xCharlottex
New member
Some of you may remember my posts from last month, detailing how my much loved Puma was dying.
The fuel pump was on it's way out and every time I thought it was gone for good, I would replace the fuse, leave it to cool down and it would cough back into life again! Still, with the fuel pump clearly on it's way out I knew I was on borrowed time, it became a ticking time bomb. I knew when it died that would be it, no point in fixing it as it was due an MOT that it would not pass without at least a grand (at mates rates!) being spent on it due to a shunt last year and the resulting bad bodywork! :x I've had the car for 4 years and it was my first Puma. I had no plans to replace it or buy another car so the news that it wouldn't pass the MOT combined with the then fuel pump starting to break a couple of months ago I was gutted. I would look every now and then over the past couple of months for a replacement but my heart wasn't really in it, not whilst mine was still alive!
I knew I wanted either a Milly or a black Thunder - but with as few miles as possible as I intend to keep the car for several years, a new cam belt was a must, service history, well looked after and maintained, long MOT with no severe advisories, tax, no rust and a good interior without any rips in the leather seats.
I know, I didn't want much eh?
So in the last two months I never came across one... and beggers can't be choosers as people often told me...
Yesterday the inevitable happened, pulled up outside my mums house, left my boyfriend in the car so I could keep it running (was only popping in on the way home to pick up something so it wasn't worth turning the car off and having to wait until it was cool before trying to restart) and before I'd even got back he told me that the car has died WHILST running (which it had never done before). I checked the fuse - completely fine, not blown - and even though I knew it was the fuel pump and the time had come I was still in denial and spent the best part of 1.5 hours trying to fix it! It was 6:30ish before I finally gave up and admitted defeat. Now I had a problem - how was I going to get to work tomorrow?! A car is essential for my job and having only been in position for 5 months (AND having the same afternoon off for a dentist appointment) I didn't feel comfortable saying "erm, won't be in work for the rest of the week, I don't have a car". Onto auto-trader it was, feeling deflated that I'd have to get whatever I could asap instead of what I wanted.
As fate would have it, a Milly Puma, low mileage, new cam belt, service history, well looked after and maintained, long MOTS with no severe advisories, tax, no rusty arches, good interior etc had been listed the day before if not that day... and only 1hour10min drive from where I was. Talk about timing. So I grabbed my brother (a mechanic) and off we went in his Astra with my boyfriend (bodywork specialist) to view... as with any car of the age there are a few things to fix, a few things that need doing before the next MOT and some more pressing issues (new brake discs and pads needed at the front for example) but overall, not a bad car for the age! And the owner (who had had it 18 months) had looked after and maintained it superbly in the brief amount of time he'd had it.
So perhaps it fate that my Puma would break yesterday? If it didn't, I probably wouldn't of bothered looking for any cars again for another week or so.
I'm also excited as it's given me a new project! I lost heart a bit in my old Puma after it's shunt last year, stopped working on it and slowly things started going wrong that I didn't bother to repair. But now my passion for it is back and plans are already underway :wink:
On another note, I will be breaking down the old Puma asap, within the next week, keeping bits I want/may need in future for spares, selling the interior and scraping the rolling chassis.
So if anyone is after a standard cloth interior let me know asap.
Below are some pictures of my Puma which is no more :-( (before the shunt, don't have pictures of after) and the new Milly...
R.I.P Little Puma!
The fuel pump was on it's way out and every time I thought it was gone for good, I would replace the fuse, leave it to cool down and it would cough back into life again! Still, with the fuel pump clearly on it's way out I knew I was on borrowed time, it became a ticking time bomb. I knew when it died that would be it, no point in fixing it as it was due an MOT that it would not pass without at least a grand (at mates rates!) being spent on it due to a shunt last year and the resulting bad bodywork! :x I've had the car for 4 years and it was my first Puma. I had no plans to replace it or buy another car so the news that it wouldn't pass the MOT combined with the then fuel pump starting to break a couple of months ago I was gutted. I would look every now and then over the past couple of months for a replacement but my heart wasn't really in it, not whilst mine was still alive!
I knew I wanted either a Milly or a black Thunder - but with as few miles as possible as I intend to keep the car for several years, a new cam belt was a must, service history, well looked after and maintained, long MOT with no severe advisories, tax, no rust and a good interior without any rips in the leather seats.
I know, I didn't want much eh?
So in the last two months I never came across one... and beggers can't be choosers as people often told me...Yesterday the inevitable happened, pulled up outside my mums house, left my boyfriend in the car so I could keep it running (was only popping in on the way home to pick up something so it wasn't worth turning the car off and having to wait until it was cool before trying to restart) and before I'd even got back he told me that the car has died WHILST running (which it had never done before). I checked the fuse - completely fine, not blown - and even though I knew it was the fuel pump and the time had come I was still in denial and spent the best part of 1.5 hours trying to fix it! It was 6:30ish before I finally gave up and admitted defeat. Now I had a problem - how was I going to get to work tomorrow?! A car is essential for my job and having only been in position for 5 months (AND having the same afternoon off for a dentist appointment) I didn't feel comfortable saying "erm, won't be in work for the rest of the week, I don't have a car". Onto auto-trader it was, feeling deflated that I'd have to get whatever I could asap instead of what I wanted.
As fate would have it, a Milly Puma, low mileage, new cam belt, service history, well looked after and maintained, long MOTS with no severe advisories, tax, no rusty arches, good interior etc had been listed the day before if not that day... and only 1hour10min drive from where I was. Talk about timing. So I grabbed my brother (a mechanic) and off we went in his Astra with my boyfriend (bodywork specialist) to view... as with any car of the age there are a few things to fix, a few things that need doing before the next MOT and some more pressing issues (new brake discs and pads needed at the front for example) but overall, not a bad car for the age! And the owner (who had had it 18 months) had looked after and maintained it superbly in the brief amount of time he'd had it.
So perhaps it fate that my Puma would break yesterday? If it didn't, I probably wouldn't of bothered looking for any cars again for another week or so.
I'm also excited as it's given me a new project! I lost heart a bit in my old Puma after it's shunt last year, stopped working on it and slowly things started going wrong that I didn't bother to repair. But now my passion for it is back and plans are already underway :wink:
On another note, I will be breaking down the old Puma asap, within the next week, keeping bits I want/may need in future for spares, selling the interior and scraping the rolling chassis.
So if anyone is after a standard cloth interior let me know asap.
Below are some pictures of my Puma which is no more :-( (before the shunt, don't have pictures of after) and the new Milly...
R.I.P Little Puma!
