Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

You are never going to get a 100% rating in any business. There are always going to be people that don't have the best experience no matter what you do. I think we are seeing that here. If I were Karim I would just let this thread go and move on. There has to be more satisfied customers than there are dissatisfied ones...the dissatisfied ones are just louder!

For the record:

I purchased my van from Karim a couple of years ago and it has been fine for a 15yr old van that I paid $9500 for and it was totally compliant. I did get it tuned up which made it run better and the turbo seized in the Fall, all of which is not Karim's fault. I need to get the timing belts changed still because I have no idea when they were changed last, but agian this is not Karim's issue. If I had paid $13,000 or $14,000 for the van and had to get it tuned etc then I would be looking to Karim for some help, but I didn't pay that for it.

At no time did Karim say anything that was not true to me.

-Mark

It's like a good tennis match...........

Though SRA to save face I recommend not reacting angrily. I know that can be difficult, but you are in a service industry that can be severly influenced by word of mouth, and this Forum has a lot of muscle.

I recommend to any dealer here that if a customer buys from you and there is an issue, warranty or not I would do what I could to help that customer within reason.

To expect a dealer to assist you with a vehicle bought from them and then resold more than a year later is grasping at straws.

My 2cts.

jfarsang wrote: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.

Its really kind of interesting.

I bought my Deli from 5Star/Coombs and couldn't be happier. That was about 14 months and 50K ago. Needs a new exhaust now, and we have (probably) a loose dash electrical connector that is messing up the water temp and tach, but that is it. Just oil changes...

OTOH, the 1989 Merc 300E JDM that we bought in Ottawa has never had the refurb and tender loving care that Coombs gave the Deli.

As a result, it ends up in the shop from time to time, and the shop here doesn't understand 'have a look around and fix things that may cause problems in the next 50K kilometres', so we do little bits here and there. No big deal, but also didn't cost the price and doesn't deliver the reliability we have from Glen's rebuild. But I do get 44MPG. <g>

George

Normally, I would stick up for my fellow delica drivers but having known the folks at Silk Road, I am going to side with a used car dealer. And, here is why:

I believe that the two complaints here from those who have actually purchased cars from Silk Road is merely a misunderstanding as someone else pointed to it as such under this topic. Also, it appears that some folks don’t see these delicas as used 15 + years old. They appear to expect the same from each delica but that cannot be right. They all come with various degrees of wears and tears. Some may take five years before they start to fall apart and some may take only a year. So, it is not so much the dealer you buy from but the delica itself. No dealer is going to replace parts just because they fear they would fail. Unless a part is defective or has known flaws, they would never replace it and no dealer would ever guarantee how long before a particular part starts to fail. When a part is defective, it requires very little expertise to tell even if you are not a mechanic.

For example, three years after driving a delica I bought from Silk Road, my alternator failed. Would this have been something any dealer could have predicted? I give credit to Silk Road for fixing this issue at a minimum cost to myself even after three years. I know that even if this was a brand new car, this could have happened. I will, however, join you to bash any dealer if you were knowingly given a defective car. But, knowing Karim and his brother, that is highly unlikely.

Those who have never purchased a car from Silk Road or have never dealt with them directly and still negatively write about them, in my opinion, have abused this forum big time. You cannot advise other potential buyers about a dealer not being worth dealing with because you and your wife noticed a missing lug nut at the yard, or you dropped by the lot and nobody came to assist you or other delica owners told you so and so. If I was Karim, I wouldn’t be upset with the couple of people who actually have dealt with Silk Road irrespective how unreasonable they may sound but more so with these guys who really shouldn’t be writing.

And, to the guy from Alberta who bought a used delica from another guy who happened to have purchased it from Silk Road and now lists this and that issue, you have no one to blame but yourself and the guy you bought it from. If this delica was driven all across North America for over a year as it is indicated here and you were told about this and you proceeded with the purchase, well let me not say what I think. I will leave it to others to tell you!!

At the end, since there are only a couple of complaints from real “buyers” and these guys have sold tons of delicas over the last six or seven years, I would only repeat what Mark noted and that is those who are happy are staying quiet! I would have never went through so much trouble to write all of this, if I didn’t believe the guys at Silk Road. They are not the typical used car dealers and if they still have any of the new delicas that arrived, do go for it.

freeheelsteve wrote:Hi there,

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

Cheers,
Steve

All I can say is Karim kept his word with what he promised. First time in my life any car dealer has done this. Were their problems with my Safari? Yes. Some things were passed by the OOP inspection facility when they should not have passed. Karim's fault? Inspectors? IMO, it was the lack of clarity from the gov on what was required. Anyways, Karim re-imbursed me the costs and fixed what my the third party inspection (which I arranged) said need to be fixed. Have I had problems since with the Safari? Yes, but they were problems which are to be expected of a vehicle this age regardless of the kms on the clock.

