Looking at a Puma this afternoon!

[3xpendable]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/ford-puma-17-low-low-mileage/1073771173#photo-content

He says the mileage is genuine, it has full service hist and 6 months tax with 12 months MOT. He says the rear arches are going as they all do but the mileage is genuine. He has emphysemia which means he's struggling to drive which is why he's selling it.

So..school me on what I need to look for! its had a recent MOT so should be ok underneath? I will check of course but this is the first time I'm looking at a car without my dad so a little bit nervous I don't miss something.

 

[Brian']

Cambelt change, services (history), rust on the sills/arches, Look for oil leaks underneath.

Just the basic things to look for, In the end buying an older car is always a gamble :roll:

 

[red]

MOTs doesn't always mean that components haven't worn but at least they will check that it's road legal for the most part at that point in time.

All the basics:

See if the "FSH" includes at least 2 cambelt changes, since it's a 99 and it should have been changed every 5 years its due its third now.

Check the oil, check the coolant level
Check the spare wheel is there
Check all the lights
Check the dash for illumination of the ABS light.
Check the heating works hot and cold.
Look underneath the sills and inspect for anything worse than surface rust.
Try and visually inspect the disks and pads
Inspect the tyres for wear and uneven wear.
Listen for a blowing exhaust.
Make sure the windows go up and down (basic I know but it'll annoy you if they don't)

That's about all I can think of off the bat unless you want to try and visually inspect the wishbone bushes and drop links.

 

[748]

Looks good from the ad.
Just one thing about service history, if you can check for receipts of work done to back up any service stamps.
I'm not saying this is the case here but a lot of people have mates in the auto trade who can stamp a service book :wink:
Paul

 

[masl]

Always take it to a vet for one last good check up

 

[3xpendable]

Thanks guys, will let you know how I get on

 

[Catweasel]

Good luck !

 

[3xpendable]

Right guys I'm back, and want your opinions.

Went the look at the car and its very nice and kept in a very nice home (always a good sign). It belonged to the owners daughter who has since had babies blah blah and its too small, he doesn't use it enough to justify keeping it hence the sale.

It's very clean, the mileage is genuine having had its last service 3000mls ago (all stamped, not just written). It has 3 good pirelli tyres and the 4th is a Goodyear, bizarrely the spare is a Pirelli so I'd probably swap those over at a tyre centre. It hasnt had a timing belt but I'd do that as a matter of course on any car I bought anyway tbh.

Boot is immaculate, interior is very clean, engine bay is nice and dry and clean as is the coolant and oil. It starts and ran fine (throttle was a bit sticky initially). Brakes look farily new with Ferodo pads and pull up squarely. It has 11mths MOT and had some advisories on some corrosion on brake pipes and sills. I had a dig around and it looks underneath like any 15 year old Ford....slightly flaky but not "Crusty" in my opinion.

Bodywork apart from the usual is good with no scuffs or dents, and the usual isnt that bad yet either. This struck me as a 'looked after' car.

Onto the bad/unexpected bits:

I was told models with the 6000 CD player were higher spec but this car didn't have air con nor an electric seat height adjuster. I'm not bothered about either really though I did have the usual complaint of it feels like your sitting too high, but I didn't play around with the seat much to be fair. Is that a bad thing not having air con?

It had the T bar key and the main remote key, but the buttons didn't work..this could be a flat battery.

The clutch had a high bite point but I did the usual tests and it seemed ok. My Mondeo has had a high bite point the last 2 years I've had it...again should I be concerned?

The final thing is the only thing that stopped my putting a deposit on it there and then: It ran hot. I was driving it for about 4 miles and it ran fine, when I stopped concentrating on the road (heavy shower) I noticed the temp gauge was almost into the red. The guy on the drive with me (a friend of the owner) said not to worry as he had seen other Fords read high(!) so I kept driving...now it didn't SMELL hot and burny and drove fine, it did stall when I stopped at a set of lights once but only once and whenever I stopped the gauge dropped to 1/2 almost instantly (within 10 secs). Once you got moving again it rapidly rose.

