Bongo Fury

Hi guys ,Ive been spending the last few weeks trawling through ebay and gumtree looking at hundreds of bongo adverts ! Im in Renfrew so ive been looking for one within travelling distance as I don't want to buy one blind on ebay .
There is one in Paisley that seems too cheap at £2000 , one in Alloa it looks ok but when you check the mileage on the old mots it seems to have lost 70k kilometres at some point !
Theres one in Stenhousemuir looks solid , but kitchen area look pretty dodgy leisure battery is sitting right next to gas bottle , surely that cant be right ?https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervans-mo ... 1154385546
Im not sure if I should wait till next year and save a bit more ,as I realise my budget of 3-4 k could be buying myself a whole heap of problems

Welcome. Yes i think a budget like that could be pushing it in that you'd be sensible to have a fund in reserve for making right things that you find to be wrong after purchase. You'll probably be buying a car heading for 20 years old and possibly being sold because the owner is expecting bills before long.

I think i'd stick to unconverted as you want to focus your money on a good base vehicle. Similarly if you don't need tbe lifting roof you can avoid a source of trouble by going instead for the lighter and better handling tintop, which generally also sells for less than an AFT of similar age. Similarly, the 2 litre petrol engine is less powerful but simpler and quite adequate if not too heavily loaded, especially on the lighter tintop. And 2wd has less to go wrong than 4wd though the latter is much superior in muddy fields (but only available with diesel). How handy are you with diy mechanics and joinery as there's a lot you can do yourself to keep costs down if so. And do your research so you know how to inspect key points on a Bongo (rust especially these days). And don't rush to buy in the excitement to get one. Good luck and happy hunting.

P.S. Yes that conversion sounds as though it is probably more of a negative than a positive (no pun intended ), with a battery next to a gas bottle. Who knows what other unsuitable diy wiring/mods might have been done.

Hi

Good luck with your search, best to wait and be sure than gamble on something you're not entirely happy with.

With regards to the mileage on the Alloa van, could be as simple as one mot was measured in Km and the next in miles.

Still if you're not certain definitely better to walk away.

Sara.

Hi thanks for the replies , I thought the dodgy mileage might have been a case of the odometer reading have been put down in miles for the mot . its doesn't work out though , I converted the km to miles and its not even close . it looks like someone has physically wound it back . I phoned the one in stenhousemuir ,im waiting on a call back . He sent a text though explaining the previous owner ran his own garage that's why it always passed its mot , he reckons bodywork is good too .
All the ones I've looked at have been diesel , I would really like a v6 as fuel consumption is not an issue im worried about .
I would prefer one that's already converted to a good standard with a lifting roof , so I suppose I better get saving !

Warm welcome to the Forum, yours is out there.

Bob wrote:Warm welcome to the Forum, yours is out there.

Sounds vaguely rude Bob

Hi Brucey

Welcome to bongo fury, I've only been here a few weeks but wasted a bit of time looking around at the lower end of the market. There will be a decent bongo at your budget, but you will spend alot of time and hasstle looking for it. If you enjoy that sort of thing then thats good news if you dont......

But its certainly worth going to see some and get an idea of their condition at the budget, i think rusty arches is a must at our budget, but I'm looking for a clean chassis, arches that can be cleaned up a bit but nobwjere near crumbling stage and wax oiled to protect them for a couple of years and not yet crumbling. Oh and decent inner arches too..... Mechanicals need to look ok, mainly a cam belt change and good looking radiator and pipework.

I've seen the "city centre" bongo at 2400 and im off to see the paisly cheap bongo, but i dont expect much of it at allbtbh. If you check the mot history online it gives you an idea. Paisley bongo has just had a tonne of welding done so need to check its standards out.


Rich

P.s i called about the bongo from a garage owner,i would certainly go through it with a fine tooth comb as the mot history has not one advisory that tells me either the owner mot'd it as his own car or his mate mots it and puts no advisories on it. So there may be hidden problems. Or it might be immaculate, but the conversion i woyld immediatly junk...

