Nearly a year ago I bought a cheap little Puma off Ebay - it's story is told here. http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/...1291075&nmt=The+£192.02+Puma!&mid=119282.
As it's turned out to be a great little car, I thought I'd buy another one - only this time one of the special editions. The main one that offers something different seems to be the Millennium, by virtue of it's unique paint colour and the special leather Recaro seats.
I've been on the lookout for a cheap one for a while, but one that isn't an absolute shed has been difficult to find, but a couple of weeks ago one popped up on Ebay, a mere 140 miles from me. No tax or test, which didn't unduly bother me, and a quick phone conversation with the vendor revealed that there were no significant mechanical woes apart from a blowing exhaust, and that it hadn't been put through an MOT test when the old one had run out. Photos seemed to reveal a bit of rust in the usual Puma place on the rear arches, but not too bad compared to most of the cheaper end of the market Millenniums, and most importantly the Recaros are in good nick with no rips or tears or wear.
A deal was struck, and last week a friend and I nipped up the M5 armed with nothing but hope, optimism and an Ifor Williams!
The journey there and back was uneventful, and once the little Puma was unloaded back at base a good look over revealed a car that I'm more than happy with. The rear arches are starting to rust, and look like they have been painted before and the exhaust needs repairing as the backbox has a big hole in it, but other than that it looks like it starts, stops and steers OK, so the short term plan is to fix the exhaust and chuck it through an MOT to see what else I need to do!
Longer term I'll get the arches done properly with fresh metal and probably get it resprayed at the same time - the sills all look solid, so hopefully it won't need welding for the MOT.
It's done 120k, and has three previous owners, and has a reasonable service history, with a cambelt done at 75k.
I'm sure a suspension refresh will be warranted, so I'll probably replace the shocks, springs, wishbones and rear bushes at some point, providing they don't need doing for the MOT of course!
As it's turned out to be a great little car, I thought I'd buy another one - only this time one of the special editions. The main one that offers something different seems to be the Millennium, by virtue of it's unique paint colour and the special leather Recaro seats.
I've been on the lookout for a cheap one for a while, but one that isn't an absolute shed has been difficult to find, but a couple of weeks ago one popped up on Ebay, a mere 140 miles from me. No tax or test, which didn't unduly bother me, and a quick phone conversation with the vendor revealed that there were no significant mechanical woes apart from a blowing exhaust, and that it hadn't been put through an MOT test when the old one had run out. Photos seemed to reveal a bit of rust in the usual Puma place on the rear arches, but not too bad compared to most of the cheaper end of the market Millenniums, and most importantly the Recaros are in good nick with no rips or tears or wear.
A deal was struck, and last week a friend and I nipped up the M5 armed with nothing but hope, optimism and an Ifor Williams!
The journey there and back was uneventful, and once the little Puma was unloaded back at base a good look over revealed a car that I'm more than happy with. The rear arches are starting to rust, and look like they have been painted before and the exhaust needs repairing as the backbox has a big hole in it, but other than that it looks like it starts, stops and steers OK, so the short term plan is to fix the exhaust and chuck it through an MOT to see what else I need to do!
Longer term I'll get the arches done properly with fresh metal and probably get it resprayed at the same time - the sills all look solid, so hopefully it won't need welding for the MOT.
It's done 120k, and has three previous owners, and has a reasonable service history, with a cambelt done at 75k.
I'm sure a suspension refresh will be warranted, so I'll probably replace the shocks, springs, wishbones and rear bushes at some point, providing they don't need doing for the MOT of course!
