Mitsubishi Varica gas mileage

Life Cars & Motorcycles
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It seems to be impossible to find any gas mileage info on cars made/sold in Taiwan. Nothing gets published by the manufacturers, and the EPA doesn’t have a reporting system (at least none that I know of). Asking the salesman at a dealership, you’ll inevitably get a ridiculously optimistic figure with no basis in reality. When you ask a Taiwanese car owner what gas mileage he/she is getting, the answer is inevitably something like “good” or “so-so” - no specific figures. Most people here don’t check their mileage, or would even know how to.

OK, rant over. Just wondering if anybody here owns a Mitsubishi Varica truck, and can tell me what their average gas mileage is. If you have the van, that would be useful info too, since there is little difference between the van and truck other than body style - it’s still the same 1200 cc engine. If you have a 4WD model, please mention that - I don’t plan on getting the 4WD because I anticipate worse mileage, but the info would be useful nonetheless.

Thanks,
DB

2

Can I ask if you are/have registered the truck in your name, and if so how? My understanding is that foreigners can’t register a truck unless they own a business, but maybe you do.

I’m afraid I cant help on the mileage question but a van owner, JohnnyT, posted a question on working out his mileage in the “My Own Little Blue Truck?” thread and may actually have done so by now.

http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=49000&hilit=tank+capacity

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[quote=“Dog’s_Breakfast”]
OK, rant over. Just wondering if anybody here owns a Mitsubishi Varica truck, and can tell me what their average gas mileage is. If you have the van, that would be useful info too, since there is little difference between the van and truck other than body style - it’s still the same 1200 cc engine. If you have a 4WD model, please mention that - I don’t plan on getting the 4WD because I anticipate worse mileage, but the info would be useful nonetheless.[/quote]
EPA and manufacturer figures are nonsense as you say. I can’t help you with an anecdotal figure, but a few friends have owned Varica or Varyca. Anyway, if you are vehicle cross-shopping based on an accurate mileage figure I think you’re not going to get any useful information. Mileage will vary a lot depending on how much payload you are hauling around, how many hills you have to climb, and by far the most important, how heavy your right foot is. The older 1100cc model is lighter and will be a bit more frugal, but both are pretty good on gas compared to anything in that class. I would be recommending the Mitsubishi even if it were thirstier than the competition because it’s so much better built. The only real competition in this class is the Ford Pronto, which is a POS by comparison.

BTW, the 4WD version is quite a bit thirstier as I recall from an ex-owner’s comments, even when 4WD is switched off. Also, the turning circle is much larger because the steering lock is very limited compared to the original RWD model.

Have you considered a car-based vehicle like a Proton Jumbuck, Nissan AD or Chevy S-10? Much nicer to drive than a real truck-chassis vehicle, though you cannot overload them the same way.

4

One reason of course for variable fuel economy is that people use them in a variety of different ways and in a variety of different situations. Coupled with Taiwan fuel coming in at such a cheap price and average distances covered being quite short on average, many people have little reason to need to check their figures. Even mine vary wildly depending on the weather and typical driving habits I change from time to time. Mine vary over a year by plus or minus twenty percent, which is a huge difference in economy.

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[quote=“Ducked”]Can I ask if you are/have registered the truck in your name, and if so how? My understanding is that foreigners can’t register a truck unless they own a business, but maybe you do.
[/quote]

Howdy Ducked. We (wife & I) currently own a 12-year-old Toyota Zace truck. I am contemplating replacing it, though it’s not yet certain. The windshield got busted some time ago, was replaced, but a steady water leak has caused a lot of rust under the dashboard and some damaged electrical components. The wooden bed is rotting away too. These things can be repaired/replaced, but I’m debating whether or not to keep the vehicle or take advantage of the government’s generous offer (only until the end of this year) for NT$30,000 subsidy on a new truck.

I do like the safety of the Zace. The Varica looks like a death trap, so it’s not the only model I’m considering. But gas mileage will weigh in my decision.

The truck is registered in my wife’s name. She owns a piece of farmland, so it is registered as a “farm vehicle.” I think your understanding about the restrictions on owning a truck is correct. If I wanted to register it in my name, I would need to own a business, since foreigners can’t own farmland.

I checked with the Ford dealer and they say that the Pronto is no longer being made. Closest competition to the Varica (1200cc) is a Suzuki flat-fronted truck, but it’s 1600cc. It is sturdier than the Varica and should hold up better in an accident. Larger engine might mean poorer mileage. The Suzuki is made in Indonesia and imported, which makes me slightly concerned about parts availability (Sulavaca if you’re reading this - any ideas about parts for these trucks?). Next step up from the Suzuki would be another Zace (1800cc).

