What do you know about Mitsubishi L200?

[tigersaw]

Was casually looking for a Hi Lux for a while, but they all seem to be wrecks for the money, but have notice Mitsubishi L200's are advertised for peanuts compared, just a few k for a post 2000.
Plan is to use it for carting an off road bike (maybe), going to the tip, shopping, and just treating as a silly toy.
Anyone know about them? , the models to buy, to avoid, tax brackets, cheap to insure variants, which engines run on chip fat, how to spot an import yada yada.
I must say they bling up quite well..

[Rai86]

Good vehicles, our lifeguards use them. There not as good as the Hilux. I'l get you a technical trials report if you like?

[tigersaw]

Good vehicles, our lifeguards use them. There not as good as the Hilux. I'l get you a technical trials report if you like?

Thanks - anything that includes some general data that helps me decide if I can run one as a second vehicle, will do the small jobs I ask of it, and will fit on my drive. (Hi Lux was a bit long, maybe this is too)

[jimmy__riddle]

depends on what the budget is.

yes, hilux's are more expensive, for a good reason.

AFAIK all diesel ones can be run on veg oil, although thats not really gonna save much money now, as veg oil has increased in price, and diesel decreased.

[Tallguy]

A colleague's looking at these, any chance of a copy of that data? She wants to dip its @rse in the sea to launch her new RIB off its trailer. Cheers :-)

[tinpants]

One of my mates had one after chopping in his 110 landy. He reckons its a pile of crap. No guts or go, and really thirsty. Plus the back is really high up so its difficult to get an off roader in. If I was you, I'd buy a VW Transporter van - you get the comfort of the car with the versatility of being able to load the back up with all sorts. I bought one back in July and can well recommend them. I got an ex AA one with the fitted rear seats. They come out in about 30 seconds, although there isn't much need as I can easily get the XR 250 in as well as the boys bike (TY80).
Each to their own I know but they really are fantastic vans. I also get better mpg than I did with the Hi-Lux as well - way over 30mpg compared to sub 20 with the Toyota.

[Mgaffz]

My gaffa had one of these his was the bog standard one when they first came out and iirc it was also an import from spain i think.

Anyway it was as tough as old boots and it withstood a rear end shunt off a bin wagon and 6, yes 6 other crashes!! thats about all the help/ info i can offer appart from stay away from nissan navaras as they throw con rods like no ones buisness!!

[busasean]

One of my mates had one after chopping in his 110 landy. He reckons its a pile of crap. No guts or go, and really thirsty. Plus the back is really high up so its difficult to get an off roader in. If I was you, I'd buy a VW Transporter van - you get the comfort of the car with the versatility of being able to load the back up with all sorts. I bought one back in July and can well recommend them. I got an ex AA one with the fitted rear seats. They come out in about 30 seconds, although there isn't much need as I can easily get the XR 250 in as well as the boys bike (TY80).
Each to their own I know but they really are fantastic vans. I also get better mpg than I did with the Hi-Lux as well - way over 30mpg compared to sub 20 with the Toyota.

Yep juicy as hell and not very reliable either. I could have had a 3 grand saving buying a l200 warrior but after speaking to guys on site who were quite negative I ended up buying a Ford Ranger. I gather the new shape are better but obviously more expensive.

[kwak zzr]

my mate just sold a L200 and got an X5 instead, get the Hilux their unburstable!

[captainsmelly]

there are some mechanical issues with the steering boxes (pitman arms) but almost all will have been replaced under warranty. these are not comfortable vehicles at all, being a commercial vehicle based on a 20 year + design. imo they are bombproof, if serviced regularity. oil change is every 4500 miles, which is just stupid but other running costs are quite low.
i would recommend a 2001 - 2006 model, dont get a warrior or animal because they are a lot more money for alloy wheels and stickers. they are also classed as recreational vehicles so you would pay vat unlike the commercial variants which you can get the tax back - this may only apply to new registrations actually.
you always see these with dents in the tailgate, this is because you cant see the edges when you reverse and you will hit things. as bellerophon already said they are very high up to load, although you can use ramps quite easily.
as far as imports go, naturally dont ever get a jap one unless its dirt cheap, usual story of parts availability (or lack of) euro versions are very much the same as ours. jdm will have a short chassis number xx0x-0000000 and ours will ber 13 digit

[_Stretchie_]

They made a BIIIG mistake in making the new one look like a hairdressers car...

