Good Morning Mr. Sulu,
I thought it would be good to have an ongoing thread where we could get your (and everyone else’s, obviously) opinion on specific makes, models, years, etc.
Unless the Mod Squad prefers this in a different structure, form, etc.
Which is possible, what with MJB kind of turning into an old Italian granny ever since he gave up smoking.
Anyway, I’ll start.
I might want to get some wheels soon, I live in DEEP urban Tapei, will probably have to travel a minimum of 15 or 20 minutes to the only parking I can get.
I’ll probably only use it for weekends to the beach etc. and Costco runs.
I need legroom and a wee bit of cargo space (so a March or similar is out), but there’s only three of us, so we don’t need major seating.
What’s the deal on the Wish?
Every time I’ve ridden in a Wish taxi, I’ve been impressed at the roominess and impressive cargo capacity for its size.
I don’t reckon they’re all that pricey.
Am I missing out on something?
Would you reccie an alternative in the same size/price/feature range?
We can ask other questions, too, right? I was actually thinking about starting a thread or sending him a PM. So here it goes.
Just had the engine rebuilt on our truck and it took a while because we don’t use it much but we finally reached the first 1,000km on the new engine. I’m taking the truck in for its first scheduled oil change this week.
The mechanic instructed me to drive slowly and keep the rev down for a while. How long of a while would you recommend? The first 1,000km was about 50% city driving and 50% on the highway. I never took the truck past 90km/hr on the highway but I can’t wait to feel OK about doing 100km/hr.
Put simply, how much mileage should I put on before I can drive the truck a bit faster and reving a bit higher during acceleration? Is 1,000 KM enough to seat the engine? And secondly, how often do you recommend I replace the oil given that the engine was just rebuilt? Lastly, what kind of oil do you recommend for this little 1500cc Zace?
Thank you! 
marboulette
[quote=“marboulette”]We can ask other questions, too, right? I was actually thinking about starting a thread or sending him a PM. So here it goes.
Just had the engine rebuilt on our truck and it took a while because we don’t use it much but we finally reached the first 1,000km on the new engine. I’m taking the truck in for its first scheduled oil change this week.
The mechanic instructed me to drive slowly and keep the rev down for a while. How long of a while would you recommend? The first 1,000km was about 50% city driving and 50% on the highway. I never took the truck past 90km/hr on the highway but I can’t wait to feel OK about doing 100km/hr.
Put simply, how much mileage should I put on before I can drive the truck a bit faster and reving a bit higher during acceleration? Is 1,000 KM enough to seat the engine? And secondly, how often do you recommend I replace the oil given that the engine was just rebuilt? Lastly, what kind of oil do you recommend for this little 1500cc Zace?
Thank you!
marboulette[/quote]
Wow, it’s been a long time, but didn’t they always used to say to take it easy the first 500 miles after a rebuild?
Or am I rembering wrong?
Jeez, what a useless post.
At least we can amuse each other 'til sulu shows up…
Well, there’s one school of thought that says you should rev the crap out of your engine immediately after a rebore to polish the bore and bed the rings much faster and tighter than pussyfooting around for the first 10 million revs.
Is it going to get dark again tonight?
Can I touch the end of my nose with my tongue? In a car?
the chief, you can’t be seen behind the wheel of anything other than a mud-flecked Hummer fitted with an 8-track. Sorry. That’s just the way it is.
Can I engage the warp drive from a standing start or do I have to be on impulse power first?
[quote=“sandman”]Can I touch the end of my nose with my tongue? In a car?
the chief, you can’t be seen behind the wheel of anything other than a mud-flecked Hummer fitted with an 8-track. Sorry. That’s just the way it is.[/quote]
OK, OK, fair enough.