As the guy from Alberta,(which may become my new user name, Albertaguy!) what I wrote was in response to a request for input on a forum. Silk Road wrote an angry response to my input. My input was based on promises of work done to the van before the fellow I bought it from purchased it on what he was told. This included such things as timing belts, Air Conditioning, mechanicals, shades, cool-box, etc. This was on the information I was given, when purchasing the van, and from conversations with the previous owner.The promised work or claims to be working, were false and could not fixed because the owner purchased the vehicle and moved to Alberta to work for the next six months. Yes, many of the claims did not appear until the middle of the trip, but you can't check the air conditioning in the winter, and you sure as hell wouldn't pull the engine apart to check the timing belts. The van still has the original Japanese belts on so I know they were never changed, so claimes of all fluids, belts, etc. is bunk.
My point has now been made. I enjoy my Delica as much as any vehicle I have owned. I paid a lot of money to get it where it is, as did the fellow who bought it, good for me bad for him, and I have no intentions of selling it.
Please accept this as a buyer beware statement to all who buy used vehicles, and move on. I wish no hard feelings to anyone, but sometimes you pay your money and you take you chances! We drive old buses that come with old problems, DEAL WITH IT!!!
Please support the good things that are on this forum and let this one pass!
Silk Road, I am sorry for ever having said a thing, good luck in business, and please let this thread close.

Bikepoor (AlbertaGuy)

Bikepoor, it looks like we are in the same boat despite the fact that I bought my Delica directly from Silk Road Auto. I wish this thread would be closed by now but I have more facts to contribute. Patience is the key and I am thankful to all positive and negative feedback contributors to give me an idea what to shoot at. I have more important things to accomplish until I am ready to post my story so relax and enjoy your life! After all this is an episode, nothing more.

Jeff, again you are accusing us of miss leading Mark, the originally buyer of your delica who purchased it in 2007. Until about a year ago, each vehicle we brought from Japan would come with all the service parts including timing belt so that would explain the Japanese. Earlier last year one of our buyers noted on this site that his delica still had a Japanese filter on it which he thought meant it hadn't been changed. But, whether we changed the timing belt, fluids, filters and anything and everything else, you would not know about it because you bought the vehicle a year after it was taken off our lot and, I would repeat this, driven all acorss Norht America. During this time, Mark should have changed the fluids as well as all the filters repeatedly considering the mileage he put on the van. He should have even changed the timing belt again for all I know. I had no issues with you as your comments really did't apply to us. I only had issues with this profitser guy who continues to list bogus problem he is having with his delica and it's all our fault.

I simply said I have never sold a car to anyone in Alberta named Jeff and all the cars I have sold in Alberta had gone through an independent inspection so any and all of the issues you have listed should have been found and the buyer notified.

During the time that Mark had this delica, he informed me of his batteries dying in Alberta and once they were ready to go back to Australia they came back to the yard and replaced a broken headlight. At this time they did mention replacing a pump and I can't remember which pump.

We tell every buyer to do an independent inspection on any and all of our vehicles. If we didn't have confidence in our service, we wouldn't do that. We have failed and have never claimed to be the best but one thing that we would never do is miss lead you and that is why your post is forcing me to respond.

bikepoor wrote:As the guy from Alberta,(which may become my new user name, Albertaguy!) what I wrote was in response to a request for input on a forum. Silk Road wrote an angry response to my input. My input was based on promises of work done to the van before the fellow I bought it from purchased it on what he was told. This included such things as timing belts, Air Conditioning, mechanicals, shades, cool-box, etc. This was on the information I was given, when purchasing the van, and from conversations with the previous owner.The promised work or claims to be working, were false and could not fixed because the owner purchased the vehicle and moved to Alberta to work for the next six months. Yes, many of the claims did not appear until the middle of the trip, but you can't check the air conditioning in the winter, and you sure as hell wouldn't pull the engine apart to check the timing belts. The van still has the original Japanese belts on so I know they were never changed, so claimes of all fluids, belts, etc. is bunk.
My point has now been made. I enjoy my Delica as much as any vehicle I have owned. I paid a lot of money to get it where it is, as did the fellow who bought it, good for me bad for him, and I have no intentions of selling it.
Please accept this as a buyer beware statement to all who buy used vehicles, and move on. I wish no hard feelings to anyone, but sometimes you pay your money and you take you chances! We drive old buses that come with old problems, DEAL WITH IT!!!
Please support the good things that are on this forum and let this one pass!
Silk Road, I am sorry for ever having said a thing, good luck in business, and please let this thread close.

