RE: Ford Puma: Catch It While You Can
Discussion
I bought a silver 1.7 a few years ago with 18k on it. It was mint, no rust. It was great as a local run about but I was also doing some distance driving as well and they're really not suited for motorways or high speeds. Nearly 5k revs at 80mph got really annoying really fast. They do handle well but you can't really enjoy it because the seats are firm and you sit on them rather than in them, so the moment you try to take a fast right-hander you're steering from the passenger seat. The headlights are comically bad as is the aircon which saps so much power that it feels like you've lost a cylinder.
In the short 3 months I had mine I saw the rear arches getting tiny spots of rust appearing and I don't have the space or time to do car maintenance at home so decided to sell it. If I recall correctly I paid £1500 for it and sold it for £2k. I wonder if it's still on the road? W963VGY.
In the short 3 months I had mine I saw the rear arches getting tiny spots of rust appearing and I don't have the space or time to do car maintenance at home so decided to sell it. If I recall correctly I paid £1500 for it and sold it for £2k. I wonder if it's still on the road? W963VGY.
All that jazz said:
If I recall correctly I paid £1500 for it and sold it for £2k. I wonder if it's still on the road? W963VGY.
Not only is it still on the road, it looks like a cracker from the MOT history. Has a current MOT, still low mileage (58k) and has never had an advisory or fail on corrosion. In fact, apart from a shock absorber oil misting, it hasn't had a single MOT advisory since 2011.Limpet said:
Not only is it still on the road, it looks like a cracker from the MOT history. Has a current MOT, still low mileage (58k) and has never had an advisory or fail on corrosion. In fact, apart from a shock absorber oil misting, it hasn't had a single MOT advisory since 2011.
58k ! The buyer said he was going to cherish it and let it appreciate in value with it being such low mileage. I guess that plan went out of the window then. When I bought it the previous owner was an old woman who'd had it stored for years due to illness.WilkoIW said:
Squirrelofwoe said:
And the rest! 
from someone who sold their DC2 at 5 times the price of a Puma back in 2012 when DC2 prices were near enough the lowest they had ever been - I've never timed car sales well
Out of interest what is the going rate for a good DC2 these days?from someone who sold their DC2 at 5 times the price of a Puma back in 2012 when DC2 prices were near enough the lowest they had ever been - I've never timed car sales well
I don't often see many decent ones for sale.
I did need a quick sale though and it went to a good home.Back on Pumas, my cousin picked up a 1-owner-from-new, 2002 example with less than 80k on the clock and full service history for £550 in Feb last year. It was his second Puma so we both knew what we were looking for, but even so we ended up looking at 12 different cars in a 50 mile radius before settling on that one which was the cleanest by far- it wasn't a limited edition but had (working) air-con and crucially, minimal signs of rust and a near spotless MOT history. I drove it home for him and it was freshest example I've driven. As I was covered to drive it third party and the car being worth buttons, I borrowed it quite a few times, great fun and seemed to run on fumes rather than actual fuel. Never know a car be so much fun yet consume so little petrol!
It was only a stop-gap car for him for a few months (between selling a modified ST and collecting his new Mustang GT) so longevity wasn't a priority, but we were both a bit sad to see it go! He sold it to a young-ish local mechanic- for £300!
If anyone is interested and near Wakefield in Yorkshire... this one looks like a bargain: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282329398091
Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
danlowe42 said:
If anyone is interested and near Wakefield in Yorkshire... this one looks like a bargain: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282329398091
Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
and then you've got to deal with the seller who appears to be a monumental bell-end from the blurb he's wrote.Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
All that jazz said:
and then you've got to deal with the seller who appears to be a monumental bell-end from the blurb he's wrote.
And then you've also got to deal with the very rotten looking rear arch and check that the structural welding repair to the same corner (given the fail sheet of the first of its MoTs in 2014) isn't just a bit of cardboard and a few coats of underseal...Pumas are great cars though and I recognise and echo all of the qualities that earlier contributors to the thread have noted. I have the oily bits of a Racing Puma bolted into a Fiesta body shell of the same era (so essentially the same underpinnings) and the steering, gear change and throttle response are all fantastic. It's a really easy chassis to work with and every drive is a reminder that you don't have to bother the speed limits to drive enthusiastically and to have fun.
Edited by JonJon2015 on Wednesday 18th January 16:39
Richard-390a0 said:
& a f
king ginger too from the username... so that's a no from me!. 
