Hi
As I'll be moving from Copenhagen to PTH in a couple of months I'm currently looking into finding a suitable car. I'm currentlly driving a VW Transporter which is fine here in Denmark but it seems that for longer trips to e.g. Gnaraloo a Transporter may not be that useful.
I usually bring my wave and freestyle gear i.e two boards, two booms, three masts and 4 - 5 sails. I'd prefer to have a proper windsurf car/van where I can leave my gear in at all times. I'm considering getting a Mitsubishi Delica as it seem to meet my needs. I'd be interested in hearing which cars other windsurfers drive and possible pros and cons on the Delica.
Please share your relvant experiences
best regards
Hans Christian
I disagree: they are good enough offroad but not as good as many four wheel drives.
For putting in lots of windsurf gear with a shelf or racks, and having an area to sleep, and really good 4WD ability there really is no other: Landcruiser troopy.
For HCFJK: I am not talking abotu the normal Landcruiser, rather I mean the troop carrier version.
They run for ever, parts are available even in remote parts of australia, and they don't have carpet all thru the back like a Delica which is a plus for sand and salty water!
I have a wife n kid n dog so I am actually thinking about getting a Delica. But the guy asked about the best, and the troopy must be IT. I'm ignoring comforts like carpet, electric sunroof and a CD player obviously as fromthe question I think he wants to move wet gear, tackle a rough track to Gnaraloo and sleep in it as priorities.
HCFJK is your surname Anderson
Well - the Transporter is a good car and it does indeed fit at LOT of gear.
Thanks for your input. Think that I'll have to look more into the Delica.
best regards
Hans Christian Jeppesen
Mitsubishi Challenger is the best hands down. I know of one (roof racks included) that is going cheap. I reckon I can get them down to $40,000 AUD. In Euros that would be like next to nothing. Let me know if you are interested? [}:)][}:)]
Gnaraloo? Hell I'd buy a 30 foot tour bus and park it right at the spot. It's not like someone is going to tow it. Plus you could block access for everyone else and hence get the break to yourself... ;-)
If your thinking Delica as Mark said too much carpet etc.
I have the Aussie petrol 4x4 van version (no carpet or back seats standard), it's done near on 300k and I can't kill it, it loves sand and WA has mobs of that
If you're looking for cheap and reliable, get the 2.4L petrol L300 4x4 van, it'll do all you want. But if you have the money go the Troopy for sure, great bullet proof vehicle
Just picked up a sweet Mitsi L300 van with low k's ,long reg,no rust and on LPG for 4 grand!!!
She's at the window tinters now.
Almost grumps.The coat hanger on the exhaust is nearly worn through and the rust holding the front pillar on is a bit scary now.And lately it only seems to start when it feels like it....She did me well for the last cupla years.
Anyone want a cheap fixer upper? 500 bucks with a second van for spares.Bargain!!
Is the L300 Short wheel base or long?
Saw a short wheel base delica in a car yard recently for not too much money...
Can a short wheel base fit a 250 odd cm board in the back with the front seat still in the normal position?
What's wrong with imports Stribo?
Also has anyone had much experience with the Subaru Forester as a windsurf vehicle?
The issue with imports are as follows:
No support from local manufacturers or importers
No support from local dealers
Lack of spare parts because of the above
Mechanics not willing to, or charging an arm and a leg for any repairs
Lack of local knowledge about the car
Getting insurance
Unknown history from the home country
In the case of the Delica the situation is as follows:
I don't think Mitsubishi Australia will help out with Delicas
There are some Mitsubishi dealers who are quite happy to assist Delica owners, for example North Shore Mitsubishi in Crows Nest NSW.
Spare parts are not a huge problem. There are businesses that supply Delica parts and most parts are interchangable with Pajeros or Starwagons.
On the Delica Club website there is a list of mechanics who are competant and willing to work on Delicas.
There is a wealth of knowledge of Delicas. However they are a complex and difficult to work on vehicle.
Its not difficult to get insurance but its more expensive than a mainstream car.
In my situation I bought it for less than $10K so if anything major happens that costs $5K or more to fix I will write the vehicle off and buy something else.
Hi Hans,
For more info on Delica there is a forum on the delica club website. From what I can tell they are well suited esp if you put in a fake floor, you can def fit all your gear and sleep in it too. Also try and get a long wheel base as they have more room. Although the importers only bring over '95-'97 models. You can expect to pay $18,000 - $25,000 (bit more in WA). Also the '97 is a series 2 which is quite diff to the earlier series 1 models (it has fuel injection etc etc).
Also consider converting to diesel (approx couple thousand $) as petrol is not cheap and if your chasing wind in WA you'll be covering a LOT of km's.
I am currently drafting out a story on the different carvan\trailer options for windsurfers, the pros and cons etc, to be published in very near future. My website is www.whitecapsphotography.com, if you leave me your details or become a member I will email you when it will be published (hopefully intime for your migration). Also you can check out hot pics of the action here in Oz esp in WA.
Hope this helps
If you can afford it go the troopy they are the best, heaps of room and spares all over Aus. Just watch out for the troopy that has only done country driving on sundays to a church just outside of the local mine, troopies from mines are thrashed pieces of junk (most cases) and will need extensive repairs to fix, so cost it in! Otherwise awesome vehicles, not as luxurious as the delica or even a horse float for that matter.
The Delicas are great, mechanicals and chasis it's a pajero, on top of the chasis its a pimped starwagon. So in general most parts are not to hard to get hold of. I nearly bought one, only real 4wd van you can get, it has a transfer case and decent clearance. Just look out for all those fancy things on them they are the pricey bits to fix! A broken sunroof aint cheap to fix!
I ended up getting a challenger aswell, didn't like the top heavy look of the delica for off road use. Very happy with my challenger, it fits enough in the back and gets 550km to a tank. I will let mine go for a bit less though, its a 2002 model full leather and I'll take only 30k bargain!!!! PM me if interested
My van is an import, but spares are no problem - standard toyota bits and pieces, all the running and 4wd stuff is standard hi-lux stuff. With kiddies in the back seat I can still get a 250cm board in the back, plus all sails, masts etc. I'm stoked with it, except for the price of diesel It's a LH119V
Picked up my new lwb Delica today.
Needed a new van to fit wife, baby, windsurfing gear and potential space for another sprog. This should do the job nicely.
Hans, there are a lot of Delicas on the road in Perth. Check out the website of the Australian Delica Club: www.delicaclub.com/
Mines exactly the same as that and i kn' love it !! same colour and all , cept i have swish mags that came with it.
i dont have a seat in the back tho, does yours have a low range gear box easty? mines an auto too.
bit of a slug but ya get used to it
mines model no is a LH178
what year is yours?
Yeah, great vans! Mines a '98, and doesn't have a low range box, but using low range in the auto box lets me creep up steep slippery slopes. For work we have a couple of them in Tassie, and 3 in PNG, and they're real work horses. I can't believe Toyota didn't release them into Oz, every tradesman would have bought one.
Australia sees very few models that are released by the Japanese car companies. Over there you can get 4WD Yarises and all sorts of trick vans.
I guess most of them are not released here because they would be too expensive to support and would fragment the market too much. In the case of the Delica, Mitsubishi Australia probably thought it would canabalise Pajero sales and not add too many total sales. Plus they would have been very expensive. On the other hand the Delica is becoming a more and more popular model in Australia so there is clearly a need for this sort of vehicle, a 4WD van.