parts availability after govt. decision?

[collector]

Hi all
I was very interested in purchasing one of these extremely cool vans, and I even took one for a test drive at JDM Wholesale (Annacis Island, New Westminister BC). While talking with a salesman, I mentioned my concern about obtaining parts, and he assured me that any Mitsubishi dealer would supply me with what I needed. If not, he "knew a few guys" that supplied parts. Well, after talking to a parts rep. at Wolfe Langley Mitsubishi (who became almost hostile when I queried him about supplying parts for the RHD Delica), I know now that Mitsu Canada wants "nothing to do with these grey market vehicles." I have also heard about the Provincial govt being pressured to change the import restrictions to 25 instead of 15 years. (Thank you, Mr. Pattison ) IF the restrictions stay at 15 years, is it likely that local parts importers may set up shop? (or will owners still have to order at great shipping costs from Japan or the UK?)
Conversley, if the 25 year ruling goes through, is it probable that the importers of JDM vehicles will slowly disappear, and their supply of parts will likewise? I'm sorry to be so long winded, but I saw my brother in law go through something similar with his 1987 Audi 4000S Quattro. Even though his vehicle ran great, he eventually ran out of places to get necessary parts and was forced to get rid of it.
I think before I make a decision to purchase a Delica, I will wait and see the outcome of the ruling......
Thank you,
Paul Luem,
Coquitlam BC Canada

[terrain]

well if you wait till after the decision - you probably won't be able to get one of these vehicles. Existing will be grandfathered - accident vehicles will not be eligible for rebuild... producing some parts.

What I've found is that mechanical parts are available to a large extent, body parts will be another issue but there are enough of these vehicles with a large enough following that everything will probably be 'possible'.

john

[mitch]

just go thru the member list and look at how many of these vans are in BC.. one way or another we'll get parts, even if we have to bring em in together.

Mitch

Hope you go for it... I love mine. no problems yet.. 4 months in.

[collector]

"well if you wait till after the decision - you probably won't be able to get one of these vehicles
."
I was told by the salesman at JDM wholesalers that the odds for the ruling were "50-50"... (the same guy who told me that I could get parts from the Mitsu dealer, incidentally). Is it sort of the consensus here that the decision will go in favour of the 25 year restriction?
Why are the manufacturers of these (and other JDM) vehicles so "anti-supportive?" You'd think that they would jump at a lucrative Canadian market...I can still get anything I need for my beloved 1988 Toyota 4x4 3.0L, (aftermarket as well as OEM), so it's not like these guys have run out of stock. (Obviously not, since you can still get them overseas..)

[collector]

Mitch, if I may ask, where did you get your Delica from? This guy from JDM Wholesale made me feel a little paranoid....

[Adrock]

I don't know how serious the threat is for the rules changing, I don't tend to take this type of thing too seriously ever since "banning sportbikes" comes up yearly over on http://www.bcsportbikes.com I figure this threat has a bit more merit, but there are also a lot of positives about importing vehicles that may sway the decision in our favor.

The way I see the stricter enforcement on inspection facilities is that that will be a point for the 15 year rule, if they are hardening up the 15 year system then they might want to at least try that for a few years if not implement it permanently.

Either way, I would rather have my van whether I can get parts easily or not. I am fairly confident that parts will always be available, and if it is a bit more difficult or more expensive, I am willing to make that sacrifice for a vehicle I love.

[Green1]

Parts will always be available, the question is from where... some of the parts are in common with domestic vehicles and as such are available locally (lots of people quote finding various parts at Lordco) some parts will be harder to get, however there are people that can get them, you can order direct from Japan, there are also places in Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain that sell parts for these vehicles, it doesn't even necessarily cost that much to ship the parts as long as you are patient. on top of that, there are several businesses around that import JDM engines (not the whole car) who would be unaffected by the rule change and would still be in business, I bet they can get almost any part you need.... one person on here was saying he could source entire spare engines with transmission for just over $1000 landed in Vancouver...

All that said, parts will never be as cheep as they are for your average north american mini-van, and I wouldn't count on being able to run to your local pick-a-part and find what you're looking for. but it's nothing to panic over either. just realize that if you need parts there will be a small additional cost, and possibly a delay... but nothing unbearable

You were mentioning JDM-Wholesale, they are good guys, and are just trying to make you aware of the possible problems so that you can't come back on them later. don't allow this to change your decision.

