Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Wow, a Mitsu-maple. That's pretty cool.

I have been surfing around, checking for a potential new family run about. I have been thinking wagon, but I tripped across a JDM
importer website (Zenautosport in Calgary) that showed these quirky yet strangely cool Delicas.
Of course, I googled that and here I am.... a potential Deli-Canadian.

I have noticed that there are a lot for sale, primarily in British
Columbia. Are you guys quickly outgrowing these vehicles, or what????????

The purpose of my thread is to solicit what you LIKE, or DO NOT like about your Delica.

My intended use is for family based, fuel efficient fun. I want a diesel, 4x4 is not a necessity. (but the cool factor is there, right?)

What features do they have that would make it suitable for a cold Ontario winter? I see there is a cold weather package of sorts.
What about all those windows? The roof height, tall and short?!?!?!?!!

Are parts hard to source? Is maintenance difficult? (no need to get too technical on this one)

Whatever you think a Delica newbie needs to know, please add your $0.02!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Racer,

Ive had mine now since July and am having a blast. Still in my infancy stage compared to a few people here, but I figure, if you can read and have a bit of common sense, no worries. I kind fit into that catagory. ( I now use a hammer instead of a cresent wrench)

I cant speak for anyone else, but I found that this lil buggy will consume you. As far as parts n repairs go, they are becoming more readily available as the ownership increases. As for price, well its all relevant. You buy a new vehicle today and about all you can do is tires n bolt on bling. At least with a Delica, you still can perform most of the mechanical.

And as for the abundance of Delicas on the coast, thats easy. The boat doesnt stop in Calgary.

Have fun !!
Gregg

yes welcome racer.

you will find a tonne of useful info here on this website. its fair to say that a similar question pops up on this forum about once a week, so try the search feature, also browse the FAQ and deliwiki pages.

have fun, i bought my deli less than a week ago but spent a month on this forum learning, there is lots to know!!

-Chris.

Golf Cart wrote:...And as for the abundance of Delicas on the coast, thats easy. The boat doesnt stop in Calgary.

See, now that's not fair: the boat probably would stop in Calgary - it's just going to have a heck of a time getting there in the first place! The Fraser River's a b17ch, especially in the Spring!

Yes, the Freshette. Forgot about that !

Yeah okay, I mentioned Calgary in my post.
I live in Ontario, and I realize that BC is the seaport where JDM's are brought into.

So other than that pointing out the blatantly obvious, can this thread get back on track?

I am looking for real world opinions here...

Racer-X wrote: I have noticed that there are a lot for sale, primarily in British
Columbia. Are you guys quickly outgrowing these vehicles, or what????????

No. They are just amazingly popular. You can't find anything like it on the market today at that price.

4x4
diesel
seats 7
normally great condition
under 15k

Racer-X wrote:The purpose of my thread is to solicit what you LIKE, or DO NOT like about your Delica.

Like :

Montero drivetrain that is proven and bulletproof = cheap parts + good parts
seats 7 or a queen sized bed or lots of gear
unique look and great view from the driver's seat
diesel low torque engine
factory options

Not like :

GenI drivetrain . Would prefer SuperSelect GenII drivertrain = AWD + F/T 4x4
single side-sliding door
small stock brakes
oil and a/c cooler location

Racer-X wrote:What features do they have that would make it suitable for a cold Ontario winter? I see there is a cold weather package of sorts.

Chamonix/Jasper models stock specifically comes with a tougher/hardened paint job, limited slip rear differential, dual batteries, larger alternator, glow plug system and hard wearing (like ski/snow) carpets.

You can get the same/similar winter package on Exceed or Super Exceeds minus the hardened paint job.

Racer-X wrote:What about all those windows? The roof height, tall and short?!?!?!?!!

Lots of windows = good visibility for driver and passengers. Thumbs up.

I prefer tall roof for more headroom inside. Short roof is good if you park underground parking lots or personal preference.

Racer-X wrote:Are parts hard to source? Is maintenance difficult?

