Mitsubishi Rosa

[chrisco]

Another bus (mini) I have been looking at to buy as possible motorhome conversion is the Mitsubishi Rosa, about a 26 seater. Have seen a couple aged around 2003 -2005, obviously been used up on the mines, full of red dust, with about 100,000 - 150,000 klms on clock. Does anyone know of any inherent problems with this bus that I should be aware of?

[z80]

Other than when they break down on train lines, I would probably prefer an older rosa to a coaster of the same age. The only think I don't like about the rosa is they really scream at 100km/h. I don't know what the man. versions are like, I have only driven autos.

[chrisco]

Thanx z80, appreciate your comments. Don't know yet if the Rosa is man or auto, have to view and test drive it tomorrow. On another post I asked similar question about 1988 Hino BC bus, is 6 cyl. 5 spd man, have seen this one today and looks good, has 700,000 klms on clock tho, so now wondering if motor going to be too tired, or if there be any inherent probs with these buses. Don't spose you know anything about Hino BC ??

[bussijaam]

My major beef with the Rosa is the governor, which has a nasty habit of leaving you starved of power at exactly the wrong time. I suppose a bit of clever engineering and it can be removed, but it is a pain. The other issue I have with them is the pathetically small fuel tank. I'm lucky to get 400kms out of a tank, usually closer to 350kms, sometimes less.

[Free Lance]

I went from Campbelltown (NSW) to Tallangatta (Vic) 40km past Albury (about 550km) in April last year with 20pax and a trailer for luggage for a7 day trip without the need for a fuel stop enroute, haven't got records at home but think it was around 6k/l. I think that is reasonable fuel comsumption around the same rate as a coaster.
A bit better than the 1418 Merc School bus I drive a occasionally, that only gets around 4.2 > 4.5 K/l

[AL]

I'd go Coaster because parts would be easier to come by. The 4.2L diesel is shared by the 75 and 78 series Landcruisers (but not the latest ones) which you find all over the country.

With 700,000kms, they BC may well have had a re-build, otherwise it probably is getting tired. It's still more about how it was used, if it spent its whole life in the city idling, stop, start then it would be stuffed.

The Rosa is the nicer more powerful drive, but that also means you have a turbo which could fail. If you're motorhoming you don't really need the power. Just don't be a "road maggot" and pull off the highways for us trucks and buses to overtake!

[boronia]

When the Rosa first came out there was some concern that the small turbocharged 4 cyl motor would be under stress too much for the weight it had to pull. I don't know how they are now, a few years down the track.

But the Hino Rainbow had a similar engine set up, and were generally quite good and reliable, except for the crappy driver's seat. Being rear engined, the front end was very light and could be nasty under braking.

With all these vehicles a lot depends on how an individual unit was driven, and how it was serviced.

[scott]

The Rosa now has a bigger engine, 4.8 litres I think.

[chrisco]

Thanx guys, appreciate everyon's opinions and experiences. Have decided to give both the Hino and the Rosa a miss, upon closer inspection both have some definate rust holes, the Rosa having quite rusty roof plus was unregistered, the Hino was a noisy uncomfortable ride, a bit slow to get going, quite a few broken bits on it but did have new tyres!! Anyway am now going to keep looking around, not in hurry just getting very itchy feet.........can see us ending up with a Coaster........1995 + model tho!
Cheers

[SkutIsMyCoPilot]

Have they always had a turbo? I didn't realise. The youngest model I've driven was 2016 or 2017. First gear in the manual version of that era was never much use – sometimes I'd start off in second instead, dare I say.

They were also very juicy although I believe that they have since enlarged the tank to take 100 litres of fuel in the newer models. Perhaps that was because we did a lot of highway driving, meaning that the revs at 100 km/hr drowned out twenty three rowdy school kids in the back! No doubt the newer models are slightly quieter, however. Are the latest models more fuel efficient in comparison to those of, say, a decade ago?

Seems like many these days were used for miners, as OP says, in WA or QLD before they are sent back to VIC or NSW for another life. They may have lower kilometres on the meter but the harsh conditions in those environments have certainly kicked their backsides over the years. I've seen some that have terrible rust issues. If in the market to buy a secondhand vehicle, do check carefully under the bus and all over the chasis. The same goes for around the windows and doors and seals where much of the red dust gathered.

Anyway, the reason I'm here is to ask if there is a common issue among Rosas whereby the trimming around the interior passenger windows slowly comes undone, only to fall off? What's the best remedy to fix this permanently?

Alternatively, can Mitsubishi Fuso just replacement the entire window trim? Is that an expensive job these days – can this trim be bought locally or from overseas still?

[MiCCROwavE_OVEN]

I have been on two Rosas in recent years - 2016 builds if I'm not mistaken - and the interior window trims were loose on multiple windows in each bus. I think it seems to be a common issue. Not too sure about how to fix it, but my guess is the operator of the vehicles just sucked it up.

[SkutIsMyCoPilot]

Okay, my thoughts exactly. Darn frustrating!

In other news, you know you're a Rosa driver when there's another warning buzzer sound screaming but you don't seem all that phased by it anymore, and all your passengers are throwing you questioning glances.

You also know you're a Rosa driver when the bottomless glovebox is large enough to lose everything and anything. Open it, and I guarantee that you'll find: a sticky pen, bits of a first aid kit, random receipts or plastic bags and an unidentified bolt from God knows where that looks important so you're too afraid to throw it out.