Ford Puma - facts/opinions ?

Delancey

Sister of a friend is looking to buy a Puma , anyone able to give tips on what to look out for ?
I've always thought of it as a 'tarted-up' Fiesta , any truth in that or am I wide off the mark ?

Halfshaft

The Puma shares the same floor pan as the fiesta i think, good little car as long as they have been looked after in the past....

Anan1

Great little cars to drive, buy a well-cared for one, do all the checks, and they should be happy.

Conor_M1990

Delancey wrote: »

Sister of a friend is looking to buy a Puma , anyone able to give tips on what to look out for ?
I've always thought of it as a 'tarted-up' Fiesta , any truth in that or am I wide off the mark ?

wouldnt be far off the mark there basically a Fiesta floorplan and engines afaik but I would let you put you off one there a nice car and have aged well

Gers_punto

ford puma won top gear car of the year back when tiff needal was a presenter and that creepy looking quentin guy

gb153

Gers_punto wrote: »

ford puma won top gear car of the year back when tiff needal was a presenter and that creepy looking quentin guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QuH7z1Z1o

L-M

Great cars, stiff on the road due to the tyres low profile but good fun to drive.

Check the headgasket, other than that check all the usual bits and pieces...

And get her to buy a silver one :P

Delancey

Limerick man wrote: »

And get her to buy a silver one :P

Didn't know they came in any colour other than silver

GaryMunster

purpley blue!

pappyodaniel

One of my favourite car adverts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2OV7Zz4VsM

homer90

Steve McQueen, the Chuck Norris of car chases.

Epic ad.

Mr Benevolent

We've all been put off Pumas by a certain member of the Motors forum. Haven't seen him in a while, I suspect he's broken down somewhere.

si_guru

The 1.7 is by far the best to drive if you have a heavy right foot... but they all have the same nice handling.

In the UK nearly all of them were black or silver... I see here in Ireland that there are a number of "Belladonna" purple ones too.

RobAMerc

tarted up fiesta is exactly what they are and what makes them so good. fantastic handling little car, great fun to drive ( but a little bit tight for space if that's your thing )
There were a host of colours in the UK we never got from yellows to reds to silvery blues. I was a member of the Puma club and the following there was massive.
They got a rep as being a birds car here by tools who know nothing about cars generally maybe because the 1.7 was a killer to insure plus ladies could get insurance much cheaper on them so they bought them - the 1.4 was a bit breathless.

Tell your "mates sister" they are class but as stated before buy the best she can get as some will have been dogged.

TrailerBob

Have to agree with RobAMerc, my OH had a 1.7 puma for 3 years, super car, and I'm not a fan of Ford at all. Great handling, quick enough too, never felt like a fiesta, and I didn't mind driving it. (Now she has a red Beetle and it makes me look like a hairdresser when I drive it). Have a good look for signs of abuse before buying, reckon there's still a good one or two out there.

AlanD

Awesome little car. We have a 1.7 Puma and it's run like clockwork since we got it a long long time ago.

1.7 is the engine to get, it's quick, handles like a go kart, although it's not huge inside.

Few things to check:

• If fitted with Oz wheels, centre caps rattle as if there's a lump of metal hangling off and hitting the ground. Bluetac fixes.
• Check heating and ensure it turns on and off. There's a little control unit that goes on them, can make heating intermittent
• If car is old, you may need aircon regassed

Once it has been looked after, it's a solid fun car to own.

Delancey

Thanks for the replies lads - jayz I never though the Puma had such a following !

ytareh

Ran one (1.7 blue 1998)for a year or so as was so impressed by wifes Ford Ka handling assumed this would be EVEN better .Actually not quite as 'pure ' a handler as the Ka ...traction control spoils play a bit.Your nerve would give way well before the tyres in one of these in the dry and they were far safer than a 106GTi Id imagine especially in the wet , if not as fast .Not THAT light on ,juice high 30s?Aluminium gearknob was torture on Winter mornings but heated screen a delight.Reliability /repairs as with all Fords of the era VERY bad .I needed front shocks and a starter motor before 45 k ...absolutely RIDICULOUS !A Ford Ka/Puma etc would have things going wrong on it that a jap car wouldnt have until three times the mileage (but in fairness probably cheaper to fix!)
Id imagine its very hard to get one of these that hasnt got the shock absorbers and suspension bushings HANGING out of it...

Owen

They rust a lot. You have to go looking for it, but a lot of the early Pumas are really starting to suffer with it. Certainly any I've seen. A friends one has eaten 3 heater control circuits too meaning he has permenantly hot air. Each circuit lasts for a few months, then packs it in.

They're a bit cheap inside, but a great handling car once everything's alright in the suspension dept.

chavezychavez

Had a 00 Silver 1.4 for around a year and a half and loved every minute of it. The car is driving fun personified (ok carsonified).
Had to sell it because it was was impractical for family reasons, and I remembered how the guy who sold it to me felt like.

The one thing I had been told about them prior to buying by other Puma owners was that around the 50000 mile mark the odd few things started to go awry like electrics, air con, shocks etc, and to be honest, I did experience a few before I sold it.
The radio went, drivers windows was intermittently not working and the alloys at that stage were well bent out of shape and all needed replacing. (Maybe the previous driver didn't love it as much as I thought).
The sister bought one 3 years ago as well with high milage on it and while everything was working when she got it, a lot of aspects as mentioned (Windows, wierd rattles, radio) above started to act up as well.

I'm giving you a bad impression of the Puma here, but the first one I was ever in belonged to a mate of mine and he had his up to and over 150000 miles without any major issue. He took care of it and it served him well.

Summary : Go get a Puma, do not hesitate, enjoy every minute driving it. If it falls apart at some stage, so be it. You will never regret owning and driving a well kept one.