It's official, we are buying a little yellow truck

Life Cars & Motorcycles
21

Damn! That’s been my impression/experience, but I was hoping you’d prove me wrong. I havn’t seen anything as good as the 20k Delica that got away, even at thrice the price.

Theres a Varica on Tealit at the moment, but from your description its probably the relatively expensive one you mention already seeing.

Redwagon warned me off the 800cc engined CMC’s (cute though I agree they be). IIRC he reckoned they were mechanically weak and prone to blown gaskets and warped cylinder heads, though not as bad as the small-engined Prontos.

If you don’t mind me saying so you seem a bit (overly?) impressed by paintwork. God knows I’m no expert, but if anything I’d be a bit extra cautious about an oldish truck that’s been resprayed. Can’t blame them for wanting to present it well, but paintwork is relatively unimportant in a commercial vehicle unless it distracts you from the mechanical condition.

22

Damn! That’s been my impression/experience, but I was hoping you’d prove me wrong.[/quote]I really thought I could prove you wrong, too. I still think it’s not impossible, but just not as easy as I thought. The demand for them is too high, I think.

[quote]Redwagon warned me off the 800cc engined CMC’s (cute though I agree they be). IIRC he reckoned they were mechanically weak and prone to blown gaskets and warped cylinder heads, though not as bad as the small-engined Prontos.[/quote]I remember something about that, too. I don’t like the fact that it’s a 3 cylinder engine. And even worse, it doesn’t have A/C. That’s a big bummer during a mid-afternoon traffic jam in August.

[quote]If you don’t mind me saying so you seem a bit (overly?) impressed by paintwork.[/quote]I admit it. Guilty as charged. :wink: The 80k. white truck I really like even has the whole undercarriage covered with a nice flat black. :slight_smile: The thing is, though, we need to apply our logo and our sponsors’ logos onto the vehicle. So if the paint isn’t nice on the truck we buy, we plan to have it repainted right away. But you have to admit, when a little truck looks all nice and new, it is eye catching. Just got to be careful that it’s not an actual “catch.”

[quote]God knows I’m no expert, but if anything I’d be a bit extra cautious about an oldish truck that’s been resprayed.[/quote]And rightfully so. You should see that 40k minicab I mentioned. It’s nothing but a rust bucket. But they cut out any and all panels, even around the doors, and they weld on new panels. Despite the fact that the frame is badly rusted, the little thing will look really nice when they are done refurbishing it. Just might not be all that safe.

[quote]Can’t blame them for wanting to present it well, but paintwork is relatively unimportant in a commercial vehicle unless it distracts you from the mechanical condition.[/quote]I agree. I’ll be crawling under the truck we end up buying with a flashlight to inspect everything as much as I can. Reason being, if you spot anything wrong, you can tell them that you will buy the truck if they fix it first, and 99% of the time they will fix anything within a day to get the sale.

So far, I’ve only started the trucks, listened to the engine, and looked at the body work and interior. As we narrow down our choices, I will be more diligent when inspecting the trucks.

marboulette

23

Well, at least with LBT’s the ground clearance makes crawling under practical, unlike with a car where you’d have to get it jacked up.

IIRC there’s been a (Chevy?) GM10 on tealit for ages, asking 100k. I’ve seen a few of those around. Don’t know anything about them, (not being American), but I’d guess maintenance, parts etc would be less available/more expensive than an LBT. Dogs probably don’t care about the to-the-levee US cool factor.

24

I went out on a hunt today determined to find a truck. I was willing to go all the way to Pingtung if I had to. I looked at many trucks, and again, they all were just a bit too expensive, and the ones that were within our budget were beat up. I did not let it get to me, I did not give up. The more I tried, the more my attempts failed. Finally, I was ready to give up and that’s when it happened. When I spotted it in the distance, I thought, “no… could that be the one?”

Asking price was 40k, I got it for 36k, and I requested a spare wheel and a jack and iron. The truck has 156k on the odo. Everything works, A/C, radio, lights wipers, and even the small tacky lights on the bumpers. The engine purrs, can’t hardly hear the valves. The tranny is smooth, the clutch has tons of life left. Brakes are good, brake lines and master cylinder both look good as do the radiator and power steering. The body is excellent except for a couple rusty spots below the windshield, under the mirrors. It’s very small and I can fix that easily. The box is wooden with a metal frame. I really like that. It’s just been completely redone, all the wood is new, including supporting pieces under the box. The undercarriage of the box was painted with a thick paint like boat paint. It’s been really well done.

