Reliability questions from a newbie/wannabe

[tonydca]

Hello all -

I have been reading through your club posts / forum topics with great interest. There is obviously a large pool of dedicated enthusiasts for this vehicle here in Canada. Which brings me to my potential future obsession...

I find this vehicle appealing to me on a number of levels: Form-follows-function, not-the-usual-econobox/minivan... the list goes on. I took my two sons to look at one the other day, and my oldest (9 yrs old) buckled himself in and refused to budge! They love it! Uber-cool to them.

However...

I currently drive a similarly (somewhat less-) functional vehicle in the form of a 1989 Toyota Corolla 4wd wagon with >372K on the odometer, and never has it let me down. I have been religious with maintenance, and it has treated me well. It has been our only vehicle for the past 9 years, and it is time to get something larger for our growing family, but only because of its size.

My question is this: Is there anyone here who has experience with this vehicle over the longer-term (say, >2 yrs) particularly in an urban environment? We live close to downtown Vancouver, and I have to place a high priority on the overall reliability of *any* vehicle I consider; I'm afraid that our little Toyota has really spoiled us. Especially with the large number of short trips we do ferrying kids and grocieries around, intermixed with the occasional long road trip to the Interior, I'm a bit leery that a diesel might balk at the treatment (although I understand that Japan can be rough in that regard).

I'm not afraid of ongoing maintenance of an older vehicle, but I need to hear stories good and bad before I take the plunge and upsize to a Delica. I *really* want to...

Any takers? Thanks in advance...

[jessef]

Any vehicle can be a lemon or a long mileage/low maintenance vehicle.

Delica's are based on the North American Montero SUV which is the 'underdog' Landcruiser contender for ruggedness and reliability.

The drivetrain is stout.

The engine is a workhorse.

Providing you do regular maintenance, over 500,000 km's on one engine/drivetrain without a major overhaul can be expected.

With that said, Toyota's are built for longevity and that's why they keep going and going and going.

I can't remember hearing anyone who's ever owned a Toyo say anything bad about them aside from body rust on some older models.

Delica's are ugly, functional and good bang-for-the-buck in today's diesel/4x4 hauler market.

They do require higher maintenance (costs) compared to a Toyota corolla, but they are a larger vehicle.

There are a number of importers, dealers and well known honest private sellers.

Personally, I lead every prospective person I know to either Mardy at Amazing Auto in Richmond or to Glen at Coombs Auto north of Nanaimo on the island, or Noel down south in Victoria.

Two thumbs up for Delica's.

Just remember that they are like any vehicle = maintenance is key.

I learned this the hard way by not heeding the advice from a good friend/mechanic over the years.

I've learned since then (days of going the cheap route on brakes, tuneups, etc...)

If you don't do regular maintenance, expect to spend more $ in the long run on major repairs.

[tonydca]

Yeah - I can tell you're not the *least* bit biased towards them... 5 (!) radiators notwithstanding (I thought my Toyota was a bit unusual with 2 instead of just 1!)

You're certainly preaching to the choir vis-a-vis maintenance being key. However, some vehicles are a little more shop-prone than others, but true admirers of the marque will happily comply as simply the price of admission.

E.g., had an acquaintance whose (retired) Dad had an older 12-cylinder Jag. Beautiful sports car, smooth and strong, but the valvetrain required adjustment every 5000km. Big involved job, but a labour of love for him.

Also, forgot to mention one more issue (gulp!) - vehicle height, a.k.a. the Dreaded Underground Garage Clearance. I read that the low-roof L300 height is 77.8 inches. That's 6-foot-5.8 inches by my calcs.

My underground has a 6-foot-6 clearance to the garage door. Holy Scraped Paintjobs, Batman!

I'm assuming that the Highroof/Crystal Lite roof adds noticeably to this number, but if anyone out there with a Low Roof version is in the Kits area, I'd love to see one up close near our garage. I'll even buy coffee - there *might* even be a Starbucks nearby

[jessef]

I'm in kits but it's no low roof.

There's a couple of Delica's floating around kits.

There's a low roof close to me that parks almost everyday along york between cypress and maple.

The only thing major you'd have to do a Delica is the timing/water pump/belts/filters,etc... every 80,000km or so and have it done by a good mech.

Aside from that, like I said, it shares most of the drivetrain from the Montero's which are a dime a dozen in the US.

The only downside to the Montero's was the engine. Add in the 4D55 or 4D56T (Delica/Pajero) , and you have the best of both worlds.

A poor man's landcruiser so to speak.

Parts are cheap and you'd be hard pressed to find a forum with a group of honest people in one place with one thing in common.

[dfnder]

My kids love my Delica, great for hauling them around :) I got tired of trying to fit things in my hatchback, stuffing hockey equipement into the passenger seat etc... I went with the Delica because I finally found a vehicle that had all the attributes that I needed to win me over.

- I like to drive something different,
- I always wanted a 4x4 (but not a pickup),
- I never could justify buying a vehicle that isn't a gas miser but the combo of deisel longevity/great looks/functionality won out in the end.

I haven't regretted it for one second!!!

