Buying from Auction, or off the lot in Vancouver?

[Delicafan]

I could never understand the myth on this site that as soon as Japanese vehicles come to Canada they need thousands of dollars worth of work. Last time I looked the Japanese maintain there vehicles alot. Of course there are some that are neglected but there are 30 others to that ONE that are not and should need next to nothing once arrived.

Do yourself a favor and import one direct, you'll pay alot less than buying locally. DOT, bla,bla,bla is not much. Do it yourself or hire a fab shop to make your vehicle compliant. Any L300 or L400 can be complied for a reasonable fee. Just don't go and pay one of these crook dealers $1500.00 for a set of headlights.

I realize some may not like my opinion, but he did ask what's better and that's my opinion on the matter. Not a place for argueing, that's been done plently already here about the headlights.

Cheers

[loki]

I could never understand the myth on this site that as soon as Japanese vehicles come to Canada they need thousands of dollars worth of work. Last time I looked the Japanese maintain there vehicles alot. Of course there are some that are neglected but there are 30 others to that ONE that are not and should need next to nothing once arrived.

Do yourself a favor and import one direct, you'll pay alot less than buying locally. DOT, bla,bla,bla is not much. Do it yourself or hire a fab shop to make your vehicle compliant. Any L300 or L400 can be complied for a reasonable fee. Just don't go and pay one of these crook dealers $1500.00 for a set of headlights.

I realize some may not like my opinion, but he did ask what's better and that's my opinion on the matter. Not a place for argueing, that's been done plently already here about the headlights.

Cheers

If it's such a myth import it your self for sure and don't do the "extra" work like replacing the calcium clogged rad and hoses (I have hear from my mechanic, and other, that EVERY Delica he has worked on has a severe calcium buildup in the cooling system from hard water in Japan), you'll end up paying much more in the end when your engine overheats and cracks a head or leaks from the water pump onto the timing belt causing it to slip or break and your pistons smash the crap out of your valves at best but more likely the head and the rest of the engine. It's happened often enough that people get vans that are a smoking deal but don't have the work done only to grenade with in a couple of months. But that is just my opinion (and the opinion of the good deli mechanics on the island and the lower mainland)

[Delicafan]

Would that be advise from a Deli service center or dealer that has to justify their overhead and prices ? Besides that how much does a hose and a few minutes of your time cost ? If you go by what these " Deli mechanics " are telling you to do, most can be accomplished in an afternoon of your time and a few bucks in parts. God knows the parts are readily available.

Or hey why don't you get a quote from a dealer in Japan to give you the full over on the van before it comes over ? Shops in Japan don't charge much at all and most dealers are more than willing to contract the work out to a shop in the area if they are not equipped to do that. $500.00 bucks in Japan or $4500.00 in Canada....

I won't say anymore on the topic because I know most here don't agree and I'm not here to argue.

[delicabits]

[/quote]
If it's such a myth import it your self for sure and don't do the "extra" work like replacing the calcium clogged rad and hoses (I have hear from my mechanic, and other, that EVERY Delica he has worked on has a severe calcium buildup in the cooling system from hard water in Japan), you'll end up paying much more in the end when your engine overheats and cracks a head or leaks from the water pump onto the timing belt causing it to slip or break and your pistons smash the crap out of your valves at best but more likely the head and the rest of the engine. It's happened often enough that people get vans that are a smoking deal but don't have the work done only to grenade with in a couple of months. But that is just my opinion (and the opinion of the good deli mechanics on the island and the lower mainland)[/quote]

Is this in L300 or L400? Haven't seen this problem in either myself but not saying it hasn't happened. I've heard that most places in Japan change the coolant in tanks during the shaken tests. Wouldn't this prevent calcification from hard water?

[Konnichiwa]

The point is when you buy direct from Japan you are buying it AS-IS. There is no guarantee as to the condition of anything. The vehicle is not roady worthy. Cosmetically and mechanically it will need work.

The dealers are not making big profits. Some of them are putting $2000 to $3000 in work into their Delicas before they sell. New Tires, New Batteries, Changing All Fluids, Full Tune-Up, DOT Lights adds up!

[delicabits]

The dealers are not making big profits. Some of them are putting $2000 to $3000 in work into their Delicas before they sell. New Tires, New Batteries, Changing All Fluids, Full Tune-Up, DOT Lights adds up!

If the vehicles need all this work done then wouldn't they be cheaper to buy from the auctions anyway? the prices dealers mark the vehicles are probably the same no matter what the final cost to them.

[Green1]

Would that be advise from a Deli service center or dealer that has to justify their overhead and prices

how about advice from another owner who had a cracked head due to this problem?
I've also peaked inside a few other radiators from Japan and I can assure you they all looked about the same. The Japanese use tap water in their radiators, this isn't a good thing.

as for other work, I STRONGLY recommend you change the timing belt too, they need it every 100,000km, or 5 years, whichever comes first, the Japanese usually only do it at 100,000km... so when you get your 90,000km delica it often has a 15 year old belt being the only thing standing between you and a new engine.

I'm not saying you need to have someone else do all your work, I AM however saying that the work does need to be done, the costs of NOT doing it are far more than the costs of doing it.

As for the whole thing about the Japanese taking care of their vehicles, that's not entirely true. They don't drive much, and due to the Shaken inspections they pay a lot of attention to the SAFETY aspects, but the mechanical aspects they don't care about, they are more likely to spend their money on a new stereo then on a new radiator.

