Hello - thinking about buying a Hijet

Hello Hijet people -

I've been having a good read through the site (and adjusting to the humour that seems necessary with ownership) as I'm looking at taking the plunge and getting a Hijet panel van.

This will need to be used every day and all year round for light carrying work, though not huge mileage or heavy loads.

I'm now obviously aware of the over-heating issues (and how to fix ) but should this kind of thing put me off or do all micro vans suffer from these kinds of issues so even going down the suzuki c*rry route wouldn't make any difference. Being the only driver in the family I will need a certain amount of vehicle reliability, though I'm not adverse to mechanical work when needed.

Honest thoughts on Hijet ownership would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

DT

Hello, don't worry about the humour, owning a Hijet will wipe any smile from your face
If you get a good one they're great, buy the best you can afford, realistically any motor at a few hundred quid is likely to have issues, Hijets even more so.
Good luck

Hi and welcome!

I bought my Hijet 10 months ago, since then I drove around 6,5K miles. Always starts, always goes. I am utter shit when it comes to car mechanics (or any kind of mechanics for that matter). Have had one problem with the cooling system which occured when I tried refilling it with the help of an amature mechanic. Found a proper mechanic who helped solving it.

Apart from that no problems. Except the fact that my fucking legs freeze off whenever I hit the highway in winter time - even after closing the gap @ the front headlights.

Go on do it, you wont't regret it (well I hope any way!) I have one and not stopped smiling (been some grimaces but been same with other newer cars!). Use mine as an everyday driver. You will find this place full of help and advice...and sarcasm etc. Just dont be a stranger.

Funnily enough, I don't get the problem of cold legs in any of my Hi-Jets Tornas. I wear Long John's under my jeans. Keeps my legs lovely and warm.

You do in all honesty DiscoTroll need to make sure that the black plastic headlight access covers are fitted properly and you have some foam stick on draught excluder around the inside Flange of the Cover. Where the hell did you get that ridiculous Handle from? Gonna Call you DiscoDuck instead after the hit parade tune years ago.

Don't be put off by the stories of woe you hear on this Forum or any Forum. The problem usually is derived by so called "Garage Specialists" not having a clue of how to work on a Hi-Jet but most of all something called
"Bleeding the Cooling System" properly and making sure that the two Radiator Caps are in good condition. Also keeping an eye on the water level in the expansion tank under the passenger seat and looking for water leaks on the hose pipe joints are all things for you to keep an eye on occasionally.

I have had Hi-Jets since 2003 and at 66 I still prefer to thrash round the countryside in my Hi-Jets rather than my cars. My friends who have their Chelsea Chariots and lovely new cars think I am mad. Guilty as charged M' Lud.

If you look after your Hi-Jet and address any problems that pop up, quickly then you will love your van as a regular mode of transport.
If in doubt - ASK. There are good few very experienced members on here who are excellent at taking the pee - sorry I meant who are very knowledgeable and helpful with Hi-Jet problems.

Find yourself a good Hi-Jet and have fun.

I think I'm up for the 'challenge' because of this forum and it's humour - we've all driven cars where the owner's forum is as involved as putting on a new chrome gear knob (or, indeed, getting a garage to do it for you). I like to drive something where I can stick foam in around the headlight shell to stop my feet from freezing!

discotroll wrote:
but should this kind of thing put me off or do all micro vans suffer from these kinds of issues so even going down the suzuki c*rry route wouldn't make any difference.

yes it would..
hijets are known for overheating.... hence the existence of this forum  
offcourse every van can have a occasional problem  but i have never heard of any other microvans that have this much trouble.

Well don't think too much more than the next couple of minutes D.T. Logi has found you a bargain already in Mid Wales. In the Hi-Jets For Sale section. 2006, 14,700 miles for £1250. Bargain. Phone number is 07971 625336 . Looking after you aren't we??

I would guess that a Rascal or Super Carry 970cc would only be the choice of about 5% of the Micro Van Owners Forum and most of them live across the English Channel. Fortunately we all like different things and I have had literally 100's of Hi-Jets ( bought and sold loads, scrapped loads for spares as a living). Still own around 13/14 of them.

