Family Vehicle?

[daveO]

I've got a Bongo and my local parts place can get most parts next or even same day. It's not a great vehicle though. If I could afford a VW with the same features I'd ditch it straight away. I think mine is a pretty poor example but I haven't found a local garage yet that knows how to do the coolant bleeding procedure and none that will offer to replace the head for free if they get it wrong. I'm amazed Mazda were allowed to release a car that was designed that badly and it doesn't reflect well on them.

 

[Paul_B]

Bongo out!

Thanks for the info.

 

[Janne]

I just learned that Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have what they called an 'Alliance'.

The MB Citan is a Mb built (?) version.

So any van like vehicle in the same size, from those manufactures, should be very, very similar ...

 

[santaman2000]

.....4x4 needs pulling power = big engine. When will you need that?....

The original Willies Jeep that made 4WD famous was a 4 cylinder

 

[Robson Valley]

The original Willies Jeep made a name for the Zamboni family as the years went by.
Four cylinder 4x4 of course with absolutely no frills, bells or whistles and even less weight.

My 4x4 is so big and so heavy, I just sink to the bottom and stand on the gas.

 

[Janne]

It was light, it was slow and it had no power sapping additions.

 

[Janne]

and the people inside it were smaller and much thinner than today.

 

[santaman2000]

Jeep still sells Wrangler with it.

GMC sells the Canyon with it and Chevy sells the Colorado with it (both have impressive tow capabilities for a small truck) as well as my Toyota 4WD pick-up back in 1982. Lastly, some of the best tractors I ever logged with were 4 cylinders although those were 2WD.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that the faster revs required for highway speeds will wear out the smaller engines sooner.

 

[Robson Valley]

Some gearboxes are 6 or 7 speed now to keep the revs down.
2200 rpm in 4th for me is about 70 mph.
It's the load pulling torque for hills and loads that goes away.
Most of our highways have a third passing lane on the hills so you can get around the gutless wondermachines.

I normally pull over so all those people so anxious to get nowhere fast can do their thing.
I can beat all of them up most any mountain highway hill. 150kph is no big deal.

 

[santaman2000]

I'm looking for a new truck myself in the next few months. I'd dearly love this one

But for the price I could get a full sized half ton.

 

[Robson Valley]

That's OK if you need serious load pulling power.

It's not like most of the UK (I don't think).
I have to cope with snow and ice on mountain highways with curves and valleys.

The heater at the back by the tailgate is a dream feature.
Rear seat has 3 pairs of heater vents and their own controls in the roof.
The transmission cooler has it's own radiator up front.
I can afford to drive the Burb, maybe need to go out 2-3 times a week.

I'll never need a "daily driver" again.

 

[Paul_B]

Been looking at Mitsubishi delica MPVs of late. Japanese import. Not sure if the 4wd is full 4wd or a softroader up to 60/40 type that's more AWD if you get what I mean.

Kind of Ford kuga AWD not pajero 4wd. I thought the delica had diff lock and all the proper 4x4 bits. Must admit I'm not really up on 4x4s. Always been put off because they're supposed to be more expensive to maintain and service (use garages not DIY beyond oil, tyres, water, etc).

What's your view on age of the vehicle? I'm seeing some 36000 mile Japanese imports from about 2000. Immaculate underneath from what I can see from the photographs (one dealer has close up photos of the area around the suspension. No rust there that I could see.

I'm wary of high and low mileage vehicles but I reckon it depends on the use. If low mileage cars are lots of short journeys it's not as good as a few longer ones with the engine fully warming up i reckon. What are the issues of low mileage and older vehicles? I usually have a rule of 5 years or younger then running it until at least 10 years old. Never thought I'd contemplate something 10 or 15 years old (seen a few closer to 2010). What's your view on age and low mileage?

 

[Janne]

18 year old. 36 000 miles?

36000 / 18 = 2000
Not likely.

Sounds like the classic ’ only used on Sundays by an old lady to church” BS.

The odo meter, does it have a Zero before? ( 036000)
If yes, somebody was either crafty with a computer, or a drill.
Depends on if the odometer is taken through computer or straight.
If no ”0” before the 3, it coulf be 136 000 or even 236 000?

The problem is, the paperwork can be faked. Computer can be adjusted.