The truck needs a new rear bumper, but I can have a local welder install something nice for very cheap and paint it myself. The truck also needs front suspension, and we will have that done shortly. I was quoted 6-7k on a new green army style retractable roof for the box. We will have one of them installed, too. Oh, and we need 4 new tires.

To sum it up, we will have the suspension and tires done, we will install a roof on the box, and this will all be included in our 60k budget. That’s including 10k for tax, registration and insurance, too! Meaning it’s registered, insured and ready to go at that price.

Have a look:

Yes, yes, it’s [color=#FFFF00]YELLOW! [/color] :laughing:

See the wood is all brand new.

See that broken rear bumper.

The interior needs a bit of work. It’s just really dirty. Nothing broken.

We have a Yellow Truck!!! :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

marboulette

25

Doesn’t count. S’not blue.

26

Congratulations! It looks like you got a steal! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

27

Read the thread title again. Haha! :smiley: I knew it was possible to find something at a lower price. This truck is 16 years old, you know. But the body is decent, the engine is sound and the frame is solid. And everything works! Can’t go wrong for 36k. It’s perfect for us. Cheap, and hopefully reliable for moderate use. Even if we had to spend a bit of money here and there to fix something, it’s OK, but then again, I have pretty good faith in the reliability of these little Toyotas. They can go on for ever.

[quote]Congratulations! It looks like you got a steal! [/quote]Thank you, Mr. Zender. I think we’ll be in a better position to say how well we did in a few months given how the truck holds up, but yes, so far so good. I think we scored. :slight_smile:

marboulette

28

Congratulations! Just out of curiosity, why do you need a truck?

29

Thanks, Maoman. We need a truck for lots of stuff. Every week we pick up anywhere from 150 to 600+ kilos of dog food. That’s why the car suspension is shot. When we get a small shipment, we can use the car, but for larger shipments, we have to borrow a truck. We borrowed a friend’s truck often, but we don’t want to abuse his generosity. We also accept donations for items people donate to us(flea market), and these items are often big and impossible to haul with a car. Furniture and appliances, mostly. We refuse some donations sometimes because we have no way of transporting them. And more importantly, we do more and more CNR now, and we need to set up the back of the truck with a bunch of cages and dog catching equipment to conduct more effective CNR operations. With a car, we can only do 2-3 dogs at the time, and scared/aggressive large dogs pose a problem since a large cage doesn’t fit in the car. With a truck and proper cages, we can CNR up to ten dogs at the time. More, I suppose, if we stack cages. It’s awesome. :slight_smile:

Also, the car’s regos (the Sunny STD)and insurance ran out and we need to have it inspected in order to do the proper ownership transfer. It’s still under the name of the guy who sold it to us, but we have his ARC and chop. I’m pretty certain that the car will not pass the inspection, and even if it did, the cost of inspection + regos and insurance is more than what the care is worth! There’s a small oil leak on it, but it’s long standing so the undercarriage is pretty oily. For one, that would have to be cleaned to pass the inspection. Just a painstaking process to get that piece of junk registered. Not worth it, but we still need a vehicle, preferably a truck. So the little yellow truck it is. :slight_smile:

marboulette

30

Everyone needs a truck. Its just that some of you are in denial.

31

Everyone needs a truck. Its just that some of you are in denial.[/quote]
My father-in-law has a small fleet of blue trucks at my disposal, but I hate driving them - I’m too tall, and too big to sit behind the wheel comfortably for any length of time. I always have to duck my head down just so that I can see in front of me. Anyway, I can’t see what a blue truck could haul for me that my VW Jetta couldn’t. The biggest loads I carry are when we go camping, and the Jetta’s trunk is huge.

