Picking up an L400 on Tuesday

[Rural]

After a long wait, I got a call to say that my L400 will be ready on Saturday. So now I find myself scrambling to get everything ready.

Here's my plan:

Pack the plates from my truck.
Leave the Vancouver airport at 9:30 AM, Tuesday.
Go straight to the dealership.
Go over the vehicle with a fine-toothed comb to build confidence for the drive home.
Assuming there are no deal-breakers, buy the vehicle and pay HST.
Put the plates from my truck on the van.
Drive around Vancouver for the rest of Tuesday visiting friends. Keeping an eye out for any mechanical problems.
Assuming nothing strange is found, leave early Wednesday morning for Calgary.
Arrive in Calgary Wednesday evening.
Have the vehicle inspected in Calgary on Thursday.
Drive home (Stettler).
Get insurance details sorted out if there is time on Thursday, otherwise Friday.
Register the vehicle.
Apply for a refund on the GST portion of the HST.
Receive refund on the GST.
Live happily ever after.

I'm a little nervous about using my plates. I wouldn't be if this whole deal were taking place in Alberta. (The truck will be relegated to the farm or put up for sale as soon as the plates come off it.)

The HST came as a bit of a shock too. So I wanted to double-check that.

I may have a new stereo installed before leaving Vancouver. Making a long drive, slightly less long.

Anything obvious I'm missing?


Mark

[luckydad]

Ask the dealer if he could charge you only the GST portion of the tax as you are from out of province.
DO NOT use your Alberta plates to bring your truck back to Calgary. It will be illegal as the plate is not registered to the spacegear. If you get into an accident of any kind, your in trouble. Instead, buy temporary BC insurance for a day or two.

Most of all, have fun!!

[Mr. Flibble]

I am with Luckydad, get temporary BC insurance while you are driving it. They give you paper to glue to the front and back of the windshields. (On the inside of the van).

This way you will be covered in and out of province while you bring the van home.

[jessef]

Hi Mark

The dealer you are buying from shouldn't let you drive off with an uninsured vehicle they just sold.

The dealer will give you the option to put a temporary permit on it for your trip home. If they don't have the facilities on-site, they most likely will drive with you to the nearest insurance place to buy a temp permit. It's about $25-30 per day and pay extra for the collision/comprehensive. It's worth it if something happens in between the dealer and your home. (knock on wood).

If you would like a second opinion, I may be available tues am and depending where the Spacegear is, I can go over it with you if you like.

Just shoot me a pm if you'd like another set of eyes on it.

Jesse

[Rural]

The temporary insurance sounds easy enough. My insurance company can cover me with my plates for two weeks, but maybe not outside of Alberta. Better safe than sorry.

Jfarsang, thanks for the offer of a look-over. PM will follow.

As for replacing the stereo, is there anything special about Delica's (1995 L400 Exceed) as far as swapping out the stereo? Could any shop do the work, or should I go someplace specific. I'll be travelling between Richmond, Vancouver, and Port Moody on Tuesday afternoon, so I'll probably drive by quite a few places.

[jessef]

Any shop will do. Nothing specific for radio wiring/work. Just make sure you tell them to be EXTRA careful when removing the center consol bezel. It's very brittle and sought after.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Performance Car Stereo, Pemberton Avenue, North Vancouver.

[Rural]

So my plans are almost complete. But one more question:

Are there any parts or supplies that I should really pick up along with the L400?

I'm thinking of things that I won't be able to find at the local NAPA and could make the van unuseable while I wait for something to be shipped out, but regular maintenance items would qualify. From a little searching, it looks like air filters would be make the list.

[jessef]

the stock airfilter is great. Put a new one in. No need for a spare.

Only thing I would really take with me is a set of front rotors as they are proprietary to the L400, a half dozen oil and fuel filters and a transmission filter.

That's it.

Everything else you can get locally.

[Rural]

Ha! The dealer recommended replacing the front rotors and I bit. Hopefully, that saves me some trouble.

Cool. I think that's the last thing on my checklist. I'm stealing the plates from my Sambar and starting to pack up as soon as I hit the submit button.

[stonefly]

How do you apply for refund of GST on the HST? I too am from Alberta and looking at heading to the coast to pick up a Delica this week. Is this for real? What web page gives this info? Is it the GST portion or the PST portion you are applying to get refunded?
Thanks!

