I want a Delica. But could I stand it?

[piyeguyo]

Hi

My 2 cents from Calgary...

I love my Deli, got it for 2 years now; but I hate having only 1 Delica mechanic in town and super expensive too. Right now my Delica is sitting in my garage as I don't have money for a repair. I was planning a trip to Mexico last year, thanks to the bad customer service at the mechanic it didn't happen (long story...), and after that I decided not to go to that mechanic anymore. Now I go for oil changes to a place recommended by one of the guys in the forum (Erebus); and they're good, but they don't do big jobs on the Delicas yet. When the majority of the belts broke on the van the other day after a trip, I thought about giving up the van as I can't afford to pay for the repair, but what I am going to do now is wait after the summer, save money after we come back from holidays and go back to my mechanic, if I don't find anybody else who can do this (At least I have another suggestion now )

I posted a note several months ago saying Alberta Deli owners were screwed (in comparison to the BC owners) for a variety of reasons; not too many people agreed, but I still think it's true.

The van is great. I love it when it works. But it's cost me $$$ to keep it running.

One thing you should do is look for a van in Edmonton and check it out. Long time ago, the forum would let you search people in a specific city, but I think this has been disabled for a long time. Maybe check with the moderator and see if he can help you locate the Edmonton owners.

Good luck on your desicion making.

Fabio
Calgary

[bjnissa]

bla you only live once. take a loan and buy one. if you want to look at mine when i get it let me know im close to you.

[Jaz]

But Jaz (who is on this forum as they originally wanted a Delica) visiting from Australia bought an older Toyota 4 runner, because they couldnt justify paying so much as a Delica. Their vehicle is just barely long enough to sleep in, and goes 4 by 4ing with us on camping trips, but has all the wasted space of a front mounted engine. They paid $2500.-- ish ( i think) but it has lots of rust along the bottom. ...but they have to hang out with the Delica Community to be Truly Cool...

Hey! They're just speed holes! Lighter weight = faster! They must have contributed to our 10l/100km fuel consumption down to Oregon and back last weekend... All the rust will be disapearing before too long though, so I'll be expecting my fuel usage to go up again

Canadrian, having been in a similar position to you a couple of times, recently wanting a Delica but not having the ready $$ to buy one outright, I opted for a cheaper vehicle which will do 8/10s of what we'd want from a Deli, but have to do without the 2/10ths and the "cool" factor that comes with having a Delica in Canada. As Christine said, we don't have as much space in the 4Runner as we would in a Deli, but still, it gets us out and about than our previous vehicle (a Taurus, *shudder*) did.

I was also like you about 5 years ago in that I couldn't tell you which was the spark plug and what was the o2 sensor, and paid a bunch of cash for my stupidity and not taking the time to learn what I needed to know - it's amazing how simple it can be to do a little wrenching on your own vehicle, and how much dosh it will save you. It also saves your ass when you break down on the side of the road... with a previous vehicle I could be found occasionally on the side of the highway at 2am trying to force my home-made intercooler piping back into place, having pulled my tool kit out of the back and knowing exactly what went wrong, and that I could fix it in 4 minutes. Others would have called a tow truck, as "it just didn't go, no matter how hard I revved it!"

I'm going to change the spark plugs and leads tomorrow, a very simple operation, but something that's going to save me cash in the long run, and I also know that it's been done properly, with the bits I want

Sorry for the essay, but just thought I'd add my $0.02 to the conversation


And yes, we do hang around with the Delica people even though we went with the "cheap seats", as they're a bright bunch and good to camp with!

[bigbird]

My 2 cents from Calgary...

I love my Deli, got it for 2 years now; but I hate having only 1 Delica mechanic in town and super expensive too. Right now my Delica is sitting in my garage as I don't have money for a repair. I was planning a trip to Mexico last year, thanks to the bad customer service at the mechanic it didn't happen (long story...), and after that I decided not to go to that mechanic anymore. Now I go for oil changes to a place recommended by one of the guys in the forum (Erebus); and they're good, but they don't do big jobs on the Delicas yet. When the majority of the belts broke on the van the other day after a trip, I thought about giving up the van as I can't afford to pay for the repair, but what I am going to do now is wait after the summer, save money after we come back from holidays and go back to my mechanic, if I don't find anybody else who can do this (At least I have another suggestion now )

Sorry in advance...Not meanig to hijack this thread.

