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

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

Post by JoPen » Sun Jun 19, 2016 6:43 am

Hi, I bought a Mazda Bongo last Saturday and have since taken it to a garage to discover it is a deathtrap due to a rotten underneath. How it passed its MOT 9 months ago is an apparent mystery. It is the 'worst I have ever seen' as quoted by a Mazda Bongo specialist in Wigan recommended on this site. I have been to 3 garages and each have told me it is not repairable and is a restoration project.
More details and photos on the Facebook page 'Scumbag Watch Bridgend'.
I am a single mum and my son and I travelled down from Liverpool (5 and a half hours) to get it. I know I have been a fool but I really need some advice. My son is devastated. The seller's family are well known apparently in Bridgend and I have been told confidentially to go to the police. I think they are Bongo Fury members as there is a sticker in the car.
Please help, Joanne
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Northern Bongolow
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by Northern Bongolow » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:05 am

ive just had a look at the facebook site pics.

firstly everything is fixable so dont just chuck the towel in just yet, its just how much it costs and is the rest worth it,

the garage who looked at it for you probably summed it up correctly by saying its a restoration job, this isnt the end, just needs a bit of love.

the question is did you take reasonable precautions when buying it, were you mislead, or worse. then there is some comeback if its a business sale. if you google trade descriptions act , private sales, you may have some recourse if its a private sale.

i understand your anger or even rage but the adage of buyer beware does count for something, my mate is trying to find a £20,000 camper van, he has rung up 3 people in central scotland, all with just the camper for him. when followed up and checked out, non of the campers even exist, they just want you to send a securing deposit of 10 per cent to secure the sale, then they disappear.
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by mikeonb4c » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:19 am

Could some independent inspector give a view on whether any corrosion that should be an MOT fail is likely to have become so since it passed an MOT.
nth
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by nth » Sun Jun 19, 2016 9:29 am

JoPen wrote:Hi, I bought a Mazda Bongo last Saturday and have since taken it to a garage to discover it is a deathtrap due to a rotten underneath. How it passed its MOT 9 months ago is an apparent mystery.

Sorry to hear this, you must be gutted. Is this a trader or not, sorry i dont use facebook.
A lot can happen corrosion wise in 9 months, did the MOT have any corrosion related advisorys ?
How many miles has it done since the MOT & how old is the bongo out of curiosity ?
You only get 3 months to appeal to VOSA on any corrosion related faults.
Last year i welded a small patch on the top of my front crossmember, the underside was completley solid, just under a year later the underside had chunks of rust the size of walkers crisps falling off it & i just had to replace it last month. The original patch weld on the top was still solid though 8)
95 2.5d 4WD AFT
Mooshwah
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by Mooshwah » Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:49 am

An awful situation to be in :(
The original ebay listing wasn't hard to find and if you search "mazda bongo ford freda campervan" and tick the [sold] box, you can see that it was sold 3 days earlier too - but I suspect that buyer may have had a look underneath and said no thanks - therefore pointing to the seller knowing what was wrong before taking your money and watching you drive away (with the cynical 60mph advice).
That should make your case stronger with ebay/court etc. and will be worth pointing out to ebay, as although you can't see the buyer, they will be able to and get that evidence supporting your complaint.
rita
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by rita » Sun Jun 19, 2016 11:32 am

nth wrote:
JoPen wrote:Hi, I bought a Mazda Bongo last Saturday and have since taken it to a garage to discover it is a deathtrap due to a rotten underneath. How it passed its MOT 9 months ago is an apparent mystery.

Sorry to hear this, you must be gutted. Is this a trader or not, sorry i dont use facebook.
A lot can happen corrosion wise in 9 months, did the MOT have any corrosion related advisorys ?
How many miles has it done since the MOT & how old is the bongo out of curiosity ?
You only get 3 months to appeal to VOSA on any corrosion related faults.
Last year i welded a small patch on the top of my front crossmember, the underside was completley solid, just under a year later the underside had chunks of rust the size of walkers crisps falling off it & i just had to replace it last month. The original patch weld on the top was still solid though 8)

If I am looking at the correct vehicle, the history shows a list of Failures and Advisories for corrosion as far back as 4 December 2007,alas this does not help the purchaser Now.

