Zace Surf vs Freeca

Life Cars & Motorcycles
21

Let me chip in on the T4, I drove one as a daily driver for almost 3 years.

Current issues:

Gearbox issue a pain, however my mechanic is busy fixing that, which he says he can at a reasonable cost.

It is rusting, will need it fixed, once I am sure that gearbox is OK. Rust around windscreen a major worry on mine, they do not have good paintjobs.

With aircon in, it tends to die, when aircon cuts in. I would think it has some idling issues, but they are not getting worse. My mechanic can’t fix it, and just cleans it out, if I get annoyed enough, it goes to VW, so they can sort it out.

Past issues:

It was NT$150k all up and that included buying it and getting it into shape.

Computer on it crapped out, so did starter engine, the latter recently.

A local made Cefiro might cost NT$4,000-8,000 to take to the garage. The T4 will easily be twice that.

You need a good mechanic, which can find you second hand spares, if not it will cost you a fortune, repairs would run at least NT$50k-60k per year when used daily.

It drives well for what it is and feels rock solid.

It is not much fun to drive in Taipei or any other place where underground parking is a concern. I managed to find parking for it every time, it goes into basements with 2 meter of headroom, of which there are some.

If I get issues sorted with it, I plan to keep it as a weekend car/camping car/transporting bike car for as many years as I can. Basically, he devil you know, and I am fairly convinced that it has no other issues than the ones mentioned above. Also, getting another T4 would get me an unknown, so I stick with what I got for a long time.

I have a Cefiro too, and even though it’s very old, has been waterlogged, and has almost 300,000km on it, it is in daily use more reliable and a damn sight cheaper to run.

22

[quote=“sulavaca”]Okay. Here’s the basic lowdown on three of the models discussed.

{See above for Zace, Freeca and VW T4}

[/quote]

No comment on the Delica, Mr S?

23

[quote=“Ducked”][quote=“sulavaca”]Okay. Here’s the basic lowdown on three of the models discussed.

{See above for Zace, Freeca and VW T4}

[/quote]

No comment on the Delica, Mr S?[/quote]

The Delica sure is a hot favorite!!

24

[quote=“Ducked”][quote=“sulavaca”]Okay. Here’s the basic lowdown on three of the models discussed.

{See above for Zace, Freeca and VW T4}

[/quote]

No comment on the Delica, Mr S?[/quote]

The Taiwan Delica isn’t a bad vehicle in many ways.
It has very good interior space, and drives quite well for what it is. Also they can be found relatively easily and don’t cost much to purchase.

There are perhaps some issues with the Delica as far as my experience tells, although some may not always agree.

  1. An interior car become quite hot around the front row seating area due to the engine and transmission being directly below. This can cause some noise in the cabin too.

  2. Generaly quality of Delicas can be pretty low at this stage. Many or most are used as work vehicles and suffer poor maintenance and lack of attention to servicing. This is also true on many working vehicles of course, but it seems to me that the T4 and Surfs are sometimes only used privately and are not always commercially driven by maniacs.

  3. Almost total lack of a front end is a potential safety issue.

  4. Some engine maintenance might not always be as easy to perform because of access.

  5. Rear or four wheel drive may be good in few circumstances, but this adds additional wear and tear as well as weight and can cause a rise in running costs.

25

I did not take a delica due to safety issues with it basically, no front end. Also, it is and looks more like a workman’s vehicle, and likely drive that way too. Rear seats are shite, or so they seem.

The T4 looks more comfortable inside, it drives well for what it is, and it just feels more solid.

I would take another one any day, however as they can have issues, I prefer to stick with what I got, as I do not have as many kids living at home, I do not need it for anything else than taking a couple of bikes or tents out on adventure.

They are expensive to run, but i think it’s fair to say that you get what you pay for.

I would think that the short wheelbase caravelles have not been run as workman’s trucks, if anything they have been used as chauffeured minibusses or private vehicles. I would think from the wear on mine that it prob started as a taxi, and later become a family vehicle.

That said, the mileage looked low on it when we got it, and apart from the seat covers, there was not much wear and tear on steering wheel and gear shifter, so it might have been a private vehicle all along.

I would think that they are built to accumulate a lot of mileage fast, as they are the German answer to the Delica, so if remotely maintained, the technical bits should hold up. The paint job on them is in general not good, so in Europe rust is a concern. Mine has started too here, so better get that fixed.