Bongo Fury

@20,000 miles, 3 years of ownership in 2 days time, currently a driveway ornament with head/gasket issues Ownership currently under question but I have just taxed & insured it, so it looks like the heart is winning - what would effectively replace the bongo for me as an everyday car/camper/loadlugger/hobby/social life, etc, etc.
Usual things - alternator (x2), new rad, water pump, stat, silicon hoses , front fan repaired, droplinks (3rd front set in 3 years ), ARBs, EGR removed, brake pads, & all the usual service items, probably about 15-20 litres or so of wax oil & shed loads of wants & must haves.

Mines approaching 2.5 years. Originally bought as a cheapie impulse buy,to see if I really needed a Bongo. I'd been to Cornwall saw loads, thought they looked like fun on wheels, but felt not enough fun for the local dealers prices .

I thought I would get one or two summers out of it, but it has been fantastically reliable and I would struggle to find anything better to upgrade to. It had a full Japanese service history with a dealer service every year. I keep to that and have a yearly service, oil and filter changes at Discount Trucks. Apart from that very little. Three MOT's straight through.

On purchase Waxoil, set of windscreen wipers, length of pipe for washers, chipped speedo, tow bar and four tyres.

Year One Essential 1 sidelight bulb. Non essential Several bits of plastic from Harry's Bongo.

Year Two Essential Dizzy cap also new spark plugs and front brake pads. Non essential CD player and set of seat covers.

Year Three Pimping Cabte's zig zag silver decals plus leather gear lever and handbrake covers. Also removed a lot of Japanese electrical clutter including a Super Cat Trap (AKA Bongo Buddha), a talking radar trap gun detector. Unfortunately Japanese frequencies only, but it still talked in Japanese.

Not bad for a fifteen year old. I've done 15 thou miles and one trip to France. Festivals in comfort, twice to Cornwall each year, Snowdonia three times; plus loads of short breaks. She also has a double life as a general purpose van. Perfect size for a three seater sofa

Barring disasters I will hang on to the Bongo for quite a few more years. The guy who waxoyled it reckoned I could probably get ten years out of it. So another 7.5 to go. Fingers crossed.

Hi all, well where should I start...........................
this will cheer you all up, those with minor niggles , here goes

1. september 2006 3rd day in to ownership... fuel pump seals leaking so replaced and full service
2. 7 weeks later bad overheat... replaced thermostat, radiator, water pump, head gasket,and head
3.wiring break to fuel solonoid .....wiring replaced
4. the next april droplinks needed replacing and also rear roll bar bushes.
5. october 2007 (Tarka meet) overheats from cold..... new engine
6. december 2007 alternator fails ...... replaced alternator.
7. june 2008 steering rack develops serious leek ......replaced with new steering rack
8. replaced all main hoses with silicone
9. june 2009 exhaust breaks ......replaced with stainless system
10. july 2009 injector fails night before going for conversion
11.august 2009 alternator belt snaps ....replaced belts
12.good friday April 2010 head gasket fails ......replaced gaskets , head bolts , thermostat, coolant flush and refill.
13. still overheats now off the road waiting for me to save the cash for either another new head or another new engine when I can afford it Bongo is going to Allans as I've given up with my previous mechanic.
still love my Bongo will not be without it , wish me luck please as I dont seem to have any

and this does not include all the cash I've spent on pimping , no wonder i'm broke ...LOL

Best of luck, bongoing-mad-simon

-------------------------------------

Ours has been in the family for three years last Feb, longest I've ever kept any one vehicle. ( normally due to running out of seats ) Bongo's been doing around 20k+ miles a year, I've had to do a lot,* but it's been mostly jobs I've managed to do myself all thanks to the help and advice on here. It must of saved me a fortune on labour charges over the years.

*Replaced:-
Alternator twice,
Radiator twice,
Heater fan,
Heater fan resistor twice, ( before I found out it's an easy repair )
Starter Contacts,
Glow plugs twice,
The four big hoses, ( Only one started to weep, but found a good price for the four)
Thermostat, (did not need doing, but it was worth doing whilst changing the hoses anyway)
Front drop links twice,
Rear drop links, and brackets,
Front brake Discs, and pads,
Manual gear box, ( that replacement hurt my wallet a lot, I was unable to do it myself)
Clutch, ( again did not need doing, but just a well doing whilst the box was off)
13+ year old? battery ( label in Japanese)


The parts I've replaced twice could be due to me buying cheap parts on ebay etc...I know... It's my fault!!!


Anyone thinking of buying a Bongo/Freda PLEASE dont worry about the size of my list. It has still been the most reliable/practical/head turning vehicle I've owned, and all things going well, will own for many years to come.

6 years 95k km driving. 96 Bongo 2.5 WL

Only those things which wear out.

Main water hose, it seemed to have worn out from inside due to abrasion!! Lord knows what had been in the coolant.
Brake pads once.
Exhaust now stainless steel and very inexpensive from MIJ.

Had trouble with Oil flters but that is not the Bongos fault.

Seals on fuel pump.

Oh yes and that flippin stud on the exhaust manifold.

New battery.

Also economically it is better to repair than buy another vehicle particularly when as in the case of the Bongo asking prices are high!

