bennyyorkie wrote: Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:11 pm
god, sounds like you had a bad experience...a local mechanic told me to always check the MOT history but I'm beginning to wonder if theres a glitch in the system there....was looking up a bongo I saw on ebay today, selling for 5000....lovely looking van but the history check showed it failed for severe corrosion affecting the stability of the structure on a few areas last year....but oddly, it passed with flying colours in the 3 precious years....showed it to my dad (engineer) and he said thats all wrong "it couldnt have gone from fine to disaster in a year"...he thought the precious MOTS must have not been done properly...now thats a worry!!
I hope your experience wasnt too bad or costly. Would be interested to hear your perspective but dont want to ask you in case you get flashbacks!
I bought my first Bongo in 2016 and liked it very much it had a full side conversion was a clever little van and
I decided it was going to be my main van however after using it for a time and because ironically,it had an
upper deck I felt that I would prefer a rear removable pod kitchen and a more comfortable lounge area with the
upstairs deck as the main sleeping area.
So a new project and my swansong before retirement?
I decided to keep the Bongo and sell the VW that I had restored and fitted out in the 90s and use that money to
fund a 4WD 2.5 unconverted to fit out in a way that more suited us.
I looked on Ebay and found one that had a good write up and it seemed to suit my needs. I could see clearly that
it needed work but as I had spent my working life in the motor trade with a large part of that spent in body
repair and restoration I was not worried by the thought of a couple of arch repairs and the odd bit of welding.
According to the vendors (not Ian Taylor) ad the vehicle had good provenance it was owned by Ian Taylor and was his wife`s personal
vehicle. Maybe that would explain why, although a P reg, it had the later front end and interior.
That would count for a lot towards what I had to find to update an earlier model. The vendors Ebay description
text was long and informative and stated that all the usual bits had been done , coolant alarm, tank earthing,
cambelt and pump etc as well as a recent set of tyres,on top of that it already had split charger and EHU with a
solar panel fitted,bonus!
It had two owners since the importers wife I had checked the MOT history and it had sailed through every one
with only a couple of minor advisories, mileages all added up and it was shiny black. Whats not to like right?
So I contacted the vendor in order to view the vehicle and a time was arranged to meet the owner at his house to
view the van.
This is when the problems started.
My Bongo was having a gearbox job done and the Kia Sedona flatly refused to start. It was a scorching hot day
and we were very busy at work so rather than reschedule I grabbed the work hack, a K reg Micra two door, loaded
up the wife and with a large amount of cash ( Teenmal I thought it was 6K but I could still be in denial
) set off for Cambridgeshire using my phone as the sat nav.
As a failed boy scout map reader (first class) I put absolute faith in sat navs, thats how I find so many unusual
places like farm yards,dirt tracks and bridgeless river crossings.
For some reason best known to the Gods it routed me through London which was thick with traffic owing to road
works on the North Circular,I know, whilst sitting in this traffic the Micra decided it was a good time to
overheat (stuck thermostat) in order to help the cooling I turned the heater on and opened the windows, not a
lot of good when stationary in traffic but I was now comitted and if the Micra blew up so be it I was going to
get the van!
Three hours late we arrived at the vendors gaff probably half a stone lighter from the earlier sauna, stressed
and drained.
There was the black Bongo all shiny and nice so I looked round it.
The arches clearly would need repair there was heavy rusting around the EHU door but else all looked reasonable.
Then I discovered that the vendor was a Bongo Fury member he seemed honest enough in fact I had advised him on
an issue he had with the van through the forum!
This and fatigue went some way to taking my eye off the ball (BIG EFFIN ERROR!!!!!) so I took it at face value
the deal was concluded and the auction was terminated early.
I set off back to London with the wife driving the Micra, now self righted, it was a cool evening van drove well
and so a pleasant drive back.
That Saturday morning after work I put the van on the lift to explore and plan the mods. On the shaker plates I
found the front was just about attached to the back,had it not been for the chassis rails it would have fallen
off. It was quite obvious that the MOT tests,all by the same station whilst in the vendors ownership, had been
carried out "irresponsibly" as most of the rot on the underside would have obvious had I bothered to get on my
knees have a probe. The corrosion was very obviously long standing.
I gutted the interior and took stock.
I had dropped both bollocks nut sack and all.
So what to do? The vendor would deny knowledge and honestly would you have put your wife and kids in that thing
if you had known the full extent of the corrosion? I suppose some might.
Legally did I have a position?
Well it was an auction, techically not misdescribed and I am the expert, an authorised examiner,MOT tester no
less and a lifetime in the motor trade to boot had I looked over the van properly before parting with the dosh?
NO! So get over it right?
That weekend I took the view that mechanically it was sound-ish it had the updated bits on it, I was going to refurb it, it might be fun and at the end of it I would have a sound Bongo exactly how I wanted and it would probably see me out(if it didnt kill me in the process) so I ordered a pair of merc arches from Ebay and the
rest is history.
The result is I have a nice sound van, still fitting interior out mind,that runs well, drives well, is
reasonably quick, great fun and with the amount of anti corrosion protection should be around for a millenia
or two at least.
