Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

ghmorris wrote:As previously mentioned, the number of hours makes a huge difference to life expectancy. Diesels like to be run under 60% or higher load, and various unpleasant things can happen to a diesel engine that spends most of its life idling.

George

George: I think you probably meant "DON'T like to be run under 60% load".

Diesels like to be run under full load, and anything much less than that is actually hard on the engine...

EDIT: Never mind, your word order confused me but now I see what you're trying to say... <dejected and corrected awkward face>

mararmeisto wrote:

ghmorris wrote:As previously mentioned, the number of hours makes a huge difference to life expectancy. Diesels like to be run under 60% or higher load, and various unpleasant things can happen to a diesel engine that spends most of its life idling.

George

George: I think you probably meant "DON'T like to be run under 60% load".

Diesels like to be run under full load, and anything much less than that is actually hard on the engine...

EDIT: Never mind, your word order confused me and now I see what you're trying to say... <dejected and corrected awkward face>

My bad. I should have said "don't like to be run at less than a 60% load". Would have made more sense.

George

Thanks everyone for your comments. I was hoping a few souls out there would say: "I've got 500,000 km no problem!". However, considering the relative newness of these vehicles in BC and also relatively short time frame of rise in popularity, I guess all you folks are the ones who will be saying "I've got 500k km's" in 10 years!

Looking forward to my own van. Thanks for the Terra2imports info. I had never heard of them. Does anyone else have positive/negative feedback on this outfit?

Cheers

chillmobil wrote: Thanks for the Terra2imports info. I had never heard of them. Does anyone else have positive/negative feedback on this outfit?

Haven't dealt with them, but they are an importer, not a dealer. In most cases with importers they will import the vehicle for you, but it will be up to you to get it serviced and standardized to BC specs and inspected. If you do not find this task daunting, then this may be a cheaper method for you, especially if you can do some of the work yourself.

My wife and I, on the other hand, due to our lack of knowledge with importing and lack of mechanical perspicacity, are choosing to buy through a dealer, which means they import it, service it, get it up to spec and inspected, and do maintenance (timing belt, water pump, etc...).

Some will import through an importer and get a dealer to pick it up at port and service it. But if you do that you are paying both the importer's and the dealer's profits. If you go through just the dealer, you are paying only one set of profits.

One more thing, which I mentioned on another post, IMO, try to buy a vehicle that is bought in Japan from a Japanese dealer rather than an auction, because it is a safer bet that what you see is what you get. Dealers in Japan have much more rigorous guidelines than the auction. But it costs a little more usually. That being said, you can get great delicas at auctions. I'm just saying buying from a dealer in Japan is a little more conservative.

Or ignore all this and simply buy one that is already in BC - either in the lot of a dealer or privately. Then there is no waiting (which we are currently doing right now ) and you definitely see what you get.

MadB0mb3r wrote:most commercial diesels come with an hour meter.. a true measurement for time on a diesel.. generators, tractors, semi's. all oil changes and servicing are done on them based on running time not distance traveled over land. usually in the range of 400-500 hrs per oil change.

I have pondered putting in an hour meter.

I don't believe my odometer was tampered with given the general condition of the Deli. I suspect that it was a one-person vehicle, and quite possibly spent a lot of time idling. The LCD TV mounted so it was pretty much only viewable by the driver would imply that. Of course, parked and watching TV is not the same as parked, idling, watching TV.

Then there is the theory that too low mileage is bad -- not enough use.

I'll just keep my fingers crossed that all goes well. Just starting on the 10th month of ownership.

I have pondered putting in an hour meter.

Me too, for every vehicle I have ever had, but never bothered. It has always kinda bugged me that all vehicles don't have chronometers (hour meters) as standard equipment. Seems odd that they don't, really...

I'm curious about the "don't have the best of names" because I am definitely in the market for a first time purchase.

I almost find it hard to find anybody saying anything critical. Most of the friendly criticism came from those who, although mechanically knowledgable, were unfamiliar with Delica's and advised staying on the side of caution and to play it conservative (i.e. buy a non-import and what about parts/service). The more I looked into parts/service, the more comfortable I became. The harshest critics don't even seem to know anything about the van or, if they're dealers, they want to scare you into buying something else ("those are those vans made in China, don't touch them, they roll and there have been a lot of crashes with those...")

Actually, the more I look into Delicas, the more I like them and they seem like the most versatile vehicle with no North American (or non-import) equivallent. They seem like they were meant for the North American market and it seems strange that they aren't selling them here. At least not yet, a buddy from work asked a Mitsubishi rep at a recent Vancouver/lower mainland trade show about introducing the Delica to North America: not yet but possibly in "two years" time.