1997 Daihatsu Hijet EFi from UK and Ireland - Comments

Window Mechanism on driver's side replaced at 46,000.

The Daihatsu Hijet is a fantastic micro van.

I own four of them, all of which are in regular daily use.

I travel long distances in the Hijet, which I find to be economical to run, very nippy around town and extremely roomy in the back.

I am 6'3" tall and have no trouble whatsoever driving this micro van.

Absolutely fantastic!

I totally agree with you. The Hijet 1.0 Manual is one of the best vans (and MPVs) around.

I own a 1997 Hijet 1.0 Manual MPV, and it gives a top speed of 80MPH. These things are really brilliant.

I own a Daihatsu hi jet van and use it as a second vehicle moving house hold items and garden waste etc and have used it to go camping I think the vehicle is a great little asset and so do most of my neighbors who also find it various tasks The problems I've had with it have all been minor ones The ignition keys are made of some very soft metal and are soon broken so get yourselves some spares cut as you will need them The other problem I experienced was over heating caused by a metal pipe (the one that the expansion cap is fitted to) which was so thin it corroded allowing the coolant to vent to atmosphere Once I'd changed that me and my dog (who thinks the van is his mobile kennel) were back on the road.

I have a Hi-Jet 1300 EFI. I have had it from new. I find the van very good and use it daily some times to travel many miles.

There is one thing I should point out,

THE VAN USES MUCH TOO MUCH PETROL! (Around 22-25 mpg).

Under warranty it was checked several times and I was told the timing is 'spot on'.

I have invested around £1000 on a LPG conversion and I can now say it is quite reasonable.

I can only assume the 1000cc model was much more economical.

I have recently purchased a Daihatsu "S85 Hi-jet Glass van" with 16,250 miles on the clock. It tends to over eat very quickly. I have removed the thermostat, which improved matters on open road driving, but within 20 or so minutes of town use it will overheat and lose up to a litre of coolant. Can't get much joy out of local agents. I have one theory of cure and that is to somehow induce the fan to motivate at a lower temperature, but as the vehicle came with no manuals or notes, I don't know how to execute the task. A kindly word or manufacturer's contact name would be appreciated.

Hi

I have had five Hi-jet vans over the years, and the best one to have is the 1,000cc 3cyl. I agree that the 1300 is very thirsty, and I noticed that compared to the 1000cc you had to slip the clutch to get it on its way. The gearbox and engine I think was lifted straight out of a car, and didn't suit the van at all. The 1000cc was a proper van gearbox.

The 1000 cc has great fuel economy, and has more Daihatsu (Made in Japan) parts, so was a more reliable van.

Forget the Extol; it's lost the plot with its false floor ie to make a totally flat deck over the wheel arches (who asked for that) so creating a smaller load carrying capacity.

Can anybody comment on the Piaggio versions as I need to purchase a new van sometime in the future. Are they has durable, or has the OK quality gone down?