I BOUGHT A CHEAP MITSUBISHI L200 FOR £1,000!

All right guys, how's it going? Welcome back. Well, today we're going to pick up a very cheap pickup truck that I've agreed to buy. What I've bought is a 2004 Mitsubishi L200 for just £1,000 plus VAT. We've got both good news and bad news. So the good news is that it's low mileage. It's only done 50,000 miles in 20 years, so it is very low, to be honest. Suspiciously low. We'll have to check that out for car vertical. But the bad news is that it's been owned by a farmer, so I can only imagine the condition of this. It's going to be a right state, isn't it? I haven't actually seen this thing yet. So I think it could resemble a pigsty. Anyway, we'll soon find out, won't we? What I'm hoping to do with this truck is, of course, sell it for profit. So I'm thinking, if it's okay... I mean, it's a 20-year-old pickup truck, so it doesn't have to be pristine. If I can service it, run it through a fresh MOT, and just give it a general tidy up, then we might be quids in. I mean, thinking about it, a low mileage pickup truck's got to be worth two or three grand, doesn't it? It's got to be. This would be really useful for any sort of tradesman, wouldn't it? Or, you know, tradeswoman. One thing I will say, though, is when I was a kid, I loved these things. I really wanted my dad to get one, but sadly he never did. But I just always fancied one. I thought they were really cool. Now, of course, 18, 20 years later, I'm not sure how they'll have held up, to be honest, but we'll soon find out. So we're going to head there now, and I'll give you a quick tour. We'll take it for a drive, see if there's any life in it, and hopefully see if there's some profit in it. I'll see you there. Well, we're here, and it actually looks all right, you know. So it's two-tone, as they all were. I think that's black on top, is it? Black or dark blue? My eyes aren't great. I think it's black. It's a 4-Life. I always noticed, I always thought the badge on the back sort of looks like, I know it says 4-Life, but it looks like Alfie. The font they've used isn't great. Anyway, that is a minor observation. We've got some lack of appeal on the roof, lack of appeal on the bonnet, lack of appeal on the scoop on the bonnet. In general, just a lack of appeal. It's got original plates, original Mitsubishi Brookfield of Poynton plates. I mean, it's littered with dents and stuff, but nothing major. That could make quite a good workhorse for somebody, couldn't it, that? Got chunky tyres on it. It does seem to be quite nice and original. I always like the way these sound. Wait till we start it up. It makes quite a nice noise. Anyway, right, let's check it out, then, using CarVertical. As always, before you hand over any cash for a used car or motorbike, it's really important that you do a thorough vehicle history check. Now, I always use a company called CarVertical. All you need to do is go to CarVertical.com, and then all you've got to do is type in the reg or the VIN. Now, in this case, we know the reg, so it is Delta Foxtrot, so it's from Deeside originally, 5-4, so it's a late 2004, early 2005 Tango X-Ray Delta, and then check vehicle. What this does, it checks database in dozens of countries, so it'll tell us if it's ever been stolen, written off, had a mileage rollback, or has outstanding finance on it. It's a really thorough check. Sometimes, if it has been involved in an accident, it shows you photographs of the damage. I've had it previously where it shows you photographs from the last time it was advertised, so you can compare the condition. It shows the MOT history, the timeline of events, ownership changes, plate changes, average market value, spec. I've just found it to be completely invaluable. It doesn't take long, as you can see, and it isn't that expensive, and it's cheaper still if you use my promo code HYPEAK, so that's HYPEAK, all one word, H-I-G-H-P-E-A-K. Type it into the promo code area, and you'll save yourself 20% off each and every check that you do. It's as simple as that, really. There we go, view report. I thought it was 35 countries, but it's actually checked database in 45 different countries. View report, that is a 2005 Mitsubishi L200 diesel. It's never been clocked, no outstanding finance, no recorded damage, never been stolen, only got one owner found. Last known mileage was 50,929. That's pretty good, isn't it? That is low mileage, isn't it, really? That was last June, and it's only done like 2,000 or 3,000 miles every single year. Very low, that. Now, I know these famously rust quite badly, like all Japanese cars. It's a Mitsubishi manual all-wheel drive diesel, one owner, first registered in February 2005. Let's see if there are any advisor items on the last MOT. I'm expecting loads of rust-related things. Quite a few there. Let me talk you through them. Nearside front wheel bearing has slight play, not a big deal. Oil leak, but not excessive, not a big deal. 20-year-old diesel, what do you expect? Offside rear direction indicator, slightly discoloured, fine. Nearside