is not talking about us. I have never sold a delica in Alberta that was not inspected independently. As for this Profister guy, please get a life. You tried to hold us hostage by threatening us with the mighty Delica.ca blog and we didn't give in. I think it is time for you to give up. I drove that delica for 7 months before you took it and I told you that as my ski equipments were still in the car when you checked it. In that seven months I only encountered one problem which was the automatic door issue and I already explained that to you. All of a sudden you take it and spend $6000 on it.

I am not going to dignify your posts by even explaining why we came to this point and why you have started this campaign as you are not even worth this note.

Every buyer is told that they can take our vehicles for a pre-purchase inspection to a mechanic of their choice. You can give this mechanic a list of things to look for and it would include checking it for "rust" which you can see yourself as well. Also, each buyer is told to contact us if there are any issues. We guarantee that we wouldn't give you a car with known issues and if there are any issues we would tell you about plus if you have problem you can contact us. This profister guy has had his caliper sticking and we replaced it for free without any questions asked but he wanted more. He wanted us to pay for the towing charges. The problem is he never towed the car. The dealer who shares the lot with us saw him driving it to the lot. Plus, the car was drivable as my mechanic was able to drive it all the way to Scott Road to the shop.

It is always a good idea to spend $80 and do an independent inspection on the car and we are always here to help you with that and drop the car at a shop of your choice. But, it is highly unlikely that these inspection would reveal some of the things that could happen while you are driving. A mechanic can only inspect a caliper but it is impossible to judge if it would start to stick after a month or two. I am not a mechanic but I think it is hard to tell. But, as always you can contact us and we would always support you. As far as we are concerned if you haven’t contacted us for any issues, you do not have any.

We sell one of two cars through reference so even from a business point of view it makes sense to do a good job but we have also learned that not all people are the same and, therefore, you cannot make everyone happy especially someone like this Profister guy. Check his posts and there would always be a reference to Silk Road Autos even if the top has no relevance to us.

The irony is some of these buyers have left positive remarks for over a year and then suddenly say, well, my car doesn’t drive well today so I think it was faulty when I bought it. Even Profister was leaving positive remarks and even called me to tell me about it. He thought I would reward him about it and he really believes that he has done us a big harm.

We highly value the trust people put in us and one has to have a very dark heart not to. We sell cars all over Canada and most are sold through email exchanges. People rely on my dignity to make a very expensive decision and one cannot be a human if this trust is abused. Therefore, what is said here is considered an attack on my dignity, which is offensive. But, I have sold over 117 delicas so far and it is my belief that 95% of my buyers are happy campers and it is this fact that gives us the energy to strive to be the best.
Karim
www.silkroadautos.com

[jessef]

I recently spoke with a fellow Delica owner who bought his from Silk Road Auto back when they first started.

He ran off a list of things that were supposedly done when he bought it. I took a quick look at it was clear they weren't done (mechanical).

Headlights = not E-code or DOT
Tires = not DOT

Those two things alone will cause him some grief and money if he gets pulled over by the law.

When Silk Road first went into business, I was just in the market for a landcruiser JDM 81. I went directly there because he had three on his lot.

I was there for over an hour and a half going over the 3 cruisers on my own. There were two guys at the door of the building who obviously saw me scouting the vehicles. They didn't say anything to me. Just looked on. I didn't know who they were or if they even belonged there.

Needless to say, I passed on the three. Price was attractive back then. But the tires, lights where not up to compliance DOT/e-code spec and two of the three cruisers looked like they sat for 5 years each without anyone touching them both mechanically and aesthetically.

Based on my personal experience on the lot and what I've heard/seen on a 'silkroad' Delica, I would not buy from them.

But, it's been a while and it's quite possible they got their act together since then.

They do have some unique JDM's. Most camper's I've seen to date imported by one lot.

You can chalk up this thread with a grain of salt as well.

You can always read good and bad reviews of any one place.

My recommendation would be to spend the money and hire an independent mechanic to go over whichever vehicle it is you're looking for, regardless if it's a Delica, whathaveyou, dealer or private.