I have owned dozens of Honda Acty's as well and they are amazing little Tonka Toys but the Rascal is definitely bottom of the list in my personal choices. But as I said we are all different and have our personal favourites.

Woodie wrote:I would guess that a Rascal or Super Carry 970cc  would only be the choice of about 5% of the Micro Van Owners Forum and most of them live across the English Channel. Fortunately we all like different things and I have had literally 100's of Hi-Jets ( bought and sold loads, scrapped loads for spares as a living). Still own around 13/14 of them.

I have owned dozens of Honda Acty's as well and they are amazing little Tonka Toys but the Rascal is definitely bottom of the list in my personal choices. But as I said we are all different and have our personal favourites.

yes that because we dont need forums to keep carrys on the road
im here for the comunity not for help or info about the carry.
if carrys are that bad why do you have so many different types of carrys with almost the same parts and why was it produced that long?
GME Rascal
Holden Scurry
Maruti Omni
Maruti Versa
Mazda Scrum
Autozam Scrum
Ford Pronto
Wuling Rongguang
Daewoo Damas
Chevrolet CMV/CMP
PakSuzuki Bolan
Vauxhall Rascal
Chang'an SC6320G
Chang'an SC1011
Chang'an SC6331
Jilin JL 110C/E.)

and why are the engines (F8a+F10a) used in a lott of other cars like the jimny swift alto etc etc?
they still today produce vans with the same engine as in my 30 year old carry (F8a)

how many other vans have the HCE-S 1.3 like the hijet?
and how long was it produced?
half of the hijets for sale over here have overheating problems or have had them in the past.
half of this forum is about overheating hijets

but yes its all has to do with personal favourites
com on you know just fine hijets arent that good..especially regarding the cooling system.

Well Scotia, mine doesn't overheat, (1.3 from 2003) but I'm very scared to touch the cooling system and change the coolant. It could cause problems that don't exist right now.

I am not going to enter in a " debate" with you Scotia over which is best as I respect your knowledge greatly.

Two points come to mind though. I am talking over our side of the pond, and I mean the English Channel and not the Solent between me and the Mainland. You see a lot more Hi-Jets on the road than you do Rascals I know of only 5 that I see regularly on the Island on the road, but despite the way I have decimated the Island population of Hi-Jets there are still a heck of a lot more Hi-Jets on the road.

I agree with you that Hi-Jet's do seem to have more problems with overheating on this Forum but how many of the Micro Van Owners actually own a SuuperCarry or Rascal. 5%?? So you are going to get a lot more mentions of Hi-Jet problems than Rascals as this does tend to be be referred to as the Hi-Jet Owners Forum.

Second point as I mentioned in the earlier post Hi-Jets do seem to be owned by novices who have to take their Hi-Jet to a garage and unless that garage has got experience of working on them then they come up with all sorts of excuses of what is wrong with the cooling system. It is a Hi-Jet - Your 'Ed-gaskgit is gawn mate. Big job. Gonna cost you a fortune.
If they knew what they were talking about usually 2 new Radiator Caps and bleed the system PROPERLY AND JOB DONE.

I have bought several Hi-Jet's that allegedly had the Head Gasket gone. A pickup that I bought and is in one of my old posts under "Guest" had been to Tyreservices and James Garage Services in Newport and both of them diagnosed Head gasket. James Garage Services even fitted it with a new Water Pump. A water pump only needs replacing if it is leaking or worn bearings which can cause the leak on the spindle seal. It is one of my pet hates, people being ripped off on any vehicle when they fit a new pump for no good reason.

The Pickup I bought and an LPG MPV both were diagnosed with head gasket so I got them nice and cheap, fitted 2 new Radiator Caps, bled them. Results?? Absolutely 100% fine.

