Are Delica's Crap?

[sayulita101]

Looked at 10 Deli"s on "V" lot 3 rd Richmond .8 of them had serious rust issues on the roof. Had to tell the salesman how to start the van as well.These bottom feeders should stick to selling pimped out Beemers, and wholesale repo"s .Quit giving Deli"s a bad name!

[helibrian]

I love my delica it can go anywhere in the snow which is great right now. I think everyone has had a water leak in the footwell and my alternator gave up too, but for the most this delica is the best vehicle i've ever had. Not to mention its a 7 passenger diesel van. There I did it my first positive post.

[jrman]

I got the greatest compliment a hubby could ever get....my wonderful wife said she would never ever ever make fun of my deli again after the performance it has provided our family (and extended family - shuttling people everywhere) these past 5 days of snow in Vancouver - just gotta make me smile!

[Profister]

x2
Sean, are you in Beans at 9 am on Sunday as usually?
Sergiy.

[jrman]

Hey Sergiy...not this weekend. Off to Harrison for 2 days leaving tomorrow am - then Whistler for 4 before back to work!
Catch you in the New Year mate!

[MardyDelica]

Hi, just to inform you guys as most of the member here own a delica. since owning this type of delica more than 41/2 years.
i did test the strenght of this delica since we got this big snow here in vancouver. from 21/2 ft to 31/2 ft of snow no problem.
did some occassion that i have to pick-up my friend who cannot get out of there house cause of the file up of snow. 2008 BMW X5,
Ford explorer, nissan pathfinder, toyota 4 runner all got stuck most of there neightbour car got stuck.
but My delica went thru all this snow & did it pretty well. make a three point turn back & fort no problem.
its amazing van i never own a mini van before like this that done its job on this type of weather & condition.
cannot exchange it to any newer mini van available now.
so hopefully everybody who own delica could say wow. this delica is good.
i thank Mitsubishi for making such a wonderful mini van like this. hopefully all delica owner would consider head up the way this delica perform in such a bad condition we encounter this past few week.
Enjoy your holidays everybody,
Happy New Year to All
Cheers
Mardy

[Dewy]

Impalator...

i too have experienced a lot more down time since buying my van in July. In fact i the van has been immobile for 3 of the 5 months of my owning it and again it is currently broken down. It is my home more so than a vehicle and it supposedly had all the necessities done to it prior. but it has been an amazing learning experience i would not have had otherwise. feeling blessed and having faith and allllloootttt of patience. See how i am doing in a few more months

peace

[bryanc]

I got the greatest compliment a hubby could ever get....my wonderful wife said she would never ever ever make fun of my deli again after the performance it has provided our family (and extended family - shuttling people everywhere) these past 5 days of snow in Vancouver - just gotta make me smile!

I can top that , my wife wants her own now

[torcha8]

Hello everybody,

I am posting a message now that probably will have every Delica Enthusiast hate me... but I need to vent... so bare with me....

Are Delica's really that great, fun, awesome, cool, special and however else we like to refer to them?

When I visit the Delica Forum - some nice photos of camping trips aside - the only thing I always ever notice is people breaking down in their vans, all kinds of stuff go wrong (Van won't shift up, can't be started, leaks oil, ECU clicking erradically, can't open sliding door, electrical wiring shutdown, batteries dead, overheating, loss of power, lots and lots of black smoke coming out the tailpipe... etc.) and then there is always the same crew of Deli-Defenders that write back and point out that this should have been done or that.... or that better maintenance would have prevented it etc. etc....)

Are we really being honest? Or are our Delica Vans - aside from being cool looking and a fun concept - just utter pieces of junk?

I am in the process of giving up on my Delica ...

We bought our Van in September and the following has happended to us so far:

- 1 day after I bought it, the batteries were dead (needed to replace both batteries)

- 4 days after we bought it, it overheated with terminal engine failure on the Coquihalla (needed new cylinder head, water pump, radiator, thermostat, timing belts and all kinds of gaskets) and a full month and a half until we got the parts from the dealer who had to have this done under warranty.

- Along the process the switch for the rear wiper was found to be broken

- Furthermore the Alternator was found to be delivering insufficient charge and needed to be replaced

- Once the thing was rolling again, I noticed massive water leaking into the footwells

- I had that repaired according to the instructions on the Forum just to find that there is still a leak (this time I being told that it probably wasn't the cracks under the front panels - but rather the windshield molding....)

- Then - about a week later - my glow plugs went dead - all four of them

- So I had the glow plugs replaced - to find that a week later they were dead again

- Turns out the ECU is clicking in and out erradically even when driving and engine warm - which leads to premature burn-out of the plugs

- So I had a new button mounted on the dashboard to engage the glowplugs manually - bypassing the ECU altogether

- Next thing I had to find out that - if the headlights are turned on, the engine can't be switched off...

- A new DLR regulator took care of this problem

- A few days later I couldn't remove the key from the ignition anymore - even when in park - starting it, shifting up and down, helped that problem

- Today now I find that I can't shift from Park - even if engine is running... with key obviously in...

- Also found out today that the sliding door won't open... not because it's frozen shut... no, the powerlock mechanism doesn't push the little button up far enough.....

I have not had one single successful road trip in that Van (whatever a successful roadtrip means - I guess for me it means getting there and coming back with everything on the darn thing still working)....

When reading the technical and troubleshooting section it appears that I am not the only one who encounters the exact same problems. It appears that they are not just common - but actually just too common...

