I am sorry if I have offended anyone here. As a salesman I need to be more telerant to insults and should be more diplomatic. I really need a vacation and I hope that I would be able to drive north and explore BC this summer. I think that I would come back and start fresh and become a nicer person and not snap easily. I also need to take a course of English. Anyway, as I indicated in my earlier posts, I get quite upset when I see posts from users who haven't dealt with us but have an opinion. For example, a guy sees a missing lug nut on a parked car and advise against us, a guy drops by meets nobody but doesn't like the cars or us and there this recent guy who turned this whole discussion onto a different direction by his comments. Not to mention the Alberta guy who buys one of our cars from someone else after a year and we are the bad guys.
I have repeatedly indicated that I know very little about cars but even with this lack of knowledge I know that it is not the dealer you buy from but the car itself. All of these cars are used and they, of course, are used differently. No dealer would replace the engine, transmission or any other major part simply because they fear they may fail. In fact, no dealer is replacing any part unless they judge it to be faulty or fear it may fail. And, you do not have to be a good mechanic, in fact, you may not even have to be a mechanic to notice when any of these parts are faulty so considering the world is evil and everyone is there to cheat, it is easy not to be deceived. Anything that would go wrong with any used car would go wrong with these vehicles regardless of who you buy it from. All dealers would replace timing belts, tentioners filters, fluids, brakes seals and check the car for leakes and do flushing on it which simply means a tune up and not that it is going to problems proof. Because delica engines are so simple any mechanic can do this. There is no such thing as delica specialist in Japan. A mechanic who can work on any gasoline delica is capable of working on diesel delicas as well. There are a few things that are complicated such as the injector system and the glow plug system but for those things you always need someone who specializes in that. When my mechanic has injector issues, he always takes injectors to people who specializes in injectors and that is the same for whether it is a delica or a toyota corrola. Even when you are not a mechanic if you work on an engine for 6 years consistently two to three every week, you would know everything there is to know. So, I have all the confidence in my mechanic.
To make a sale point, here we take great care when we buy cars in Japan and always try to get the best condition vehicle with the lowest mileage possible. We haven't always succeeded but if you check our inventory, you will notice that the guality of our vehicles is very good. The reason we can afford this is because we have a family member in Japan who is married to a Japanese is semi-Japanese. He has been in the car business for over 17 yeasr now. Because we have this advantage, we never buy from agents and most of the time buy vehicles after a thurough examination. This is because spending a little extra on that end saves a lot more on this end and the difference between a good condition car in Japan and a bad conditon car is very little. In fact, in many cases it is only a matter of a few hundred dollars. However, because agents sell them fob at the port, the lesser they can pay for at the auction, the more they would be making when they sell to people at the port. Please note, that I am not implying that my cars come here perfect and that they would be the best choice for you or that you wouldn't have an issue. I am simply saying that we take care in acquiring good condition cars and I think the most important thing about buying a used car is how it has been used not about who has changed filters and fluids.
Sooner or later, regardless of who you buy from, you would have problems. As you can see when buyers leave positive remarks, it is always in the first three months of having bought the car because during that time nothing has gone wrong. But, as soon as something goes wrong, they automatically think that they wished they bought it from the other dealer. Or may be if I bought my car somewhere else, this wouldn't happen. I may sound too philosophical but it is true in most cases. I take pride and want to have some credit for telling each buyer that they should contact us when and if there is an issue. We will look after the problem and in many cases at no cost to the buyer. But, again, within reason, of course.
Last year a buyer from Cambell river told me that he wanted to pay $14000 for a delica some where in the Ireland because the dealer there claim to have changed everything. I told the buyer that if he has changed everything, then there is something wrong with that car and I still believe that. When a dealer claim to have changed everything, ask for a list of what they have changed and why. Some dealers claim they have changed shocks on the delicas and increases their price by $700 when the shocks cost no more than $50 a piece. But, that is fine they may want to invest more in the car but then ask you to pay for it. Every dealer has their own way of conducting their business but in my opinion, again, the most important thing is the car itslef. You could have a delica that comes here with not even being touch and it would run for years without any issues. But, could also have one that the dealer claims to have "changed everything" on it and still develop problems.