I wonder if you would have dared to offer such a reponse if you thought the seller might be black from his user name???? Grow up!king ginger too from the username... so that's a no from me!. I bought mine as a third car run-about as I'd heard good things about them and even a good one could be picked up reletively cheaply. All the moans and groans are correct regarding the seats, lights and rust etc but I've enjoyed mine so much I've had it treated for the tin worm (cost more than the car), fresh suspension and new drivers bucket seat which has transformed both the driving position and the ability to stay on the right side of the car when cornering. Lights are still pathetic mind but there isn't a great deal you can do to improve them that's legal. In fact I've never tinkered with a car so much so it's looking like a definite keeper.
All that jazz said:
danlowe42 said:
If anyone is interested and near Wakefield in Yorkshire... this one looks like a bargain: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282329398091
Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
and then you've got to deal with the seller who appears to be a monumental bell-end from the blurb he's wrote.Btw I've got no ties to this car at all, I just noticed on an ebay browsing session.
angelicupstarts said:
Why? just read advert ...cant see why bell-end ...?/
DO THISDON'T DO THAT
ONLY RING OR EMAIL
BIDDERS MUST MEET STUPID CRITERIA OR I WILL REPORT YOU TO EBAY AND HAVE YOUR ACCOUNT CLOSED DOWN
NO TEST DRIVE (for a £500 s
tbox - do me a favour 
)NO TIMEWASTERS/TYRE-KICKERS
NO OFFERS
etc etc.
= colossal bell-end who thinks the world owes him.
All that jazz said:
angelicupstarts said:
Why? just read advert ...cant see why bell-end ...?/
DO THISDON'T DO THAT
ONLY RING OR EMAIL
BIDDERS MUST MEET STUPID CRITERIA OR I WILL REPORT YOU TO EBAY AND HAVE YOUR ACCOUNT CLOSED DOWN
NO TEST DRIVE (for a £500 s
tbox - do me a favour )NO TIMEWASTERS/TYRE-KICKERS
NO OFFERS
etc etc.
= colossal bell-end who thinks the world owes him.
I bought a Puma as a cheap track car and it's got under my skin. EBC Discs & Yellowstuff pads along with fresh fluid has improved the pedal feel no end, lower front strut brace & poly bushing the back axle has sharpened things up too.
Unsure if I've just been unlucky but after a few track days it's started using a lot of oil & is quite smoky at higher revs so looking like a new engine is required as the bores are Nikasil lined.
I've also fitted OMP bucket seats which hold you a lot better & as already mentioned, the headlights are woeful but mine is rarely driven at night.
Unsure if I've just been unlucky but after a few track days it's started using a lot of oil & is quite smoky at higher revs so looking like a new engine is required as the bores are Nikasil lined.
I've also fitted OMP bucket seats which hold you a lot better & as already mentioned, the headlights are woeful but mine is rarely driven at night.
MikeT66 said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Which version is it, Cossers? That may be worth hanging on to!But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
GezG said:
EBC Discs & Yellowstuff pads along with fresh fluid has improved the pedal feel no end
My biggest issue with the brakes was that they felt over servoed. The first few degrees of pedal travel seemed to give 95% of the braking available. When you needed more the effort on the pedal needed to be much, much stronger and even then not a lot happened.Squirrelofwoe said:
You would like to think so wouldn't you considering the values of just about every other Ford model with any hint of sporting credibility!
But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
There's still too many of them about, that's why they're so cheap. Give it another 5 or 10 years and I can see good, low mileage non-rusty ones going for 10x that and increasing as they become even rarer. It's happened to pretty much every sporty Ford of the past, including a lot of non-sporty models.But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
Squirrelofwoe said:
MikeT66 said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Which version is it, Cossers? That may be worth hanging on to!But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
Many Fords though, do seem to pick up price quite quickly at some point. As an owner, I hope the Puma does, too – not because I’d ever hope to recoup some of the money I’ve spent on mine, but more in the hope that an increased interest in the model may help with future parts supply and support.
In a time where speed is increasingly monitored and cars become more technically intrusive into the driving experience, it may yet be that the Pumas time is yet to come!
All that jazz said:
Squirrelofwoe said:
You would like to think so wouldn't you considering the values of just about every other Ford model with any hint of sporting credibility!
But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
There's still too many of them about, that's why they're so cheap. Give it another 5 or 10 years and I can see good, low mileage non-rusty ones going for 10x that and increasing as they become even rarer. It's happened to pretty much every sporty Ford of the past, including a lot of non-sporty models.But as I posted earlier, the Puma we picked up last year was a similar car- just with 75k miles vs 25k (a pretty big difference I know but bare with!). It was an older lady who had owned the car from new, full Ford service history, immaculate inside, everything worked (including aircon), had been kept in a garage most of it's life so minimal signs of corrosion (for a Puma), and had been maintained impeccably. It generally seemed a bit of a time-warp car.
Yet it still only cost £550!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff