Oh look, it's another Newbie!

[SidnBabs]

Greetings Bongonauts and Friendee aficionados.
I'm new round these parts and yes, I'm in the mood for a Mazda (Bongo).

I was heavily involved in the VW scene in the 90s and early 00s and whilst I'm used to the rounds of maintenance and repair associated with older cars, I'm wondering how many of the typical VW tenets apply to the Bongo...

Is age an issue?
I'm assuming you have to factor Import date into any equation but are 95/96 vehicles still worth it?

Does mileage matter?
How long will a reasonably maintained petrol/diesel engine last?

Have prices skewed because of Covid-19?
Are Bongos selling for a premium now because of lockdown and people looking for cheap ways to get away?
In other words, before 2020, would anyone pay £15-£20k for a late model Bongo?

There does seem to be a LOT of camper conversions available for the Bongo (whereas you could ordinarily expect Danbury, Westfalia etc. with VW Campers).
Are there conversion kits or converters to steer clear of or equally are there ones which are more sought after?

And finally (for now)
How much bang does your buck get you?
What's the average price for a private/trade sale Bongo?
Can anyone give me a few ideas please?

As I'm looking to dip my toe in (it's still a large amount for me but I recognise I'd get nothing but trouble for under £3k), I've got a budget of up to £6k. Based on that, what am I likely to be looking to get?

Any help and advice very welcome - fingers crossed I'll be on the road for Summer!

Sid

[g8dhe]

Welcome aboard!

I think you will find that age or distance need not have a massive impact, good regular maintenance and under sealing the exposed metal on import and its subsequent maintenance will be much more important!

The usual problems are wheel arches, cills and cross members, in addition undersealing above the wheel arches is important as with habitation moisture from sleeping in the van can cause condensation in these areas.

[Tessie]

Welcome to the world of Bongos.

Geoff (g8dhe) is very much an aficionado and always gives good advice, as do many of the other regulars on here and other Bongo sites. You say you are used to the maintenace and repairs of older cars and that will stand you in good stead with a Bongo, preventative maintenance is far better than waiting until something goes wrong. One of the main things to maintain to a high standard is the coolng system, especially on the diesel engine. Geoff has outlined the main areas that can be affected by rust but let's face it any old vehicle will suffer from rust. There are panels and cross members available to make life a little easier in the battle against rust.

Most parts for Bongos are available, either new or used, and there are dealers and repairers that are very Bongo conversant. Broadly speaking Bongos are old technology so any competent garage should be able to carry out most jobs, but some seem to have problems sourcing parts even though they shouldn't have, maybe they look no further than their usual parts suppliers. If you do all your own repairs you shouldn't have that problem but if you have a Bongo savvy garage/repairer in your area then they are usually a help.

Have you had a look at the home page of this site yet? There is good information there and you can also see sales ads, both private and trade on there. If you become a paid up member of Bongo Fury, if not already joined, you will have access to lots of fact sheets which give most of the information you need to carry out most jobs that will be required, and much more. You also get discount and free postage on anything you buy from the shop.

Another good place to get information is https://www.allansvehicleservices.co.uk ... ongo-tips/

Just noticed that you are in Sheffield where Bongo Fury is based, I believe there is a Bongo savvy garage there too.

Good luck with your search for a good buy, you will find you get a lot for your money when buying a Bongo compared to a VW, even when comparing vehicles of the same sort of age.

[SidnBabs]

Thanks Geoff and Tessie!

I should perhaps have said that I'm used to the woes of running old air-cooled VWs rather than repairing them!

I managed the usual engine tinkering but big repairs were beyond me (even with the Muir manual).

I'm glad you described Bongos as "old technology" as I can relate to that; air-cooled engines and mechanics were very, very basic on that respect but admittedly, I do like to know that there's work that I can do on a Bongo and that it's not all sealed units and main dealer/garage repairs for everything.

I do have another question about Bongo Fury - obviously there's a large membership and Bongos will have changed hands during their lives. Does the club keep records of who owned what vehicle?

It strikes me that a lot of the non member vehicles being put up for sale would have been registered to the club. Seems a useful way to to get more history on the vehicle. And possibly a little reassurance that the Bongo has been in "safe hands" at some stage of its life in the UK...

