Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

... you'll **LOVE** Harbor Freight

http://www.harborfreight.com/store-finder/

They recently opened a store in Bellingham off I-5 Exit 255 (256?) Sunset Drive. About 20 miles South of the border.

For those who have never been there, think Princess Auto, but more focus on tools and vehicle accessories and less agricultural and hydraulic stuff. And even cheaper (if that seems possible) especially with the exchange rate the way it is.

I just picked up an on-sale 3000 lb rated 12V winch on a mounting plate with 32' of cable and remote-control fob - US$50 (yes, fifty) Plus a trunkful of other gear.

They have every imaginable hand tool, impact tool, welding tool/accessory, air compressor - you name it. Not Snap-On quality, but cheap! If it's made in China - they carry it.

And no-hassle return basically forever - bring it back with the receipt and they'll give you a new one, no questions asked.

If you are ever heading South of the Border and are interested in tools, drop by.

You won't be sorry...

Was that you parked in White Rock Sat morn?

CloudMountain wrote:Was that you parked in White Rock Sat morn?

Nope - Tsawwassen ferry terminal Sat Afternoon, tho...

I buy stuff from there online often. Nice that they have a location close now.

Border lineups are crazy now.

jfarsang wrote:I buy stuff from there online often. Nice that they have a location close now.

Border lineups are crazy now.

I find browsing the aisles is a good hour or two's entertainment for me; cheaper than a movie if you go down empty and come back full with some Fred Meyer consumables to boot.

Plus F sometimes have in-store clearouts that aren't necesarily online. Hence the $49 winch - the half-dozen they had when I was there at 2pm were gone when I popped back in at 5 on the way home.

The borders are certainly a downside. Although mid-week has been pretty good for me lately (<10 min each way):

http://www.borderlineups.com/cam.php?ts ... BorderID=4

I would like to remind all of you that Harbor Fright is almost 100% Chinese made low end things.

I try to buy things at least made in North America...

@ Yokohama... I guess this is why you bought a Delica....

Yokohama wrote:I would like to remind all of you that Harbor Fright is almost 100% Chinese made low end things.

I try to buy things at least made in North America...

I am with you on this yokohama. Buying all kinds of cheap consumer products from china is going to be the down fall of our north American economy someday.

impalator wrote:@ Yokohama... I guess this is why you bought a Delica....

No, but at least Mitsubishi makes things in North America! They also have other operations here, including design, etc. Chinese companies mostly just buy up companies here and ship the manufacturing and research back to China. They only keep a "sales outlet" here. They also are extremely blatant in their disregard for copyrights and patents! Many North American companies will no longer do business in China because of, government sanctioned, industrial espionage! Look up the policies that the Chinese Government has, like the "indigenous technology" policy. Yes, you can do business in China, but you have to hand over all your secrets and move your R&D to China so they can learn how to put you out of business! The attitude seems to be, they will put you out of business anyway so you may as well hand over everything and make some cash, or just be put out of business anyway, and get nothing. And has anyone noticed that no one says anything to the WTO about China, but that the minute another country does something that they Chinese don't like the Chinese are all over it and complaining about "protectionism"? China has the most protectionist trade laws in the world from my view.

According to the latest BBC poll, most people in the world are worried about the raising Chinese economic power.

I feel that Canada and the USA should do more about this, but as long as China has America by the tail, I don't see much happening.

I also never knowingly put Chinese made anything on the L300, period. Having had to correct several problems caused by the failure of Chinese parts, I would never put them on any car.

I have nothing against ordinary people in China, they just want what we all want, but I do expect fair play.

Slimdog wrote:

Yokohama wrote:I would like to remind all of you that Harbor Fright is almost 100% Chinese made low end things.

I try to buy things at least made in North America...

I am with you on this yokohama. Buying all kinds of cheap consumer products from china is going to be the down fall of our north American economy someday.

What do you mean 'someday' ?

Importation of Chinese products (almost everything you wear/use) has been in North America for decades.

It's not shocking or new.

Many large North American (canadian and American) manufacturers and companies outsource their production, materials, skill to China and Asia.

I buy NA whenever I can but to say that it will be the downfall of our economy is comical since our economy is tightly interwoven with theirs.

The other funny thing is when some people talk about products coming from China or 'Chinese made', they imply that everything is cheap or poor quality.

This is far from the truth. While many things are made substandard or cheap, the same is said for many things made with higher standards than NA and not being cheap.