The shape before was nice, my sister had one with a carry boy on the back, had the turning circle of the QE2 and slow to boot but it was a cool car. Didn't find it practical at all, no room in the back for passengers... Load space was good though

[johnnyrod]

I couldn't tell you about the Mitzi but I'm on my second Hilux and they're great. Mine is a 2WD single cab, same as the first one I had. Latest one is the D4D common rail TD, you get about 35mpg on the motorway and about 40mpg on A roads. 2WD is better for loading bikes as it's lower than 4WD (you can still climb underneath without a jack). Double cabs to me are useless though, but the SV goes straight in mine with a few inches to spare. The old one was M reg non-turbo and was that good I traded up to a 2003 model - the old one had 230k miles on it but was still going well.

Re the use of cooking oil, there are two things standing in your way, and this really applies to any diesel. First is that the oil is thicker than diesel so the fuel pump is too weedy. Second is that burning veg oil means glycerine ends up in the lube oil and it turns to black sludge, so guess how good that is for your engine. Used cooking oil is way too low quality, don't believe the rubbish you read on the internet about filtering it, proper refining and conversion to biodiesel is done for a very good reason!

[Luckypants]

L200 is badly underpowered (even the chip'd ones) and so it is thirsty as you have to cane it to move anywhere. Terrible on hills with a load and as a towing vehicle is dire.

I found the seats too low to the floor, rear seats are cramped unless the occupants are under 10.

Build quality is good, most mechanicals are bomb-proof and it looks the part.

I wouldn't buy one.

[_Stretchie_]

Re the use of cooking oil, there are two things standing in your way, and this really applies to any diesel. First is that the oil is thicker than diesel so the fuel pump is too weedy. Second is that burning veg oil means glycerine ends up in the lube oil and it turns to black sludge, so guess how good that is for your engine. Used cooking oil is way too low quality, don't believe the rubbish you read on the internet about filtering it, proper refining and conversion to biodiesel is done for a very good reason!

WHOA.. Hold on, you also need to find out if the car uses Lucas pumps.. If so this could cause you problems you might be able to change it to Bosch ones for example.

I was looking into running my Discovery on veggy oil but I've kaiboshed the idea as finding at least 90 litres of the stuff a week(and filtering it down if it's used) to run just isn't worth the hassle for me.

Whatever you do, don't confuse veg oil with bio-diesel. COMPLETELY different thing...

Little reading for you...

http://www.dieselveg.com/

http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/misc.php?action=login

http://www.celticbiodiesel.co.uk/vegoil-supply/fresh-vegetable-oil-delivery.html

http://www.petrolprices.com/biodiesel-companies.html

[Caddy2000]

Got a mate in North Yorks who has his own turfing and fencing contract business. He went from a 110 defender TD5 to a Hilux back to the 110 defender as he found the defender much better at towing (esp after he chip'd it - he got the new one with the ford lump in it).
He looked at the L200 and wasn't at all impressed, but I guess he's towing lots of crud around with him.

Also, talking about biodiesel try here (http://greenfuels.co.uk/product/fuelpod-2.aspx)

[Davido]

I have a mate who was looking into getting an L200, but after passing on your comments he's decided to check out a hilux instead.

I can't sway him to a ford ranger though, the prospect of servicing it every 6000 miles scares him. Wuss.

[johnnyrod]

I most definitely know the difference betwen veg oil and biodiesel. A diesel engine will run on veg oil, perhaps in the cold weather not so well because of the viscosity, but it won't run for long. As for used oil, forget it, it takes more than a filter to clean it up. Ignore me if you like, it's your money in the long run. If it were that easy (apart from the large amounts involved as you say) I'd be doing it. Plenty of people will sell you equipment to convert your wagon to run on chip fat, but then people will sell anything. Cigarette, sir?

[tigersaw]

OK, thanks for all comments so far.
Maybe the L200 is pants then afterall.....

The veg oil idea maybe is not important, but I have a mate who runs his Nissan 4x4 (something or other) on 50% what he gets from Tesco veg oil rack and 50% from the pump (mixed), he reckons anything thats not common rail will work fine, and he's had no problems in 2 years.

[-Ralph-]

Turbo pipe blows off every 2-3000 miles on the latest model Animal, something to do with a design fault on the clip that holds it on.

[Luckypants]

The veg oil idea maybe is not important, but I have a mate who runs his Nissan 4x4 (something or other) on 50% what he gets from Tesco veg oil rack and 50% from the pump (mixed), he reckons anything thats not common rail will work fine, and he's had no problems in 2 years.

Must be an old Nissan, all their diesels have been common rail for some time.

[tigersaw]

Must be an old Nissan, all their diesels have been common rail for some time.
Just asked him, Nissan Patrol. He has had a few he says, all ok on veg oil.