I got back to the house and popped the bonnet, the engine was hot but didnt sound or smell as hot as the gauge was indicating (I've experienced a few overheaters). I explained to the owner about it and as he hadn't really driven it much or far he seemed surprised and said he'd get someone to look at it tomorrow. I told him its most likely a blocked rad which could be flushed or more likely repaired.

I said I'd get back to him tomorrow after a think (and chatting to you guys ). He's open to reasonable offers and a new rad is about £40 plus fitting and being honest I'd be happy to pay £800 for the car but I'd rather him get that issue sorted before I drive it 45 mins home rather than knocking £100 off the price to do it myself and risk cooking it on the drive home.

What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

 

[748]

Hi Mate
I would be concerned about the overheating issue, the comment about 'some Fords run hot' is rubbish. The Puma should run just about centre of the guage (we have 3 and they all do).
Having said that, I think the problem would be the heater control valve, which is a 40 quid part and fairly easy replacement.
Or it could be thermostat or even water pump. If you're fitting a cam belt kit it would be foolish not to replace these at the same time anyway.
It sounds like a nice one though at the price with that mileage.
I think some of the early ones didn't have air con, only you can decide if that's an issue, you could always drive with the windows down :lol:

 

[3xpendable]

I'm very keen on it actually, just dont want to blow it driving it home.

Is that a Puma thing? Because I tested the heater hot and cold and it worked fine. Yup Air Con doesnt bother me

 

[748]

Yeah, the HCV is a very common fault. Apparently does not fail in the same way every time, causes various strange symptoms.
If you have a search about on this forum you should find more info.
If you feel it's right for you then go for it, only you have seen and driven it.
As I said, in my opinion it's a decent price.
Paul

 

[Lord B]

Would be very wary of car running hot, not because it can usually be rectified, but has previous owner noticed, or driven regularly with engine over heating?

as said before, stamps in book without receipt are worthless, most back street dealers will have a draw full of 'garage stamps' to fill in the blanks and make a full service history book, along with a decent stash of cambelt changed/next due stickers, as filling in and putting a sticker like that on the engine somewhere, and rubbing a bit of dirt on, can add a few hundred or more to value of car

 

[Fishmonkey]

I got a ford puma the other day with no service history but it looked very clean rush/engine wise (shame about the shocks/bushes/brake discs tho). I drove it around 40 miles to get home, it took about a mile or two to reach half way on the temperature gauge & didn't budge from that even in traffic.

Overheating is not a good look.

 

[3xpendable]

Of course running hot isn't good, I know that

I called the chap yesterday after telling him it could be the HCV (Thanks Paul) so he took it to the garage Saturday and they said it's common on Puma's too so he had a new one fitted and it drives fine with the temp gauge sitting below half. So i said I;d take it and collect it Tuesday. He even has put £30 of petrol in it for me and said if there are any problems on the way home he's sort it out. Seems very genuine and I got a good feeling about the car, so I'll update more once I have goten it home.

Thanks for the help chaps

 

[red]

Was there enough coolant in it? I know in my Megane if it gets low it causes the same temp high then instantly drop you described and my Megane getting low was caused by a leak.

Sounds like the car wasn't bad! Aircon is up to you really, do you use it in your current car? Can you live with fans an opening a window.

The electric heat adjustment was only on very early models you won't typically find it on 99 and onward.

 

[3xpendable]

Coolant level seemed fine, but when I get it home I'll leave it parked somewhere I can check for a leak.

 

[3xpendable]

Just a quick note with some piccies taken this morning as I didn't get the car till 11pm last night and had to head to work first thing. Basically I was due to collect Wednesday but the owner noticed an issue which turned out to be the crank sensor and he wasn't happy giving it to me until everything was right so he brought it to me then I had to run him home so a late night! He even put half a tank of petrol in it for me.

Drove very nicely, a few rattle noises but no more than you'd expect. I took it easy as I'm changing the timing belt this weekend but as I dealt with his wife before I'd never met him in person and he told me on the drive home he's had it for many years and its been stored in a big garage as part of his private collection! More after the weekend but here's some pics.