Now since there are many more symptoms and problems (clunks, noises, failures etc.) that people are describing in the forum that haven't happened to me yet, I wonder if I have to go through all of those as well.

And please don't come tell me that this is to be expected because Delica's are already 15 years old and all that....

I have a 1983 Dodge Ram Van with a 225 cuin slant six. This Van has well over 230'000kms and never - I repeat - N E V E R - let me down once. And aside from new brakes and the odd oil-change I never do anything to that Van...

And in addition I have a 1969 Ford Cortina - so this vehicle will be fourty years old as of January 1st 2009 - and I never had any issues come anywhere near those of the Delica....

I am not in the race league and leadfooting my Delica or mistreating it in any way. The contrary, I am so careful (as I am worried about breaking the next thing) with this van that it's already ridiculous.... I let it warm up, when started (like I never did any other vehicle I ever owned), I never went beyond 110km/h's out of worries about speeding tickets and about breaking something....

So I don't expect anybody to give me tips on what I should or should not have done.... I just needed to voice my frustration about the worst vehicle I ever spent money for....

or maybe you just bought a junk van............

[patty]

I can see exactly Impalator's point. If you want a vehicle that you KNOW will make the trip, I would say delicas are not it. I'v been driving back and forth from Prince George since september now and every trip I become more weary. Comming back to PG just yesterday I dragged ass the whole way. 60 km/hr from Liloette to Quenelle blowin huge black smoke the entire way with little power. Just clutching my BCAA card.
I'v yet to have a trip ruiner but cant help to think there's one around the corner.

Though I dont have faith in the deli most of the time, I dont think I could bring myself to sell as when it does come threw it proves itself.

When people ask me if they should buy a delica I tell them only if they are patient and dont flip shit at every little thing.

I'm loving the idea of Docs gas delica is tempting

[impalator]

Hi there,

Just to clarify - I never said "Delica's are Crap!" - I merely asked the question.... (in my opinion, that's a difference...)

Still got ours.... did a good job over the holidays (i.e. did what it's supposed to do... taking me up to 100 Mile House on the 24th and back to the North Shore on the 31st....)

After all the extensive repairs and upgrades that took place since we bought it, it appears to be doing alright now. I hope I am not saying this too early.

I have to say: The machine is fun in the snow. Didn't come across anything (or any depth) that wouldn't allow me to cut right through....

One thing though: Coming down from the Cariboo, getting into the Fraser Canyon... we encountered dry, packed and compact white snow (obvious 4x4 drive), just to hit bare, dry roads (with snow blown off the pavement - obviously not for 4x4 - with locked differentials) to then get back into slushy sections and later ice to finally be back on black again...

Now; would this require me to stop and engage / disengage 4x4 everytime the conditions change (which I ended up doing several times as I didn't quite know if I would have to expect excessive wear on the drive train, tires, differentials etc.) or can I easily cruise some dry black top with 4x4 on without the risk of messing stuff up?

Thanks and cheers - and hoping the Delica's gonna make it through 2009...

Chris

[konadog]

Switch on the fly, in and out of 4x4 as the surface requires, just leave the hubs locked. There has been much discussion about this of late - check these threads: http://www.delica.ca/forum/4x4-mode-on- ... -4290.html http://www.delica.ca/forum/hub-lock-question-4356.html
And I totally agree with you - asking a question is just asking a question

[CVI]

Hi Impalator,

I'm glad all went well with your trip!

I brought mine to LA after Christmas. Before the trip, I finally got the chance to change my Timing belts and radiator as well. The deli drove very well up to San Jose for a stop over. It took us about 20 hours though as we were just going about 100kph max. Going uphill at 60kph max with accelerator pedal floored all the way, the big rigs just overtook us like we were on standstill. zzzzz Oh well, we had the radio on so that helped a little bit. The delica had no issues on the whole trip...going up the Shasta Mountain and the Grand pass is no joke. It just drag drag drag all the way.

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This is the fun part, Going back from LA to Vancouver, I floored that baby all the way and cruised it up to 130 kph ! I figured Falco was right (If I'm going to hell, I'm going to hell with my delica !) I went to 140kph going downhill at times but maintained my 130kph pretty much whenever the road was flat. Mind you, we were 6 pig Adults in the van with a big Pallet Jack I brought back for the shop at the trunk. Boost was at 10psi 90% of the time ! Again....No issues! It performed immaculately. The only problem is the speed holes on my roof. The dealer who sold it to me took a short cut on it and just fiberglassed those holes instead of repairing it properly, it was literally raining inside the van with small specs of rusted metal ... so now, I gotta deal with that as well. hmph

I intend to do an engine rebuild this summer and do Headworks on the Cyl head to maximize airlflow and volumetric efficiency. Install new sleeves and piston rings on it, overhaul the turbo and partially blue print this power plant and see how it goes. I figure if I can put in an additional 20hp at least, it'll take those darn rigs up the hill (eat my dust kinda thing) ...

[dfnder]

hey Nice pics, I was wondering... looks like your rear Delica lettering is lit up, so far I have only seen two Delica's that have this. Is it done aftermarket or is it just that most are non-functioning after 15 years use? Really would like mine to light up :)

[bryanc]

hey Nice pics, I was wondering... looks like your rear Delica lettering is lit up, so far I have only seen two Delica's that have this. Is it done aftermarket or is it just that most are non-functioning after 15 years use? Really would like mine to light up :)

Mine is lit up , definitely not after market and looks really cool