Bongo Fury

Hey everyone,

My Bongo suffered sudden coolant loss and needle rise over the weekend. I've spoken to the warranty company (who WILL cover coolant system problems but NOT overheating damage which resulted). They've advised me to find a VAT registered garage that charges less than £40 per hour labour and to let them have a look at it. I've noticed that a lot of you have said there aren't many Bongo friendly garages in the North East. I need someone with good experience here to prevent any further damage (if possible). I can't drive it more than about 20 miles without stopping every two minutes to check the coolant levels, so does anyone know who I should approach?

(Oh, and I am trying to become a member - the phone line is busy every time I ring!)

Be very careful on this one. It sounds like a paid for warranty rather than a suppliers one and they can cost more for a repair than paying for it yourself. Sounds bizarre but they define what they pay for so tightly that you can pay for most of the work and still have it done very poorly.

Daughter bought a Smart car from a friend which came with the balance of one of these warranties, which was transferred to her. Two weeks later the engine blew up, a obvious total write off.

The car was recovered home by the AA and all looked set for a claim. The warranty company wanted it taken to a N*****nw*de Auto Centre plus we had to pay their recovery fee for it. N***nw**e would only accept the car on their recovery truck plus did not want to touch it without a guarantee we would pay the full costs to dismantle the engine before any work was considered. This was not reclaimable and I would also have to pay for its reassembly. The resultant row got me banned from N*****nw*ide. Since I would never go there anyway, no loss.

I finally persuaded them to let it go to a local Smart dealer for assessment. They agreed with me engine beyond repair and would be cheaper to replace. The cause of the problem was also work done under this warranty earlier to replace the Turbo which had been bodged.

Any work under the warranty would have cost £2k to dismantle the engine and then they would only pay for new pistons, leaving a vast bill and a still damaged engine.

I sorted it by finding a Smart breaker via ebay who fitted me a second hand engine for £1.2k. A very good job, about £1k less than claiming under the warranty. I also borrowed a mates car trailer to take it up. Unlike the warranty company who wanted something silly per mile.

If there had not been a private seller inbetween, this would have been small claims court for the bodged work.

So run through the costs carefully and as you have only had it for a short time, investigate claiming against the original seller. As they sold the warranty they must be trade. If its anything like this story otherwise you might find the warranty company will pay only for a hose and make a profit on the rest of the job.

Why did it lose coolant ??? and...did you refill it and bleed it properly.....if you didn't I wouldn't drive it anywhere till it is properly sorted.

Too late, I'm afraid. I just need to find a good garage now for diagnostic work.