Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian

[doctor Bob]

Hi,
Does anyone run one of these, I'm about to buy 2 of them for the business, we will keep one of our mec vito's as a true works van and me and my partner will have the l200's. Not very practical I know but we can live with that.
Just wondering what owners thought of them?

 

[Bod]

Check the gross laden weight, against speed limits.
I fear you may find the maximum legal speed on motorways could be 60mph, not 70mph as for lighter vehicles.
It's due to the "plated" weight not what you are carrying.
Hope I'm wrong, but..

Bod

 

[Homers double]

Hi Bob
I had a L200 barbarian on hire for 3 weeks last year while my Truck was in for repair, to be very honest I wasn't to impressed, it as very wallowey and quite noisy compared to my Navara, I have the V6 outlaw which returns about 33 mpg, the L200 was surprisingly thirsty I only managed to get low 20's, I do about 20,000 miles a year which would add up to a lot extra for fuel.
I'm due to change my truck later this year and am going to hold out for the new X class pick up from Mercedes it looks the business.

 

[marcros]

that x class does look nice.

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Sorry but what's the point exactly from these type of cars in UK?
You can't really fill them up to brim with stuff, super thirsty, not really much passenger space, you can't really tow anything much with them.
I think my old honda jazz banger has more usable space than these and more practical purpose.

Really only good for farmers, going on muddy fields and scooping **** in the back of the bed?

If I were in USA, Yeah I would have one due to cheap fuel& them being able to tow LOADS.

 

[novocaine]

2 reasons why David.
1. because pretty much no one except footballers and teachers pays any attention to the load rating (which is rather scary)
2. much like hardly davidsons they have been given enough media branding and time on screen to make people want them.

now then, back to the question, they aren't all that I'm afraid, as already said, noisy and slow, add to that issues with the drive train and commercial vehicle build quality from about 1990 and you'll be better off looking elsewhere.

 

[Racers]

Only a 4 star crash rating!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSVeLUz8e7Q


Pete

 

[duncanh]

We have one at work. It's ok and does what we need it too but a couple of issues for us:
there isn't much room in the enclosed back - I think you can get a couple of brushcutters in and that's about it, mainly an issue with the length of the back. We had to trim the handles of the grass rakes we use.
leg room for the rear passengers isn't great, although better than the Ford Ranger which it replaced.
It drives ok and copes with the forest tracks and occasional off-road work we need it for - it has all terrain tyres.
I can't remember the average mpg we get from it, but when I drive it I think the display is around the 30mpg mark. I'm probably the most econimical driver.
I think it the speed limit for ours is 70 on motorways (when not towing, obviously).
I'm fairly sure it could tow our beaver tail trailer with alpine tractor on board but I'm not sure I'd want to (usually towed by our landrover).

I'm driven a previous model off-road including through a river where the bed had a few small boulders and it coped ok, going back and forth several times transporting logs. Not as good as the toyota which I used the following year.

 

[Roughcut]

My brother in law had one (double cab) for about 2 years.
I thought it was ok, but nothing special, and I remember thinking I certainly wouldn't pay the OTR price for a new one.
However as a business expense I suppose it makes the price easier to swallow.

 

[woodpig]

There must be something about them as there seem to be more of them than any other pickup on the roads?
Personally I like the Dodge Ram 1500 but that's only because Toyota decided not to produce the A-Bat.

 

[SteveF]

I had the previous version
animal
drove really nice,but hit a puddle at speed and it pulled real hard into kerb...scary
and also whilst you are hitting that puddle you could not see through the water bombarded screen

Steve

 

[doctor Bob]

Thanks for the replies fellas, I'll have another quick look around and try and push them a bit harder on a deal.

 

[undergroundhunter]

VW Amarok would be my choice, I would strongly advise a test drive. And now they do it in the V6 thats in the audi Q7

Matt

 

[Paul200]

I had the previous version
animal
drove really nice,but hit a puddle at speed and it pulled real hard into kerb...scary
and also whilst you are hitting that puddle you could not see through the water bombarded screen

Steve

Haha! I thought that was just mine! How the hell does water under the car end up coming over the front and covering the windscreen? Still can't work that out.

