Experiences with Silk Road Auto

[Profister]

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

Karim, are you kidding me? My son was driving a Delica in Vancouver 3 days after I drove it off your lot when the caliper seized and I hired a tow truck with a dolly to bring the vehicle to you at 8 pm on a week day which alone was a pain in the ass for me: North Van - Vancouver - Surrey after I came back from Langley. I paid $120 and NEVER asked to reimburse my spending. What do you mean I wanted more?! What else did I want from you? I have all the correspondence since I made a deal with you and will make it public because you got me this time. I will provide the list of hidden, known but not reported problems I am still dealing with. Back off and calm down. In one of your emails you said 'I would not save a few bucks to ruin my reputation...'. This is exactly what you are doing: saving a few bucks.

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.

This is exactly what made me really pissed off: the problems I discovered after driving it for a month told me that you either had not idea about cars at all or you were lying to me. Sorry, I never saw your ski equipment anywhere around the Delica. Please stop making false statements.
BTW, 'This profister guy...' is rude enough, you know my name.
Sergiy.

[JerBull]

I'll chime in and say That I had a good experience buying my delica at silk road. I think Karim is a straight up guy. I pretty much drove my van right off the lot across canada and it held up fine. I had a very unusual situation with registration and time constraints and he was really helpful. When I got the van re-inspected in quebec two of the tires were not DOT. BUT, they were really good tires and the inspection guys told me to put them back on when it passed, so I did. I might add that I probably spent $2000 less on my Delica at silk roads and got a really solid vehicle. You've got to remember that they are 15years or older so there is always risk. If you want more protection then pay for it, but at least be fair.

[silkroad]

Please make all of our correspondence public and list what was wrong with your delica. Just listing is not acceptable, as you have done nothing but list issues for the last year. Please post receipts of any repairs that you have done, which would total $6000 or even close to that. And, I intended no offence calling you by your user name. I didn't want to reveal your real name on a public forum.

Please list what our response to your request for assistance was. What were you told when you contacted us about the caliper? Not only did we fix that problem but we also apologized to your repeatedly for all the trouble that you had to go through. You were already told about the problem with the locks and it was a known issue. You contacted us about issues with overdrive and I explained to you that, firstly it may be that you were not in 4th gear when you pressed the button and if that was not the case, please come to the yard so that we can check it out. These were the two issues you have had and in both cases you were assisted and/or offered assistance.

We can be nice to buyers on our own accords and never when we are threatened with bad feedback or buyers who do not only get free service and repairs but wants to be paid extra. It is ok to complain about the vehicle and about our deficiencies but you have consistently implied that we were dishonest with you and had deceived you. I told you that this was my delica that I was driving and was driving it for the last 6-7 months going skiing twice a week. I told you about the issues with locks, I told you that it would need to have oil changed as I had put on some km and we did that. What I didn't tell you was that you would start having your caliper seizing after you drive it for a few days, weeks or months.

Your posts does a lot of harm to my character but contrary to what you first thought or threatened us, it has done little to harm my business. And, it is this impression you give in your posts that you were somehow decieved that got me involved in this topic as I normally never respond to such postings. The reason is each buyer is told to contact us if they have any issues and each buyer has the option of getting an independent inspection for each and any of our vehicles.

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

Karim, are you kidding me? My son was driving a Delica in Vancouver 3 days after I drove it off your lot when the caliper seized and I hired a tow truck with a dolly to bring the vehicle to you at 8 pm on a week day which alone was a pain in the ass for me: North Van - Vancouver - Surrey after I came back from Langley. I paid $120 and NEVER asked to reimburse my spending. What do you mean I wanted more?! What else did I want from you? I have all the correspondence since I made a deal with you and will make it public because you got me this time. I will provide the list of hidden, known but not reported problems I am still dealing with. Back off and calm down. In one of your emails you said 'I would not save a few bucks to ruin my reputation...'. This is exactly what you are doing: saving a few bucks.

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.

This is exactly what made me really pissed off: the problems I discovered after driving it for a month told me that you either had not idea about cars at all or you were lying to me. Sorry, I never saw your ski equipment anywhere around the Delica. Please stop making false statements.
BTW, 'This profister guy...' is rude enough, you know my name.
Sergiy.

[Duke]

Your posts does a lot of harm to my character but contrary to what you first thought or threatened us, it has done little to harm my business

We are a community of owners, people who already have a van. The general buying public probably don't know about this site and all of it's information. So therefore you will continue to get business. But that is an arrogant statement.

