The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Anything non-technical about the Mazda Bongo Friendee van

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Stella
Apprentice Bongonaut
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Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:05 am

The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Post by Stella » Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:26 pm

Hi all new to all this and joining the many search for a Mazda Bongo and wondering if anyone has brought or had any experience with the garage in Pontypool???
Bob
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Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:54 pm
Location: North Somerset

Re: The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Post by Bob » Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:10 am

Sorry, I'm not familiar with them.

But welcome to the Forum. 8)
Ian
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Location: Bongo Mission Control

Re: The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Post by Ian » Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:51 am

We have 10 club members who have bought a Bongo from them. I've never heard reports of any problems.
668. The Neighbour of The Beast.
mikeyr
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Joined: Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:03 am
Location: Hampshire

Re: The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Post by mikeyr » Tue Mar 09, 2021 12:37 pm

Have no experience with them but when looking they had lots of adverts listed but we were put off by the (admittedly small) sample size of google reviews which are all 1 star. Plus a search on here was enough to make me have second thoughts. But maybe others on here have had much more favourable interactions with them!

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Rooflifter
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Re: The Showroom, Clarence Place Pontypool

Post by Rooflifter » Mon May 24, 2021 2:55 pm

Just my experience but I bought my Bongo from the Pontypool 'specialist' and I would never use them again or recommend them to anyone. They seem quite happy to patch and repair to the bare minimum to make vehicles presentable for sale and with the experience they have they must know what the problems will just resurface in a few months. This includes using filler to patch holes in exhausts, hard wiring a replacement horn directly to the battery with no fuse rather than fixing the problem with the existing one and the things I'll detail below. I'm also convinced they have a friend who goes easy on them with the MOTs as my van had problems that should have at least been advisories.
I found a bulging rad hose on my van during the inspection and asked for it to be changed along with a full cambelt change and service. They changed the hose for a second hand one which wasn't much better but I found out a few weeks later that the thermostat had been gutted to hide an overheating problem. There's no way they wouldn't have noticed that when bleeding the system. I also really doubt that the cambelt and service was done as the oil was black when I checked it after a week and the oil filter didn't look very new. They'd also replaced a worn tyre with the cheapest pre-owned budget tyre I've ever seen. I've got a wheelbarrow with better tread on it.
The van was losing water slowly so I was trying to track down the leak and even after replacing the thermostat and after replacing every component in the cooling system it became apparent that the head was the problem and had probably been treated with Steel Seal or similar to mask a blown head gasket or cracked head.
The patch up jobs on the bodywork didn't last very long either. Blown over paint with very little prep work as far as I can see.
It was a red flag when I went to pick up my van just as another new owner was just leaving and I heard the garage owner saying they lived a few hundred miles away and he thought they should have done some short trips first to make sure it was up to the long journey. It didn't speak well of their faith in their vehicles despite the promises.
My van was one of the cheaper ones that they've sold I imagine and I was quite prepared for it to be a project but their poor attitude and general lack of professionalism would put me off ever spending money on a more expensive vehicle with them. Dealers like this are part of the reason why Bongos get a reputation for unreliability too which is bad for everyone.
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