anyone have opinions on the Mitsubishi Delica L400(rounder body style, 2.8td engine) ?
I'm shopping for a new vehicle right now, and no matter how much I want to stay away from the hipster-status of such things the inner dirtbag in me is having a really hard time passing up the diesel/4x4 capabilities/big enough to live in for a while status.
I don't want a conversion van (too much $$$, too big to daily drive), the Delica is the middle ground and would be enough for a few planned road trips this year…unless its prone to blowing cylinder heads and timing belts in the middle of nowhere.
Well i have owned a series 2 l400 for about a year now. it is a great vehicle. I daily drive it, have done lots of long road trips.
Dont worry about the hipster part, I have actually had interest from the redneck crowd in cache creek.
pros-
Build quality is very good (better then an astro van, which i also looked at before purchasing)
its quite good off road (proper 4x4) obviosuly you cant to go crawling in it, but i still have yet to get stuck.
me and my girl sleep inside no problem as all the seats fold done and an air mattress fits perfectly.
if you get one with the middle bench, it rotates 4 ways so if you dont want to remove it, you can easily adjust it to fit tools/wood etc inside.
I find the mileage to be decent for the type of vehicle, plus diesel was 94 cents in gibsons yesterday… 50L tanks gets me 400km around town. I drove to nelson last summer and got 600k out of one tank.
I also enjoy driving it, it feels great.
Old technology means you can run lots of different fuels in it. Veggie/wvo Apparently people are running Jet A fuel in vancouver
Cons-
If youre over 5' 11" it maybe a bit cramped unles you get the high roof model
Parts and labor are expensive. not sure how handy you are but be prepared to spend $$$. I had to do the rad/hoses that was $1100. Last week i had to do the seals in the steering rack ($900). now everything else on the van is supposed to be good to go. All the delica forums say they are reliable avec preventative maintenance. Remembering its a 15+ year old import….
FINDING PARTS and or mechanic- I got lucky i found a guy on the coast who will work on it but i must supply parts. Theres a shop in vancouver called Japanoid who is good for parts, and service but i believe youre in the Kootenays? which leads me to my next point.
Outside of the LM with the exception of kamloops i believe its hard to find parts.
Last summer I overheated BADLY just outside of Salmo. Called all the neighboring towns NO one would work on it or look at it. A shop in Trail said they would look but wont get parts + a 2 week wait. Same story with a shop in Nelson.
I ended up getting towed to Canadian Tire in Trail and tried to flush my rad in the parking lot. evently the guys at CT used their machine and I made it back to vancouver.
This is the biggest drawback for me. How many spare parts and tools do you bring on a road trip?
Im going to drive the oregon coast next week and im scared to venture into America, but delica.ca forums have helped me pin point possible places who will fix it just in case…
Over all I would say buy one! There are 3 great delica forums (Canadian, UK and Aus) which are excellent resources and you will be able to keep your van running if you dig deep in those forums.
You know you went to far when even Tungsten thinks your a Jack Ass.