My advice would be to go with a little knowledge and check things over, get a friend who knows mechanics to look over it, have a mechanic look at it, hell have your wife look at it!! I went into your lot last year and we were looking for a nice Delica, I have to say your prices were right, but I was looking at what we could be doing with the van; camping, trips,etc..... My wife saw a van with a missing lug nut, "is this safe?" she asked. I know nothing of diesel engines, but I know what is safe. After checking some of the other vehicles on your lot, they didn't come up to my standards. If price were my only concern, you would have my business and then some, but both my wife and I wanted more. We got that a couple of weeks later, paid more for Duke, but have never had a problem since. We did our research and that is what everyone should do, even for a new car, know what you are getting and it's potential problems.
We all bought these vans for a reason, remember that and have fun!
Chris

[jessef]

When I got the van re-inspected in quebec two of the tires were not DOT. BUT, they were really good tires and the inspection guys told me to put them back on when it passed, so I did.

That is a poor way to look at things.

You bought the van without DOT tires. That's a no-no for any dealer or seller.

Then an inspector told you to put them back on when it passed. That's a no-no as well.

Do you realize if you would have blown a tire and gotten into an accident, that you would be liable and your insurance void ?

Also if you would get pulled over, the police officer can issue an inspection notice and you may have to tow your Delica to a shop from the side of the road.

[silkroad]

Your posts does a lot of harm to my character but contrary to what you first thought or threatened us, it has done little to harm my business

We are a community of owners, people who already have a van. The general buying public probably don't know about this site and all of it's information. So therefore you will continue to get business. But that is an arrogant statement.

My advice would be to go with a little knowledge and check things over, get a friend who knows mechanics to look over it, have a mechanic look at it, hell have your wife look at it!! I went into your lot last year and we were looking for a nice Delica, I have to say your prices were right, but I was looking at what we could be doing with the van; camping, trips,etc..... My wife saw a van with a missing lug nut, "is this safe?" she asked. I know nothing of diesel engines, but I know what is safe. After checking some of the other vehicles on your lot, they didn't come up to my standards. If price were my only concern, you would have my business and then some, but both my wife and I wanted more. We got that a couple of weeks later, paid more for Duke, but have never had a problem since. We did our research and that is what everyone should do, even for a new car, know what you are getting and it's potential problems.
We all bought these vans for a reason, remember that and have fun!
Chris

Everyone has different standards and I don't make a sale each time someone drops by at the lot. I don't know if I even need to reply to this but a missing lug nut is very common and this happens when we change tires. Some of the lug nuts get rouined and cannot be placed back on and need to be replaced with new ones. Ironically the reason you didnt' see a lug nut on the vehicle is because of safety. We do not put the damaged lug nuts back on and install a new one. However, it is perfectly safe for a car to be parked at the yard with one lug nut missing or I cuold be wrong in this case as well. Would we have let you take this delica with a missing lug nut, probably not. The lug nut costs 50 cents.

Not everyone is the same, may be your standards were just to high for us which is fine and it is good that you selected a better delica. However, to infer that my vehicles are unsafe because a parked vehicle is missing a lug nut may be a little too higher of a standard.

By the way, we have a garage where we are not only servicing and repairing our own delicas but the general puplic. My intention here was to reply to a few posts that were more about my character. I had no intention of having to explain my business to people who had happend to just drop by our lot and saw a missing lug nut.

[arnold.delica]

My experience with them has been nothing short of wonderful both at the time of purchase and post-purchase and this is shared by my father in law who initially recommended them to me. Incredibly honest and approachable. They normally have high quality delicas but you need to hurry up as they may be gone before you know it. The last time I checked their website, I belive, they had already sold all of the new arrivals.

I am quite surprised by some of the negativity I have read here especially by those who have never purchased from them. I thought and still think that they are the most popular JDM dealers. However, it is always a good thing to personally check them out and not go by someone who happened to drop by the lot and decided these were not nice people.

I have come to really admire their honesty and comittment to post-purchase service and I am sure you will like who you are dealing with once you meet with Karim and realy come to know him.

Hope this helps.

Arnold

[josh]

I know I already stated my two cents, but honestly I agree with Arnold's statements. I feel I must once again speak up and defend Karim. I have never known him to be dishonest, and I can only assume that any negative experiences must be a misunderstanding. (I have bought two Delicas and some minitrucks off of him).

