Mitsubishi Delica Owners Club UK™

[mindriot]

As I run my vehicle for the last 6 months I am becoming suspicious.

At the time of purchase my Deli was supposed to have 31k on it, a very desireable number. I find myself looking at the wear on the wqheel etc. and thnking its a bit high for such a distance.

Granted the guy had several and may have swapped a few bits around to suit sales of each vehicle. I could understand that.

Its just that I would expect such a young engine, (now prob over 42k miles) to be a bit smoother than this. I do conceed that accounts for proper maintenance having found myself thinking the fuel filter with rust on is prob the original, etc.

I find myself mistrusting the approval procedures and thoroughnrss when it comes ro imported vehicles.

I'd appreciate peoples thoughts on this.
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Interested in a good Super Exceed high top crystalite 7 seater with the works and a sorted fuel pump etc. doesn't need to be perfect PM me if you have any leads.

[Google]

[kenr1]

Hi M8,
As you may have seen I have bought two Delica's and bringing them over, the dealer who sold them to me gave me a some back ground on the way cars and Delica's are used over there. He says a lot of cars that are sold may be showing low miles but it all depends where and how the car is used in Japan. You may have bought a lovley shiney Delica with 32000 miles, but the engine may have done twice that sitting running in heavy traffic, thats why the body work is in such good condition. Also depending on the owner it may have been serviced on miles travled not on hours ran. You could say the same about over here, look at a second hand car in London, body work will be in good condition with very little rust on the underside and will have lower milage than say a car from sunny Aberdeenshire ie. loads of salt and you have to travel miles to get any where.
He did say a lot of Delica's do have low milage showing and have not been clocked but you never know what happens when a nice honest british car dealer get there hands on them  
Where did you buy you Delica mindriot and what paper work came with it?
Thanks M8
Ken

[PinkPig]

I've just had my van in for full service and loads of other work at SVS (great job by the way - drives lovely now).
Mark said it was mechanically in good nick for the milage - 245,000km   - as its has been well maintained in that respect. He also commented that he's see loads of others that show low milage but run terrible and are well worn once he gets them apart - whether its because they are clocked or have had a traffic jam life if up for debate

Have a look around others parts of yours - pedal rubbers, carpet, switchgear, etc for signs of higher milage and as mentioned, have a look at the paperwork.
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1988 Delica L300 Star Wagon 2.5TD 5sp Manual.
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[skyman]

It’s has been said that the auction sites are just like some over here! If a high mileage but very good looking example comes in, it may be bought by a local and clocked and then taken to a different auction and resold.

So the auction mileage should be taken with a pinch of salt. Mine has low mileage but when the speedo started playing up I found that one of the chips inside has been replaced and tracks damaged. So my mileage is basically what I think it should be for its age and treated accordingly. Mechanically and rust wise it’s very good for its age and I’ll do what it needs to keep it running.
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94 Green over Grey SWB Exceed with Crystalite Roof

[mindriot]

Mine wasn't an auction one, I got it nearish london from a place called parkside garage. I'd have to dig out the peperwork to remember better what it had. I looked it over and it seemed okay, the wear inside is inconsistent, the pedals aren't bad and the seats are quite good too, but the steering wheel and handbrake aren't so good however the finish on these looks like it wasn't that hard wearing to begin with.

I reckon the traffic jam idea is a likely cause, the engine runs tight enough but isn't as smooth as it could be, I think its probably just minor neglect.

I'll know better once I get a bit more servicing done, a key thing I'll be watching for is how much improvement I get after doing the injectors, I may then look at getting the fuel pump seals done just for the pure reason of the fuel corrosion issue I've read about. Also I've seen a new replacement turbo for £226 and may well just go for changing it for that price. I still need to do the transmission oils and air filter too. I just need to stay in the UK long enough to get some quality time to do all this, been in norway twice this week alone  
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Interested in a good Super Exceed high top crystalite 7 seater with the works and a sorted fuel pump etc. doesn't need to be perfect PM me if you have any leads.

[THE KICK INSIDE]

Second hand car trustworthy milage - your having a laugh!

When buying ASSUME its been clocked some examples i personaly have come accross...

volvo 940, clock said 85k - last mot said 190k....

volvo 740 clock said 115k, sticker said the cam belt had been changed at 160k (sticker under the bonnet mind (doh))

merc e class sold to main dealer garage (not merc) with 24 k on it later resurfaced (two weeks later) with 9k on it....