[Rural]

Good question. I'll let you know when I've finished it. Mardy at Amazing Autos filled out the paperwork...at least I think he did. (It's been a bit of a whirlwind since for the last few days.)

My understanding is that the government keeps the GST and I get the remainder.

How do you apply for refund of GST on the HST? I too am from Alberta and looking at heading to the coast to pick up a Delica this week. Is this for real? What web page gives this info? Is it the GST portion or the PST portion you are applying to get refunded?
Thanks!

[Rural]

So I flew from Calgary to Vancouver on Tuesday. I have bad ears and the rising pressure on the descent caused me some real pain. My ears didn't properly clear until Tuesday evening. This made the rest of my day extra fun as I my hearing wasn't up to muster.

I was at Amazing Autos before 10AM. Thank-you WestJet. Mardy hadn't got the day-time running lights finished by that point, so we picked up the Delica and brought it over to Future Shop. They installed some LED lights. They work, but aren't particularly amazing. I browsed around Future Shop and ate some lunch while the lights were being installed. Mardy, who is always moving, ran off to take care of some stuff.

After the lights were installed we went back to Mardy's shop and got the paper work sorted out. Bought a couple of oil filters, a transmission fluid filter set, and some other miscellaneous maintenance items. Then we sorted out insurance by buying two days coverage from ICBC. Fairly straight-forward.

And that was that. I was a Delican.

Drove around Vancouver for a while. Fueled up the van and bought a pair of shoes. Tried and failed to find a car audio shop that could replace the stock stereo right then. Picked up an old buddy from his work-place in downtown Vancouver. Hanged out with him and his family for the evening before turning in a bit too late.

Left at about 9 AM Wednesday morning. Drove all freaking day and made it back to Calgary by 9:30 PM. No problems with the vehicle, but my back was beginning to ache and I had more than my fair share of of fast food.

On Thursday, I picked up an out-of-province inspection request form from a registry and brought the van over to Performance Auto and RV. It passed with flying colours. The fellow that did the inspection was really impressed with the condition of the van.

My two boys (just 3 and almost 6) were thrilled. They've been playing in the van every chance they get (which isn't often). Better yet, my wife has already taken it out for a drive. (She hated my Subaru Sambar with a passion and was only a passenger twice in two years.) As expected, the adjustment to RHD took about one block...except for the signal versus windshield wiper problem.

So I'm pretty happy with Mardy. I can't complain about... well... anything. Ok, there was some very minor dirt in a few places, and some flecks of white paint on the dash, but I cleaned that up myself in a few minutes. Frankly, I'm perfectly happy with Mardy spending his time on more important stuff than cleaning the grunge off the oh-shit handles. I'd recommend him to anyone.

My only pressing issues with the van are the stock stereo system and how its cold starts. I'm working on replacing the stereo system myself. I'll save the hilarity for another thread.

When started cold, like first thing in the morning on a dreary day, the engine sputters and spews whiteish exhaust for about 20 seconds. Then all is well. It has only got down to about 5 degrees Celsius. I worry what will happen when the night-time lows are more like -25C. Mardy did mention that he had advanced the timing a bit to clear up some black smoke. Maybe that is a factor. Or maybe this is par-for-the-course with a diesel engine.

Less pressing issues: The inclinometer is seized. There are a couple of burnt-out cabin lights. The slide-out cup holder in front is missing that little plastic arm that flips up. The sliding door could use a little grease. It needs some windshield wiper fluid... That's about it.

I'm pleased as punch.

[FalcoColumbarius]

.....cleaning the grunge off the oh-shit handles. ........

Gives her character.

......When started cold, like first thing in the morning on a dreary day, the engine sputters and spews whiteish exhaust for about 20 seconds........ .........I'm pleased as punch.

The L400s still have the "glowplug; 3sec delay; then ignition" starting procedure ~ or are they different?

Falco.

[madmazda]

well good to hear another l400 in calgary...... as far as the cold winter starts I hope you have a inline or block heater..... I used mine a lot last winter without a fault..... On the REALLY cold -40 c ish days had the deli on a timer to start the block heater cycle 3 or so hrs before I got up and NO problems at all I do suggest you go to canadian tire and buy a grease gun as the 3 drive shaft points should get regular love, I do mine about 2-3 times a month just to be safe. and it's good to see where everything is underneath just for reference.....