Mazda Bongo (1 Viewer)

[azurik]

hello Richard here , i am considering buying a mazda bongo 1998.friendee has anyone got one , are these as good as they say,? or the nightmare as others say, help please could save me cash, insurance ? i have heard this might be expensive ,i would be the registered owner , but my fiancee would be the registered driver , any comments on this one please thanks

 

[meanders]

Our daughter and son-in-law have had one for several years. Very practical, but it has recently cost him a lot in repairs and has let hime down a couple of times. (Fortunately only local). He uses it for wind surfing weekends as well as with the family with a tent for camping.

There are a couple of forums specifically for the Bongo where he gets a lot of help. We can get you details if you like, but I suspect Google will find them fairly quickly.

Our son-in-law would like a 'new' one, but can't find what he's looking for.

 

[pappajohn]

Hi Richard and welcome.

sorry, cant help with the bongo info but as for insurance...

if you are the registered owner/keeper, in other words your names on the logbook, then you will need to insure it with your fiancee as a named driver.

insurers wont usually entertain it if the registered owner/keeper isnt the main driver.

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[scotjimland]

Hi

Do a search for bongo

I found lots of threads.. apparently they suffer from atrocious fuel consumption ..

here is one

Link Removed

 

[lugnutt]

hi azurik i have a bongo as well as a rv the bongo has never given me any trouble in 5 years been round France in it but now used for school run an shopping running cost not cheep,insurance with a/flux as it is a import, mpg not good about 25 but will runn on cooking oil without any mods. best advice i can give you is look at bongfury web site for all info parts ect .the main thing with bongos is the water temp,never let the get to hot will blow head it you do ,the coolent is a sealed unit and not easy to "top up" best of luck.
dave

 

[lugnutt]

hear http://www.bongofury.co.uk/

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[welsh winger]

Hi richard, I had a Bongo for 18 months, it led to bigger things, At the time it suited us, it was our main means of transport as well as a camper, ours had the pop up roof, well worth it for the head room.

You will hear horror stories of them breaking down, this is the same for any car of a similar age, most of the bongos are now 16 years old 1995.

things to look for.
get a deisel version, better spares, 4X4 was worth the world, look for cooling system problems, they run for ever but if they over heat the head will be toast (big money £1000 +) if the front tyres have a funny wear pattern walk away,(poss gearbox) check all the door switches as the loom in the door often break,( easy fix )

As mentioned go to Bongo fury, very good web site/club they have all the answers.

sure term for insurance details on the bongo site, I still use them now very helpfull and reasonable.

Loads of regular faults most are simple fixes.

would i have another one? yes straight away, just too small now for what we need.

feel free to PM me for more info or a phone number if you want a chat.

Nick

 

[Chani]

Hi Richard

Don't have one of these, but until recently was considering getting one. Loads of space for a small vehicle, and a good number of professional converters. Lots of people love them, as you'll see when you visit Bongo Fury!

What put us off:

• The eccentric, erratic, cooling system. Yes, it is an old vehicle, but that particular aspect isn't well designed! You can fit a couple of alarms which warn you if it's all about to go pear-shaped, but I'd rather it wasn't likely to go pear-shaped in the first place!
• Fuel consumption isn't good, but it is a 2 tonne square box with a 2.5lt engine in it, so not really surprising!
• The mid engine means we can't walk through to the rear of the vehicle, nor fit swivel seats. Not major problems, but a bit annoying.
• Height is 2.1 metres with the AFT - most car parks are limited to 2 metres.
• Service schedule - you're supposed to do an oil and filter change every 3000 miles, and a full service every 9000 (I think - the first figure is definitely correct). Yikes!

So having ruled out Bongos, we've been looking at Honda Stepwagons instead. Have you seen them? They seem to fix our major gripes, and a couple of professional converters are starting to get interested in them. Only downside is there are very few in the country, so we'll either have to do a lot of travelling to find one, or get one imported (which obviously comes with plenty of risks!).

Hope this helps!