The reason I recommend buying a vehicle off the lot has nothing to do with the work done, or such, it's more that the price of these vehicles in Canada has been plummeting, and the exchange rate hasn't been favourable, as a result, a Delica that is being sold in Canada, fully compliant, and ready to go, is often significantly cheaper than one you can import from Japan. I'm not talking one that a dealer has just imported, I'm talking one that has been in Canada a while, these are the ones that are the real value these days. (unfortunately, if you want an L400 this method isn't really practical yet because there aren't enough in the country yet)

[delicabits]

Would that be advise from a Deli service center or dealer that has to justify their overhead and prices

how about advice from another owner who had a cracked head due to this problem?
I've also peaked inside a few other radiators from Japan and I can assure you they all looked about the same. The Japanese use tap water in their radiators, this isn't a good thing.

as for other work, I STRONGLY recommend you change the timing belt too, they need it every 100,000km, or 5 years, whichever comes first, the Japanese usually only do it at 100,000km... so when you get your 90,000km delica it often has a 15 year old belt being the only thing standing between you and a new engine.

I'm not saying you need to have someone else do all your work, I AM however saying that the work does need to be done, the costs of NOT doing it are far more than the costs of doing it.

As for the whole thing about the Japanese taking care of their vehicles, that's not entirely true. They don't drive much, and due to the Shaken inspections they pay a lot of attention to the SAFETY aspects, but the mechanical aspects they don't care about, they are more likely to spend their money on a new stereo then on a new radiator.

have you actually seen japanese put tap water in or is this from someone else? was this cracked head in the dsl or v6? dsl do overheat and have major problems if the coolant tank fails and the van overheats. japanese are probably like most others whereas some drive a lot and some don't. have to agree about the timing belt is certainly something that should be changed on any import vehicle with unknown history.

[Konnichiwa]

The dealers are not making big profits. Some of them are putting $2000 to $3000 in work into their Delicas before they sell. New Tires, New Batteries, Changing All Fluids, Full Tune-Up, DOT Lights adds up!

If the vehicles need all this work done then wouldn't they be cheaper to buy from the auctions anyway? the prices dealers mark the vehicles are probably the same no matter what the final cost to them.

Even if you bought a Delica Star Wagon for $1 at auction... it will still cost at least CAD 6 to 7k total once it's on the road in Canada and "ready to go". If you don't know this then you haven't done the math or research yet.

[delicabits]

The dealers are not making big profits. Some of them are putting $2000 to $3000 in work into their Delicas before they sell. New Tires, New Batteries, Changing All Fluids, Full Tune-Up, DOT Lights adds up!

If the vehicles need all this work done then wouldn't they be cheaper to buy from the auctions anyway? the prices dealers mark the vehicles are probably the same no matter what the final cost to them.

Even if you bought a Delica Star Wagon for $1 at auction... it will still cost at least CAD 6 to 7k total once it's on the road in Canada and "ready to go". If you don't know this then you haven't done the math or research yet.

haven't done the research but as you seem to know what you are talking about can you post how it adds up to 6-7K to help out and save some time?

[loki]

was this cracked head in the dsl or v6? dsl do overheat and have major problems if the coolant tank fails and the van overheats.

that's L400s, his was an L300.

[Green1]

have you actually seen japanese put tap water in or is this from someone else? was this cracked head in the dsl or v6? dsl do overheat and have major problems if the coolant tank fails and the van overheats. japanese are probably like most others whereas some drive a lot and some don't. have to agree about the timing belt is certainly something that should be changed on any import vehicle with unknown history.

No, I haven't seen them pour tap water in, but I can't come up with any other way the radiators would be full of hard water deposits...

The one I cracked the head on the radiator was completely clogged, there's no way any fluid was passing through it, it looked exactly like the hard water deposits I get on my shower head at home, only 15 years worth...

And I have looked in several other radiators from Japan and seen the same thing. Keep in mind they live in a warmer climate, they don't need the anti-freeze to keep the coolant flowing, so water is a perfectly acceptable solution, of course it's SUPPOSED to be distilled water, but tap water is much easier to come by, and on average works just fine.

Keep in mind I'm not discouraging you from doing your own importing and service, I'm just trying to discourage you from skipping the service part, it is MUCH cheaper in the long run if you do the servicing after it arrives.

I'm also saying that by the time you get an L300 here from Japan, even before you service it, you will be more expensive than a used L300 in Canada, pretty much every time. L400s are a different matter because there aren't many of them in Canada yet.

[delicabits]

have you actually seen japanese put tap water in or is this from someone else? was this cracked head in the dsl or v6? dsl do overheat and have major problems if the coolant tank fails and the van overheats. japanese are probably like most others whereas some drive a lot and some don't. have to agree about the timing belt is certainly something that should be changed on any import vehicle with unknown history.

I'm also saying that by the time you get an L300 here from Japan, even before you service it, you will be more expensive than a used L300 in Canada, pretty much every time. L400s are a different matter because there aren't many of them in Canada yet.

do you have any actual figures on what the costs are? have seen some figures for containers and shipping over but nothing on what needs to be done service or mod side.

[Green1]

this was discussed extensively recently, take a look here

[delicabits]

thanks green1. reading away to learn more.