Pinzgauer as a tour truck

[Falconbase]

I want to purchase a 712 to use as a tour truck here in Saipan. Pinzgauers are used successfully all over Hawaii, but Saipan is a little more remote and I will be the only one to have one on this island. In a way that makes it more unique and improve my chance for success, but I am worried about having a reliable vehicle so far out here. For parts I will have to wait for shipping and will be out of operation till repairs are made. Any opinions or advice. I am looking for some reassurance that this won't happen too often.

[StuartL]

Generally the trucks are exceedingly reliable in my (limited) experience. However they are designed to be reliable and last forever only with ongoing maintenance so you should factor that into your decision.

For me parts aren't a problem as I don't mind the truck being off the road for a few weeks if I need to replace something. If this is more of an issue for you and/or you don't have a second vehicle then it might be appropriate to go slightly more mainstream?

[Twin Pinzies]

I own a commercial 4x4 tour company that uses 710m's. They have proven to be very reliable over the past seven seasons of use.

[StuartL]

I think running a fleet is probably way easier than running one. You can effectively have a 'spares' truck which you can borrow bits off and then replace with parts when they arrive 3 weeks later.

If only I could convince my better half that I need a "spare" one...

[Falconbase]

Thank you all for some sound advice. I am gonna do this. I like the Idea of having a second truck as a backup or to take parts from till the mail comes. But budget wise Ill have to start with one. By the time I find the right 712, ship it here, design the tour, create website, I got my work cut out for me but I cant wait, it will be fun, not too much risk involved because if the business end don't work for me I'll still have the Pinz to play with.

[Twin Pinzies]

Your biggest challenges will be the insurance and permitting process, not the vehicles. Good luck...

[audiocontr]

What about seating mounted on the back of a F250? Unless you're looking for some extreme off roading and novelty, it seems like a much more logical choice.

There are many tour groups that tour for wild horses in the outer bank's 4x4 beaches. they've mounted 3 rows of seating facing forward on the back of full size pick-ups. Wish i could find a photo. Coincidentally, i used my pinz to pull one out stuck in the sand.

[ExpeditionImports]

Work with a vendor on a spares list and have it on hand. I would venture to guess that 80% of failures could be fixed with a limited batch of spare parts. The idea that a $2 shift linkage bushing will stop your business until it arrives from overseas is hard. We had an operator in HI go down for 3 days because the fan nut came off and they didn't have a replacement. The cost to operations was 100+ times the cost of the part, not to mention the added costs of Express shipping is not cheap.

Not having a spare hydraulic rebuild kit for every hydraulic component on the truck is crazy for a tour operator. Wheel cylinder is leaking....you have the $12 kit on hand to fix it. Brake spring breaks, you have the replacement to make the repair. You get the idea. If you plan on operating without a spares kit in place then you need to expect down time.

Internal engine parts, internal transmission parts, etc., are not normally kept on hand as they require pretty good expertise and time to accomplish the repair. However, a good used wheel drive assembly might not be such a bad idea.

The higher the spares budget = the less down time. Once you have determined your budget, work with a vendor to get the best possible spares coverage for that money. While a spare starter is nice to have on hand with a larger budget, most of the time a solenoid, pinion, and brushes are all that is needed to get the starter back operational.

Cheers,

Scott