As for the dealerships... one thing I've heard said is this, ask by part number and it's no problem, just don't tell them what you'll be putting it on... they regularly bring in shipments internationally, if you just order a part number they'll simply get it for you, but if you make them look it up and tell them it's for a JDM vehicle some of them aren't too happy.

[collector]

RE:JDM Wholesale in New Westminister BC (Annacis Island). I dropped by and took a '91 Exceed AT (@ 85,000KM ) for a test drive. The thing REEKED of mildew, and at idle it ran so rough, I thought my damn dental fillings were going to fall out. (Salesman said it was due to the fact that the van was running Bio Diesel... Is it true that the 2.5L can switch from regular to Bio Diesel without a conversion?). He also said that getting parts from Mitsubishi Canada was "No problem at all!" (yeah, right!). I even tried to sign up for their online auction page out of curiousity, and have been waiting almost a week for approval to view it...
No offense to anyone else who has had a positive transaction with this company, but it left me with a bad feeling...Green1, this is my experience with JDM...

[Green1]

see my reply to that exact same posting in another thread, no need to cross-post.
http://www.delica.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139&start=15

[mitch]

collector..

i bought from max overdrive in richmond.. They had the colour and a 5spd i was looking for. I will say though i went out to Jdm wholesale and "neil" was real helpfull!!!! seemed like a real nice guy.

Mitch

[James@JDM]

Collecter,

I own JDM Wholesale, Based in Annacis Island, and assume you must have dealt with Nick? I will talk to him re parts availbilty from Mitsubishi as he has his wires crossed somewhat (typical Kiwi!) however in saying that we do stock a full range of service items for these trucks.

We run all the trucks on a Mix of Bio and Dino, Delicas are not known for a super smooth idle they are a fairly primitive diesel engine by Japanese Standards, but in saying that are also damn near bulletproof.

Regarding the auctions, if you read carefully there is a guest log in... you are not required to regsiter and there is no benefit in doing so. I also believe Mel outlined this to you in her email correspondence.

I hope you find the Delica your are looking for and am sorry we did not meet your expectations.

Kind Regards

James Robinson

[doodah]

Anyone get their website link to work?

[glenn]

JDM Wholesale went down in a ball of flames in 2008. They not only fled the country, back to NZ, but they took with them deposits payed by clients only days before, and they owed debts to many other local businesses they partnered with. They shook hands on deals, receiving payments for vehicles knowing full well that they would be fleeing days later.

Here is some of the back story

http://www.delica.ca/forum/jdm-wholesal ... -2071.html

So no, their website link does not work. Some of the old-timers here will fondly remember this saga. . .

[philmeup1]

Getting back to collectors previous questions, here's my opinion from Ontario....

When I first got my van, a little over a year ago, I went to the local Mitsu Dealership to source a spare key. They were totally fascinated with my van. In fact every single employee came out to see it. They were helpful in giving me a number so I could source out a key from a locksmith, which I did successfully. I think the difference here is that in my town I'm quite sure I'm the only Delica owner so there isn't this whole thing of, if your buying a Mitsu from Japan, you're not buying a new one off four lot here....

But having said that, since owning this thing for a while now, I've found great parts suppliers right here on this site. And I've found there's really no need to go to the dealer. I personally use Rising Sun (just my preference) and they've been great with advice, tech support, and supplying parts. And they're not the only ones either. There are many on this site that do similar stuff. It's not an issue.

Waiting for Government to decide on a decision regarding import laws is however an issue.... This could take years if it ever changes at all. Right now it's 15 years so I would just go with that.

None of this would be on anyone's radar (right hand drive, older import vehicles, ect) if the used car dealer association wasn't making such a big deal out it. But if you're buying a sweet '93 Super Exceed with 71,000 original Kms on it (which is what I ended up with) You're not buying a Dodge Caravan off of one of these guys...... No offence to Caravan owners, but I'm out.

This is just my opinion from my time with my own Delica. I could be wrong about the used vehicle dealers association thing, but I'm quite certain I'm correct on this. And even with all their efforts to try and keep us from purchasing these vehicles by skewing safety reports and lobbying governments ect, it's not stopped us from purchasing the vehicles we want to own and drive. And if I can own and drive one of these vehicles in Ontario, it's only going to be easier to do the same thing out west where most of the Delica's are... It'll all make sense when you own one

Good luck, Phil

[Rattlenbang]

Also the import thing is federal law not provincial. It would apply across the country and have a much larger impact than provincially. The bigger concern in my mind is if provincial regulators decide to stop registering RHD vehicles.

Haha don't you love resurrected old threads?