My purchasing story... final purchase at Rising Sun
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:51 pm
I have a couple of months off helping out with our newborn and we decided to purchase a Delica to do some touring, camping and in general make use of the extra space a Delica has. Delica.ca was the resource I used most to help me decide on the purchase. Importing yourself or having a buyer source a good model that suits your requirements seemed like the best bang for your buck but I simply didn't have the time to do this. So I had to look at what was available privately and through dealers.
In the end I decided on purchasing through a dealer, I'm not up on my car mechanics so purchasing privately seemed too much of a risk and I really liked the idea of a one year drive train warranty. I ended up going to three dealers and here is my thoughts....
Silk Road Auto:
The guy who showed me round seemed like a nice guy. My issue with here (and it wasn't the only place), was that when I told him which vehicle I was interested in he pulled it out into the courtyard and left it running while talking me through everything. I leaned in and turned the van off and he turned it back on saying it needed to warm up as the battery hadn't been used in a while. See the thing is I'm looking to own a van that doesn't require a curbside warmup for ten minutes before I drive off every day. So a word to dealers.... make sure your batteries are charged, and to potential buyers.... don't give a specific time that you are turning up, or if you have to do so, check the engine to see if it is warm as my father always told me you want to see how a vehicle runs from cold.
Maximum Overdrive:
I phoned ahead to see if they still had the vehicle I was interested in, apparently it had sold that afternoon. I couldn't help but leave the phone call thinking there had been a miscommunication ( I have a N. Ireland accent that doesn't translate well on the phone) so I sent an email checking to see if it was indeed sold. I never did receive an email back but they re-advertized the same van at a lower price the next day. I phoned to confirm I'd be in that day to check it out. When I arrived the van was attached to a charger and I began to think that all Delica's drain their battery! On driving the vehicle I thought it sounded a little too rough round the edges and decided to pass, my overall impression was a little lack luster.
Rising Sun:
I tend to follow my gut, and these guys got the two thumbs up from it. When I turned up at their garage they showed us round the van I was interested in, pointing out the issues they were aware of and were quick bring to my attention that they hadn't started with there main overhaul of the engine. They went through the long list of items they intended to do on the van over the next several days but suggested I took it for a test drive none the less. For something that hadn't been tuned yet, it drove better than the maximum overdrive Van I'd been in an hour previous. It also had only 83,000 km on it. They were keen to point out that high millage doesn't make that big a difference if the vehicle is getting a full makeover/parts replacement from a reputable mechanic. I tend to agree with this, it does however greatly affect the resale value when reselling privately. The Rising Sun garage is immaculately clean and organized and they do also seem to actively pursue maintenance, servicing and repairs business, which installed confidence for me. On arrival home, my wife and I decided that the Rising Sun vehicle was our best option. We felt pretty confident that they would stand by their word and complete the various upgrades/repairs they had listed, so we called them and put down a deposit. Sure enough, four days later we picked up our van and the guys their were very proud of the work they had done, and so far we are very happy customers....
Colin.
In the end I decided on purchasing through a dealer, I'm not up on my car mechanics so purchasing privately seemed too much of a risk and I really liked the idea of a one year drive train warranty. I ended up going to three dealers and here is my thoughts....
Silk Road Auto:
The guy who showed me round seemed like a nice guy. My issue with here (and it wasn't the only place), was that when I told him which vehicle I was interested in he pulled it out into the courtyard and left it running while talking me through everything. I leaned in and turned the van off and he turned it back on saying it needed to warm up as the battery hadn't been used in a while. See the thing is I'm looking to own a van that doesn't require a curbside warmup for ten minutes before I drive off every day. So a word to dealers.... make sure your batteries are charged, and to potential buyers.... don't give a specific time that you are turning up, or if you have to do so, check the engine to see if it is warm as my father always told me you want to see how a vehicle runs from cold.
Maximum Overdrive:
I phoned ahead to see if they still had the vehicle I was interested in, apparently it had sold that afternoon. I couldn't help but leave the phone call thinking there had been a miscommunication ( I have a N. Ireland accent that doesn't translate well on the phone) so I sent an email checking to see if it was indeed sold. I never did receive an email back but they re-advertized the same van at a lower price the next day. I phoned to confirm I'd be in that day to check it out. When I arrived the van was attached to a charger and I began to think that all Delica's drain their battery! On driving the vehicle I thought it sounded a little too rough round the edges and decided to pass, my overall impression was a little lack luster.
Rising Sun:
I tend to follow my gut, and these guys got the two thumbs up from it. When I turned up at their garage they showed us round the van I was interested in, pointing out the issues they were aware of and were quick bring to my attention that they hadn't started with there main overhaul of the engine. They went through the long list of items they intended to do on the van over the next several days but suggested I took it for a test drive none the less. For something that hadn't been tuned yet, it drove better than the maximum overdrive Van I'd been in an hour previous. It also had only 83,000 km on it. They were keen to point out that high millage doesn't make that big a difference if the vehicle is getting a full makeover/parts replacement from a reputable mechanic. I tend to agree with this, it does however greatly affect the resale value when reselling privately. The Rising Sun garage is immaculately clean and organized and they do also seem to actively pursue maintenance, servicing and repairs business, which installed confidence for me. On arrival home, my wife and I decided that the Rising Sun vehicle was our best option. We felt pretty confident that they would stand by their word and complete the various upgrades/repairs they had listed, so we called them and put down a deposit. Sure enough, four days later we picked up our van and the guys their were very proud of the work they had done, and so far we are very happy customers....
Colin.