Again, thanks for replying and for your advice. Just starting on the Bongo adventure but I'm really looking forward to it and being out on the road before Summer!

Sid

[g8dhe]

Yes Ian has kept records, but GDPR etc. limits what can be passed on I believe, but I'm sure Ian will pop up and let you know!

This list of spares and breakers might be handy for you as well;
These companies do a range of spares, not all will have everything so try them all;

Bongo Land https://bongoland.co.uk/shop/

Mazda Bongo https://mazdabongo.com/

Bongo Spares http://www.bongospares.co.uk/

Vosper Parts https://parts.vospers.com/

Auto Jap Spares https://www.autojapspares.com/

AutoLinkUK https://www.autolinkmx5.com/

Breakers
Milton Gough's Shaw Lane Carlton, Barnsley, United Kingdom. 01226 725356 https://www.facebook.com/Miltongoughs

Bongo Parts https://www.bongo-parts.co.uk/

Also there is my electrical site http://www.g8dhe.net/bwm/
Normal Browsers are unable to handle Flash for the wiring diagrams, but there is a work around involving the use of a Chinese Browser which still handles Flash files, shout to me for details if you need the wiring diagrams and I can either link you to the browser of copy you the diagrams as needed.

[Ian]

I do have another question about Bongo Fury - obviously there's a large membership and Bongos will have changed hands during their lives. Does the club keep records of who owned what vehicle?

It strikes me that a lot of the non member vehicles being put up for sale would have been registered to the club. Seems a useful way to to get more history on the vehicle. And possibly a little reassurance that the Bongo has been in "safe hands" at some stage of its life in the UK...

Sid, when someone joins the club they do not have to disclose their vehicle reg, but if they attend one of our meetings it is disclosed. We have a database going back 20 years and although I could not disclose the vehicle owner(s) if you were to email me a registration number I could tell you how long, and how many times, it has been in a member's ownership.

[SidnBabs]

I do have another question about Bongo Fury - obviously there's a large membership and Bongos will have changed hands during their lives. Does the club keep records of who owned what vehicle?

It strikes me that a lot of the non member vehicles being put up for sale would have been registered to the club. Seems a useful way to to get more history on the vehicle. And possibly a little reassurance that the Bongo has been in "safe hands" at some stage of its life in the UK...

Sid, when someone joins the club they do not have to disclose their vehicle reg, but if they attend one of our meetings it is disclosed. We have a database going back 20 years and although I could not disclose the vehicle owner(s) if you were to email me a registration number I could tell you how long, and how many times, it has been in a member's ownership.

Hi Ian,
Thank you for that. Really useful and I'm sure I'd ask you.
Obviously, there are non member Bongos currently for sale on the site; would good to know if the vehicles were previously on the Club database (or not).
I'm starting the buying process and doing a ton of research beforehand, service history and dare I say, provenance will really help.
I also need to have a closer look at a Bongo (only saw/sat in one last Summer and was too smitten to pay attention to the details!)...
Sid

[Tessie]

If you are after a camper converted Bongo but unsure what you want and are not in a hurry to get one then it could be a good idea to get along to a Bongo meet/rally. There you will usually be able to see different conversions and have a good chat with owners who will tell you the good and bad points of their particular conversion. You will probably also see the different engine variants and hear them running and get to know the pros and cons of each type.

[SidnBabs]

If you are after a camper converted Bongo but unsure what you want and are not in a hurry to get one then it could be a good idea to get along to a Bongo meet/rally. There you will usually be able to see different conversions and have a good chat with owners who will tell you the good and bad points of their particular conversion. You will probably also see the different engine variants and hear them running and get to know the pros and cons of each type.

Very good plan!
I've sent my money to Ian so I can become an official club member.
Not sure when/if there's any meets planned soon near me; will definitely get to some when they're held.
In the meantime, I'm hoping that there's some members in Sheffield or thereabouts that I can trouble for a tour and a chat...

[g8dhe]

You can see the list of BF meets here viewforum.php?f=37
If your on FB then you might find there is a local group for you as well the national based ones.