32

Read the thread title again. Haha! :smiley: I knew it was possible to find something at a lower price. This truck is 16 years old, you know. But the body is decent, the engine is sound and the frame is solid. And everything works! Can’t go wrong for 36k. It’s perfect for us. Cheap, and hopefully reliable for moderate use. Even if we had to spend a bit of money here and there to fix something, it’s OK, but then again, I have pretty good faith in the reliability of these little Toyotas. They can go on for ever.

marboulette[/quote]

Ok, maybe I’m being “overly impressed by paintwork” I think those Toyotas are great, and IIRC you’ve got your first choice, congratulations.

I THINK the older ones have straight U-channel chassis rails (later models, and other LBT’s have more vulnerable curved box-sections, typical automative “progress”) so serious chassis rot in them is unlikely.

Just to show I’m not consumed by jealousy (though I am) I’ve got a few .pdf files on the Surf that might be at least partially relevant. (An owners manual, which tells you to take it to the main dealer to empty the ashtrays, and some slightly more technical engine and circuit stuff), A very long way short of a workshop manual, but if they might be of use PM me an email address to send to.

33

Everyone needs a truck. Its just that some of you are in denial.[/quote]
My father-in-law has a small fleet of blue trucks at my disposal, but I hate driving them - I’m too tall, and too big to sit behind the wheel comfortably for any length of time. I always have to duck my head down just so that I can see in front of me.[/quote]I’m a bit too tall for them, too, even though you have a couple inches on me. That’s one reason why I like the Zace a lot because it has about 25% more leg room. Not to mention that is has a normal hood, which makes it much easier to work on the truck as opposed to removing the seats on the LBTs.

[quote]Ok, maybe I’m being “overly impressed by paintwork” I think those Toyotas are great, and IIRC you’ve got your first choice, congratulations. [/quote]Yes, as mentioned in the OP, the Zace is my favorite model. :slight_smile: More leg room, easier to work on, and the Toyota reliability. For some reason, they are easier to drive, too. The transmission is not nearly as clunky as the ones on the blue truck I’ve driven which makes down shifting much smoother and easier.

[quote]I’ve got a few .pdf files on the Surf that might be at least partially relevant. (An owners manual, which tells you to take it to the main dealer to empty the ashtrays, and some slightly more technical engine and circuit stuff), A very long way short of a workshop manual, but if they might be of use PM me an email address to send to.[/quote]Mechanic on these trucks is really easy. There’s so much space under the hood, you could probably hide three little persons under there. I don’t think I will need the manuals, but… BUT… since they are only an email away, I’d be happy if you could send the files to me. You just never know, besides it will be interesting to browse through them. My email address is chris(@)bark-taiwan.org. (remove the parenthesis) Thanks a lot, Ed. :slight_smile:

I will be working on our truck in the next couple weeks. I’ll sort out the interior, replace the rear bumper, replace the front suspension, get 4 tires and I will paint the wheels. And of course, we will apply our logo. In the above picture, the truck is actually quite dirty. There are a lot of black marks and smudges on the cab itself that will come off with a good cleaning, polishing and waxing. I will post pictures once I’m done working on it. It will look so cute! I will also report on the total cost of the truck, including the cost of repairs, and including installation of a tarp/retractable roof on the box.

As for registration of the vehicle, I found out exactly how it’s done. It costs NT$7,500 for tax and about NT$2,500 for regos and insurance. Total of about NT$10,000. We need copies of ID cards from two locals with their name chops. There are no forms to fill out and they don’t have to go to the registration place. Just copies of 2 IDs and name chops, that’s it. It’s easy.

We are transferring ownership tomorrow afternoon. We could not do it yesterday, the registration place is closed on weekends. Will be driving home with our new truck tomorrow after work. :discodance:

marboulette

34

Not THAT easy. Need a Taiwan drivers licence, too. An intl. one doesn’t cut it. So I went for the medical and then for the test to get my Canada license transferred today, and I failed the writing test. Have to wait 7 days to try again, meanwhile we have to wait to register the truck. :frowning: My wife will try to pass the test tomorrow, and if she passes, we will register the truck in her name. One of us is bound to pass the test at some point. :laughing: I got 80% and needed 85 to pass. I have not studied for it, though. Did not even open a book. Will study before I retry.

marboulette

35

[quote=“marboulette”][quote=“marboulette”]

As for registration of the vehicle, I found out exactly how it’s done. It costs NT$7,500 for tax and about NT$2,500 for regos and insurance. Total of about NT$10,000. We need copies of ID cards from two locals with their name chops. There are no forms to fill out and they don’t have to go to the registration place. Just copies of 2 IDs and name chops, that’s it. It’s easy.

