Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

The good news for me is that I've found the Delica that I want to buy (5 spd manual, LHD, Exceed model). The bad news is that it's in Edmonton and I'm in (or should say: in one month will be moving from the US to) Vancouver. From what I understand, to bring a newly purchased vehicle into BC I'll have to get a BC safety inspection, pay a 6% PST on the price I bought it for, and then get it registered and insured.

I have a few questions for you all here, and would really appreciate some help. And if any of you have gone through the process of bringing a newly purchased Deli from another province into BC, any other suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, is what I wrote above accurate regarding the inspections, taxes, etc? If it is, how much should I expect to pay for a BC safety/emissions inspection? I know that this depends on how much work needs to be done to the van, but an estimate of what I might be looking at would be great. Lastly, any recommendations for a place to get a Delica inspected for a first time registration in BC?

Thanks, in advance, for any feedback.

Oh, one more question before I finish this. Any recommendations for an Edmonton mechanic to do a pre-purchase inspection of the van before I have it delivered to Vancouver? This is a lot of money to buy the vehicle "sight unseen" and I want to make sure that everything's in good shape!

Thanks again. And to the administrators, please feel free to put this post in any of the more specific forum categories (I didn't know where to put it myself).


-Scott

hi, scott,
i would say bring it to any alberta inspection facility that knows this jdm cars.
as per most of the delica left or right hand drive old model L300 need to be service. no matter they say its been service over at point of origin. the only one i know so far with LHD delica came from is from taiwan.
most common problem is the ff:
1.) need to change timing belt,water pump, all 4 seals, 2 bearing, thermosthat new fresh antifreeze for diesel
2.) radiator is plug as thru ages
3.) transmission fluid is old need to change filter & fluid not only fluid
4.) all suspension inner & outer tie rod some need repair, replace if loose
5.) all balljoint upper & lower need to check for play
6.)replace all fan belt if worn out
7.) check if headlight is replace dot & check if any day time running light installed proper way
8.)see & test drive the vehicle if in the morning start smoking & missing need injector to clean & pre set again
9.) check injection pump for leak this is a common problem for L300 to leak. replace if needed very expensive
10.) see if any power when it drive otherwise need to re set timing again. need experience guy to do this.
11.) check valve cover for leak as it common to leak on valve cover replace if needed.
12.)have install reflector for compliance attached front & back, alberta & b.C. is the same.
13.)tire need to be good no crack need dot & load range mark on it.
14.) all glass need to have dot mark on the glass if not its not comply need to replace & expensive.
15.) check the front HUb if any play you feel in the tire, outer tie rod & inner tie rod usually sometime need to change.
16.)check front & rear brake how much percentage it got left.
all this need to pay attention & cost lots of money
if all meet this criteria
then your car is ready to go & put in the road safely
hope this help you & welcome to delica community
Cheers;

Despite having it inspected in Alberta, you'll have to have it inspected again before registering it in BC.

Hi Sswasko, welcome to the cult, and welcome to BC soon,

I'm not an expert at this, but having heard stories from others, here are Some things for you to check about this deli:

Need to know more about the history of this vehicle. If it was imported and first sold by a reputable dealer, they will have done things properly. If it was first done by a backyard mechanic (aka shadetree mechanic) then it may not have been properly registered first time around which can cause issues now (the same issues that have to be dealt with on any vehicle arriving for the first time in BC).

Where was it first "safety inspected": if this was BC (since most deli's arrive by ship in BC because its hard to sail to Alberta as kinda far from ocean) the importers often have them inspected and registered in BC, which would make your life easier for registration in BC. If it was first registered in Alberta, then you will have to do it's first registration here. Look on the ICBC site for info on moving from another province to BC http://www.icbc.com/autoplan/moving/moving-to. As you probably know, all insurance in BC must be from the government insurance company called ICBC.

Curious about what is the VIN number: some imports were given official new Canadian VIN numbers with the longer length VIN Canadian number (not same as shorter original vin number engraved into the deli at manufacture in Japan). Never post your vin number online here (privacy concerns).

Another concern with importing from another province for any vehicle regardless of age: is that ICBC might charge you PST (provincial sales tax) (which is different from our Federal sales tax), again that is an ICBC question. You need to know the deli history from the seller, if it was previously registered in BC and the PST tax paid at that time, you should ensure you have the paperwork to prove that.

All the above relate to ICBC and the vehicle.

Now you need to check into your person and ICBC. If you can't prove your previous safe driving history by supplying a letter from your previous insurer stating your driving and accident history, then you will be charged full insurance rates with no pro-rated discounts (for example I have a 40% safe drivers discount). ICBC website says you can apply later for a rebate later if it takes a while to get your letter of history.

So, that's my initial thoughts on buying something in alberta.

Now I will switch to my concerns that I have with anyone buying a new to them deli.

Manual transmission is incredibly more expensive to repair than auto tranny, as there are very very few manual tranny's here in Canada (remember the tranny source is from junked deli's), since most deli's here have auto tranny (this was a luxury vehicle in Japan with all the bells & whistles. So if you have a breakdown it will take you much longer for phone around and email begging for a manual tranny.

Manual tranny has very different gearing than auto, thus has lower top speed on highway, and always a much higher RPM revolutions per minute. When we do deli convoys for weekend treks, we usually adjust our timing to allow a slower speed by at least 5kmh kilometers per hour when we include a manual tranny deli in the convoy.

Why does it have LHD? Presume you mean Left Hand Drive. Bit suspicious. We get the RHD becuz they come from Japan, where they are babied and respected and have low mileage, and have all the luxury features. If you buy from another country, it will probably not been built for the Japan Domestic Market so will be very different (for example the European model wiring diagram is useless for headlight and dashboard wiring problems on our deli's according to Jay who helps many local owners troubleshoot wiring issues). Thus our website and all of us owners might give you wrong info when we give advise on how to fix things, cuz the models are very different. Also, some countries treat their delica's like trash, check out youtube videos.

If it is LHD left hand drive, was it factory done, or as is more common it was a retrofit when imported as a used vehicle to another asian country -- saw a retrofit done by a crappy local welder guy and the modifications to the undercarriage did not look very strong.

Next, the whole idea of buying sight --- and smell --- unseen. There are plenty of delica's around, wait and research them, rather than risking thousands on a vehicle that might be crappy. Remember this is a 15 to 20 year old vehicle. These days, you do not need to put a deposit on a vehicle, there are plenty for you look at before buying; years ago they were rare and deposits were sometimes requested.

Next, before you buy, get a delica meet organized, so you can meet up with 20 owners and crawl all over their delica's, and compare features, and get honest opinions on what they would do differently if they had hindsight.

Consider buying from a dealer who gives a 6 month powertrain warranty etc etc etc.

So if you're buying from Alberta, then how will your warranty work... do you have to drive all the way over the Coquhilla highway, then all the way over the Rocky Mountains, with your vehicle half dead already...hmmm think about that.

The Calgary owners often travel all the way to Vancouver for delica maintenance (we know, we just had some of them here at our home -- thanks for the white wine), so the shops here are better for your pre-purchase inspection as they know the trouble spots to carefully check.

Anyway, think twice before buying. Have heard some expensive horror stories from owners at deli-meets. Come to town for a couple days to check out things before buying.

Christine.

Thanks for the detailed advice, everybody! I'm still working things out with the dealer and am still not certain that I'll actually purchase this vehicle. If I do, I'll be sure to share what I learn from the experience with you all.

If the dealer has on-line photos of the deli you are thinking of, post the link here, and we can all look and comment.