Most of the drivetrain parts are 1986-89 Mitsubishi Montero (available in North America) and because of the large amount of JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) vehicles in Canada, there are well established parts suppliers, so parts availability is not a concern.

Maintenance is as easy or difficult as anyone person makes it out to be.

These are no different than any other vehicle as far as maintenance is concerned.

The same engine can be found in mid-80's Dodge and Ford pickup's and driveline in Mitsubishi Montero's (few things are unique to Delica's).

Hope that answer's your q's.

Buy mine .

Racer-X wrote: I have noticed that there are a lot for sale, primarily in British
Columbia. Are you guys quickly outgrowing these vehicles, or what????????

Hello,

I'd wager to speculate many a poor little BC Delica goes on the block cause of lack of use. Though the footprint is just so small many owners find themselves driving around with an empty 6 six seats, an unused extra drive axle, two heater cores, etc (wasteful). Sometimes it's a second, or third road tripping vehicle that doesn't get the use planned or dreamed about. And thirdly, once you catch the JDM import bug one Delica may not be enough.

This is just what I've heard over the last several years as a pervious double Delica owner whom had only one definite con about Delica owner ship: cramped engine access for the DIY'er. Easily made up for by the quality of build of these vans - all those hard to reach nuts and bolts turn like there supposed to. This ain't no North American vehicle, which after working on many you won't ever touch again.

Cheers,

Reasons why we bought a Delica instead of another NAMV (North American Mini Van, pronounced "nam-vee"):

-Delicas are freaking cool! (we saw one in the parking lot at the head of the West Coast Trail and left a considerable number of nose/fingerprints on each of the windows)
-good fuel economy (better than the 13mpg pig-sucking Windstar we were driving at the time, and better than even most of the current models - not bad for a 20-year-old van, eh?)
-seats 7 (more than most NAMVs unless you get the BIG one, and the seats fold relatively flat... okay they don't disappear into the floor and they're kinda heavy to be pulling out every weekend because you want to throw your ATV into the back of it, but hey, if you're doing that, you probably don't need seats in the rear anyway)
-price was right (considerably less than a new NAMV)
-in better condition than comparably-aged NAMVs, as in comparable to a 5-year-old vehicle here, not a plus-15-year-old
-low kilometers, so lots of distance left for a diesel (ours only had 192000, so it was just getting warmed up)

All that being said, the 4WD was a bonus (not needed, but welcome nonetheless, and we've used it from time-to-time, good on the forestry roads). Being a diesel was at first an issue, but the availability of diesel is now an non-issue.

Pros
-all of the above
-great camper/trailer hauler (although it won't pull anything too large as it's only an 85hp engine)
-the captains seats are great for the kids (they can look at each other when they're being civil to one another, and turn around when they're not)
-good choice for conversion to WVO because there isn't a tonne of electronics monitoring/managing the fuel system (this is the "problem" for the newer diesels and why the manufacturers would stand by their warranty should you convert over)

Cons
-only thing I would complain about would be towing capacity, but that is ONLY and PURELY from a North American perspective (remembering this vehicle was developed for the Japanese domestic market and they don't camp/tow like we do, so the vehicle wasn't designed for the size of trailers we tend to have on this continent)

Further explanation to the towing/speed/power issue would go something like this: IMHO, if this was a NAMV it would probably have a 4 to 7 litre diesel engine in it in order to meet the expectations of the market. That's if the vehicle even came with a diesel engine, because most NA manufacturers are still hesitant to put out a diesel model. Look at most of the pickup trucks 5.6 litre, 7 litres (that's over 400 cubic inches!) - no wonder sales of trucks has 'fallen off' over the past year or two.

In closing: we got it, we love it, and it's going to be a sad day when we have to move on to something else (I'm thinking 20 years from now). My advice to you would be to figure out what you want the vehicle to do and make your selection based on that. These vans are popular with the VW bus gang (not necessarily hippies, but I suspect some of them are), surfers, construction workers, outdoors-types, and even adventurers, so they meet a lot of expectations for many different kinds of people. And take your time: Mitsubishi may have stopped making them, but there are 127 million people in Japan and I think more than a few of them bought Delicas.