I am aware of one arfur daily who used to keep main delaer stamps in his desk draw to 'stamp up the log books cos they have obviously forgoten'

i have heard of main dealer staff being 'bunged' to provide ervice history (this is harder to do if it includes printed receipts but i have heard of someone beign sacked for doing just that!)

if you havea nice wodge of mot's (check non sequential certificate numbers!) and receipts (including small items like tyres/wipers) WITH milages on them AND they follow a consitant pattern then you can probably be more at ease...even bettter if they are from places like kwack fart AND from several differnt places...

they say 1 in 3 cars has a hidden history and thats UK cars...

I always assume its been clocked and ignore the dash....look at the car (it could have innocently had a new speedo 50k miles in anyway...)

oh and unless you personnaly bought a Deli in japan from a dealer and imported it it almost certainly went through a auction in japan - and who knows what happened to it before it got there....
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A Delica - ITS LIKE A SWEDISH BRICK...ONLY BIGGER!

[skiorsail]

interesting how all the japanese documents   and translation seems to be missing  on some of the dealer cars  i would trust the japanese auction side more than i would anything  that happens in the uk -  mine  direct from japan  was pristine  at about 100,000km-and would have been easy to clock as shiny  inside and out as many 1yr old uk cars
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Delica chamonix PE8W 96.love at first sight.
Delica jasper PE8W 96 -green outside yellow inside - prev owner died smoke inhalation ?
plus Deli chamonix 2-at the price of a few months fuel who can resist. Plus toyota celica.

[johnny diamond]

inscrutable japanese would never do such a thing however it was them that invented the electronic equipment to reclock digital speedos curious eh! :D
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WHAT IF THE HOKEY COKEY IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT ???

[kenr1]

Hi,
I'm in the middle of importing 2 Delica's, I got the paper work through today for the black one (green one missed the boat   ). There is no reason why a dealer Can't show the docs from japan as they are sent 4 copys of each sheet but only one copy of the de reg doc, all the docs show the milage so make sure you see it, they have got to have it.
Thanks
Ken

[BigBlue]

I also suspected my Deli could have done a higher mileage than whats on the clock. So I sent of for a bimta report http://www.bimta.org/
They contact the japanese exporters for the mileage at time of shipping and send you a certificate of authenticity and will refund the purchase price of your vehicle if their check is found to be incorrect.

My Deli was found to be the correct mileage  8)
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WWWWEEEEEeeeeeee !

[BigBlue]

Sorry couldn't edit last post:

Although this couldn't guarantee the vehicle wasn't clocked by the japanese before auction and shipping  :?
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WWWWEEEEEeeeeeee !

[THE KICK INSIDE]

exactly, and if you had a 150,000 km Deli in japan that you just KNEW was going to auction to head for GB wouldtn you just be ever so tempted to plug i n the magic box, loose the service history and turn it into a 90k kms one???

okay obviously you wouldn't being an upright and uptight law abbiding person, but if you were slightly less scrupulous....

and before you say i am exagerating this go take a trawl round some car lots and look at each vehicle with the mind set of 'this has probably been clocked, now can i find anything to suppport that' - if you look at 10 cars the odds are (if you believe official stats) that 3 have been.....so if you look at 45 cars you have probably seen 9 that were clocked.....
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A Delica - ITS LIKE A SWEDISH BRICK...ONLY BIGGER!

[skyman]

Years ago I knew I guy about 60ish who for years always bought new cars and sold them just before they had their first mot. Did 30,000 to 40,000 miles a year. But the cars were always low mileage examples when they had their first mot.

Not sure if he wound them back or put in a new one for the last year!

He was a sweet old man, only drove to church on Sundays with his mum, seems the church was in Poland!
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94 Green over Grey SWB Exceed with Crystalite Roof

[GDog]

What I'd like to know is...what happens to the original Jap service history? okay, so that would be a giveaway re mileage so probably junked but....would it be possible to somehow use the Aerial No.s to trace the car's history in Japan?

GDog

[GDog]

DOH!  I mean Serial no.s not Aerial no.s!!

GDog

[xandercraw]

don't forget there's a lot of corners in japan! hence excessive baldness on the steering wheel