I think I am going to buy a 1998 Subaru Estratto microvan. I can’t find that much about them online. They are tiny little things. Just a lil 1.4L engine. I know they don’t have any leg room, but I’m a tiny guy. I have already driven a few. Do any of you guys have any experience with these little vans? How about getting parts for them? My plan is to have a little van so I can put my race bike in it as well. Anyway, what do you guys know about these little vans. I’m just looking for it to be reliable and capable of carrying maybe 2 150cc race bikes in the back. Thanks for any advice!
[quote=“rk1951”]I think I am going to buy a 1998 Subaru Estratto microvan. I can’t find that much about them online. They are tiny little things. Just a lil 1.4L engine. I know they don’t have any leg room, but I’m a tiny guy. I have already driven a few. Do any of you guys have any experience with these little vans? How about getting parts for them? My plan is to have a little van so I can put my race bike in it as well. Anyway, what do you guys know about these little vans. I’m just looking for it to be reliable and capable of carrying maybe 2 150cc race bikes in the back. Thanks for any advice!
It looks like this [/quote]
I had years of experience working on those little things.
Firstly, let me start my saying, don’t get one.
Sorry, I know they’re cute and I know it also sounds very strange from me, saying you shouldn’t purchase a Scoob. Never the less though, these are now very, very long in the tooth and bits are not simple to get a hold of. Working on them requires hands which can swivel and bones which can bend without snapping. My least favorite job in the world on those was probably either changing the exhaust or adjusting the tappits. I’m not quite sure which I hated the most now.
You can easily find more modern, larger, proper vans for a reasonable price (over 200,000NT), so I’d say keep on fishing.
Vans should be practical, and I think of this one these days as being more cute than anything else.
I had years of experience working on those little things.
Firstly, let me start my saying, don’t get one.
Sorry, I know they’re cute and I know it also sounds very strange from me, saying you shouldn’t purchase a Scoob. Never the less though, these are now very, very long in the tooth and bits are not simple to get a hold of. Working on them requires hands which can swivel and bones which can bend without snapping. My least favorite job in the world on those was probably either changing the exhaust or adjusting the tappits. I’m not quite sure which I hated the most now.
You can easily find more modern, larger, proper vans for a reasonable price (over 200,000NT), so I’d say keep on fishing.
Vans should be practical, and I think of this one these days as being more cute than anything else.[/quote]
I am no noob to the car world, so I figured that the scoob would be a decent choice. My budget it only about 100,000nt for a microvan. I don’t want something too big. My choices are the Subaru. Mitsubishi Delica or VARICA , Ford and that is about it for the microvans here in Taiwan right I really don’t want a Ford though)? I know the microvans are cute, but that is not why I want one. My parking space is tiny and I don’t want a big van for Taiwan. If I can get two small race bikes in there with just taking the rear seat out then that would be perfect. Getting something bigger will just be a pain in my ass. I know my budget isn’t a lot, but I have friends here that have bought cars for 50-100,00K that haven’t had many problems. I am sure I can find a nice deal on one in that price range. I see Mitsubishi Microvans everywhere though, so would that be a better choice?
In your experience, are these little microvans reliable? Really even a late 90’s model might be hard to find parts?
Ooh, a Subaru Domingo. Hardly see any of them even in Okinawa anymore, where there’s thousands of Subaru Sambars kickin about that are even older and even smaller. What does that tell you?
That and the Daihatsu microvans are both pretty rare. The Varicar and the Pronto are everywhere, including semi-derelict as roadside hoarding supports, so parts should…er…be locatable.
Delica might be a better fit if you want to put two m/c’s in it though?
Yes it has many names, the Estratto, Sumo, Domingo, Libero, Microvan, Columbuss, E12, E12, Sambar…ect!!
[quote=“Ducked”]That and the Daihatsu microvans are both pretty rare. The Varicar and the Pronto are everywhere, including semi-derelict as roadside hoarding supports, so parts should…er…be locatable.
Delica might be a better fit if you want to put two m/c’s in it though?[/quote]
I don’t want the Pronto, it is a Ford! I might be interested in the Mitsubishi Valicar or Delica, but I think many of them are made by CMC. I don’t know for a fact, but I think the CMC’s were made here in Taiwan. I bet those are more of a peice of shit than the Subaru! Parts might be easier to find though.
I actually got a hold of a Taiwanese mechanic in Taoyuan and he said parts are not that hard to find for the Subaru minivans. I’m going to check one out this weekend.
Sulavaca I know you said not to get one, but it sounds like that is because they are a pain to work on more than anything else. I won’t be doing much work on it myself if it needs it. I think all the microvans are going to be a pain in the ass to work on not matter what make and model it is. Anyway, thanks for the advice, but I still want to check one out before I completely pass on the Scoob.
[quote=“rk1951”]
I don’t want the Pronto, it is a Ford! :[/quote]
It’s only sort of a Ford. In the UK its often a Bedford (=GM). Its actually a Suzuki.
It probably is pretty crap (I drove one a few times in the UK but never fiddled with one) but if I was looking for a microvan here I’d have to consider it, because there’s a Haynes manual available. There is absolutey no information available in English on the Varica, (and it has a weird exhaust manifold :s ), though its probably a better vehicle overall.