front upper suspension arm ball joint has slight play, not a big deal. Nearside front tyre slightly perished. Offside front wheel bearing, slight play, so that's both front wheel bearings, okay. Nearside rear direction indicator, slightly discoloured, that's both rear indicators, okay. And brake squealing, squealing like a pig. Brake squealing when applied, right. Well, that isn't the end of the world, then, is it? Let's have a quick look at that nearside rear tyre. It looks all right from two metres away. Right, so let's go and have a look around it, then. Oh, the other bit of good news is two keys, look at that. No remote locking, none of that silly fancy stuff, just a proper good old-fashioned workhorse. Okay, then, the sun's out, let's go and have a look at this pickup truck. Well, it's steamed up a bit on the inside, which is always a bit of a concern. Uh, right, I can't really judge this the same way that I would judge a car, because it's a work truck, but it is a little bit battered, particularly the tailgate. It's like an old crumpled Coke can. In the back, um, well, yeah, we've got a nice scraper there by the looks of it. It's all right, isn't it, so far, I think. We've got a general grabber tyre here that's quite, quite chunky. There's a little bit of surface rust there, but nothing too, too hideous, really. Loads of little door dents and stuff. We've got sidebars, side steps. Oh, don't you think that looks like Alfie? Quick glance, no? Is it just me? Loads of mould and stuff here. Could do with a very good clean, this. If it's just been a workhorse, it's probably never been cleaned. Can't crop this better, Andrew. I imagine the interior will be, uh, filthy. We've got another general grabber there, which does look a little bit sort of perish around the edges, but there's plenty of, plenty of meat left on it. You know what, it's quite tidy, this, really. I just always loved the way these look from the front, with the, uh, the scoop on the bonnet and stuff. It always looked quite, quite butch, quite chunky. See, of course, this is plastic, so the lacquer always, uh, always just peels. I'm not sure why it's happened here. This 2.5 litre engine, by the way, did suffer with, head gasket issues. So this is perished a little bit. Looks like it's had, but it's like it's been gone flat and someone's left it for a few weeks and it sort of just cracked the, uh, sidewall. But again, the, um, actual chassis and stuff doesn't look too, too ropey, does it, really? Oh, looks all right. Down this side, it's quite straight, quite tidy, really. I think if you spent a day on this, buffing it, you would turn it around. We've got a matching set of general grabbers, then. That's all right. Of course, it's an old pickup truck, so we've got leaf spring suspension in the back, like an old ox cart. A little bit of surface corrosion, but nothing, nothing terrible at all, really. That really isn't too bad. Yeah, moving around the back, we've got matching plates, tow bar, single electrics. It is what it is, really. It's a bit of a, an honest old work truck. Let's take a peek inside, then, shall we? Central locking. Well, you know what? This actually isn't too bad. Could do with a bit of a clean, but, um, it's not bad at all. You know, it smells of the 90s in here. Smells just like my, uh, my parents' old Shogun when I was a kid. That's quite a nostalgic smell. I know you can't smell this, but it takes me back. So, in the back, then, it's all quite clean. These rear seats, you know, probably have never been sat in. Nice and original. Nice and clean. I think they should, this could come up well with a very good, very good detail. Let's have a look under the bonnet, then. So, what else can I tell you about it? A little bit of wear there on the seats. This, being a four-life, is quite a basic spec, so you only get, like, a plastic steering wheel and stuff, as opposed to a leather-trimmed one, which is why it's all sort of perished. They always seem to perish with age. It's done 52,000 miles. We've got a quarter of a tank of fuel. Have we got any warning lights on? Yeah, wait till you hear this. It just sounds really good. It reminds me of, again, my parents' old Shogun. It's like the sound of my childhood, this. Uh, right. All my flashing warning lights have gone off. Oh, that's just like a Shogun, as well. I really like this. I don't know, I've got no purpose for it at all, and yet, straight away, I'd like to keep it. Uh, we've got an ashtray there. You'll have heard me, in many videos, say that I don't really like diesels and stuff, but in an old truck, I do quite like them. Just when it comes to cars, I'd much rather have a petrol car, as opposed to a dirty diesel, but in a proper work truck like this, it just makes more sense. Now, service history. Let's see, shall we? My guess is it'll probably have had, like, the first maybe one or two, and then probably nothing since. Oh, this is interesting. Right. So, the original owner was a, well, I can't tell you, but it was a Haul. So, I think if I owned an old Haul, I'd