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New Fish: Sambar or Domingo?

Discussion in 'General Truck Info' started by Stinky, Mar 3, 2013.

  1. Stinky

    Stinky New Member

    I’m at the shopping stage and doing lots of searching, reading and lurking, and am torn between the Sambar and Domingo vans. If these questions have been answered before and I’m off on my search terms, please let me know.

    I’m feeling that the Domingo (at 1200cc) at might be better than the Sambar (at 660cc) for 400 series highways around Toronto where 110-130 kmh is merge speed. Although I picture this vehicle as a 2nd / urban / short trip commuter, ideally I’d like to feel comfortable driving at a sustained 120 kmh without feeling like I’m destroying an engine.

    I test drove a fully loaded, 660cc Supercharged 4, automatic ECVT Sambar with 85k on it yesterday and loved it. But I am a bit spooked about her auto ECVT and full-time 4WD, I'm guessing it'll be worse for gas mileage - and at 85,000 km feel like it probably won't be long before I'll have to swap in a manual transmission. Would selectable 4WD be available as a result of that conversion?

    I also have the impression that finding spare parts and major things like transmissions and engines really differs between the two. I see tons of potential online for spare parts large and small for the Sambar, but very little for the Domingo. Is that perception correct? If I had to find an engine today for a Sambar for example, even an eBay search shows me pages of results, but looking around a ton of places online shows me basically nothing for the Domingo. I can find Justy engines no prob, but not the version used for the Domingo.

    Appreciate your feedback!
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2013
  2. TamiPaulus

    TamiPaulus Member

    Both are great machines. I always give preferences to Domingo while traveling a long distance. Sambar will always be preferred if I need to travel moderate distances. I don't know if its totally correct or not, but got a feeling that Domingo will be on slightly expensive side when it comes to maintenance.
     
  3. Stinky

    Stinky New Member

    Thanks for the info TamiPaulus, much appreciated.
     
  4. Sambarmon92

    Sambarmon92 Member

    Decisions... decisions....

    I'm glad didn't have to choose. (the Domingo wasn't legal in Canada yet when I got my Sambar).
    The Sambar is a four seater, while the Domingo seats seven.
    Tons of legroom in the back seat of the Sambar and plenty of cargo room. I haven't sat in a Domingo, but I imagine its way tighter with the additional back seat and no trunk space (unless you remove the extra seat, but then you're back to a four seater). I loved the Sambar's reclining captain chairs with armrests on both sides and the cup holders in the middle. I preferred the look of the Sambar,with the regular bumpers, but its nice to have the Domingo extended bumpers for the extra protection.
    I had the full time 4wd Supercharged ECVT Try Dias II. Sold it at 103k and it was still going strong. No problems with the engine or ECVT.

    With the ECVT use the low "Ds" gear to merge into fast flow traffic, but I found that the traffic would slow down around me and other drivers and their passengers would point, wave and smile, (the odd one or two f****rs would lough) while wondering WTF is that ???
    The Sambar van and truck share a lot of the mechanical and body parts so parts might be easier and quicker to obtain. A lot of vendors cater to trucks, so chances are they might have what you need in stock. Body wise both Domingo and Sambar van are the same except for the bumpers.
    The Justy engine would stick out too much, so the bumpers were extended to accommodate it.

    Hope this helps and doesn't add to the confusion.
    Good luck with your search, and pick the one which suits you better. :):):)
     

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