Ford Puma's

Stephencuthbert

Hi All,

Ford Puma's!! What are they like?

Pro's & Cons?

Value for money?

Parts?

Things to look out for when buying second hand?

Girlfriend is thinking of getting one!

Anyone got any advice please?

Gatster

Quality mate, highly recommended. GF has one in black, a '00 which we got as a trade sale from a mate who is a Ford dealer. It needed a bit of TLC but hasn't given any trouble, but it's in dire need of a service.

I'd say check the body really well, mechanically they are very sound.

colm_mcm

Drove a 1.7 once, therefore wouldn't even consider the 1.4

great car!

Darwin

Watch for weak motors in the electric windows. I had a lot of trouble with my passenger side window. Also had the usual problems, i.e. water runs in to the boot from the tailgate and headlights suffer from condensation. Other than that it was great fun to drive and never gave any other mechanical trouble.

Henry Ford III

LIGHTNING wrote:

I`d agree with the above but the big con is that its just a prettier fiesta (in the same way a opel tigra is a nicer looking opel corsa).But since its for your Gfriend she wont mind:) .If you can find one cheap in good nick its well worth a buy.

Yep it's based on Fiesta mechanicals, but is well regarded. Mike Brewer loves them. The handling is spot on, and the way the chassis, steering etc. have been tweaked is brilliant.

The 1.7 engine is the unit of choice. c.125bhp and it has been breathed on by Yamaha (same as the magical 1.25 16v unit in the Fiesta).

Running costs are very reasonable considering the pep. even on the bigger engines. Insist on a/c, as a sun roof was never an option.

A sure fire future classic.

Cyrus

my mum gad two and i used to drive them whn i was younger, great little cars to drive, i loved them

was looking to get a racing puma myself till i saw the prices

Henry Ford III

A good Racing Puma is still worth strong money.

c.150 bhp and a riot to drive.

A bit "hard" suspension wise for most Irish roads.

Stephencuthbert

Would there be any mechanics in the Kildare area willing to have a look at a puma for me sometime 2moro? we could agree a price if they could give a car a once over for me. It would save me coming up from Cork just to check out a car.

RobAMerc

These are cracking cars mate, if you misses gets one, you'll end up driving it more than she does!
It was at least 10 times better than the awful tigra.

Proof is in the hugh almost cult status following there is for these in the uk.
The club regularly has 100+ car meets and have a few times come over here.

True it is a Fiesta underneath but its no worse off for it, just means cheap parts easy to fix and reliable.

Loved every day I had mine.
Rob

Stephencuthbert

Hey Robamerc,

Don't worry bout me driving it 10 times more than the missus, I have a Celica coming in from Japan on Tuesday so she'll be eatin my dust :-).

I test drove the Puma 1.4 for her yesterday and she is nippy enough for a 1.4. It's her first car so it'll be perfect for her.

RobAMerc

Stephencuthbert wrote:

Don't worry bout me driving it 10 times more than the missus, I have a Celica coming in from Japan on Tuesday so she'll be eatin my dust :-).

Nice one , but you'll enjoy the puma when you get a spin in it. Never failed to put a smile on my face, I used to commute 70 miles a day in mine, always took the long way home, without fail.

Rob

colm_mcm

the puma drives brilliantly (as does the Fiesta it's based on)

green-blood

yep, the fiesta it was based on changed Ford - they became drivers cars, that fiesta/puma has thw sweetest steering... fantastic.

I test drove a racing once, absolutely the mutts nuts

css

Great cars, but the brakes are rubbish, except on the racing puma... harsh ride too.. but if you drive good roads what does that matter!

Mr Magnolia

css wrote:

Great cars, but the brakes are rubbish, except on the racing puma... harsh ride too

Yup, the missus has one, nippy little bugger and handles very well too..
All round good fun. (Breaks are crappy though)

green-blood

As the late great Fangio was quoted to to say when asked why he was so successful " a little less brake, a little more acceleration"

Mr Magnolia

green-blood wrote:

As the late great Fangio was quoted to to say when asked why he was so successful " a little less brake, a little more acceleration"

That's alright on a F1 track, doesn't bode to well in Ireland, ninny's will pull out in front of you for the crack!

Henry Ford III

Brakes do not appear to be an issue in either Parkers or Honest John.