Good Luck
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by dobby » Sun Jun 19, 2016 12:07 pm

I agree with Ade, Northern Bongolow. Based on the facebook photos it is repairable. If you can get it to Stoke on Trent then Ian Taylor will fix it. You may even be able to get some of the more important work done first and defer the rest. £4.5k is a lot to pay but it's peak season and the prices go up. Also, try and get some legal advice via citizens advice bureau etc and also contact the original mot garage and see what they say about the mot certificate being legit?

I checked your reg on an mot app and its says it doesn't exist- see my post on Facebook
rita
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by rita » Sun Jun 19, 2016 12:25 pm

dobby wrote:I agree with Ade, Northern Bongolow. Based on the facebook photos it is repairable. If you can get it to Stoke on Trent then Ian Taylor will fix it. You may even be able to get some of the more important work done first and defer the rest. £4.5k is a lot to pay but it's peak season and the prices go up. Also, try and get some legal advice via citizens advice bureau etc and also contact the original mot garage and see what they say about the mot certificate being legit?

I checked your reg on an mot app and its says it doesn't exist- see my post on Facebook
Try Ford as make.
dobby
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by dobby » Sun Jun 19, 2016 12:30 pm

:oops: Thanks Rita,


just checked and the corrosion is in the history, the previous year references the seat belt mounts as well.
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mikeonb4c
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by mikeonb4c » Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:02 pm

It all sounds like a thoroughly wicked business. Looking at Facebook, there seems grounds for cautious optimism that the authorities and others are sympathetic and supportive and that the vendor may be persuaded to the wrongness of it all.

Good luck Joanne.
Davehitch
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by Davehitch » Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:19 am

Try not to be too downhearted,

I've done welding on cars for years and have just been caught out myself.so your not the only one!

My mot is only 2 months old and is laughable, I'm doing the welding mine needs myself which is lucky.

Make a list of the most important things safety wise, maybe someone on here could recommend a inexpensive welder in your area and they can patch things up a bit at a time to spread the costs?
At the end of the day welding is just a case of chopping out the bad stuff and putting new metal in so fixable.

Dave.
JoPen
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by JoPen » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:02 pm

Thank you everyone. I had the MOT done yesterday and it failed on 16 points (mostly excessive corrosion) and had 10 advisory points. So sad.

I am pursing it legally which is why I had the MOT done.

In the meantime I would really like to get quotes for welding. The inside of the van is lovely and if I could afford to get it welded then that is an option. It has been badly patched up (or so my mechanic tells me) so I would want to do it properly. I have no idea how much it would cost, although my friend keeps telling me everything is fixable!. Are there any welders in the Liverpool area that might be able to give me a quote? Unfortunately I can't drive it anywhere!

Some really kind soul has offered to sort out my electrics for free for me which I am so grateful. I now need to try to find a reasonably priced welder!

Many thanks to you all,
Joanne
dobby
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by dobby » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:21 pm

There's a firm on the Wirral mentioned in this post:

http://igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/view ... ng#p676667


I can recommend Ian Taylor in Longton, Stoke on Trent but you'd need to get it there and back so hopefully someone in merseyside would be better
winchman
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by winchman » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:32 pm

If you send me a PM I know a man who may be able to help. He is a professional welder but does work in his spare time, he restored me Land Rover from scrapper to rust free in a couple of weeks to a very high standard, I can weld so know his work is good.
He is in St.Helens
winchman
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Re: Sold a rotten Bongo for £4,500 - please help.

Post by winchman » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:38 pm

If you want it done by a garage google Travis Autos St.Helens he is a nice honest bloke who has done work for me in the past to a high standard, but as its a business I think it would be more expensive, remember to mention Barnsley Auto panels as they sell sills etc for them
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