have something like this, just to potter around in. Why not? In fact, no, I wouldn't. I'd have a Range Rover. I'd have an old L322, probably. So, we've got a service here in 2005. That was its PDI. And then, oh, look at this. You ready for this? This is exciting. No stamps. Not a single one. Not a single service stamp. We've got 40 spaces for them, but no ink. So, someone's bought this brand new and then never, ever, ever returned to Mitsubishi with it, which is strange. An old-style logbook there. Right, well, someone must have serviced this, surely. Oh, this is funny, actually. In here is a logbook for a combine harvester, a 1981 green combine harvester from Henbury in Macclesfield. I don't know why that's here, but anyway, it is. So, we've got a logbook for a combine harvester. We've got some instruction manuals for the radio, including the little prongs there to remove said radio. An empty service book. Somebody must have serviced it, mustn't they? Surely. Lock and wheel nut there. Right, well, anyway, we shall service it anyway. I really like this. Let's knock it off then. Let's have a look under the bonnet. Now, I think these have a timing belt. I'm sure whether it's ever been replaced or not. Let's see if we can find a sticker, shall we? Okay. No. Mitsubishi Motors Thailand. Have we got a Thai truck here? I didn't know that. A little bit of surface rust on various parts, but nothing too sinister. No obvious oil leaks that I can see. See the oil filter? I'm just looking at it from, well, from a foot away, and it looks like it's been replaced. Well, all right, okay, I can't tell you that for sure, but it doesn't look 20 years old anyway. So, that must be good. Some of the hoses here are starting to crack and perish. I think we need to get this up on a ramp, don't we, and see how bad it is. Yeah, no cam belt sticker. Right, not to worry then. Not to worry. I suppose we should get this out on the road, shouldn't we? Make sure it drives okay. Got plenty of diesel, so I don't need to touch that. I think if I took this to the lads over at Tameside Detailing, they would clean this right up. A nice little cup holder there, look. Yeah, proper utilitarian truck this, isn't it? Let's get her out on the road then, shall we? Right then, quite looking forward to this. Oh, we've got quite notchy power steering there straight away, and a dodgy driver's window switch. My parents' shogun used to do that. I know I've mentioned, have I mentioned my parents had a shogun? Whenever you used to put the window up in the rain, it would always sort of foul at the top and then come back down. You'd have to do it ever so slowly. Right, job done. All the other windows work. Great success, right. We might need a power steering fluid change, maybe. Drain the old stuff, flush it, and then replace it. Well, having said that, now it's sort of warmed up a little bit, it seems to be all right. I love driving something like this, you know. Most cars I drive these days don't really require me to be there, not much anyway, whereas this is sort of quite involved. Drives all right, this. Makes me wish I had a smallholding of some sort, a farm. Obviously, I wouldn't like to get my hands dirty, I just like to drive around in something like this and sort of, you know, bark orders at people. Steering's very vague, look at that. We're still in a perfectly straight line here. Anyway, drives all right, though. We've got five gears. This era of L200, by the way, is exactly the same as the Mitsubishi, used to be the Mitsubishi Challenger, then it rebranded, it rebadged itself to the Shogun Sport. Matt's fun fact of the day there for you. This drives particularly well, actually. Particularly well. I think what we'll do, then, is run it down to my mechanics, give it a full service, a clean MOT, see what my mechanic says about the, you know, the advisory items on the last MOT, the wheel bearing and whatever else it was, and then, I suppose, get over to Tameside Detailing, give it a full detail clean, and then try and sell it. It was owned by a company, so it is vatable, so it's a thousand pounds plus vat, but I'm fairly confident I could get certainly two and a half grand, isn't it, really? I think if I could spend maybe 500 quid on it, getting a full service done. A full service on something like this, for fluids and filters, is going to cost me about 300 quid, I suppose, 320? Go on, then. Just remembered my indicators and wipers are on the opposite sides, like an old British car, like an old Japanese car, so indicator, instead of being on the left, does your wipers. Yeah, so give me 500 pounds. I don't mean give me 500 pounds. I'll give myself a budget of 500 pounds. Give me a few weeks, maybe a week, to sort it. Maybe a week to sort it, maybe. We need the tracking, do we, because it's pulling to the left. Give me a good, okay, more than 500 pounds. Let me set myself a budget of 750. I'm just thinking if we need to put two new tyres on it as well, that's a couple hundred quid, isn't it? Two tyres, full engine service, clean OOT. I think we might