Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

I'm still dealing with an appraiser over the value of the WVO Super Exceed I crashed a few weeks ago. It seems the major stumbling block for him is that my van had 215,000km at the time of the accident. Here are his thoughts on this:

Part time ÌCBC Certified Appraiser wrote:I asked a number of dealers if there would be a difference in asking parices for a vehicle with 200.000 with one with 100,000 kilometers. As I knew they would they all stated that there would be a definie difference as people buy vehicles and pay less for higher mileage vehicles. The only dealer that stated something different was [Dealer Name Omitted] who said kilometers do not matter. As a dealer for 35-years I disregared their answer as it was definitley self serving due to the fact they ask the highest prices for Delica anywhere.

As side from him not having spell check on his computer does anyone have comments. Here is what I have written back so far:

Adam wrote:Could you let me know what other dealers you asked about higher mileage diesels? Specifically, were they Delica dealers, and/or did you specify you were talking about an 18 year old diesel? The distinction between a 200,000km diesel and a 200,00km gas engine are vast. When used under identical operating conditions, a diesel engine will likely produce at least twice the engine life of a gas engine. Properly maintained diesel engine can easily reach 500,000km before need any major repairs, where as it is rare for a gas engine to reach 300,000km. [Dealer Name Omitted] typically chooses vehicles that have been driven and maintained through out their 15 years, instead of choosing low mileage vehicles that have been stored for 5-10 years of their life. The rationale is that their continued use and up keep circumvents corrosion and deterioration issues that can plague vehicles that have been let idle for 5-10 years. The trade off for this is a relatively minor compromise on mileage, a difference of 10-20% given the life of the average diesel engine.

How much do you think it's worth for that mileage ?

Honestly, has anyone ever seen a good condition Delica, regardless of mileage, being sold for much under $10,000?

Unless the vehicle was a total disaster he should be offering you at least that much.

Delicafan wrote:How much do you think it's worth for that mileage ?

It's a Super Exceed, with pretty much all the options, Cool Box, LSD, Chrome Trim, custom trailer hitch, after market DVD MP3 player, and a Plant Drive system. ICBC started at $6,500 and now they are up to $9,000. I bought it for $11,900 from Five Star, then added the hitch, stereo and Plant Drive kit. I was hoping to get replacement cost for it, somewhere around $13,000.

I purchase the van with 164,000km, put on 50,000km in 2 years. If a diesel runs to 500,000km and I paid approx. $11,900 for it with approx. 336,000km of engine life left, and I used approx. 1/7th of that said engine life I would consider depreciation on the vehicle approx. 1/7th of the purchase price, or $1770. Leaving the value of the van at $10,130, before the custom hitch ($360), stereo ($200)and Plant Drive kit ($1000), for a total of $11,690. How does my math look? Keep in mind that it is plus 30 degrees outside and I have a kegerator.

Green1 wrote:Honestly, has anyone ever seen a good condition Delica, regardless of mileage, being sold for much under $10,000?

Unless the vehicle was a total disaster he should be offering you at least that much.

Not to argue against an insurance claim, as I despise insurance companies, but:

I bought mine in outstanding condition @ 140,000km for 7700$, off this site a few months back. There's a gorgeous Delica in Spruce Grove advertised here for 8000$. I agree about deisel engines and longevity, but there are a lot more things that wear out on a vehicle besides the engine.
I've seen a few more for around 9000$- lots more than last year.

Best of luck fighting for all the money- I think if you keep arguing with them you may get more. Anyone that takes the first offer from an insurance company is usually losing out somewhat! They talk about "customer service", but they will do everything possible to give you nothing, or as little as possible.

The longer you make them wait, the more they are inclined to give you more.

Reason : they have a quota window from time a claim is opened to close.

Not many people know this.

Since the plantdrive kit is not part of the original vehicle and they will definitely not reimburse you for it, I would remove it before ICBC buys the Delica from you.

As it stands, you still own the vehicle and they can't touch it.

Good luck.

Spearo wrote:I agree about deisel engines and longevity, but there are a lot more things that wear out on a vehicle besides the engine.
I've seen a few more for around 9000$- lots more than last year.

This is similar to the argument posed the appraiser. He sent me a bunch of private sale vehicles with a lower price range. I know a lot of these vehicles are in good shape and they were around when we purchased ours, but the reason we paid top dollar for the van is the expert work performed on it by CC Auto and the fact that they stand behind the vehicles they sell. The same can't be said for a lot of private sales. In my opinion the appraiser should take more into account than the model and mileage of the vehicle. Heck if that is the case anyone with access to craigslist can be a certified ICBC appraiser. And I'm not being sarcastic when I say this,all the examples he faxed me were off of usedvictoria.com and craigslist keyword "Delica". I told him to go back and add the words "Super Exceed" to his search terms to get a more representative sample. I also mentioned that in future he could just send me the online links instead of me having to borrow a fax machine to receive the print outs of the online ads he'd found.

I guess I shouldn't be taking this so personally, but after driving for 20 years without any claims I figured I might have earned the right to not have to fight for every penny from the insurance company.

Okay Adam, now we know you are "fighting fit", and no one was hurt, and we're really sorry to hear about your van, but what we really want to know is, what happened to my mom's (former) trailer????

kb&2dogs wrote:Okay Adam, now we know you are "fighting fit", and no one was hurt, and we're really sorry to hear about your van, but what we really want to know is, what happened to my mom's (former) trailer????

I just bent one of plates that holds the wheel swivel. It was still towable if you didn't mind rolling on the sidewall of the bent wheel. It is being fixed right now by a local mechanic. He was quite impressed that I was able to bend the 3/4" steel plate:-)

Adam wrote: Heck if that is the case anyone with access to craigslist can be a certified ICBC appraiser. ...
I guess I shouldn't be taking this so personally, but after driving for 20 years without any claims I figured I might have earned the right to not have to fight for every penny from the insurance company.

I agree wholeheartedly. If I was an ins appraiser maybe I'd even post fake stuff for the same reason. And our private companies in Alberta are just as vicious when it comes time to pay out a claim, regardless of driving history.
Again, hold fast and get the most out of them. Their primary mandate is to make money, period.

The problem is, they won't give you what it is worth to you but what Delica's are worth to someone else. Hence the craigslist postings he sent you. It works in reverse sometimes also, I heard of people with super beat vehicles they crashed and got way more than their's was worth. Insurance is the biggest scam on the planet.

If you can deal with the time factor, then wait.

The longer you draw it out, the more anxious they get to close the claim = will up the $ figure.

Many people need the funds asap, so they settle soon.

Others who are fortunate to not need the funds asap, have the luxury to let the claims adjuster sweat and make them play ball.

It's the way it works.

What you can tell your adjuster to make them sweat a little is that you will take all of your Delica history and get a few appraisers to look at it.

omg i cant believe you have a kegerator! thats cool

You will very likely NOT get the extra $$ for the accessories added or at least as a percentage of their worth. Remove your WVO system (at minimum) as its worth more to you than to them and they won't (likely) give you the added value.

Pull the stereo and the hitch, as stated these are after market and ICBC will not compensate for them.