It is stressful to see that one or two of your buyers are not happy but as the clecie goes, it is also impossible to please everyone. It is also very upsetting when you are accused of misleading someone. Some would see you as a black whole and think that if they get closer, they would be swalllowed. But in my opinion there are very few people who enjoys making themselves reach through others' measuries. Most dealers enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a buyer happy than saving a couple of dollars by not doing their job properly. Please review the posts and see the few buyers who are complaining about. It is not because their engine blew, transmission failed or any other catastrophic failure. The issues noted are all minor things such as a failed switch, a burned light and this and that. Not that we ignore this but I do need readers to think that any car that they buy could have such issues. The quesion and the biggest quesion and one that always upsets me a lot is when they accuse you of not disclosing it. As I explained in my response to Profitser who doesn't like us, he was told about the two issues we were aware existed. There was one more thing that may existed which is the override switch thing and I told him we would take care of it. The rest I simply deny is true as the car was taken to the shop one day before he took it and the mechanic did check it. Plus if you check his posts, these are new additions to his list of complaints. Initially it was the siezing caliper which we fixed, the locks which we told him was the issues and the override thing. I can feel sympathy for buyers who report issues but feel rage at those who accuses us of somehow miss leading them.
In the past few years we have sold about 121 delicas and about 37 pajeros which are basically the same as delicas. We have had one major failure. A 1991 Chamonix has had both cylinder head cracked and transmission problem but we fixed both of these issues with not every a penny cost to the buyer. We even paid for towing. I think that most of those who are driving my delicas are happy and like some other dealers on this site I should from now on be asking my buyers to leave me positive remarks here. It would't help with my business but would improve my image as right now some people protray me as this evil caniving fraudster!!!
Even though I am a dealer and know very little about cars but because I have been a dealer for such a long time dealing exclusively with these cars I have the following advise for you.
1. The most important is selecting a delica that is in the best possible condition aesthetically - a good clean car usually means good driver. However, of course, it is no guarantee
2. Select a dealer who would committe to helping you in the future - sooner or later, you will have problems beleieve me
3. Always take delicas for a pre-purchase inspection and if possible stay there with the car while it is being inspected- $50-100 is nothing compared to the peice of mind you get from it. And, it could be any mechanic. Believe me they are very simple engines and the things that are complicated cannot be diagnosed very easily even by those who makes their living claiming to be "delica specialists". None of these so called specialist can do pressure tests or test to see if the glow plug system is working as by the time you get the delica their it would be warmed up and would start easily. Checking the glow plugs theselves is very simple.
4. Believe that "PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY GOOD" very few people who are their to mislead you. Most people even when they are used cars salesman would tell you the truth and you can support this truth by doing your own inspectoin on the car. I say this because sometimes I tell potential buyers something and they suspect their may be something else I hiding. For example a few days ago a buyer took one of our delicas for a test drive and I told him that there is an issue with the gas pedal cable so the car appears as if it is not responding but in reality it is not getting gas as the cable is lose and told him we were aware of the issue and fixed it. He drove it and said this is actually because some cylinders are not getting power. The car is running with 1 or 2 cylinders!! We fixed the cable and now all cylinders are working!
5. Don't pay extra for a delica because the dealer claims to have changed "everything". Pay more only if they have put on a brand new engine, transmission, turbo charger and some other major parts. The rest of the stuff even when they are "ALL REPLACED" means very little
6. Never rely on the “warranty” thing
I will post more to improve my image and that is of my business but first I have to drive all over BC in my hiace camper, not delica. Will also practice my english writing skills.
freeheelsteve wrote:Ok, I started this thread a long time ago when I was looking at some vehicles Karim had on his lot. My intention was not to start the massive shit storm that has followed.
I ended up buying my Delica from Karim. At the time, he had one vehicle there that I thought was worth the money. I made sure it was in compliance and I had an independent mechanic go over it with me and then tell me "Yup this vehicle is in good shape." It came with dealer serviced records back to Fall 2008, so I could confirm mileage, work that had been done and that it had been driven until recently. I've had a wheel alignment done, but to date, I've put over 5,000km on it and it has been awesome.
Would I have paid the money for one of the other Delicas on Karim's lot? No. Not because I think Karim is trying to pull one over. Just because they were USED vehicles that weren't up to the standard I was looking for. My point here is that, these import dealers are selling 15 year old USED vehicles, just like any other used car dealership. So, you need to go in with your eyes open, having done your homework. Dealers like Mardy have set a precedent on this forum and skued the perspective of what you are buying when you purchase a 15 year old vehicle. I'm not saying what Mardy does is a bad thing, because he definitely provides the buyer with a certain piece of mind on some mechanical items. I looked at a Delica from Mardy, he was awesome to deal with and ensured me all servicing would be done. Still, the vehicle was not for me. I just didn't think the interior and exterior condition were in good enough shape, so I moved on. That's "buying used vehicles". The dealer can do as much servicing up front as you want, but the minute you drive it off the lot, there are a million other things that can go wrong with a 15 year old used vehicle. Trust me, I know, I own an '84 Westfalia.
So I figure, since I started this thread, it would be fitting, if I ended it. So, please do not respond and let this thread die.
Cheers,
Steve
Nice post Kevin - welcome to the forum and to the wonderful world of delicas! And hey, if you can try to get over to the Island for the ccautos day in Aug. 
