Mazda Bongo as a camper?
Discussion
I am looking for a small camper for my partner, myself and a small spaniel. Would a Bongo with a pop top roof be big enough? It'd only be for 1-2 nights at a time. We are only looking at spending £3-4k max, so not sure what we can get in our budget. It'd be used as a commuter vehicle as well, doing 80 miles a week.
Cheers.
Cheers.
My sister has had a couple of bongos and says the pop top bed will be a bit narrow for two adults.
The main bed made from the seats is uncomfortable as it is not flat, she tried various mattress toppers but never got one whIch was quite right.
The standard ones don’t have a kitchen area, the design and quality of the aftermarket kitchens varies.
Her second one was 2wd and was much better on fuel than her 4wd one,
The main bed made from the seats is uncomfortable as it is not flat, she tried various mattress toppers but never got one whIch was quite right.
The standard ones don’t have a kitchen area, the design and quality of the aftermarket kitchens varies.
Her second one was 2wd and was much better on fuel than her 4wd one,
Most are proper rotten now, as they're 'grey' imports not all parts readily available and some not at all, eg rear wheel arch repair panels, which all now need!
Mostly nasty old school dirty diesels, so expect to be banished from all urban areas soon (not ULEZ friendly) and it's hidden under the front seats, so it's a pain to even dip the oil (so it doesn't get dipped...,). any sort of cupboardry behind the front seats (which prevents them from laying back) then means that the seats have to be unbolted to dip the oil (again, so it doesn't get dipped.......
). PAS reservoir also here. Cam and aux belts not a nice job.
Contrary to above, the coolant tank is under the bonnet (along with brake fluid, battery etc) but bleeding the cooling system is a right game (rear heater matrix is too high), and yes they are prone to cooling 'issues'... these two facts may not be unconnected...
No thanks.
Mostly nasty old school dirty diesels, so expect to be banished from all urban areas soon (not ULEZ friendly) and it's hidden under the front seats, so it's a pain to even dip the oil (so it doesn't get dipped...,). any sort of cupboardry behind the front seats (which prevents them from laying back) then means that the seats have to be unbolted to dip the oil (again, so it doesn't get dipped.......
). PAS reservoir also here. Cam and aux belts not a nice job. Contrary to above, the coolant tank is under the bonnet (along with brake fluid, battery etc) but bleeding the cooling system is a right game (rear heater matrix is too high), and yes they are prone to cooling 'issues'... these two facts may not be unconnected...
No thanks.
They come with 3 engines, 2.0 petrol (Mazda 626 engine, found after 1999), 2.5 V6, 2.5 Diesel.
They do rust, mines getting undersealed with raptor liner next week actually. It's not exactly the head gasket that goes but the cylinder head on the 2.5 Diesels. Bleeding is a nightmare (check the 3 part, 45 minute video on Facebook), however homebrew 'self bleed' kits are available now which are just 'top up and go'.
They're old vans as mentioned before, they're not all looked after equally, especially with the engine being under the seat. I bought mine just over 2 years ago for £1300 with 285K KM, it now has around 305,000 km's. Mines converted with a rock and roll bed but I removed the god awful conversion someone had made to make the bed bigger.
Mine has a coolant alarm (£25 on ebay) and temperature gauge (STC-1000) bolted to the cylinder head (£10).
I'd recommend joining the Mazda Bongo owners club on Facebook to ask more questions, there's a lot for sale on there.
My van has an instagram page and I've put a post with all the mods I've done to it if you want to see more. https://www.instagram.com/crelspeths.camper/
They do rust, mines getting undersealed with raptor liner next week actually. It's not exactly the head gasket that goes but the cylinder head on the 2.5 Diesels. Bleeding is a nightmare (check the 3 part, 45 minute video on Facebook), however homebrew 'self bleed' kits are available now which are just 'top up and go'.
They're old vans as mentioned before, they're not all looked after equally, especially with the engine being under the seat. I bought mine just over 2 years ago for £1300 with 285K KM, it now has around 305,000 km's. Mines converted with a rock and roll bed but I removed the god awful conversion someone had made to make the bed bigger.
Mine has a coolant alarm (£25 on ebay) and temperature gauge (STC-1000) bolted to the cylinder head (£10).
I'd recommend joining the Mazda Bongo owners club on Facebook to ask more questions, there's a lot for sale on there.
My van has an instagram page and I've put a post with all the mods I've done to it if you want to see more. https://www.instagram.com/crelspeths.camper/
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