[Closed] Mazda Bongo - any thoughts?

not as cool as a VW California but not cheap either.. Very reliable, very thirsty and very good.. Place in Wigan sells them by the truckload, seem to be in demand..

not as cool as a VW California

No, but about the price of a wheel nut for a Cali.

I rather fancy one in fact

After doing a few thousand miles in one my thoughts were "how much fuel?!" 😯

I had one, bit juicy but good, went all over Europe and the uk and it never missed a beat, nice to drive (for a van) well specced with ew, cl, ac, pas, and electric roof, and easy to park,
Only sold it cos I had a 40mile each way commute for a bit,

Just a word of warning if carrying bikes. Some friends recently had a tow bar and bike carrier fitted which then failed when they were driving along. Luckily there was no damage to the bikes and they remained attached to to the vehicle so there was no damage to anyone following. A bit of follow up research revealed that the bongo was not designed to have a tow bar fitted and in japan you cannot fit one legally for that reason. The bar and carrier were supplied by a tow bar fitting the company. Initially they tried to deny any responsibility but one of the mechanics privately advised them that they should never have fitted the bar and 4 bike carrier as the vehicle wasn't designed to take the load. The company eventually refunded all their money. There are rear mounting options but I believe they involve removing the rear spoiler. If you don't need to carry 4 bikes you may be ok but I would do a bit of research. They love the bongo though and have now sold their car.

ooh forgot to say, 2wd is better than 4wd and the split fold rear seat is better than the rear bench seat

We've managed 22.79mpg over approx 15000 km, according to my copy of Roadtrip. 😆

Didn't know that about the towbars avdave.

Got a bongo - its a great versatile bit of kit.

Never heard the towbar thing - the bongo forums don't seem to ever mention it and the bongo specialists sell towbars for them. I have one that mounts with some very chunky metal. A friend carries a trials motorbike on a rack on the back of his one! People tow boats etc...

If the towbar was not well fitted or the chassis was rusty then...

rear arch rust nightmare, so watch out for filler/suspiciously new looking paint when browsing

Yeah rust can be a problem

Mines in for fixing at the moment

Really good vfm and very versatile but actually quite small especially as you cant swivel the front seats round like in some of the VWs.

Rust is an issue as is the consumption but mechanically they seem pretty solid. Mine has done well over 200K kms and it sails through the MOT every year. Never heard of that problem with a tow bar.

As an aside, does anyone know what the little round flap in the inner roof is for?

My mate Dave loves his bit is finding the fuel economy very draining...

As an aside, does anyone know what the little round flap in the inner roof is for?

Been really happy with ours for nearly 3 years now. I use it as my daily driver to get to work on the days I don't cycle.
Holidayed in France, Scotland and Wales in it as a family and had loads of weekends away in it.
Like Khani says go for one with split rear seats as they're much more practical than a rear bench.
Ours is 4x4 and is great in muddy fields and very capable on the snow.
Fuel consumption is the only real downer but they are cheap cars to buy in the first place so it balances out.
Now the kids are getting bigger we could do with something bigger, so I'm on the look out for a VW T4/T5 kombi.

As an aside, does anyone know what the little round flap in the inner roof is for?

We used it to poke food and drink up to the kids after we'd closed the hatch, when they were small and could both sleep up there.

🙂

have a 2.5l v5 petrol best EVER got back from devon/cornwall has been 25mpg cruising at 60-70 max.

personally its too small and as they are older need to spend money, ie shocks / suspension bits. cant wait to get a T5 with remap etc

as for rust mine was properly undersealed when imported and there was absolutely no rust underneath before i had it done. admit had only done 25,000 miles and was 2001 at the time.

Mine's a diesel and seems to do 25mpg all the time - short trips, long trips, loaded or unloaded, fast or slow - always 25mpg 😕

We used it to poke food and drink up to the kids after we'd closed the hatch, when they were small and could both sleep up there.

This 😀

Had a full AVA conversion for about 5 years. Loved it but rust started to get a bit out of control. Got a T5 now.