Hi Rich , will be really interested to here how you get on with the Paisley bongo , I've only been emailing the guy for a few days and he's doing my head in already ! Extremely slow to answer emails and he's just not bothered answering my last one , its probably cheap for a reason .
I see your a Mazda owner already I , the RX-7 is a classic now , I need a bongo to complete our Mazda hat-trick , I drive a 3 mps and my wife has a 6 2.5 sport !
there's a white bongo on eBay , a white one in Hebburn , looks nice in the pictures but its over my budget at the moment .

Hi All
I am in the same position as you. Still await a reply from EMail for Paisley Bongo.
Keep looking
Eddie

brucey1 wrote:Hi Rich , will be really interested to here how you get on with the Paisley bongo , I've only been emailing the guy for a few days and he's doing my head in already ! Extremely slow to answer emails and he's just not bothered answering my last one , its probably cheap for a reason .
I see your a Mazda owner already I , the RX-7 is a classic now , I need a bongo to complete our Mazda hat-trick , I drive a 3 mps and my wife has a 6 2.5 sport !
there's a white bongo on eBay , a white one in Hebburn , looks nice in the pictures but its over my budget at the moment .

I'll update my thread with the results of the paisley bongo. To say its been frustrating arranging a viewing is an undsrstatement this first viewing was arranged then he didnt reply with his address. Normally asking him when suits and he replies, "yes"... I can't understand selling something with only an email address and not replying with any answer that makes sense.. But its just had a host of welding for the last mot,hence the sale i would imagine.....

I like the last range of mps's good cars and very underrated... I would have had one other than the fact im a rotary convert, they kinda do that to owners.

The white van im helpburns got no stickers so hopfully had good quality paint work and new arches and cills welded on.... Although the fail list is as big as the paisley bongo for welding in April last year


Reason(s) for failure
Nearside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect (1.8.A.1b)
Offside Headlamp aim beam image obviously incorrect (1.8.A.1b)
Nearside Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)
Offside Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)
Nearside Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded (5.2.6)
Offside Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded (5.2.6)
Rear fog lamp insecure (1.3.2a)

Nothing out of the ordinary for a bongo.... Which is where the risk of buying cheap come in.


Rich

brucey1 wrote:Hi guys ,Ive been spending the last few weeks trawling through ebay and gumtree looking at hundreds of bongo adverts ! Im in Renfrew so ive been looking for one within travelling distance as I don't want to buy one blind on ebay .
There is one in Paisley that seems too cheap at £2000 , one in Alloa it looks ok but when you check the mileage on the old mots it seems to have lost 70k kilometres at some point !
Theres one in Stenhousemuir looks solid , but kitchen area look pretty dodgy leisure battery is sitting right next to gas bottle , surely that cant be right ?https://www.gumtree.com/p/campervans-mo ... 1154385546
Im not sure if I should wait till next year and save a bit more ,as I realise my budget of 3-4 k could be buying myself a whole heap of problems

This is quite common with Grey Imported vehicles that record distance is kilometres and not miles, the MOT tester is often asked by the presenter to have the recorded distance in Kilometres ,some times the might just forget to tell/ask the Tester to do so, therefore it will show as miles.

The MOT tester does not check the totalizer to see if its KM or Miles they will just use miles as std unless the presenter asks otherwise.

Good Luck.

Hi rita , ive seen a few of these where as you say the mot station has put the reading down in miles , this particular one had 289000km about 5-6 years ago now it shows 214000 km , something not right there

Have you been to see any bongos recently or been to Hawick?

Rich

Hi Rich I never went down to Hawick , there just something about the guys advert that puts me off .
I've actually bid on some non Bongo vans on eBay Citroen relay conversion and a Peugeot . May end up back on the bongos , I think all the talk of overheating and stuff was putting me off !!