Guy tries to be practical just once…
Man I saw this guy driving down the road when I was in Portland in about 2000, he was driving like this beat to shit mid-80’s Jeep, it was obvious he was “down from the hills”…
More than half of the Jeep’s bodywork had random sheet steel riveted over it, he had like THREE different winches mounted, front, back, and sides, the rollbar was completely covered in gafftape over foam padding, and there were…pelts hanging from the side mirrors. Of course, the thing hadn’t had the doors on since Christ was a cowboy, and the dude was all like sunburned with like a braided beard reaching his belt, wearing those wicked funky K2 shades, all bigass boots and cutoff sleeves, about my age, and he had this fucking knockout blonde riding with him, looked like her Ma used to party with Tigerman, if ya know what I mean, not a day over 23, tie dyed jeans, blonde…man oh man…
Yeah, that was pretty much my fucking dream vehicle, man…
[quote=“redwagon”]Is it going to get dark again tonight?[/quote]It depends if you mean literally or figuratively. Literally, yes, definitely. Figuratively, it may or it may not get dark again tonight…
If it’s indeed 500 miles, then I’m not far off. The whole thing about reving the crap out of a new engine seems like a gamble to me so not the school of thought I tend to. I’ve been driving that truck like a grandpa for the last 1,000km, and truth be told, I’m a bit tired of it now. Will be nice when I feel OK about reving it a bit to not miss a green light for example or going 110km/hr on the freeway if I’m behind schedule.
Them Wish cars are indeed really nice. Been in such a Taxi a couple times. While the exterior is average, on the inside they look very roomy and quite comfortable with all kinds of practical gadgets. The interior seems really well made. I like em a lot.
marboulette
That method is known as the “motoman” method, named after the dude who popularized on moto boards. However, the accepted wisdom is that is only works on “new from the factory” motos. Rebuilds are terra incognito, or maybe RPM incognito.
Yes. My experience with rebore shops in Taiwan tend to use a fairly coarse grit stone to hone the cylinders and they like to run tight fits to the new pistons. Given that Taiwan-made pistons are made of fairly low-tech alloys, they tend to expand a bit more than, say, a Japanese alternative. They also tend not to have very sophisticated cam shapes either.* I would go with a longer run-in than normal with a new engine, and I’d be very careful not to let the engine lug in high gear… more so than with a new engine.
- Modern pistons are machined into an oval shape seen from above and a barrel shape viewed from the side. It’s done to compensate for the uneven thicknesses in the piston crown, pin bosses and skirt in order that the whole piston becomes straight sided and circular at operating temperatures.
[quote=“marboulette”]
Put simply, how much mileage should I put on before I can drive the truck a bit faster and reving a bit higher during acceleration? Is 1,000 KM enough to seat the engine? And secondly, how often do you recommend I replace the oil given that the engine was just rebuilt? Lastly, what kind of oil do you recommend for this little 1500cc Zace?
Thank you!
marboulette[/quote]
1000km in and out of city should be fine but obviously there is no simple answer to this question. A lot depends on the temperature which it is operating, type of oil inside the engine etc. My rule of thumb advice would be to run it in for between 1000~2000km and then change the oil to [urlhttp://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_15W-50_.aspx]Mobil 1 15w-50[/url] which will protect your engine very well indeed and probably better than any other. When to change? You can never change oil often enough and a lot depends on so many different factors, so many in fact that no two vehicles should ever wear at the same rate and so should have their oils changed at different rates. For that small engine in your large van I would again use rule of thumb and reckon you should go for 4,000km or three months.
[quote=“the chief”]
I’ll probably only use it for weekends to the beach etc. and Costco runs.
I need legroom and a wee bit of cargo space (so a March or similar is out), but there’s only three of us, so we don’t need major seating.
What’s the deal on the Wish?
Every time I’ve ridden in a Wish taxi, I’ve been impressed at the roominess and impressive cargo capacity for its size.
I don’t reckon they’re all that pricey.
Am I missing out on something?
Would you reccie an alternative in the same size/price/feature range?[/quote]
No problem. It would help if you could provide a budget range, intended period of ownership, requirements regarding appearance, reliability expectations, serviceability expectations, power requirements, running costs etc. And if you could give a rundown of which of those suggested points would be more important than others, then that would also help.
In the meantime I have harped on a lot about how much I like the Mazda 5. In fact I have to say that in this case I prefer it over the Toyota Wish. Taxi drivers of course will prefer the wish as it fulfills their requirements better which are mostly overall reliability and stronger residuals. I would normally agree with the two aforementioned criteria being the most important to Taiwan driving, but I am so much more impressed with the Mazda in terms of interior space, versatility, design and feel that I would personally prefer the Mazda by a long shot.
The Toyota just isn’t as clever with its interior space and I feel not as comfortable as the Mazda.