[/quote]
Not THAT easy. Need a Taiwan drivers licence, too. An intl. one doesn’t cut it. So I went for the medical and then for the test to get my Canada license transferred today, and I failed the writing test. Have to wait 7 days to try again, meanwhile we have to wait to register the truck. :frowning: My wife will try to pass the test tomorrow, and if she passes, we will register the truck in her name. One of us is bound to pass the test at some point. :laughing: I got 80% and needed 85 to pass. I have not studied for it, though. Did not even open a book. Will study before I retry.

marboulette[/quote]

Urgh! Bad news but good information. Nobody told me that when I “almost” bought a Delica. Sounds like it would have fallen at the last hurdle anyway, since I don’t see me getting a Taiwanese license in a hurry. (Can’t make any sense of the written tests I’ve seen, plus there’s that S-bend thing.)

Useful having you out there on point. :slight_smile:

36

I got 95! Then I crashed to 74. :s

Anyways, a friend just offered to register the truck in her name until we can pass the test. If we can transfer the truck before three months, we will not have to pay taxes again and the truck will not need to be inspected again. If all goes well, we will be picking up the yellow machine tomorrow.

Ok, back to practicing…

marboulette

37

How can you haul anything with an engine that small ?

I had a 2.7litre in my Toyota Hilux and that was too small, so I put in a 4.0litre V8 from a Lexus LS400 and it only just does the job.

maybe I drive to fast ?

38

[quote=“MadeInNewZealand”]How can you haul anything with an engine that small ?

I had a 2.7litre in my Toyota Hilux and that was too small, so I put in a 4.0litre V8 from a Lexus LS400 and it only just does the job.

maybe I drive to fast ?[/quote]

I guess it depends what you do with it. If you mean “haul” as in hauling a trailer, the trailer better not be too heavy because it is a small engine, indeed. The box itself is rated for 1/2 ton, I think, but they can take a bit more than that. We carried 1500 pounds on the back of a small 1100cc Varyca just a couple weeks ago. It didn’t feel overloaded and it handled nicely despite having nearly 3/4 ton on it. But yes, it’s quite slow, and even slower when loaded.

marboulette

39

Picked up the truck on Thursday! :slight_smile: I started refurbishing a few things yesterday, and I will be spending most of the day working on it.

I took the whole interior apart including seat, seat belts(put those in the washing machine), etc, and then I used a garden hose, brush and green scrubbies to clean the whole interior top to bottom. The previous owner was a smoker and the whole cab was stained. It took me a few hours. I also removed the floor covering rubber and I bought a sheet of 3/8’ thick black rubber mat. It’s that thick heavy duty stuff. Today I will cut it to fit and cover the whole floor. It’s a bit of a challenge. I will use the old rubber covering as a template to trace the new mat. Fun, fun.

Thursday night, I took the truck to a mechanic shop/friend/old neighbor and we took a drive. We looked at everything together. Turns out the front suspension is fine, the tires were missing 40psi of pressure from sitting too long, and that’s all. We did, however, find a leak on the right rear wheel coming from the differential. He’s fixing it today, the quote for the repair is NT$600. And that is it. That’s all the repair the truck needs so far.

As for the tacky lights on the front bumper, turns out they are fog lights, and they are darn powerful. :slight_smile:

Oh, and, I have not failed the test in my last 15 attempts or so, and I scored 100% 5 times in a row. I think I’m ready, I know all the answers to all the stupid questions now.

Signing off on this thread for now, I will post pics of the yellow machine in a few weeks when I’m finished with the initial dose of TLC.

marboulette

40

I passed! I got 87.5% on the writing test(second try) and 100% on the driving test(1st try). The road test is ridiculously easy.

I was about to leave the registration bureau and I asked if I was allowed to ride a scooter with the car license. I thought I was, but no. So I enrolled for the scooter road test right away, and passed that with 100%, too. I’ve been here six years and I just finally got my license to ride a scooter and to drive a car. It was about time!

I did lots of work on the truck this weekend. Will post pics when I’m done. :slight_smile:

marboulette