Piyeguyo.....Who is the good/expensive mechanic? My Deli will be here (Calgary) soon. I'm hoping to not need a mechanics service for a while, but having the name of someone capable can't hurt.
As far as getting the Delica....I'm of the mind that life is way to short not to get what you want! Go for it!
Thanks
Bigbird

[Profister]

I want a Delica. But could I stand it?

No, you cannot.

[jwfchase]

I want a Delica. But could I stand it?

No, you cannot.

[jessef]

A Delica is like any other vehicle

It takes money to run
Ignore it and it will suck your money like a vacuum cleaner
Look after it and it may outlast you

[thedjjack]

Honestly you should not get any internal combustion engine vehicle...buy a bicycle.

Personally if you want to drive you should know how to do basic maintenance.

Delica is the same as any other vehicle out there. Mechanics that cannot fix a delica are 1) do not want to have to do the extra step of getting a few parts from a different supplier 2) should not be Mechanics.

Simple trucks to work on.

[thedjjack]

This thread is older then me!

[jessef]

For a 2 year old you have some good fab skills.

[tonydca]

Assuming your current family body count is no more than 4, IMHO you should turn back the clock 16 months and be in the parking lot outside my place bidding on the early-90's Toyota Corolla 4WD wagon I sold after I got my Delica. A bit like this one:

http://nanaimo.en.craigslist.ca/cto/2297261679.html

I bought it with 243K kms, sold it with 373K kms for $1200.

It burned no oil when I bought it, none when I sold it, and the original tranny shifted like silk. I see no reason that, if well-maintained, it wouldn't run another 373,000 kms.

I asked outrageous acts of utility from it (like hauling 900+ lbs of bricks in the back) and it never flinched. With the back seats folded down, it would swallow up enormous pieces of furniture (including a 32" tube TV and full-size living room couch - just not at once!)

With a set of cheap studded snow tires I bought off craigslist for $75 (incl. rims), I could plow through any snow below the edge of the bumper. Started first crank, even down to -15degC.

It *never* let me down, and apart from regular oil and filter changes, I did virtually no maintenance on it.

Toyota built hundreds of thousands of similar vehicles, with good reason. They are absolute workhorses.

Even regular maintenace parts were cheap, cheap, cheap. A set of brake pads were $45.

Hands down, it was and will always be the most useful, rugged, low-maintenance car I will ever own. Trouble is, it just got too small for my growing family. Hence the Delica, which I believe is the best vehicle for my current situation.

If you wanted to be really really clever about getting one, look online for a JDM Toyota Carib. They are the identical car, and if you are patient, you can find an absolute gem. Might even be able to find one on Craigslist locally already imported.

[fexlboi]

You guys are talking to someone who haven't been logged in since last October. I doubt he is still following....

[canadrian]

I got an email notification. :) Well, all good thoughts. I ended up getting an '04 Honda CR-V because my family convinced me I shouldn't be driving a vehicle with 15-year-old safety features anyway. I still wish I could buy a fairly new, spacious, 4WD microvan-type vehicle in Canada from a dealership. I don't know what jackass decided we wouldn't want that vehicle type to be available domestically.

[pajerry]

I didnt notice the date and read the tread, but I was gonna say.. Buy a Honda! You can drive the crap out of them for years without any maintenance besides oil and they will always get you home.

Also, don't buy a Delica! I feel sorry for the people that have to pay to have their trucks/vans serviced since they are indeed really high maintenance. Every month there is something that needs looking after (and Im still on my THINGS TO DO list from purchase) and its all $$$. Not to mention the first year of analyzing every squeak and blip and not being able to just drive it for fear of it blowing up costing you more $$$ than you have!

That being said, its the same reason I wouldn't buy a new NA car from the dealership.. at $140 for a basic oil and inspection at Dueck only to get the run around when anything actually goes wrong I'll get my hands dirty thanks.



And as a final note, Financing anything is a vicious cycle more so with vehicles because they always depreciate in value. There is always a chance of you losing it completely or just wrecking it and then you're stuck paying something you don't even own. Save that 10g's that first time and you'll never need to pay the banksters. I should really be in the Mazda 3 or Ford F350 forum barking up their trees..

[konadog]

Also, don't buy a Delica! I feel sorry for the people that have to pay to have their trucks/vans serviced since they are indeed really high maintenance. Every month there is something that needs looking after (and Im still on my THINGS TO DO list from purchase) and its all $$$. Not to mention the first year of analyzing every squeak and blip and not being able to just drive it for fear of it blowing up costing you more $$$ than you have!

Tongue-in-cheek right? After the initial refit and the odd, minor issue here and there, my 1992 L-300 has been fabulously reliable - not high maintenance at all...