Had a good laugh for the morning. Thanks fellas

jfarsang wrote: What do you mean 'someday' ?

Importation of Chinese products (almost everything you wear/use) has been in North America for decades.

It's not shocking or new.

Many large North American (canadian and American) manufacturers and companies outsource their production, materials, skill to China and Asia.

I buy NA whenever I can but to say that it will be the downfall of our economy is comical since our economy is tightly interwoven with theirs.

The other funny thing is when some people talk about products coming from China or 'Chinese made', they imply that everything is cheap or poor quality.

This is far from the truth. While many things are made substandard or cheap, the same is said for many things made with higher standards than NA and not being cheap.

Had a good laugh for the morning. Thanks fellas

Of course, this importation has been around for decades, and yes we have a very interdependent relationship in so much as companies can have a source of cheap labor and the Chinese have an export market.
This does not not mean that the Chinese play by the rules in any respect. They only do so when it is to their advantage. It also does not make it right to not support your OWN PEOPLE'S JOBS!

As for Chinese stuff being all cheap, certainly it is not. The Chinese Government realizes that it even faces competition for cheap labor, and the fact the they want to raise the living standards of hundreds of millions more Chinese, is driving them to seek the high-end manufacturing market. Of course, much of it is built using stolen intellectual property. But, the Chinese ability to make high-quality products at a reduced cost is only possible because they have a large pool of educated people that can be hired at lesser cost. I could hire ten Chinese engineers for the price of one here. But, do you think that the average North American family could make it on that salary?
The thing is that inflation is rising in China and will drive Chinese costs up, but even if costs in China go up, North American's would still be more expensive.

One challenge they have is brand name recognition; Chinese companies now own major bands in Europe and America. It is not just car brands also, they own major fashion brands and others now also.

I would also like to interject a point here; as even the high tech manufacturing processes are shipped out to China, we may face the day when we have no ability to start making them here if we needed to. Where are the newest, most advanced microchip factories? That's correct, China. We have nothing anywhere near like them in North America. And it is not just computer products. Feel like they have us by the tail? Who is your master?

If China finds it necessary to put restrictions on who can now work in China and how things are made there, then maybe it would be wise for us to look at polices like that also. If it is good for the Chinese, it is good for us. But, of course, the Chinese do not see it that way.
If companies here did not have to compete with low cost Chinese goods, then maybe it would be cost effective to build them here.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone that the Chinese only seem to be interested in raw materials and export markets. This is an increasing perception in the world at large. When the Chinese are doing projects like making deep water ports in Kenya or running roads in Asia, they never seem to use local labor, they always bring in Chinese teams. They also have the habit of not really caring who is in charge of a government and what they are doing to the local people. Notice that they support repressive governments under the guise of "not interfering in other countries internal matters". If you are going to be a global power, then who have certain responsibilities. But, given how they treat anyone in China who questions them, this fits.

Made in China vs Made in USA...who give a crap...neither is Canada.

If you buy products from China you might get lead poisoning. If you buy products from the USA you might get stupid and fat. Spin the wheel and take your pick...

40 years ago cheap mass produced crap came from Japan...then it was Taiwan....now its China...tomorrow it will be India...after that maybe Uzbekistan...and on and on it goes.

A lot of sports clothing and hard goods are being made in eastern Europe now. The labour costs are very similar and instead of posting 'made in china' on it they can now write 'made in europe' Basically no matter where your items are from you can still get good quality and bad quality goods.

I personally think it's funny that there is an debate about whether or not it is a good idea to import from other countries rather than getting something that is made in Canada or the U.S on the Delica Club Forum. All of our vehicles have been imported and do nothing to support the local economy other than shipping and Fuel etc.

Arcteryx outerwear clothing has been Canada owned and all manufacturing was in Canada. The company grew and money was good. To make more profit, they took their tooling/machinery to China and now the majority of their gear is made in China. The quality is second to none and if it were not for that little made in China label, hardcore customers would not know the difference of where it was made.

There are many companies like this.

It sucks but there is more than one reason (money) for doing this.

For Arcteryx for example, a quality seamstress specializing in their outerwear/goretex gear is easily found in China. Not many people want to sew outdoor gear in Canada for a living.

Simple point. The majority of production labour jobs that are used extensively in China won't be filled locally because people don't want them.

The same way as Americans don't want to pick fruit or be housekeepers and those labour jobs are outsourced to Mexican's.

It's a tough pill to swallow for some, but it's the reality of our society today.