A friend of mine had a 4WD Varica a few years ago and said the same thing (bad mileage, terrible turning radius). That plus the fact that it costs more and has power windows (hate those) has put it out of consideration.

The economy cars you suggested may indeed be fine, but we really do need a truck. We actually live on the farm part time, and soon will make it full time. A pickup truck is an essential piece of survival equipment on a farm (along with a chain saw, weed wacker, lawn mower, and various machetes for killing snakes).

best regards,
DB

6

Sorry, forgot your contribution to the Zace thread.

Might be worth pm-ing that JohnnyT guy, though I suppose he’ll chime in if he sees this thread.

Personally I’d stick with your Zace (though I like the Delica). 30K isn’t much on the cost of a new truck, and its the devil you know.

But I’m a notorious cheapskate.

MUST you kill snakes? Not quite so bad if you eat them, but I’ve always found they get out of the way prettty quickly when disturbed.

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I don’t really think parts would be an issue. Suzuki themselves run one of these for picking up customers and parts around Taipei. I’d call them first, to confirm that they will be supplying them for a while to come.

If I haven’t got this wrong then with roofs there’s the Suzuki Every which has two rows of seats and the Suzuki Landy which has three, the third one which can fold forwards. They have a 350kg loading capability.
The other flat bed is the Suzuki Carry.

The Every and Landy are both first generation vehicles and are presently up to third generation abroad, which means they are another lagging vehicle in Taiwan.

8

[quote=“Ducked”]MUST you kill snakes? Not quite so bad if you eat them, but I’ve always found they get out of the way prettty quickly when disturbed.
[/quote]

Out in the wilderness I leave them alone. It’s a different matter when they’re in your yard, or inside your house. I’ve had some really close calls, like pulling back the covers to hop into bed (and my wife was already sleeping) only to discover a poisonous snake (habu) making himself at home!

Note that I am talking only about killing poisonous snakes. The nonpoisonous ones - mainly rat snakes - are welcome (though not in bed). Any creature that gets rid of rats can’t be all bad.

The snake we’ve had the most trouble with are the above-mentioned habus. They aren’t the most poisonous, but they have a nasty habit of hiding in dark places (like behind the refrigerator, under furniture, and so on). They aren’t terribly aggressive, but will strike if you get too close. Quite a few of my neighbors have been bitten. Most dangerous are the banded kraits, but I’ve only seen (and killed) two of them. I’ve had some encounters with cobras and green bamboo snakes.

Which is why (getting back to the original subject of this thread) a truck is a useful thing around here. It’s really necessary to keep the trees and brush cleared back far away from the house. Ditto for keeping the grass closely cut. The best way to keep the snakes away is to give them no place to hide. When it comes to clearing brush, a pickup truck is essential. I posted a photo sometime earlier in another thread demonstrating why I need a truck - one picture’s worth a thousand words:

Also comes in handy for moving bags of fertilizer, water pipes, gravel, etc.

Again, thanks for the comments and info. Cheers!

I don’t really think parts would be an issue. Suzuki themselves run one of these for picking up customers and parts around Taipei. I’d call them first, to confirm that they will be supplying them for a while to come.

If I haven’t got this wrong then with roofs there’s the Suzuki Every which has two rows of seats and the Suzuki Landy which has three, the third one which can fold forwards. They have a 350kg loading capability.
The other flat bed is the Suzuki Carry.
[/quote]

Hi Sulavaca,

The truck I’m considering is called the Suzuki Super-Carry. The vans you’ve mentioned delivering parts and passengers in Taipei are probably a close relative. Here’s a photo from the Suzuki catalog:

Looks not as safe as the Zace in a front-end crash (which hopefully will never occur), but the front is sloped and definitely sturdier than the Varica. List price is NT$430,000, and this year there’s that NT$30,000 rebate. I was told by the Suzuki dealer (and people wanting to buy a car this year should make note of this) that you need to claim the rebate before December (the cut-off is sometime in November), it doesn’t go to December 31, 2009 as I had thought.

best regards,
DB

9

Uhm… http://tw.autos.yahoo.com/newcar.html

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Nice link llary

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I would stick with the Zace if I were you for this kind of use. A Delica would also be good, and if you care about fuel consumption there is a diesel version. I think you’ll be disappointed by the platform size of the Suzuki… which is the same as a Pronto, since a Pronto is a rebadged Suzuki carry. Veryca isn’t much bigger, if at all. Another one to look out for is the Mitsubishi Freeca. Not quite as large as the Delica but at least a decade more modern.

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Uhm… http://tw.autos.yahoo.com/newcar.html[/quote]

Thank you for the link. It’s most useful, though it doesn’t seem to be complete (I don’t see any trucks listed for Mitsubishi or Toyota, but Suzuki is covered). Anyway, it’s way better than nothing.

regards,
DB