[quote=“rk1951”]
Sulavaca I know you said not to get one, but it sounds like that is because they are a pain to work on more than anything else. I won’t be doing much work on it myself if it needs it. :[/quote]
To state the obvious, even if you will do no work yourself, ease of maintenance is still a potential issue, because you are buying used. If its hard to do it won’t have been done, and if you try to get it done (That “if it needs it” sounds dodgy) its more likely to be done badly.
The Subie Sambar (and the bigger Estratto?) have this weird little rear-mounted engine flat under the load tray, so a big advantage of them in the summer months is that you don’t actually sit on top of the engine and cook, especially sitting in traffic…
Sambars must be reasonably reliable, plenty of them kicking around in Okinawa (600 cc and 660 cc) that are 15-20 years old. Farmers favourites, along with the Hijet and the Honda Acty.
I had years of experience working on those little things.
Firstly, let me start my saying, don’t get one.
Sorry, I know they’re cute and I know it also sounds very strange from me, saying you shouldn’t purchase a Scoob. Never the less though, these are now very, very long in the tooth and bits are not simple to get a hold of. Working on them requires hands which can swivel and bones which can bend without snapping. My least favorite job in the world on those was probably either changing the exhaust or adjusting the tappits.[/quote]
Hey Sulavaca, question. You say working on these requires hands which can swivel ect, but all the Scoobs I have looked at have rear 1300cc engines. The engine is right in front of you and even the exhaust looks easy to change if I needed. I grew up working on late 60’s VW bugs and the engine looks very similar to those VW engines.
I also found an actual mechanic that says finding engine parts are not hard, but will be a little more expensive than the Zhong Hua CMC micro vans. Those CMC vans don’t have a rear engine and they just look like shit to me. I haven’t seen too many nice ones either, they are all just beat to shit.
Anyway, I think I have a Scoob picked out that I like. It is a 1998, great condition…new exhaust, haha and it fits 2 race bikes in the back. The rear seats just fold right down and it turns into a flat bed. It is amazing. I don’t think most of the other micro vans do that. I think you actually have to remove the rear seats. Anyway, I think it should be a decent lil van.
I made a new purchase. 1998 Subaru Micro van 1.3L rear engine. It is in pretty good shape. It runs well and I can haul my race bikes in it. I hope it isn’t the death of my wallet. It only cost $75K which included the yearly taxes and transferring of all the papers which was over 10,000nt. God it is so tiny, but so convenient for Taiwan!
You must be really short. I always though camping in the back of the truck sounded a good idea, but there are about 5 days during the year when it’s ideal to do that in Taiwan. Too cold and clammy in winter and too hot and humid in summer. If you open the windows even for 5 minutes, the mosquitoes pile in for a party. I wish there was mini dehumidifier you could just plug into the cig lighter socket.
You must be really short. I always though camping in the back of the truck sounded a good idea, but there are about 5 days during the year when it’s ideal to do that in Taiwan.[/quote]
I would agree. A sweat box in the summer here.
We used to have a customer with one in the old days. He was a representative of some sorts and he used to drive his from Northumberland to somewhere in Africa. He would sleep in the back of it during his stay there and then drive it back again. He used his for years and years. It did very well considering that it wasn’t a Toyota Hilux. It always sounded like it was going to explode, but never failed him. At least he used to get regular servicing and maintenance though, which is the only way to work it when doing a lot of extreme driving.
rk1951, I would seriously recommend that you take those alloys off it and replace them with the original sized wheels. Fitting such high resistance tyres and extended rims are going to cause excessive wheel bearing wear as well as steering rack and suspension component wear and tear.
I had a Varica as my first car when I came back to Taiwan and decided to round up the island.
I dont know much about the scooby, but I didnt regret getting the varica. Very cheap to maintain as its a well worked on car, probably by and at any mechanic.
However, I took it up Alishan once and my accelerator-limb kneecap went out. You wont have this problem though. The driving position leaves too much to be desired, but it could hold a huge cargo, revs high as is typical of Jap engines. I had a lot of fun with it. Challenging fun. You should test drive one at least.
[quote=“rk1951”]I made a new purchase. 1998 Subaru Micro van 1.3L rear engine. It is in pretty good shape. It runs well and I can haul my race bikes in it. I hope it isn’t the death of my wallet. It only cost $75K which included the yearly taxes and transferring of all the papers which was over 10,000nt. God it is so tiny, but so convenient for Taiwan! [/quote]
Nice buy!!!
i know you will take good care of it!!
Nice buy!!!
I know you will take good care of it!![/quote]
Omerojs, I didn’t notice you posted. Thanks man. So far so good. It has been super reliable. I already found a junked (Bao Fei) Subaru that I have bought a few parts off of (mirror, 2 door handles and a spare tire.) I’m only 5’9 so it isn’t so bad to drive, but it isn’t the most comfy ride car in the world. It isn’t the most powerful van in the world, but it works and I can fit 2 race bikes in the back. A few friends and I now rent a house at Fulong beach and I have been driving there at least once a week and it hasn’t had any problems even with a full load of crap in the back. I can even fit 2 long boards in the back. The last owner made a rack to fit 2 boards inside the Van. Such a perfect Van for Taiwan. The AC even rocks. Windows need to be tented, that is next! I can’t believe 2 bikes and all my gear fit into this tiny Subaru!
Windows need to be tented, that is next! I can’t believe 2 bikes and all my gear fit into this tiny Subaru!