Bongo Fury

So just went to view a Bongo, 2000 and only done 55k miles. Whilst the body work was in overall great condition bar a bit on one of the rear wheel arches that has starting to bubble up under the paint work the underside however wasn't so great. There was a fair amount of surface rust and 2 parts that where maybe a bit more (pictured), i don't think it has ever been undersealed, looking at the MOT history it passed 13 and failed on 3 but then they've only been minor things like bulbs or a battery being insecure, never any mention of corrosion at all, so i don't believe and welding is needed

Whats the ballpark figure to have a bodyshop remove the surface rust and treat any worse spots, clean and underseal?, just trying to gauge how much to get him to knock off the asking price

Rust too bad?, should i walk away?

and some more pics

Personally if it hasn't been undersealed on import then I would steer clear. The rust starts on the bear metal out of view and the first signs are when you start to see the bubbles under the paint work on the arches by which time you will need new arches.

Is not so much the wheel arches that concern me as said its only one that has signs of bubbling up, the rest are all good. It the underside that I'm concerned about, the majority of it is just surface rust but obviously needs to be treated before it gets to bad, just want a sort of ball park figure to get the rust treated and then undersealed

You would have to ask a garage to quote for the work, sadly impossible to guess.

More that £500 though right?

That actually doesn't look too bad, when yoy see a bad one you'll realise.

Underseal isn't the magic bullet people say it is, when done poorly, rust can still occur underneath and it's extremely hard to tell until it gets very bad.

I would prefer to buy non-undersealed so you see what you're getting rrather than sealed which could be hiding all sorts.

Can you arrange to have the van looked at by a mechanic / engineer who might give you a better ballpark.

It's hard work to quote for in fairness as when they start, who knows what might be revealed

Go there with a big screw driver and tap quite firmly all the way through those sections with the owners permission.

The seller, if they are a straight up invididual should be ok with it. Then you know they are an ok person, and they know the truth about what they are selling. No one sensible wants others to immediately fail an MOT and be driving around in a death trap until then.

Assuming you do a good check on the rust and there are no holes, if you do a super thorough job on the prep (not a small task, sanding down, wire wool brushing it all is easiest) those flat surfaces if not "holy" POR15 would do a good job on 2 layers and a top coat + spray a few can of waxoyl (actual wax version, not underseal version) and smeer over with a marigold on.

Trouble with a garage is they might do a tosh job. Or a reasonable job when you need a top notch job to truly hold it back a while. And also with the right preperation, the right products applied. A quick scrub and a waxoyl (underseal version) won't cut it. It'll be back in 2 years.

That rust needs killing properly and there are only a few paints that really do that, good prep and 2 layers of POR15 is one. It needs a top layer still as it is not UV resistant. Though won't be too much UV under there a top coat is very sensible (I do Hammerite, it's complete rubbish but ok as a top coat)

So much with a rust repair is the extensive prep work, making really sure you have not missed any problems hiding.

The trick is looking very close, being diligent and looking not just at the flats, the nooks and crannies, corners, seals, grommets, crossmembers (including behind the air con radiator up front) welding joints and the entire structure. A hand held flood light would be handy.

At least you can then knock £600.00 - £700.00 off the asking price for the hassle of it all.

Seeing that rust I would spend 2 hours looking over that van as you need to be sure of the entire van and it takes a good while
to scan a Bongo over properly. It has been let go rather. I am guessing the person wants shot of it now it it is going to start throwing
them some bills.