Toyota Wish
Good: Strong residuals, high reliability, strong demand, seven seats.
Bad: Third row seats uncomfortable with lack of a footwell to sit comfortably. No side sliding door for easy loading, expensive parts.
Mazda 5:
Good: Roomy interior, versatile interior, comfortable ride, side sliding doors with large loading apertures, good third row seats with footwell, reasonable prices.
Bad: Centre second row seat is lumpy to sit on, residuals lower than Toyota, won’t be quite as reliable long term, cheaper parts.
Thank you kindly, sulavaca.
Sucks, though. I won’t feel confident reving it much more for another 1000km or so. We just spent a fortune rebuilding it so I don’t want to take any chances. As for when to change the oil, your advice is very helpful. 4,000km is about half of what I thought I had to do. More expensive, but not a big issue. It will probably take us 6 months to do 4,000km so we’re looking at changing the oil every three months or so. That’s a big difference from going 8-10 months and 8,000km +. In my mind, I thought 10,000km was about right but I was planning to be a tad more diligent than that because the engine is new. That’s roughly what I did with my cars back home; 10,000km between oil change. The oil was always really dark by that time, though, and pretty dark soon after the oil change, too. I’m sure our little engine will be thankful with your recommendations. 
I’ve never had a car with a new engine. It’s quite odd to me to check the oil level and barely see the oil on the dipstick because it’s so clean. Usually it’s hard not to see it, it’s so black. I’ll try to keep it that way for as long as I can.
Thanks again! 
marboulette
[quote=“sulavaca”]
1000km in and out of city should be fine but obviously there is no simple answer to this question. A lot depends on the temperature which it is operating, type of oil inside the engine etc. My rule of thumb advice would be to run it in for between 1000~2000km and then change the oil to [urlhttp://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_15W-50_.aspx]Mobil 1 15w-50[/url] which will protect your engine very well indeed and probably better than any other. When to change? You can never change oil often enough and a lot depends on so many different factors, so many in fact that no two vehicles should ever wear at the same rate and so should have their oils changed at different rates. For that small engine in your large van I would again use rule of thumb and reckon you should go for 4,000km or three months.[/quote]
[quote=“marboulette”]Thank you kindly, sulavaca.
Sucks, though. I won’t feel confident reving it much more for another 1000km or so. We just spent a fortune rebuilding it so I don’t want to take any chances. As for when to change the oil, your advice is very helpful. 4,000km is about half of what I thought I had to do. More expensive, but not a big issue. It will probably take us 6 months to do 4,000km so we’re looking at changing the oil every three months or so. That’s a big difference from going 8-10 months and 8,000km +. In my mind, I thought 10,000km was [/quote]
Certainly. I am being extremely careful though. You can check your oil earlier on and if it seems to be in good health then keep running it for longer. It can easily go for much longer than what I state, but again it depends on your style of driving i.e. city/highway, towing, loading etc.
You have a rather heavy duty vehicle there with a heavy load on that engine, so best be more diligent than necessary. Mobil 1 should last longer than most oils so no need to worry too much.
I used to change every 3,000 miles in the U.K., but I was lucky because I got to use the dregs from all our customer’s Mobil 1 bottles so it never cost me anything.
I am very aware of how much idling is done in city as I am mostly a city driver. I can do no more than 9,000km per year in my car, but I can guarantee than at least half my engine’s revolutions are done at idle and mine’s on battery much of the time, so I am always willing to change oil at a much shorter periodic than the manufacturer suggests. Coupled with the fear that my car will one day cost a helluvalot more to repair than the average locally built car, so no chances I am taking.
I would compare a fair amount of 100,000km used car engines in Taiwan to U.K. car engines of 130,000 miles when it comes to cleanliness and state of repair. Most of that damage is done at idle I fear as people tend to underestimate their need for an oil change.
More modern cars are supposed to be coming out with oil acidity sensors in the future which will help a lot in gauging when oils need to be changed as it is the acidic build up in the oil that causes much damage to surfaces and oil seals over time. Acidity is increased in a worn engine or an engine that makes short runs without warming enough to reduce its petrol to air ratio, which results in petrol running into the sump, past the rings, which in turn reduces viscosity in the oil, causing it to slip past the rings and burn, which in turn causes coking as well as a build up in deposits which add to the acidity of the oil…and blaady bla, bla!