wax all it as well, just to try and protect it, because it doesn't seem that rusty from what I've seen. Obviously, we'll get it up on a ramp and check it out thoroughly, but it seems to be okay, really. And yeah, 52,000 miles, there's probably plenty of life left in this. I just think it's been used as a bit of a workhorse, because even looking at the passenger seat, it looks like it's never been sat in. I was trying to think of a reason why I could keep this. When would I use it? I just wouldn't, would I, really, because I can't even do a tip run in this. Because it's classed as a commercial vehicle, they wouldn't let me in a local tip, so I can't do that. No, I've got no reason for it, have I? As much as I try and think of one, I really don't need a pickup truck. No, I think the best thing to do is try and sell this for profit. That is my job, isn't it, at the end of the day. I must remember that. I'm always forgetting that. It's sort of car nerd first, car dealer second. It should be the other way around, really. Anyway, right, let me get this down to my mechanics, we'll get it all checked over, and I'll have an update for you very soon. I'm just keeping around my temp gauge there, because these are a bit head-gaskety, the old 2.5, but we're sitting nice and steady at halfway. Quite like the orange needles, a bit Flymo-ish. Pulls really well, this. I've got a worryingly sticky gear lever, though. Might buy a pickup truck, you know. Anyway, right, see you in a week or two. In fact, no, I won't. I'll see you in 20 seconds' time. Well, I've got an update for you with my cheap L200 pickup truck, and it's not good news, I'm afraid. I was hoping to just do the bare essentials, really. Well, I was going to say the bare minimum, but that's a bit unfair. I was just hoping to give it a service and a fresh MOT, even if there were a load of advisor items, just to keep it on the road a bit longer. But that sadly isn't the case. This needs quite a lot of money spent on it. Do you remember there was a problem with the steering? Like, the steering was all over the place. It needs a new steering box, and that's quite costly. This is the trouble with Mitsubishi. Since they pulled out of Europe, getting parts is quite difficult. My mechanic made me a full list of everything that was wrong with it, which I was going to read to you today, but it's quite a depressing list, so I'd rather just ignore it. Just to give you a few of the highlights, though. Yeah, it needs a steering box, it needs some welding, it needs some tyres, there's an oil leak, it needs its belts doing, and that's before we even talk about the bodywork. So, all in all, this is going to cost me, I think, with a service and an MOT and all those bits doing, it's going to cost me, well, the same sort of price again. It's going to cost me another £1,200. It just isn't really worth doing, is it? I was hoping, naively, to spend £200 or £300 on it and then maybe get a couple of grand for it. Have a small profit margin of a few hundred pounds, and then somebody could have a truck here for the next three or five years. That isn't really the case. The trouble I've got is it's too expensive to scrap. If I were to scrap this, I'd only get maybe £300 for it, and that would be too much of a blow, really, so I don't know what to do next. What would you do? There are some options, I suppose. I could speak to my contact in Ukraine and see if they want it. I could take it off-roading and do a video with it, although that video I did with the Cherokee didn't perform very well. It was good fun, so that's an option. I could use it as a film car, strap a deck chair in the back and one of my colleagues could sit there with the camera. I don't know if that's safe or not, but I'm sure if we strap them in properly with a high-vis jacket it might be okay. So yeah, I just don't really know what to do with it. I shouldn't get attached to cars, but I quite like this one. I don't know why. It's been years since I've had an L200 from this era, and I quite like it. I can't keep it as a dog car or a tip car. You're not allowed a tip in a commercial vehicle unless you pay for a permit. So I've got no use for it, really. I wish I wasn't a car hoarder. It's no good me leaving it here, sitting rotting. I need to do something with it. So if you've got any ideas, let me know below in the comments. I could break it for parts, I suppose, get my hands dirty, but you saw how I got on with that L322. All I did was replace a couple of simple parts and I got slated in the comments because I didn't have a socket set. I was trying my best. So breaking it for parts isn't really an option, is it? So I'm just not sure what to do with it, really. Anyway, thank you once again for watching. Make sure you give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Make sure you subscribe if you haven't done already. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. I'll leave the links below. Yeah, that's about it. It's not all bad. I found a ice scraper. Yeah. Anyway, cheers guys. See you next time.