Hi all

I ve had my 2l petrol since Nov last year so 8mths now. When we first picked it up driving back down the Mway the aircon blew and a soleniod on the gear box went, so low loaded and back to seller,we returned home in the astra(120,000miles from new 03 plate). the bongo was fixed by seller and returned to us (seller was very good about it all).Just recently we have had the temp sender replaced. Previously we had a vauxhall zafira from new Y reg 70,000miles wife loved it i did not. (Incidently MPG on the bongo is better than the Zafira) I was always set on a VW until i did some research and asked a few questions on website/owners etc i then saw the light--BONGO--. Myself wife and daughter love the Bongo we usually keep vehicles for long periods, and the Bongo will be no different. Its versatiliy, quirkyness, value for money compared to other vans/campers, refinements- electric blinds, windows, mirrors etc mark it out as equally good as anything else on the market if not better. Camping, day tripping, surfing and everyday driving are all pleasent experiences, and we can,t help but smile every time we get a Bongo wave from another bongonaut. Slightly mad/sad!!???? --probably

Hi, wanted a bongo since a friend of ours bought a tin top bout 5 years ago, got the bug then and saved for 4 years to get one. Bought our V6 locally and had an LPG conversion done. That was 15 months ago and in that time we have done 25000 kms pretty much trouble free.

Needed the LPG system tweeked....sorted In 6 mths will have paid for itself
New brake pads all round
Full service
Mot pass with no advisaries
Bosch super 4's spark plugs fitted, £11 ebay win
Cooling system flushed and replaced with 2 year 50/50 mix and thorough bleed,sorted slight coolant loss
Undersealed.
Fitted Low Coolant Alarm
Leisure Battery setup

Pimping done......
Handbrake cover
Plasma White Dials Stunning
New Sony Head Unit and cubby box
Stainless Steel door handle covers
Miagrace Freetop Mattress
Stainless Steel Tail pipe
Private number plate(the wife's) with chrome surround
50 lt fridge
Alloys and full set of new tyres
Aero windscreen wipers
.......And whatever bling Carl (YBB) can get his hands on

Been a very good year of bongo ownership, done loads and loads of daytrips and its been a pleasure to own and drive may we have may more years with her cause there's nowt out there that comes close to the bongo . Im smitten

Izzy

3.5yrs ownership. Usual serivcing bits, plus fuel gauge sender, front fan resistor, AFT wouldn't raise and needed fixing, one small bit of welding. Otherwise perfect and v. economical to run. I would like to keep it forever if I can. About 25k miles done in it.

Coming up for 2 years, bought knowing it needed new front droplinks, and front and rear anti roll bar bushes, belts, and No.1 exhaust stud.
Also a few electrical gremlins and sorted out charging system to factory kitchen.

Since then fitted Coolant and Mason alarm, new rear tyres and oil and filter changes.
Also came up with roof bar adaptor kit so recouped a few £ towards the purchase price.

Next jobs, replacing factory kitchen with quick swap unit, coolant flush and ATF change.

I've had my 2.5TD 4wd, 2 years this month, 24k miles since then.
Had to have a water pump last year- but probably cos I left the header tank cap off!! (very lucky there!)

Have just had 2nd MOT, needed
2 tyres,
centre pipe,
anti roll links,
rear stab. bar bushes,
front lower susp. ball joint. (thanks Allen!!)
I've just also replaced front pads as this were getting (very) low.

All in all not bad, mostly just wear and tear items, very happy so far.

Matt

2 and a bit years of ownership - 30,000 miles (our only vehicle)
Front and rear droplinks, tyres all round x1, brake pads all round x1, coolant hose clip x 1.

That's it . This vehicle has seen heavy use including ferrying my colleagues to work and back through thick snow and ice.

6 1/4 years, 45k. Annual or Bi annual trips to France, 2nd car. Fantastic for delivering and collecting sons from Uni and flats. Superb for car boots ("you can't charge me for a van...look, its got side windows, it must be a car!" The raised roof attracts people as well!)

Cam belt (at a garage shortly after purchase)
One full set of boots.
Broken rear anti roll bracket x 2
Water pump
Exhaust
Brake pads
Radiator
Fuel pump seals
Annual birthday of oil and filters


All except cam belt (& tyres) self maintained (with valued assistance from from the forum/fact sheets)

The Mazda Bongo. The ultimate MPV!

missfixit70 wrote:@20,000 miles, 3 years of ownership in 2 days time, currently a driveway ornament with head/gasket issues Ownership currently under question but I have just taxed & insured it, so it looks like the heart is winning - what would effectively replace the bongo for me as an everyday car/camper/loadlugger/hobby/social life, etc, etc.
Usual things - alternator (x2), new rad, water pump, stat, silicon hoses , front fan repaired, droplinks (3rd front set in 3 years ), ARBs, EGR removed, brake pads, & all the usual service items, probably about 15-20 litres or so of wax oil & shed loads of wants & must haves.

Miss F you have just made me feel a whole lot better it's not just me with engine issues and ownership questions and something saying i can't bare to get rid of it i've just mot'd mine i was right in the middle of a couple of pimps when it started so it just has to be finished, I need to keep mobile for my daily commute so i had to get aanother car in fear of me bongo giving in i can see it being taken apart unfortunately that is gonna be some time by the looks of it but if push come to shove i fear i will put an engine in it


I've had mine 3 year ish usual v6 dizzy cap, leads, plugs, lamda, heat sensor dealt with, front and rear pads, usual filters etc cracking piece of machinery luvs it i do

Dar

Ditto what Cheffy sez.

Coming up to year 4 now, 45,000 miles & have been contemplating listing a reply on this thread for two days now but the list would depress me.

Needless to sat there can't be much now that ain't been restored.

mister munkey wrote:Ditto what Cheffy sez.

Coming up to year 4 now, 45,000 miles & have been contemplating listing a reply on this thread for two days now but the list would depress me.

Needless to sat there can't be much now that ain't been restored.

Shouldn't larf BUT