[quote=“sulavaca”]I am being extremely careful though. You can check your oil earlier on and if it seems to be in good health then keep running it for longer. It can easily go for much longer than what I state, but again it depends on your style of driving i.e. city/highway, towing, loading etc.[/quote]And that’s what I was hoping for. I WANT to be extremely careful. Like I mentioned, I’ve never had a car/truck with a new engine. I want to baby that thing. I always bought second hand because I think it’s better as you don’t have to deal with the drive-off-the-lot depreciation. In this case, I didn’t do so well, though. After all the repairs and the initial purchase price(minus getting some money back from the dealer), we are up to NT$93,000. Not so good for a 16 year old Zace. Not so good at all, but I comfort myself thinking that EVERYTHING is in good working order now. There is nothing I can think of that needs to be repaired. We replaced a shit load of parts aside from rebuilding the engine. The truck is perfect, and so far it runs perfectly. We could have bought a Varyca nearly 10 years younger for that price, but it wouldn’t have been perfect and it would have some mileage on it. For all intents and purposes, we are doing OK at that price and I think it will do us well for many years, but comes time to sell it, it will be a different story altogether. Too late to worry about that now, and the bottom line is we have a new engine and I’m gonna treat that baby like if it was a brand new top of the line sports car. 
Oh and the Zace has A LOT more leg room and that’s worth gold to a tall lad like me. Pretty hard to get a Zace in top shape for NT$93,000. But three years from now, we’ll be lucky to get NT$40,000 for it.
That’s why I figure I need to give that old truck top notch TLC so that it will last us for as long as we are doing this living in Taiwan thing. I don’t foresee ever buying another truck on this island.
marboulette
[quote=“sulavaca”][quote=“the chief”]
I’ll probably only use it for weekends to the beach etc. and Costco runs.
I need legroom and a wee bit of cargo space (so a March or similar is out), but there’s only three of us, so we don’t need major seating.
What’s the deal on the Wish?
Every time I’ve ridden in a Wish taxi, I’ve been impressed at the roominess and impressive cargo capacity for its size.
I don’t reckon they’re all that pricey.
Am I missing out on something?
Would you reccie an alternative in the same size/price/feature range?[/quote]
No problem. It would help if you could provide a budget range, intended period of ownership, requirements regarding appearance, reliability expectations, serviceability expectations, power requirements, running costs etc. And if you could give a rundown of which of those suggested points would be more important than others, then that would also help.
In the meantime I have harped on a lot about how much I like the Mazda 5. In fact I have to say that in this case I prefer it over the Toyota Wish. Taxi drivers of course will prefer the wish as it fulfills their requirements better which are mostly overall reliability and stronger residuals. I would normally agree with the two aforementioned criteria being the most important to Taiwan driving, but I am so much more impressed with the Mazda in terms of interior space, versatility, design and feel that I would personally prefer the Mazda by a long shot.
The Toyota just isn’t as clever with its interior space and I feel not as comfortable as the Mazda.
Toyota Wish
Good: Strong residuals, high reliability, strong demand, seven seats.
Bad: Third row seats uncomfortable with lack of a footwell to sit comfortably. No side sliding door for easy loading, expensive parts.
Mazda 5:
Good: Roomy interior, versatile interior, comfortable ride, side sliding doors with large loading apertures, good third row seats with footwell, reasonable prices.
Bad: Centre second row seat is lumpy to sit on, residuals lower than Toyota, won’t be quite as reliable long term, cheaper parts.[/quote]
Ok, Mr. Sulu, you got me at least curious on the Mazda.
It looks well sharp, I like the sliding door, that’s class.
So how does it compare with the Wish for
Mileage
Sticker (and resale) price
Frequency of repair with time
Cost of repair
Availability of (dependable) service
Overall deterioration
Price of options/standard extras
I’m not terribly clear what you mean by residuals.
And what’s a guy going to be looking at, price-wise, for an average say, 2-year-old model?
Or would you recommend a 2-year-old Mazda at all?
Finally, you know the Big Jeep buyout a few years back when the local guys were unloading them for a song due to the inspection issues, would it be worth looking into buying one of those?
The couple of guys I know who got one said the annual tweak to pass the Inspection was nothing.
