Buying a Mini Truck in Saskatchewan

I'm thinking about buying a mini truck. I looked at them this week at Flatlanders in Regina and I love the look of them. But I'm trying not to be too impulsive and thought I'd find out some more info first. This would be a daily driver for me (and 2nd vehicle for my household). I've always driven automatic so it'd be a bit of a challenge, but I'm pretty excited about it.

So what I'm wondering is, where's the best place to buy in Sask? Any makes/models that are better for daily driving? Do you get much trouble from the cops b/c of the right hand drive (an article I just read in the StarPhoenix kind of scared me about that)? How are they in the winter?

Thanks!

 

Being from Alberta, last winter was a breeze in my Acty (all wheel drive). It even started when my other car wouldn't. As for what is best..... try them out and see what you like.
Use the search function at the top of the page. This is a hot topic and everyone has a different opinion. Don't be shy and ask questions, that is what we are here for!

Good luck.

Robert

 

If you are an Adult, you wont have problems with the cops. Its the kids they target.

There is no "best place" as everyone has their own opinion on what the "best" means.

Is the best:
- the lowest price?
- the place with parts on hand?
- the place with the cutest girl behind the counter?
- the place that's main business is Hot Tubs?
- the guy selling trucks out of his back yard?

There are a lot of variables and it differs greatly for most everyone.

I am not playing any sales games or whatnot, but the local dealer is always a good idea if you want support, parts and service. It would suck to have to drive (or tow) a few hundred KM to get service or warranty work.

For daily driver in Sask, I recommend Suzuki. Plenty more parts in stock in Saskatchewan for Suzuki than the other brands. So, if getting your truck back and running quickly when in need of repair, its the best choice. If that isnt critical, a rear engine model (Subaru/Honda) are more quiet to drive. For something to be used off road, a truck with a solid rear axle (not CV's) is always a more robust drive train. (We have never replaced rear axles on Suzuki, Daihatsu, Mits, but have done more than a few Hondas and Subarus. )

If you are large, the newer (92+) Suzukis have a rather large dash, limiting some cab space. Daihatsu has a smaller dash, Subaru has a slightly larger cab giving a little more room.

Automatics are tough to come by in 4WD, but they are available. Driving the stick is pretty easy though. Auto 4WD vans are a little easier find.

As RAVK says, these are amazing in the winter. They exceed just about everyone's expectations. My biggest piece of advice for winter: get the biggest battery you can. IMO this is more important than a block heater. (If you have to choose between the 2) I have not plugged in once in 3 years. As long as I have had a good battery, I could get it to start. They are quite fantastic even on all season radials, but a set of honest-to-goodness winter tires and a little extra weight make them absolutely amazing.

Each particular unit has its advantages and disadvantages. You just need to decide what things are the most important to you and the least important. Then it should be easy to figure out what to buy and where to buy based on that information.

Jeremy

 

No problems at all with the cops here in Manitoba....and I can't see it being a prob in SK because they are perfectly legal. Some people seem to think it would be difficult to get used to the wheel on the RH side. It's not. Five minutes of driving, and it begins to feel almost natural. The trick is to remember which side to get into. If you goof up and and attempt to go to the LH door (and you will), always pretend you are you are sorting through some paperwork in the glove box, then walk away from the truck for a few minutes and come back to it later. This way, bystanders will not think of you as a complete idiot.

I chose a Honda Acty because it seemed better suited to my mainly highway driving than some of the others, but they all have their pros and cons. MY advise........ find a dealer who will allow you to drive several different makes and then decide which best fits your needs. While I find my Honda is more than capable of my rather light duty off roading, I would chose a Suzuki or Daihatsu if I were into more serious off road stuff. Since we are limited in Canada to buying 15 yr old (or older) minis in order to plate them for highway use, we are also somewhat limited in driveline choices. It seems that the only 5 speeds of that vintage commonly available are the Honda and Subaru. And a 5 speed is pretty much a must for highway use (at least in my opinion). For real backwoods work, something with a hi/low transfer case would obviously be better......but then it seems hard to find one with anything other than a 4 speed. I'm sure there are some older 5 speeds with transfer cases available, but you'll need to look harder to find one.

Funny thing I noticed while shopping, is that it seemed easy to find Hondas in very nice shape, while most Suzukis and Diahatsus I stumbled upon tended to look just a wee bit more......well, worse for wear I guess is the term I'm looking for. I'm guessing this is likely because the people in Japan who run these things likely steer toward the other makes if they are looking for something to do some real work, whereas the Hondas probably are purchased new by folks who have no real intentions of doing any major rough work with them. I don't mean this to be an etched in stone type of statement as there are certainly lots of very nice used minis available of all makes, it's just that I seemed to find that it was a tad easier to find a fairly minty Honda. Also, if you are looking at a camo clad mini, be sure to check it over pretty closely for rust issues. I'm sure that reputable dealers would not even think of applying camo to disquise a rust bucket, but perhaps some backyard sellers might consider it????

I absolutely love my Acty, but if I had the coin, I'd really like to buy a Suzuki or Daihatsu too......It just would be neat to have a mini with a hi/low range for the rare occaissions when I feel the need to get downright silly in the backwoods and mud. However, the little Acty seems to be capable of some pretty heavy duty work. Those are 16 foot 2 x 6's loaded onto it in the attached pic........I would not have attempted driving it on a public road with such a load as I don't think it would have been entirely legal, but I did haul them on private land for about three miles from my farm to our snowmobile clubhouse.

One thing I see as a bit of a detriment to the Honda is that it would be pretty much impossible to go to a larger wheel/tire combination because if you want to run it off-road at all, the factory gearing is marginally too tall the way it is. It does work perfectly well with the factory rubber, but if you increased the outside diameter of the tire even slightly, I feel that you'd find first gear simply too tall.....and you'd likely see some significant clutch wear if you ran bigger rubber. That being said, I'm perfectly content with the size of my tires.......but all my buddies keep pestering me and urging me to put bigger rubber on it. On a mini with a hi/low range, I think that installing bigger rubber would work quite well because you'd have the lower gearing that would more than accomodate the slight gearing change.

And like MiniBrutes said, try to buy locally from a dealer that you feel comfortable with. Don't just ask if he can service it and supply parts.....ask him to show you his parts department so you can see that he does actually have at least some common items on hand. I have not dealt with MiniBrutes myself, but it sounds like he knows his stuff.