Ford Puma - Buying Tips?

Jimmy Bottlehead

Hey all.

My girlfriend is looking to buy a Ford Puma soon, preferably the 1.6 (she won't get insured on a 1.7), so I'm looking to get as much info as possible as I'll be doing the buying.

Budget is around €2k maximum, and it'll be a straight-up sale, no trade-in. It'll be her first car, seems a good option as it's not much more expensive than a Fiesta and she's always loved Puma's.

After looking on DoneDeal, Autotrader.ie, and AutoTrader.co.uk it seems that the UK mainland might be the best bet, as it seems there's more car for the same money over there. VRT is €560 so it's reasonable. I'm open to correction there though.

Any experiences, tips, or advice would be great.

Thanks!

Owen

Rust ... I've seen a few Irish ones with a good onset of tinworm, I can only imagine what a UK one would be like A friend's Puma seems to eat heater control circuits too. It blows one every few months.

Other than that, a grand car, good handling, peppy, and not overly common on the roads either.

bazz26

They are getting old now and finding a good, well cared for one is getting more difficult. There are some really rough looking ones on carzone and donedeal.

Lovely little car though, based on the Fiesta at the time so parts are simple, plentiful and not that expensive.

Raskolnikov

Be very, very careful with a Puma. Like all small Ford's of that era, they are very prone to damage from rust. My wife had a 2002 Ka (she bought it without consulting me btw!) and the sills and wheel arches were absolutely rotten, damage was so bad it would not pass an MOT and needed scraping. Car was only 8 years old at the time, and wasn't particularly high mileage. I'd say the severe Winter it went through with all the gritting and salt just tore through the underneath of the car. Bear in mind, we've had another horrific Winter since then, so most of these Puma's on Irish/British roads are going to be in even worse condition.

May I suggest an Opel/Vauxhall Tigra as an alternative?

BostonB

I assume the Tigra wouldn't be as nice to drive though.

YBTurbo

First of all new driver, get a 1.4 Zetec.

Secondly you should be able to pick up a very decent one for half your budget.

Anyway, mileage doesn't really matter, buy on condition and on service history (I know of one with 130k on it)

Check for rust, rear arches mostly, sills etc... Also bring a magnet with you and stick it on front wing,door, rear quarters etc... This will tell you if there's any filler.

Drive it, make sure its not over heating etc.... Use the full rev range, it should accelerate smoothly. Make sure of no noises, clunking etc..

Also check the headlamps to make sure there not a cheap knockoff (Mine had cheap ones and they always fog up)

Then just general checking after that, dip oil, interior, tyres etc...


ETA: I'v a 2000 1.4 with 115k Miles on it with zero rust and my Dad has a 1998 1.7 with 130k again with zero rust, they don't all rust but are prone to it.

STForSale

bazz26 wrote: »

They are getting old now and finding a good, well cared for one is getting more difficult. There are some really rough looking ones on carzone and donedeal.

Lovely little car though, based on the Fiesta at the time so parts are simple, plentiful and not that expensive.

+1
Had the same task coupe of years back, looked at some absolute wrecks before stumbling on a resonabe one.
Image it's even harder now.

Rust was an issue, almost every one I looked at was blistering on rear wheel arches and some on the front also. This is more of a problem as there is no rear quarter panel to remove / replace, rust needs to be cut out and replaced with metal inserts. seem to recall a problem with brakes but can't reference it.

Raskolnikov

To be honest, I don't know the first thing about the Tigra, just suggesting it as a similar styled alternative.

Mr Benevolent

Raskolnikov wrote: »

To be honest, I don't know the first thing about the Tigra, just suggesting it as a similar styled alternative.

They're Corsas in disguise, i.e, shite. Have to say though, the Corsa's handling isn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be.

Jimmy Bottlehead

YBTurbo wrote: »

First of all new driver, get a 1.4 Zetec.

Secondly you should be able to pick up a very decent one for half your budget.

Thanks for that post, it's very helpful

On the budget though, it seems any decent looking ones at all are around the 2k mark... I genuinely can't find any for less that have reasonable mileage, good NCT or decent year (we're looking for a 2000 as the lowest year)

YBTurbo

Jimmy Bottlehead wrote: »

Thanks for that post, it's very helpful

On the budget though, it seems any decent looking ones at all are around the 2k mark... I genuinely can't find any for less that have reasonable mileage, good NCT or decent year (we're looking for a 2000 as the lowest year)

My 2000 1.4 cost €800 and it's **** hot rare because of the colour.. (It was only available in mainland europe, but somehow mine sneaked through)

Bargain hard,

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2322809

PS: I'm also breaking one, so if you do get one needing something... PM me