As for the original question - mine's an old style L200 Warrior. I struggle to get 30mpg but it's thereabouts. Clarkson said it was probably the most awful vehicle he'd ever driven. For what seems at first sight to be very practical it's probably the most impractical vehicle I've ever owned! I can get longer lengths of timber in my wife's A4 estate. When I bought it I couldn't afford the Toyota HiLux :wink: Originally I needed something with a separate back end for transporting petrol tools when I had my business down south - and the 4x4 drive was useful for some of the sites I visited.

Thing is though - I bl**dy love it! The thing is bomb proof. When I sold my business we moved to Scotland, so I kept it in case of snow :roll: But it's come into it's own because we have access to woodland at the back of our place and I use it to haul firewood out. It's a very capable 4x4. We're in a very rural area so it always feels safer to use the truck in the winter.

I would say that if you really need this type of vehicle you won't go far wrong with an L200. But I really wanted a HiLux :wink:

 

[doctor Bob]

It meets all my requirements really and there is no way it can be worse than a merc vito, worst vehicle I've ever had. Gets stuck anywhere, got stuck on about 2 dozen wet leaves last week.

Trying to strike a deal at the moment.

 

[Lons]

My mate has a decorating business and has had the auto version for a couple of years, he loves it! Says it waddles like a duck, it's slow and thirsty but does everything he asks of it and more. He needed to get a hard top for the load area to stop his stuff getting wet though.

Agree about the Vito. I had one for a month and it was truly horrible which was why I stuck with VW transporters. Those days all gone now, retirement is great. =D>

Presumably you'll need to get them registered this month if the new road tax rules apply?

cheers
Bob

 

[doctor Bob]

My mate has a decorating business and has had the auto version for a couple of years, he loves it! Says it waddles like a duck, it's slow and thirsty but does everything he asks of it and more. He needed to get a hard top for the load area to stop his stuff getting wet though.

Agree about the Vito. I had one for a month and it was truly horrible which was why I stuck with VW transporters. Those days all gone now, retirement is great. =D>

Presumably you'll need to get them registered this month if the new road tax rules apply?


cheers
Bob

I thought he higher tax only applies to £40k plus vehicles

 

[Lons]

My mate has a decorating business and has had the auto version for a couple of years, he loves it! Says it waddles like a duck, it's slow and thirsty but does everything he asks of it and more. He needed to get a hard top for the load area to stop his stuff getting wet though.

Agree about the Vito. I had one for a month and it was truly horrible which was why I stuck with VW transporters. Those days all gone now, retirement is great. =D>

Presumably you'll need to get them registered this month if the new road tax rules apply?


cheers
Bob

I thought he higher tax only applies to £40k plus vehicles

Yebbut isn't the whole road tax changing for vehicles 1st registered from 1st April?

Rate is changing to a standard £140 for vehicles under £40k unless zero emissions but I think the first year rate is based on emissions and is pretty steep.

Edit: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... dustry.pdf

Just had a quick look and that model shows current 1st year road tax of £230 whilst on the gov site the new 1st year rate is shown as £800 or £1200 depending on which Barbarian model you buy.
I might have read that wrong as could be a different category but probably worth checking just in case.

Bob

 

[oakfield]

OFF TOPIC I know, but I like the Vitos.
What is it you are getting rid of? I need a new van as mine died last week and there's never the right one available when you need to buy one quickly!

 

[doctor Bob]

OFF TOPIC I know, but I like the Vitos.
What is it you are getting rid of? I need a new van as mine died last week and there's never the right one available when you need to buy one quickly!

08 Merc vito compact
86000 miles
white
Tail gate
2.1L
6 speed
Its sign written but I'd clean it off before sale.
No accidents, No dents, wear and tear in cab as expected.
MOT until September I think.
the van was bought new in 08 by us, low mileage as my business partner does the client visits in his, we are keeping his one. We had it serviced by Merc for the first 2-3 years since then it's been done by an independent.

Looking for about £5k inc vat, PM me if you are interested and I'll call you

It's been a good van but I just can't understand why its rear wheel drive. I have a set of snow chains (included) which have always got me out of difficulty in the past.

Pm me if you want to have a chat.