If you are worried about height and not so much about clearance then you could lower your Delica, I remember reading of someone having a his and hers set - one lowered to get into a low garage at work and one raised for esthetics :)

cheers

[EricN]

Mine is a low roof and I just barely fit in 6'6", wouldnt attempt to go any lower than that and I do it at a slow crawl. The superstore parking here is 6'8" and that is comfortable. I have had it for coming on 3 years now and other than 15w-40 oil is expensive (I get 10-30 for free for my wifes truck) and you need alot of it (6 litres if I remember right), maintenance isnt much different than anything else you would buy. Change the oil every 5000k (easy to remember), fuel filter every 10,000k, do the transmission oil and filter every 20,000k (overkill but worth it) and change the air filter when it starts to look dirty, other than that, not much else to it. My kids fell in love with it as well and it has become part of the family. Only reason I want to sell it is I bought a big truck that I can use to tow with (2000lbs is about all I want to put behind the deli, and only on short trips) and my wife refuses to part with her Pathfinder so poor Filmore is going to get the boot (unless she falls in love with the new truck, then goodbye pathfinder).
As with any vehicle though, buy from someone you can trust and get it checked out before hand. The forum is a great place to start looking.

[jrman]

I'm just about 2 yrs now...I think..hmm - memory isn't what it used to be;

I had the typical issues to deal with on import;
1 - all belts & fluids (timing belt a must!!!)
2 - replaced clogged rad (major priority to inspect and avoid overheating & potential damaged head!)
3 - leaky quarter panels
4 - some suspension bushings
5 - front brakes
6 - new shocks (originals were DEAD)
7 - new tires
8 - tighten front subframe assembly bolts (the dreaded "clunk")
9 - AC Emulsion for dried up rubber door gaskets (tks Jesse..that was good)
10 - axle seal leak
11 - and finally the IP pump rebuild in the fall.

I can tell that the original owner for my bus in Japan didn't do much maintenance....eerrrr - maybe none!

But other than a funky A/T light that I'm dealing with now - the above was pretty much what I expected in a 15 yr old vehicle. Buy from a dealer and most of this will be done already. Or, import yourself and handle on your own.

I bought at 93K - currently 143K - and running like a top.

Kids prefer it over the wifes Toyota Sienna for road trips (wife still likes the Sienna for getting up the hills faster...but I like the low and slow approach!).

Another attraction for me is the "tinkering" - mostly silly little things, but I've had quite a bit of fun fitting cup holders where there were none, making new floor mats our of something designed for another vehicle, tinted my own windows, did the "Canadian Lift" on the torsion bars, - and now I'm making a front bumper (up to 6 months on that project now...speed is not my forte).

Well - just my 2 bits - not the vehicle for everyone, but I'm still having fun 2 years in.
Cheers.

[Jamesandnicole]

another good place to purchase a Delica is Comox Valley Delica (www.comoxvalleydelica.com) very reliable and they know a lot of info, very personable and only provides a quality vehicle. a little out of the way, but worth it.

Delica's, if cared for, are a very reliable vehicle

[impalator]

I really like our delica. It is the best combo of all worlds:

- 4 x 4 with low gear
- Diesel (Vegetable-Oil capable.... never know where fuel prices might climb to going forward)
- Quite a lot of cargo room
- Looks odd, but cool
- Still pretty much all the bells and whistles (A/C, power windows, power locks...)
- Uniqueness

However, I've had my moments of frustration. We broke down on our first road trip, 3 days after we bought it on the Coquihalla - overheating, with cracked cylinder head... obviously none of the aforementioned cooling system upgrades had been done (radiator, water pump, thermostat, gaskets etc.) and so we got (on warranty and after a long wait) a new Cylinder head, thermostat, water pump, timing belt, new hoses, gaskets etc. etc. - on top of that also needed and got (under warranty as well) new batteries. Finally our ECU (controller for the diesel glow plugs) went, we had the wet floor syndrome and in December, when it was sooo cold in Vancouver, the shifting mechanism for the Automatic Transmission froze shut...

But since then, the machine has been working just fine - obviously I have learned a few things from the forum and talking to the mechanics - and I guess the worst items that could go wrong have been fixed.

I do not drive the delica for everyday commuting - but I see a few Deli's doing just that everyday. So I don't see why this should be a problem. If you don't care that your trip to Kamloops will take you close to 5 1/2 hours rather than 4 1/2 or that going up to the Cariboo will take you a minimum of 1 - 1 1/2 hours longer than it would in a "normal car" that doesn't slow down to 60km/h on the hills, then the Delica is a good choice.

Anyway, good luck in your further investigations and maybe you'll be a Delica driver soon...?!

[tonydca]

Thanks for the comments from all. Jrman - interesting that your other vehicle is a Sienna; that's my likely other (but not nearly as interesting!) vehicle option. For the cost of a '91 Exceed you can get an '01 Sienna XLE with leather and all the toys. Not near as much fun, but hmm...

An issue that seems to crop up frequently is calcified/petrified cooling systems. On the assumption that the cooling channels in the engine will be as clogged as the rad/hoses, just re-coring and swapping tubes won't necessarily cure overheating ills.

One thing that has crossed my mind (I've never tried it before) would be to follow up a re-rad/re-piping with a generous engine flushing with a de-calcification solution like CLR or the like.

I don't know if there are any of the engine internals that would dissolve along with the calcium , so interested if anyone here has tried such madness on their baby with good or bad results.