Josh

[konadog]

I didn't buy from Silk Road nor do I know anything personal about them. I did, however, buy my bus from a dealer that had not done a complete refit on the bus. He told me what he had and had not done and I took it to ccautos for the rest of the work. Don't feel remotely ripped off and would buy another in the same condition in a heartbeat. I see no dishonesty in selling buses that need work - as long as it's understood and the price reflects the condition

[bikepoor]

Karim, My name is Jeff, I go by the user name of Bikepoor. I see by the way you responded to my post that you payed as much attention to what I wrote as you did to my van. The first line states that I personally did not buy the van from you, I bought it from an Australian gentleman named Mark. Further, yes he did have all the problems I listed, and kept the receipts to prove it. Please save your response as it does nothing to change what happened. I wish you well in business, but I will not recomend you to friends.
Thank you,
Bikepoor

[jrman]

I bought my Deli privately from someone who had owned it for about 7 months. They provided me all the bills they had on the vehicle which included some of the major items (timing belt / radiator) but many other common issues not covered or warned about at all. I've since brought this machine to what I consider to be a "reliable" status and don't feel that the previous owner misled me - though it is easy maybe to think so or feel so - and there has been quite a few bills on my part. However, any vehicle of this age is due to have problems, and I expect it at any day, any time, any place - because it is a vehicle built in 1992 and it is now 17 years old - the fact remains that age will be our biggest enemy in owning these lovely and otherwise reliable / predictable vehicles. On that note - there is only so much a dealer or private owner can do or predict with what will or will not go wrong. Now, if there is deliberatly misleading representation (or misrepresentation) - then that is a different story. But, before you consider the fault in the dealer or private reseller - ask yourself if the defect you now encounter could have reasonably been noticed by the previous owner / dealer - if the answer is yes, then there is a legitimate issue, if otherwise - pls give the benefit of the doubt to the prior owner / dealer.

[Baba's Delica]

I purchased a Delica from SRA and was really happy with Karim. I can't say much about stuff being wrong with the van because I have only had it a few weeks and so far everything is fine. Karim seemed really honest and was great around my son.(You can tell a lot about a person by the way they react to children). Anyway he let me take the van without paying the full amount with only my word that I would bring the rest of the cash the next day. He also gave me a fair price for my Dodge Caravan trade in. I looked at other Delica's, some private sales and also at Maximum Overdrive and wasn't impressed at all with the sales people or the quality of the Vans. Looking back though it is a good idea to get it checked out by a mechanic, I wish I had done that for piece of mind. $10000 is alot of money for a vehicle that is gone to need some major work.

[silkroad]

Here is where the problem lies. Mark bought this delica in December 2007, I believe, drove it all across Canada and the US and then sold it to you and it is a know fact. This delica was driven from here to Alberta, then to the East coast, crossed the US and went as far away as California. It came back to Vancouver and you bought it. You didn't buy from Mark but his friend who placed it on sale and wanted to sell it back to us and we advised that they place it on Craigslist and the Delica.ca site. Please be fair. You bought this delica from another owner who drove it for more than a year and all across North America. How can we be at fault? If only you had indicated this part, I would have no issues with your post but if I remember correctly you didn't not write anything about the fact that this delcia was driven here for more than year and all across the contenent. I believe they did disclose this fact of having it driven across north america when advertising it if they hadn't told you this, please contact them.

Karim, My name is Jeff, I go by the user name of Bikepoor. I see by the way you responded to my post that you payed as much attention to what I wrote as you did to my van. The first line states that I personally did not buy the van from you, I bought it from an Australian gentleman named Mark. Further, yes he did have all the problems I listed, and kept the receipts to prove it. Please save your response as it does nothing to change what happened. I wish you well in business, but I will not recomend you to friends.
Thank you,
Bikepoor

[dah_hunter]

Hmm this thread is interesting..

I cant say im very impressed with Silk Road Auto responses to some of this..

Vehicle quality aside, they should care about there reputation on the forums because word of mouth is the biggest advertiser..

This Thread has left a bad taste in my mouth..

[loki]

Hmm this thread is interesting..

I cant say im very impressed with Silk Road Auto responses to some of this..

Vehicle quality aside, they should care about there reputation on the forums because word of mouth is the biggest advertiser..

This Thread has left a bad taste in my mouth..

I try to avoid printing these off and eating the paper, leaves a bad taste in my mouth too, licking the screen is uncalled for most times as well