[quote=“the chief”]
Ok, Mr. Sulu, you got me at least curious on the Mazda.
It looks well sharp, I like the sliding door, that’s class.
So how does it compare with the Wish for
Mileage
Sticker (and resale) price
Frequency of repair with time
Cost of repair
Availability of (dependable) service
Overall deterioration
Price of options/standard extras
I’m not terribly clear what you mean by residuals.
And what’s a guy going to be looking at, price-wise, for an average say, 2-year-old model?
Or would you recommend a 2-year-old Mazda at all?
Finally, you know the Big Jeep buyout a few years back when the local guys were unloading them for a song due to the inspection issues, would it be worth looking into buying one of those?
The couple of guys I know who got one said the annual tweak to pass the Inspection was nothing.[/quote]
Mazda 5 fuel consumption should be around 22MPG/9.3KPL average
A decent used Mazda 5 should be between 500-600,000NTD
I am unfamiliar with the price of options for the Mazda as there are too many to keep in mind. Mazda options tend to be priced cheaper than Toyota and there are quite a number of after market components/add-ons.
Residuals refers to the value of the car or the drop in value over time measured in currency. Toyota’s residual values are stronger than Mazda with about minus 20% over three years at forecourt prices as opposed to around 30% for Mazda depending on the model. Be aware that forecourt prices are not easily obtained by the average seller. The Mazda 5 may do better than some over time though as the vehicles are becoming limited in numbers due to the Japanese reducing the number of parts and cars they are producing for this model.
Reliability wise the Mazda is reported to be excellent. There has been an issue of abnormal tyre wear. Stay away from Dunlop tyres on 17" wheels and things should be fine.
The Toyota Wish in Taiwan and Thailand both share a common engine which is not used on other foreign models which use Toyota’s direct cylinder injection technology. There is little as always with Toyota to mention in the common fault department as far as I am aware.
A Jeep compared to a Mazda 5? I think you need to prioritise perhaps what your requirements are before making too serious a decision. I don’t recommend Jeeps at all unless for off-roading pleasure or needs as they are impractical in almost every other way.
[quote=“sulavaca”][quote=“the chief”]
Ok, Mr. Sulu, you got me at least curious on the Mazda.
It looks well sharp, I like the sliding door, that’s class.
So how does it compare with the Wish for
Mileage
Sticker (and resale) price
Frequency of repair with time
Cost of repair
Availability of (dependable) service
Overall deterioration
Price of options/standard extras
I’m not terribly clear what you mean by residuals.
And what’s a guy going to be looking at, price-wise, for an average say, 2-year-old model?
Or would you recommend a 2-year-old Mazda at all?
Finally, you know the Big Jeep buyout a few years back when the local guys were unloading them for a song due to the inspection issues, would it be worth looking into buying one of those?
The couple of guys I know who got one said the annual tweak to pass the Inspection was nothing.[/quote]
Mazda 5 fuel consumption should be around 22MPG/9.3KPL average
A decent used Mazda 5 should be between 500-600,000NTD
I am unfamiliar with the price of options for the Mazda as there are too many to keep in mind. Mazda options tend to be priced cheaper than Toyota and there are quite a number of after market components/add-ons.
Residuals refers to the value of the car or the drop in value over time measured in currency. Toyota’s residual values are stronger than Mazda with about minus 20% over three years at forecourt prices as opposed to around 30% for Mazda depending on the model. Be aware that forecourt prices are not easily obtained by the average seller. The Mazda 5 may do better than some over time though as the vehicles are becoming limited in numbers due to the Japanese reducing the number of parts and cars they are producing for this model.
Reliability wise the Mazda is reported to be excellent. There has been an issue of abnormal tyre wear. Stay away from Dunlop tyres on 17" wheels and things should be fine.
The Toyota Wish in Taiwan and Thailand both share a common engine which is not used on other foreign models which use Toyota’s direct cylinder injection technology. There is little as always with Toyota to mention in the common fault department as far as I am aware.
A Jeep compared to a Mazda 5? I think you need to prioritise perhaps what your requirements are before making too serious a decision. I don’t recommend Jeeps at all unless for off-roading pleasure or needs as they are impractical in almost every other way.[/quote]
Thanks a lot.
Never mind the Jeep, that was my penis talking.