Option to buy 2002 Ford Puma 1.7

[Deep Thought]

Ok, so i've an option to buy a 2002 Ford Puma 1.7. 50k miles from new, one owner. Good history with the car. Black

Drives exceptionally well.

Overall the car is in good shape for its age, however the rear arches arnt good and neither are the front of the sills at the drivers wing end.

Its not going to be cheap cheap. I think the days of the £500 viable Ford Puma are long gone. I think its going to be around £1200-£1300.

The only things that maybe offset the price is the fact its a one owner car with documented history and low miles.

Another downside is maybe the colour and the wheels. Gut feeling is that a silver car on the five spoke wheels are what people have in mind when they think Puma.

Back of a fag packet calcs say maybe £500 for new pressed steel panels - 2 rear arch repair kits and 2 sills. And i guess then the cost of welding those in - no doubt finding inner arches are in st, etc.

Got feeling is maybe £3K all in in repairs and maintenance to get it "on its toes" as it were.

Common sense would say just go buy one with the work done as it'd be cheaper.

(a) Am i in the right ballpark for parts, welding and painting costs?

(b) is this in any way worth it or should i run a mile?

Also, would be kinda helping out a friend who bought it to do the work, hasnt got the money, and the car may end up quietly rotting away which would be a shame.

[soad]

Even the ones advertised at £3-4k, (mostly) have multiple MOT advisories for rust. I was looking for one, on and off.

Seems like an expensive entry to me?

[Deep Thought]

soad said:

Even the ones advertised at £3-4k, (mostly) have multiple MOT advisories for rust. I was looking for one, on and off.

Seems like an expensive entry to me?

Yeah the cars not cheap in the first instance. He gave i think £750 for it in England, then had to fly over, taxis, get the car home by ferry and he'd like "a days pay" out of it.

Hes had the car 18 months now and done nothing. Its way down his list of cars hes working on (and hes slow at best).

Thinking would be I'd have it standing me maybe £4K but it "should" be mint at that point.

[klunkT5]

I've had 4 Pumas over the years all 1.7's, They are great little cars but they really do rot especially the rear end, Outer/ Inner sills especially at the rear, Rear axle beam mount area, Inner rear arches as well as the outers, Ford put a carpet like sound deadening in the arches that gets wet and stays wet, Also zero rust protection on the inner arches just body color paint. Finding a solid rust free one will be a chore these days and expect to have to pay ££ for it, Even the FRP's rot in the same area's given their enormous price premium when new (And now!)

Edited by klunkT5 on Wednesday 2nd September 11:05

[Billybob_55]

Rare finding one now days where the 1.7 hasn't been removed for a fiesta track toy before the st ecoboom craze

[s m]

I think you’re about right for the work ( although it kinda depends how much rot they find when starting )
I’d say 3-4K for a nice job depending on bodyshop

But it’s a nice colour rather than the usual silver and if it stands you at 5k all done ( I’d add a decent dry ice blast/underbody protection on to ) then I think you wouldn’t lose much if you had to sell

I was looking at Saxo VTS and a decent one was more than that

Just my opinion

[Deep Thought]

s m said:

I think you re about right for the work ( although it kinda depends how much rot they find when starting )
I d say 3-4K for a nice job depending on bodyshop

But it s a nice colour rather than the usual silver and if it stands you at 5k all done ( I d add a decent dry ice blast/underbody protection on to ) then I think you wouldn t lose much if you had to sell

I was looking at Saxo VTS and a decent one was more than that

Just my opinion

Yes i think thats fair comment. And yes, good point RE: the underbody protection. if someone was going that far, it would make sense to do that also.

I think the miles and provenance would stand in its favour too. The guy who has it currently is a motor trader, so its on his insurance and tax / trade plates. i'd keep it on that for as long as possible, so if i ever did need / want to sell it would be being sold still as a one owner car.