Mileage too high for purchase?

[jdnicol]

Hi,

I am due to be travelling New Zealand soon and have been offered the chance to purchase a fully self contained Mazda Bongo. I am tempted but I am concerned about the high mileage. It's perfect for me and the seller seems trustworthy but I am worried about buying it and then a lot of my travel budget being wasted if it breaks on me. Here are all the relevant details I have from current owner below - I have also seen pictures and looks well looked after inside and out:

white Mazda Bongo from 2004
automatic
40L petrol tank
Just passed NZ equivalent of MOT
Another service and oil change will be done when it hits the 307000km, will sell it with round about 310000km
Self contained till 2026
three front seats
radio & AUX cable
cigarette charger for phone
permanent bed, with lots of storage under, which I build last November
comes with everything: bedding, cooking equpment, storages boxes, tent, chairs, table, two gas cooker
cool box, which charges during driving
new injector in Nov 2022
new backdoor in 2022
sink and two water tanks in the back
portable toilet, never used
good condition in general
one sliding door

The slightly negativ parts:
AC isn't working anymore, but the blower is and for me i was totally fine and you still have two automatic windows
has a few rusty spots, but I gonna work on them to stop spreading
sliding door is not locking with the central locking system and slides not so smooth anymore, also has a dent as I hit the corner of the house with the Van recently
backlight slightly broken, but light is working.

Bought last year in october in Auckland with apro. 278000km.

Am I right in thinking it's less about mileage and more about how well it's been looked after. I am going to be sent the service history so if it all looks good I would be interested on hearing people's advice?

[Bob]

Hi, and welcome aboard.

This is not advice, just a personal opinion.

40 Ltr petrol tank. If we are looking at the Bongo Friendee we look at here the tanks are 65 Ltrs.

Passed MoT equivalent ,it won’t pass the next one with the broken light.

'Self contained to 2026' - What on earth does that mean?

3 Front seats. Not in a Bongo Friendee.

Radio, charger, whoopie.

Full size, home built, bed. You really need to look at this and see if it suits you.

Cool box which only 'charges' from 12v. - Useless unless you are driving.

Injector replaced. Cheap fix, you really should replace all of them.

No aircon. You want to tour NZ with no a/c?

Rust. Like an ice berg, you see less than 10%. It’s really what’s underneat that counts, not hiding a little surface spots.

The current owner seems to have managed 32,000kms this year, on an already very high mileage vehicle (and not used the toilet, although he may have just bought a new one).

Has it been used as a rental motor, perhaps? At that mileage I would want a very clear service history.

So, all down to the asking price, and what you want.

Sorry to sound a bit negative, but caveat emptor.

[Jimbo1982]

Just on the issue of what "self-contained" means - in New Zealand vans which have water storage tanks (specifically including waste) are certified as being self-contained and are therefore allowed to be used in locations where non-self-contained vans might not be.

More here:
https://nzpocketguide.com/self-containe ... w-zealand/

[Bob]

Thanks

Useful info.