For a layman, you can only do so much checking. I always check:
Drivers seat - same feel as passanger seat?
Pedals - how worn is the rubber? Is it msybe brand new, or aftermarkwt ’sporty’ aluminium ?
Steering wherl - worn? Replaced to cheap aftermarket?

Before you test drive - check engine lid. Cold? If hot - dealer warmed up the engine to hide something.
Cold engine - smoke from exhaust upon starting?
During and after a test drive - smoke?

 

[Janne]

Btw, in Japan they use kilometer speedometers/ odometers. Japan is modern and looking forward.
Metric.
36 000 km?

The paperwork, service book, should be in kilometers. Same as the speedometer snd odometer.
They should tally with each other.

If the speedo/odo is in mph - replaced.

Do I sound like doubting Thomas? Yes.
Buy British.

Less chance of getting bolted.

 

[Janne]

Low mileage on old vehicles ? Ok if still serviced at least yearly.

If engine is undamaged by it.

 

[Paul_B]

https://www.algysautos.com/listings/mitsubushi-delica-5009/

https://www.algysautos.com/listings/toyota-alphard-ref-19607a4sj/

These are two examples I've seen from one importer. I've looked at a few more never noticed significant seat wear on most of the decent looking ones.

There's a local businessman who imports Japanese engineered parts and started importing the odd mpv van too. Focusing on 4wd ones but do 2wd if decent. I've checked a bongo out (don't want a bongo really). Your note about drivers versus passengers seat wear I'd say wear is even and not very much. That guy photographs every part pretty much. The underneath looks good on the vans in stock. The mileage is one of those mechanical type displays. 145,000 for a 1999 I think. Way too old for me. Plus he's asking for £8995!!! Previous delica chamonix spec vans look immaculate though.

These places often show the auction check sheet. Which has mileage in western number but the rest is in Japanese. I believe there are requirements for auction houses to do more checks than UK ones do and they report is in a standard format sheet it seems.

The local seller had the speedo converted to miles and I believe the one in the links above do that too. Anything under 10 years old when it gets its first UK mot has to be converted but over 10 years at import they don't need converting. Although you can get replacement speedo faces so you see the speed in mph but distance in km. Still legal for all cars I read.

The trouble with UK vehicles, there's nothing quite the same spec as you get with Japanese import vans that I've seen. Unless you go for something a lot more expensive and out of our price range. I think citreon do a van based mpv that's close but costs £15k+ for even older versions. Toyota hiace mpv but it's a newish mpv that's expensive and only a few years old availability (something like £35k - 50k new I think). Neither 4wd if you want that. I don't know why the Japanese domestic market gets there vans but not so much like them in UK.

 

[santaman2000]

Btw, in Japan they use kilometer speedometers/ odometers. Japan is modern and looking forward.
Metric.
36 000 km?.

The older mechanical odometers were one or the other but I suspect the newer electronic ones can be switched back and forth (even if it can only be doe by a technician) Speedometers have bee dual readig for a log time.

I also m very suspect of a vehicle that oly shows a average of 2000 miles per year.

 

[santaman2000]

Do you have access to Carfax there?

 

[Janne]

You need to test sit to check for sagging drivers seat, and have a very good look around.
On Cayman, when we import cars, we either import ’luxury’ cars from the US, or ’notmal’ cars from Japan.

(The LR Defender we get from UK

I have seen many Japanese cars here that look fab when they arrive ( after a good clean and polish) but start to get rusted through areas within 2 years. I almost bought two Japan imports myself ( low miles, good price) but discovered a rusty dipstick (= engine submerged(?), water inside it) on the first one.
The other one had paperwork that did not make sense. I discovered this through a Japanese friend. Possibly stolen, or a repaired write off or similar. Also interior showed more wear that it should have.

That put me of buying Japanese imports.

 

[Janne]

The older mechanical odometers were one or the other but I suspect the newer electronic ones can be switched back and forth (even if it can only be doe by a technician) Speedometers have bee dual readig for a log time.

I also m very suspect of a vehicle that oly shows a average of 2000 miles per year.

I have adjusted the mileage on a couple cars myself, both electronic odo’s ( need access to a specific program from the ‘net and the connector to acess the cars computer) and mechanical ( dead easy, you just need an electric drill.)

I was young and did not want to lose so much second hand value. Used to do over two hours driving a day on fast roads, and huge distances on my holidays. Yes I know, it is criminal ......