Mitsubishi L200 K74 buyer’s guide: what to check before you buy

K74 is Mitsubishi’s chassis code for the third-generation L200 pick-up, built from 1996 until the K74 was replaced in 2006. In the UK it was sold mostly as a four-door double cab, and the engine that matters is the 2.5 litre 4D56 turbo-diesel. It is a simple, heavy, mechanical truck, which is exactly why there are still so many about and why one can be rebuilt properly rather than patched.

Staffordshire Truck Company only works on this model. Every edition we sell, Heritage, Heritage X, Dakar, Dakar Camper, Dakar Pro and Dakar X, is a K74 double cab, sourced UK-supplied, stripped to the shell and rebuilt.

The arches are the first place to look. On the truck in our refurbishment case study the rot looked minor from three feet away; with the trim off it went straight through the outer skin and into the inner structure behind it. Sills go the same way. Filler and underseal hide both, so press, tap and get underneath rather than trusting a shiny photograph.

Then the chassis. You cannot quote metalwork honestly until you can see all of it, which is why a serious refurbishment lifts the rear tub off and puts the truck on stands. If a seller will not let you get underneath, treat that as the answer.

What is done about it matters as much as what is found. Our rule is that rot is cut right back to clean steel and new sections are let in and welded, rather than filled and hidden. A truck that has been “done” with filler will need doing again.

The 4D56 is a tough engine, but a tired one will not be made right with a service. Our Red Top programme lists what a rebuild actually involves: the block is crack tested, heat machine washed and honed; the head is pressure tested, the valves re-seated and the head rebuilt; new piston rings, main bearings, thrust washers, a full gasket set, new glow plugs and new timing gear go in. Twenty-five line items in all.

Use that list when you look at a used truck. Ask what has been done, and ask for evidence. “Recent head gasket” on its own tells you the head was off, not that it was tested.

A used K74 in unknown condition is cheap to buy and expensive to put right, because the arches, sills, chassis and engine all tend to need attention at the same time. A rebuilt one is priced for the work already done.

Our editions start at £21,995 for the Heritage, which is the K74 as Mitsubishi meant it: standard ride height, any colour (two-tone at extra cost), refurbished alloys, a hand-made stainless exhaust, a retrimmed interior and the Red Top Spec 2 engine. The Heritage X is from £23,495, the Dakar from £24,995, the Dakar Pro from £26,995 and the wide-body Dakar X is priced per build. Every one has the same rebuild and the same engine underneath.

If you already own a K74 and the shell is sound, refurbishing it can be the better route, and it is a large part of what we do. Ring the workshop, send a dozen photographs of the arches, sills, underside and engine bay, and you get a written quote priced per job. If you are starting from nothing, a finished edition saves you the year of finding out what the cheap one needed.

Either way it starts with a phone call. Five minutes on the phone saves a lot of email.