Bikepoor (AlbertaGuy)

I think Silk Road should sue some of these guys for defamation especially this Alberta guy. This site should be used to share useful information with others and not to make basely accusation against a very reputable dealer. You buy a car that has been driven the hell out of it for over a year and then you come on this site pointing fingers at the dealer from whom it was originally bought. Could this be a rival dealer as the whole story doesn’t make sense. If you knew about all of the issues then, why did you buy it. If you didn’t know and weren’t told about the problems, then complain to the guy from whom you purchased it.
I had a special order placed with Silk Road for a delica and the description that they gave to me before they purchased it, was accurate to the minute details. When the delica got here, it was fully serviced and had a new clutch put in there and needless to say it was way better condition than I had expected. It drives superbly and I cannot be happier. However, it is not because my delica hasn’t developed a problem that I am posting this but it is the experience that compels me to. Unless these guys have changed their ways in the last year and half, it would be impossible to believe that they would mislead someone like how some of the users are describing.

silkroad wrote:Jeff, again you are accusing us of miss leading Mark, the originally buyer of your delica who purchased it in 2007. Until about a year ago, each vehicle we brought from Japan would come with all the service parts including timing belt so that would explain the Japanese. Earlier last year one of our buyers noted on this site that his delica still had a Japanese filter on it which he thought meant it hadn't been changed. But, whether we changed the timing belt, fluids, filters and anything and everything else, you would not know about it because you bought the vehicle a year after it was taken off our lot and, I would repeat this, driven all acorss Norht America. During this time, Mark should have changed the fluids as well as all the filters repeatedly considering the mileage he put on the van. He should have even changed the timing belt again for all I know. I had no issues with you as your comments really did't apply to us. I only had issues with this profitser guy who continues to list bogus problem he is having with his delica and it's all our fault.

I simply said I have never sold a car to anyone in Alberta named Jeff and all the cars I have sold in Alberta had gone through an independent inspection so any and all of the issues you have listed should have been found and the buyer notified.

During the time that Mark had this delica, he informed me of his batteries dying in Alberta and once they were ready to go back to Australia they came back to the yard and replaced a broken headlight. At this time they did mention replacing a pump and I can't remember which pump.

We tell every buyer to do an independent inspection on any and all of our vehicles. If we didn't have confidence in our service, we wouldn't do that. We have failed and have never claimed to be the best but one thing that we would never do is miss lead you and that is why your post is forcing me to respond.

bikepoor wrote:As the guy from Alberta,(which may become my new user name, Albertaguy!) what I wrote was in response to a request for input on a forum. Silk Road wrote an angry response to my input. My input was based on promises of work done to the van before the fellow I bought it from purchased it on what he was told. This included such things as timing belts, Air Conditioning, mechanicals, shades, cool-box, etc. This was on the information I was given, when purchasing the van, and from conversations with the previous owner.The promised work or claims to be working, were false and could not fixed because the owner purchased the vehicle and moved to Alberta to work for the next six months. Yes, many of the claims did not appear until the middle of the trip, but you can't check the air conditioning in the winter, and you sure as hell wouldn't pull the engine apart to check the timing belts. The van still has the original Japanese belts on so I know they were never changed, so claimes of all fluids, belts, etc. is bunk.
My point has now been made. I enjoy my Delica as much as any vehicle I have owned. I paid a lot of money to get it where it is, as did the fellow who bought it, good for me bad for him, and I have no intentions of selling it.
Please accept this as a buyer beware statement to all who buy used vehicles, and move on. I wish no hard feelings to anyone, but sometimes you pay your money and you take you chances! We drive old buses that come with old problems, DEAL WITH IT!!!
Please support the good things that are on this forum and let this one pass!
Silk Road, I am sorry for ever having said a thing, good luck in business, and please let this thread close.

Bikepoor (AlbertaGuy)

I also wrote my opionion online about asparagus. I said it made my pee smell funny and change colour. Maybe the asparagus growers should sue me for slander as well!! An opinion is just that, and opinion.
People please let this thread drop, and read one that is of some value. This is my final statement on this thread.
Bikepoor.

A note on bias.
Josh , who has given Silk Road Autos good reviews on a couple of different posts now , is a good friend of Karims.
I met Josh on the lot a couple weeks ago.
He was washing down a truck he'd borrowed from Karim to move a motor to the Island.
I only mention this because I feel if you are going to give reviews on a forum such as this you should also disclose any relationships you have with the people you are reviewing.

Pretty much the nastiest thread ever just got worse

i thought the nastiest thread ever was about that kiwi dealer who skipped town with everyone's money.....

Pretty much the nastiest thread ever just got worse

Not really; it is yet to come...

KevinToyne wrote:A note on bias.
Josh , who has given Silk Road Autos good reviews on a couple of different posts now , is a good friend of Karims.
I met Josh on the lot a couple weeks ago.
He was washing down a truck he'd borrowed from Karim to move a motor to the Island.
I only mention this because I feel if you are going to give reviews on a forum such as this you should also disclose any relationships you have with the people you are reviewing.

Yes I am great friends with Karim... I met him when I bought my first delica a few years ago, but thanks for asking first. sheesh. (needless to say I must think he was honest to me about the delica if i became friends with him)

Josh