Hi, racer,
i am one of the first person who own & drive a delica for 4 1/2 yrs now, now as a car dealer i still own & drive delica. trying to specializing delica & pajero as this vehicle is really cool. better than toyota. easy to access on parts & easy to fix, not like toyota.
so in case you decided to buy delica we're here for you to support technical , parts & other related problem you will encounter when you have this type of vehicle.
again delcia is the best jdm diesel in the market now a days as its not electronic injection compare to toyota.
hopefully you can decide to buy delica to join our growing community club.
if need help to find delica for you, pls buzz me, & will be there for you to help your future delica.
your welcome anytime.
cheers;
Mardy

Hi Racer,
Did you mean Zen Autoworks in Calgary? If so, that is who I imported my Delica through. It was a very pleasant experience dealing with Zen and I would import through him again...but not right away...two JDMs in the driveway is enough for now. Once our Delica arrived in Canada, I had Mardy (aka MardyDelica) check it over and do a bunch of maintenance to it. I look forward to many many kms of fun out of this van!

I can't think of any cons off the top of my head. I guess some of it is just getting used to having a diesel vehicle, such as having to wait for it to warm up and those kinds of things.

For pros, it is the ultimate road trip and backroads exploration vehicle. Going more slowly up some of those mountain passes while sitting high up in the driver's seat and being on the right side of the vehicle allows you to see a lot more stuff! Driving long distances is comfy, whether you are in the front or back of it. I like the idea of the seats being able to fold into a bed configuration, although I have yet to try that one out. In town it takes up hardly any space (length and width wise...not so much in height) at all and is quite easy to maneuver.

The support offered from people such as Mardy @ Amazing Auto Imports, Glen @ CC Autos, CVI, EnviroImports, Maximum Overdrive and others make it easy to find parts and get these vans tuned up. I'd say go for it. We are sure glad we did!

Hi Racer,

We haven't owned our Delica long enough to compile a long list of pros or cons. We got it because my SO wanted a VW van and I simply refused. I am long past enjoying roadside wrenching! I have to admit that the main thing that attracted us to the Delica was the way it looks. It just looks great. However, once we got past that, we found it to be a very enjoyable mode of transport. Great for around town. We get close to 20 mpg in town and about the same on the hiway although that would probably improve if I didn't try to maintain 110kmph.
My SO's other vehicle is an LS430 and it has remained parked a good deal of the time since we got the van. That speaks volumes about how much she likes it.
About the only con, as far as I am concerned, is its lack of power. I guess I'll just have to get used to that.

Our plans are to use it for some short overnight camping and to haul her motorcycle. We can't decide to rig it to haul it inside or to pull a trailer. Got the winter to decide I guess.

You will find this forum a great resource for all things related to the Delica. If I can offer one piece of advice it would be to take your time looking. There are good ones out there but there are several not so good.

Rod

drrod wrote:If I can offer one piece of advice it would be to take your time looking.

Welcome Racer. Take your time looking through the forum too, as your questions are common ones. I know there have been several threads before that have addressed your question of like and dislike. In fact, all your questions are covered at other places in the forum. The search button at the top right will help you find them. Then you won't have to worry about your thread getting off topic.

Best idea is to visit Vancouver, tell us in advance so we can organize a deli meet, and a day trip somewhere, so you can meet a bunch of owners and their deli's and we'll each tell you why ours is better than another (I prefer captains exceed seats instead of chamonix seats, I prefer high roof but no crystal lite window in roof, I prefer to take the rear bench out and put in a platform for storage under and bed atop, i prefer one big battery over 2 smaller, I prefer to tow others out of mud rather than be stuck in mud, I prefer a microwave rather than cook outside, etc). Then you can meet the various recommended dealers, and avoid the rip off dealers. See you soon? Christine & Jay.

Thanks for all the excellent replies!

Why doesn't your mod put a sticky on this? That way all of us newbies can simply read the thread!

It sounds like a very unique vehicle! By the way I have been peeking at your member photos..... you're a damn fine looking bunch!!!!!!!!!