PLEASE help me!!!

[Newbiemegan]

Hi, my name is Megan and we are looking for a Delica.

We are pregnant with our 4th child. Right now we own a 2003 Mazda Tribute that we love. We don't want a loan with our next vehicle. We have a steep driveway that gets very icy in winter so we need something with 4wd. Ive looked at a few and love the captains seats that you can turn around. We also want something that is good on gas. Someone told us about Delicas and we think that it's what we want!!

I'm wondering what to watch for when purchasing one. Things that usually leak or are hard to deal with. What we should watch for, which model to get, ect. Any tidbits would be awesome! We are looking to purchase one for up to $7000.

[TardisDeli]

Hello Megan, welcome to our cult. The Delica is wonderful, Ihave mine nearly 4 years. Most of us have diesel, not gas. The L300 (my favourite) has the mid engine (you sit atop it) with NO hood space (clear view to ground, easy to park) and there is a hump between you and the back seats. The L400 has a front engine, so has a hood which means harder to see in front of you, but has a space to walk between the front seats to walk back to smack naughty back seat passengers. B0th L300 and L400 middle seats are either the bench seat or the 2 captains chairs (best with kids as they can't touch each other). Yo must ensure your van has factory fitted shoulder belts for rear seats (they were not standard until 1993 ish). Another big choice is the roof height, 7 foot high for tall (gives nice head room for you to crawl around in back fixing seat belts etc) vs 6.6 for low roof .... if you park underground for shopping etc this might matter. My best advice is buy from a dealer that does ALL the maintenance before you buy (ie Mardy of Amazing Autos) with a warranty etc. However, your budget of $7000 is fairly low for all the pre-purchase work and warranty. I see Steven at Rising Sun Autos in New West has some traded in vehicles, and will be doing a no-gst reduction so you might check his selection. Beware when buying from CraigsList etc, a lot a very very bad private sellers with no warranty etc. Try to get to a mini meet, there was one last night in Maple Ridge, as we all crawl around each others vehicles admiring modifications. Cheers, Christine.

[Delicashop.com]

This thread digs into the L400 mechanicals for you if you go that way.

http://www.delica.ca/forum/new-to-l400- ... -8009.html

[Rising Sun Auto Import]

Hi, Megan
Welcome to forum.
In fact there are lots of choice in the market.
Pls contact us or visit us and see what we can do for you.

We are working for Canadians to get this awesome diesel delicas at affordable price with good maintenance.

Steven 778-995-2459

[William]

Hey,i've got a L400 & bought private,got a pre-purchase inspection done @CVI automotive in richmond(BUTCH was great,walked me through all points of the van)Well worth the fee!!!

I went to the big dealers before i made choice,i felt there was no need to replace a perfectly good original rad with a $150 chinese/aftermarket rad.I wanted original over flow bottle,not a chinese one.The seller gave me the list of items that were changed.(new tires,new E-coded lights,new filters,new fluids,new battery,all new front end suspension parts.$8500 was what i paid,i've put on 40,000km on my van and now i have just over 200,000km.I saved over $3000 buying private,i can get alot of service done for that money saved.

Japanoid is awesome for service and have most of the parts in stock for the delica and know these vans really well.

RISING SUN IS HAVING A HST SALE,GOOD TO SEE THERE BUILDING IT IN THERE PRICE,WE MEET STEVEN & would have bought from him but the price was still over $11,000

There's lots to learn,lots of scare tactics!!!!.....THERE IS MORE THAN 1 AMAZING DEALER OUT THERE,OR SHOPS.REMEMBER ALL THE VANS COME FROM SAME PLACES IN JAPAN,ALL DEALERS AND PEOPLE SHOP IN SAME PLACE!!

Well put! Glad you scored a deal and are having a good experiences.