advice needed on ford puma

davidclayton

hi all,

the missus wants to buy a ford puma. i reckon a 1.4 will be sufficient. budget is €6000, so it'll probably be a 1998 as from looking at prices. there are some on autotrader & carzone in the north for this price range.

can anyone give any advice on pumas? i will be getting the car [when i've found one] checked out by an RAC guy up north, but any other advice would be appreciated...

dave

bazz26

The Puma is based on the 1995 to 2002 Ford Fiesta so it is fairly reliable, parts are cheap and maintenance is straight forward. They are also quite practical for a coupe with a generous boot. Forget about the rear seats as even small kids will struggle on long journeys.

Originally the Puma was available in 1.7 and 1.4, later these were replaced by the 1.6 from the Focus.

Very popular up North so there are plenty to choose from and they have better spec than the ones sold down here. In my opinion they look nicest in silver or black. Just make sure you check the body for signs of abuse and rust as they salt the roads in NI during the cold winter months.

unkel

Thumbs up to your missus. Great handling, even better than the Fiesta it is based on. Can't really go wrong, reliability is good too

css

Just be aware the brakes are rubbish, the same a the fiesta, while this wont matter on the 1.4 on the 1.7 it gets fidgety under braking! :eek:

davidclayton

if i feel the brakes aint great, i might upgrade the discs and pads.

Dcully

My sister recently got a 00 Puma in Black,nice looking,most likely decent reliability but far too girly for me.
Apart from that a nice car.

davidclayton

Dcully wrote:

far too girly for me.

luckily, my girlfriend IS actually a girl

Gatster

I feel most manly when driving my GF's Puma. Next to any male in a 206cc, I am Ollie Reed.

Cyrus

my mum had two a silver and a black on after the other, lovely little cars and a very spirited driver on the twisty bits!

davidclayton

it's great to hear all of this positive feedback, i only have to find one [in budget] now!

bazz26

Here you go:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=295487

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=307190

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=278327

The 1.4 I think only came in 1999.

davidclayton

sh1t. insurance and tax is too high for the 1.7, and she really has to go for the 1.4... might work out a bit more expensive for the car now...

davidclayton

looks like they made 1.4's in 1998...
CLICKY

unkel

Yeah you need to up the budget to get a 1.4. From B&S:

Ford Puma 1.4 2000. Leinster Co. Dublin €8950.00
Red, 1 lady owner, from new, must be seen, NCT, must be seen, immac cond, fsh, €8,950 ono. 087-2698640 [clip]

Ford Puma 1.4L petrol 2000, Munster Limerick €9200.00
67k, 3 dr, coupe, manual, black, ABS, alloys, CD, c/l, e/w, f/s, URGENT SALE, 086-1709813 [clip]

unkel

davidclayton wrote:

looks like they made 1.4's in 1998...

Indeed. Just looked it up and at the launch in October '97 only the 1.7 was available. The 1.4 was available from February '98

Maybe we just need to look harder to find a '98 1.4 in Ireland. Or would you import from the UK?

davidclayton

will probs go to northern ireland, it would be easier. i just brought back a car from liverpool a week ago, and would be willing to go to the UK if i thought the car was worth it, but you're adding €500 in travel + expenses.

they seem to be much more popular in the north. i'll just keep checking autotrader etc.

all this talk of cars, i may aswell shamefully advertise... just put my car up on carzone today: http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=315689

giveth

I have a 1999 Ford Puma 1.4. I bought it a little over a year ago now. BTW I'm a guy - I dont care what people think...

I like the car a lot - they are really unique looking and still manage to turn heads even though they have been around for a while and are reasonably cheap. They also handle well and are cheap to maintain. It's cheap enough to insure - I'm 23 and male and the premium is €1000 comprehensive.
Also, I'd think they'll hold their value quite well as they'll always be a desirable car.

Some problems I've had so far but nothing major:
*As someone said, the brakes arent great but I havent crashed into the back of anything yet so they cant be that bad.
*I had to replace the alternator at about 50k miles.
*The steering seems to go out of alignment quite easily - I've had to get tracking done 3 times so far, but I drive quite a lot and 1 big pothole can do it.
*A slightly annoying thing is when the car is wet and you open the boot, water pours into the boot. But you get the hang after a whilem of just opening it halway for a second or 2 first.
*As with most sport/coupe car, you do feel the bumps on the road a little more, but it's not that bad.

Aside from these problems, its a good car. If she will be carrying more than 2 people regularly, I wouldnt recommend it.

I'd recommend trying to get a colour other than silver as this colour is really common. Red is probably the nicest. Mine is green.

Any questions, let me know...