Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

[winchman]

I have PMd you a good cheap welder.
I mentioned Barnsley auto panels , looks like its gone but I did see this number bongo bodyshop on 07584 13481 might be worth a call if your repair man is struggling to find any sills.

[Bongolia]

I realise this may be of no help to the unfortunate lady who has bought a pup but..
I am looking for a 2.5 petrol AFT or better still a late diesel 4wd AFT. Like a lot of people my first port of call was Ebay.
A couple of nice vehicles presented themselves at a fair price both claimed to be rust free. In fact one had high definition images of the rear wheel arches to support there claim and indeed they did look very clean.
The registration plates were displayed so I checked the "gov.uk" website "check my MOT history" or something like that and could see from the previous MOT`s that they had both had initially failed on rust, one was actually failed for "sharp protrusions rear wheel arches" and the other had real structural problems and both had new MOT`s.within the last few days, clearly within the present sellers ownership.
I emailed the sellers and asked if the bongos had had any welding work carried out and guess what....
both said it had never been welded. One covering himself by stating "not as far as he knew".
Obviously they were not aware of the site or thought I wasn`t. So now I check the reg on Gov.UK site and if the reg is not displayed I email the seller and ask for it if they are not forthcoming I move on.
I agree with the previous posters that nothing is irreparable having restore a few rust bucket "classics" in my time.
Its economics that kill it.
I wish the lady success in her pursuit of this guy through the courts.

[cmm303]

I realise this may be of no help to the unfortunate lady who has bought a pup but..
I am looking for a 2.5 petrol AFT or better still a late diesel 4wd AFT. Like a lot of people my first port of call was Ebay.
A couple of nice vehicles presented themselves at a fair price both claimed to be rust free. In fact one had high definition images of the rear wheel arches to support there claim and indeed they did look very clean.
The registration plates were displayed so I checked the "gov.uk" website "check my MOT history" or something like that and could see from the previous MOT`s that they had both had initially failed on rust, one was actually failed for "sharp protrusions rear wheel arches" and the other had real structural problems and both had new MOT`s.within the last few days, clearly within the present sellers ownership.
I emailed the sellers and asked if the bongos had had any welding work carried out and guess what....
both said it had never been welded. One covering himself by stating "not as far as he knew".
Obviously they were not aware of the site or thought I wasn`t. So now I check the reg on Gov.UK site and if the reg is not displayed I email the seller and ask for it if they are not forthcoming I move on.
I agree with the previous posters that nothing is irreparable having restore a few rust bucket "classics" in my time.
Its economics that kill it.
I wish the lady success in her pursuit of this guy through the courts.

Oh to see the sellers face if confronted with the info!
It's not that there has been welding, which after all shows maintenance, it's the lack of honesty that immediately indicates it is a competition between the sellers ability to hide stuff vs buyers ability to discover it!

[PixieAndTheMoon]

I have to ask, why are sounding the bells on here?

Jo

[BongoLongo]

This thread gave be a heads up on the MOT history availability. Would the below history be cause for concern with all the corrosion? Sorry for the formatting.

