Delica or prado or other <$20K

[beajai Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close beajai]

Hi Everyone,
I notice that there are a few people who have /had delicas so I am hoping for advice from someone experienced in both types of car.
I need an 8 seat car to take my 6 kids to and from school/daycare etc - the general day to day stuff, so fuel economy is a factor. But I also want to be able to go off road. Just light stuff, some minor bush tracks and the beach while towing our camper trailer (which weighs about 1000kgs when filled), so the engine needs to be powerful. I like the comfort of the delica, and the space inside. I like the air con for the whole car. But I like the power and reliability of the prado, and the wind down windows. I used to have a 100 series l'cruiser, which was great if you didn't have to sit in the back row and didn't need to take stuff with you.
I don't like diesel cars, so will be getting a 6 cyl petrol car whichever way I go.
Can everyone please let me know their experiences and pros and cons of these vehicles. As it says in the subject, my budget is very small and therefore I would be looking at a late 90s car.

Thanks for your help
Belinda

[dereki Member Find all posts View Profile Close dereki]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

I looked at the delica. The show stopper was the height. My local shopping center and work car parks are not tall enough.
Apart from that I have a bias for Toyota, but thats just a personal preference.

D

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

I have mates with Delicas, and for a people mover, it eats the Prado in terms of comfort and space.

The Prado will be more powerful, but rear row is somewhat limited (almost unusable on long trips I think for anyone over 4 yrs old).

I have had extensive experience with the Mitsubishi Express 4wd vans (have 4 in our work fleet) these are the Australian delivered (delicas so to speak). Towing a 1 tonne load is not out of the question, though with less power than a Prado.
The Diesel Turbo Delicas are better than the Petrol Express vans in terms of torque and power.

Myself I would suggest going the Delica for the extra space. I dont think the Delica comes in a V6 version? 4 Cyl or Diesel is it..

[cooper276 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close cooper276]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

wow 6 kids??!!
Might be slightly off topic but my first purchase would be a vasectomy...

[beajai Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close beajai]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

wow 6 kids??!!
Might be slightly off topic but my first purchase would be a vasectomy...

lol...unfortunately we got that already

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

The Delica can be an issue with undercover car parks.

How old are the 3 youngest kids? Once they hit the teens, they would get uncomfortable in the 3rd row.

If you had 8 passengers, your 4WD choices are narrowed down to Delicas, Prados, Cruisers and Troopies. I don't know of any other 8+ seater 4WDs.

[wengnuts Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close wengnuts]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

Hi beajai,

Can you please update your profile with your location?

[fishfinder Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close fishfinder]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

Have you thought about an OKA bus ?

[beajai Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close beajai]

Re: Delica or prado or other &lt;$20K

Have you thought about an OKA bus ?

didn't know they existed. But they are very expensive.

Sorry for not putting location, I thought I had