Advice on purchasing and owning after six years away please

[BowenRacing]

Need some advice. Thinking of returning to the Puma after six years. Need advice on how much I'll pay for one, how much insurance will cost (and from where) for a second car, and how much hassle and cost I'll incur owning an 'old' car.

I owned my Puma from new for 20 years, and wrote it off in a 15mph bump on a roundabout. My Fiesta ST Line is ok, but I wish I hadn't let go of my Puma so easily (I didn't have the time or resources to buy it and SORN it at the time).

Over the last six years it seems that most Pumas have disappeared from the roads in the last few years, probably due to the cost of keeping them on the roads. They're pretty old now, and I am no mechanic.

1. I see that some have sold on this forum, but there's no info on price. How much would a decent 1.7 silver one cost? I don't mind a bit of wheel-arch rust (I could probably treat and respray myself with my 1980's skills), but anything welding related would have to be done professionally and I don't have a lot of time or money for that. Must be tidy inside. Must run well and be sporty still.

2. As a second car, I'll need second car insurance. For comparison, with business use, I pay about £340pa for my Fiesta ST Line now. Which insurance companies are likely to be good, and roughly how much for third party, fire and theft?

3. For a general, fun, runabout, am I in for lots of mechanical problems and expense (and time), or would a well looked after one be minimal hassle like my original one was? What's the owner experience like nowadays?

Any other tips welcome.

Thanks for reading.

 

[pumasteve]

That looked an extremely tidy car before your bump!

 

[BowenRacing]

That looked an extremely tidy car before your bump!

Thanks. I looked after it. Don't make me cry lol.

 

[Cubatoo]

Hello, I'm sorry about your 1st Puma, thats really tough. My first one got written off too.
If you get a lower milage one that has been looked after then engine wise you should be OK. My one was very pampered up to just under 49,000 miles when I bought her.
Now at 135,000 miles, apart from the requisite cambelt changes and a new clutch at 80,000 miles, I haven't had to do anything to the engine except make sure it has been serviced and had enough water and clean oil. The only other thing is the heater control valve which I have got through one of and the next one is probably on its way out.
I will say though, that I am not much of a lead footer and don't take her much over motorway speeds or pile on the revs too often.
The body work on mine is another story, I have to say as she hasn't had a garage since I have had her from 2008 or so. She was my daily driver until about 6 years ago. The wheel arches at at the back and front are pretty rusty and the floor is not good so I am planning a lot of welding this year. Best to find one that has been in a garage if you can.
I had to start from scratch for her insurance 2 year ago as she had a spell of being off the road for over 3 years so had to get insurance with no no claims discount. I Pay just over £300 for my daily driver wilt full no claims. it was just over £300 to insure the Puma when I insured it with about an estimated 3000 miles a year 2 years ago but went down by £100 with 1year NCD.
I can't comment on the current price of a Puma but a few people have bought them on this site recently so they may be able to comment.
Have a look in the for sale section here as there are 2 for sale, one for £1750 though you will have to make your own call on condition, I don't know the cars or owners involved.

 

[YOG]

Check the Road Tax, my 2001 1.7 is £320 per year.

 

[John Woodward]

Check the Road Tax, my 2001 1.7 is £320 per year.

The earlier ones are £325, got to tax both Puma's at the end of the month and my Quantum 2+2, total cost £970, but if I leave it to April, it'll cost quite a it more.

 

[John Woodward]

Whilst there are rough tatty Puma's about, there are decent tidy reliable ones out there. I purchased my Red Puma in February last year, but I had to travel 150 miles to collect it, covered just over 6k miles in the year, its a good car and has only ever failed one MOT, so far and the only welding was when I had the rear arches replaced.

 

[Edge]

Hi. Rust is what kills pumas. Arches, sills, floor pan - basically the bottom 6 inches of the car. Ex-pressed steel panels do some panels, but wings, floorpan not available new. Professional welding and fabrication very expensive and will soon exceed the cars value. Best advice is to be very picky and get a rust free one, or learn to weld/fabricate! Best of luck

 

[johnw272]

insurance - flux have offered about £200 pa for limited mileage

got my first Puma last june and all going well so far - cd unit needed replacement thou

had a good look round and bought a pampered unwelded car, as dont work on them hope you find a suitable car

 

[BowenRacing]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess the worst thing I ever did car-wise was to let my one go, but I had no option at the time.

Insurance seems cheap enough, thanks, but that road tax is ridiculous. My 1.0 Fiesta ST Line 140 gets about the same MPG give or take 10% as my Puma did, but costs only £20pa road tax. My wife has a (previously) £0 road tax PHEV that we can't charge (due to no off-street parking, and zero interest from our local council in providing public charging points), and on petrol uses more fuel per mile than my Puma did. Not to mention being much heavier and pummelling our roads to death.

Side note: Don't get me wrong, I love EVs and my wife's is a pleasure to drive when we're away and have convenient (but more costly than petrol) charging available.

So, I'll look out for a suitable Puma, thanks. I just hope the reality of driving one holds up to the rose-tinted-glasses memories I have

 

[John Woodward]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I guess the worst thing I ever did car-wise was to let my one go, but I had no option at the time.

Insurance seems cheap enough, thanks, but that road tax is ridiculous. My 1.0 Fiesta ST Line 140 gets about the same MPG give or take 10% as my Puma did, but costs only £20pa road tax. My wife has a (previously) £0 road tax PHEV that we can't charge (due to no off-street parking, and zero interest from our local council in providing public charging points), and on petrol uses more fuel per mile than my Puma did. Not to mention being much heavier and pummelling our roads to death.

Side note: Don't get me wrong, I love EVs and my wife's is a pleasure to drive when we're away and have convenient (but more costly than petrol) charging available.

So, I'll look out for a suitable Puma, thanks. I just hope the reality of driving one holds up to the rose-tinted-glasses memories I have

As far as I'm concerned, our Puma's are great to drive, performance is adequate, the handling superb, not many cars keep up with me on twisty country roads. That's why I currently have 2, driven just under 12,000 miles in the last 12 months in the pair of them.