MOT history of this vehicle
Test date
23 December 2015 Expiry date22 December 2016 Test ResultPass Odometer reading109,827 miles MOT test number8264 1951 8668
Test date21 December 2015 Test ResultFail Odometer reading109,827 miles MOT test number2083 2307 1723 Reason(s) for failure
offside front Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings sill (6.1.B.2)
Test date3 July 2014 Expiry date2 July 2015 Test ResultPass Odometer reading96,960 miles MOT test number4969 0438 4191 Advisory notice item(s)
under side of vehicle covered in underseal
Test date2 July 2014 Test ResultFail Odometer reading96,960 miles MOT test number2156 9398 4186 Reason(s) for failure
Horn not working (1.6.2a)
Registration plate lamp not working (1.1.C.1d)
Offside Headlamp aim too low (1.
Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)
Test date22 April 2014 Test ResultFail Odometer reading96,824 miles MOT test number6689 4261 4101 Reason(s) for failure
Supplementary Restraint System warning lamp indicates a fault (5.4.2)
Horn not working (1.6.2a)
Nearside Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively (8.2.2)
Offside Headlamp excessively deteriorated so that the light output is severely reduced (1.7.5a)
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has excessive play in a ball joint (2.4.G.2)
Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)
Offside Front Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded (5.2.6)
Rear Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
Nearside Rear Anti-roll bar rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)
Offside Rear Anti-roll bar rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)
Nearside Front Subframe mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)
Advisory notice item(s)
Stop lamp has light sources not illuminating, but not more than 50% (1.2.1b)
Nearside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Offside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
offside and nearside rear wheel arches corroding
nearside outer sill corroded
offside inner sill corroded
filler in nearside rear outer sill
exhaust system corroded
Test date3 May 2013 Expiry date9 May 2014 Test ResultPass Odometer reading90,852 miles MOT test number6878 6342 3175 Advisory notice item(s)
Stop lamp has light sources not illuminating, but not more than 50% (1.2.1b)
Nearside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Offside Front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened (3.5.1i)
Rear Exhaust has a minor leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
Offside Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive (5.2.6)
Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage has slight play in a ball joint (2.4.G.2)
Child seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt
filler in nearside rear outer sill
Test date10 May 2012 Expiry date9 May 2013 Test ResultPass Odometer reading85,719 miles MOT test number5051 3183 2156 Advisory notice item(s)
Offside Body has slight corrosion (6.1.B.2)
Nearside Front Suspension arm ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
slight play in front rollbar links
slight play in rear rollbar bushs.
Test date8 May 2012 Test ResultFail Odometer reading85,719 miles MOT test number2370 4992 2426 Reason(s) for failure
Nearside Front Front position lamp(s) not working (1.1.A.3b)
Offside Rear Body or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of the body mountings (6.1.B.2)
Advisory notice item(s)
Offside Body has slight corrosion (6.1.B.2)
Nearside Front Suspension arm ball joint dust cover damaged, but preventing the ingress of dirt (2.4.G.2)
slight play in front rollbar links
slight play in rear rollbar bushs.
Test date15 April 2011 Expiry date18 April 2012 Test ResultPass Odometer reading80,722 miles MOT test number9668 9530 1188 Advisory notice item(s)
Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrules (3.6.B.4e)
n/side rear sill damaged
Test date10 April 2010 Expiry date18 April 2011 Test ResultPass Odometer reading77,920 miles MOT test number6935 5040 0149 Advisory notice item(s)
slight wear front antiroll links
rear pads worn
Test date8 April 2009 Expiry date18 April 2010 Test ResultPass Odometer reading67,365 miles MOT test number6822 2879 9027 Advisory notice item(s)
o/s/r seat belt not tested due to child seat , exhaust system corroded , slight oil leaks , kerb damage to alloy rims , nail in n/s/f tyre , dent in n/s outer sill , cracking/perrishing to various suspension bushes
Test date10 April 2008 Expiry date18 April 2009 Test ResultPass Odometer reading55,760 miles MOT test number1708 2140 8117 Advisory notice item(s)
curb damage to alloys engine tray broken slight oil leaks nearside rear outer sill filled with filler wipers smearing
Test date19 April 2007 Expiry date18 April 2008 Test ResultPass Odometer reading74,266 kms MOT test number2637 5900 7429

[Gasy]

Don't even think about looking at that one
Move on keep looking there is good ones out there

[BongoLongo]

Thanks. This one is listed at 4500 for late 90s model MPV. Do I need to up the budget? It's listed as a non member sale on this site incidentally.

[Gasy]

Good ones are out there for that money
But it might take a travel look on here and be prepared to travel
Good luck

[winchman]

From my experience its often cheaper to buy one needing no welding as unless you can do this your self it can cost quite a bit, cheap Bongos are about just keep looking I paid £1200 for mine 5 years ago with a few issues but spent £800 on it and its been a good vehicle but the bloke I bought it from was 100% honest and I know a bit about cars so know what I was buying and could be fixed for my budget