You have seen the picture of of one of my previous Rascal Romahomes and we both loved it. Cracking condition but it was a bit gutless and thirsty on petrol.
I found that the 993cc Hi-Jet has better performance and certainly better on fuel probably due to the Fuel Injection. I only ever had one Carburettor version of the 993cc and never drove it on the road. It was the Hi-Jet that had the Mythical Vented Discs on it.
The choice is up to the Individual purchasing whichever one they want.

and i respect yours woodie, but you guys replies kind of made/confirmed my point i would think

I certainly don't disagree with you Scotia on that point. How often do you hear of Overheating problems with Rascals? Seldom. Got to concede that point. I will leave it at that I think.

We have both put our points of view out there for our fellow members to decide, my friend. Shall we leave it at that now?

yes we shall

i like the way people on here can agree to disagree, without to much troubles.
its something you dont see often nowadays on the internet.

like the discusion on the mot last week.
respeckt and greetings from here dudes

I hate you, Scotia, with your stupid Carry.

I prefer the head room in the back of my hijet compared to the carry (unless you take the middle of the floor out of the carry) and mine has cheaper tax as its 99

Different model SuperCarry E.F. The guys are talking about the earlier flat fronted model that have the lower floor like the Hi-Jet and a 970cc 4 cylinder engine.
Whereas the model you are thinking of had a 16v 1300 engine that develops more power than the Hi-Jet, but as you rightly say has the decreased load space due to the false floor.

Ahh, didn't realise the older ones didn't have the false floor in. Don't think I've ever seen one then!

tornas wrote:I hate you, Scotia, with your stupid Carry.

Well D.T., you will certainly be able to have a good belly laugh between playing and driving your Van.
Have you had a chance to look at the Van Logi found on Ebay.
I can see that I shall have to take a visit with my wife as spare driver to see my mum this weekend in Merthyr Tydfil.

Hahaha - that'll teach me to bother putting my location in when I sign up to a new forum!

Thanks for the link Logi - I'm based down in West Sussex with limited time to travel which is a shame - that's got to be be a good deal for a 56 reg van, surely? Funny enough my parents live in Wales but unlike Woodie I cannot feel any urge to visit them, even as an excuse to get my hands on a good-looking van...  

Apologies for opening the Carry/Hijet can-of-worms but let's be honest, if you can't blunder into a new forum and crash around with little or no thought, when can you??

Don't apologize. It's been great fun. It's usually " Stage Presence" to shock.
Most of us have a small circle of members that we keep in touch with on the phone or by email but best of the lot is WhatsApp in my book.
So you are just accross the Solent from me then.

I am fortunate in as much as I have supplied so many members on the Forum over the past nearly 4 years and know their first names, surnames etc. which is quite useful for Blackmail purposes.

Always happy to try and help out with a few exceptions - like one hit wonders who think that this is a free version of Ebay. But that is my hang-up. Most of the members are more
reasonable than me. I am just "Old School" or as I am sure Logi will take great delight in pointing out :. "Just Old" .
But it is a great Forum to be on. So much knowledge on here and we are most fortunate to have probably the most knowledgeable Hi-Jet man in the country in Highly Jetted.
Shall I book my RedFunnel Ferry for early Saturday morning then? My wife would explode if I bought any more Hi-Jets. Got too many now.

We all hate Scotia and his Carry
The reason I have a Hijet over a Carry is simple, I can get a motorcycle in a Hijet, they don't fit in a Carry.

The reason I have a Hijet over a Carry is simple, I can get a motorcycle in a Hijet, they don't fit in a Carry.

I would say 'Respect' but but being the age I am, that would make everyone on the forum cringe with embarrassment!

Embarrassment? You need to forget that word driving a Hijet

Yes - I saw this little Cat C earlier on Gumtree - I've not got my own driveway at the moment so a little unsure about repairing the bodywork asap so I can new MOT and sort insurance, etc. I'll try and find out more about the damage as it looks interesting....

Take forum with a pinch of salt, a good smattering of banter and so long as yoy have thick skin you'll be fine. A great place to hang out for anything hijet related...or sonetimes just anything else. A great bunch of guys (and gals sorry elfin girl) I've managed to get to know over last 18 months from just browsing to taking the plunge and buying one then asking all the newby questions. Take your time and stay around.

Rear tailgate is from an Isle of Wight registered 993cc  Hi-Jet.

A Breaker I missed at some point obviously.