Pre buying advice

Hello guys I'm not a Puma owner yet! But am considering buying one from a friend at work. It's a X reg 1.7 with 110K on the clock, FSH in good condition. I've read through quite a few posts now and have a couple of questions. Is the 1.7 engine really as fragile as some of the posts suggest? I do quite a lot of mileage roughly 15K annually, will a Puma cope? I'm going to be checking in particular for rust on the rear wheel arch, clutch slip etc. Any other points in particular I should be looking for?
Thanks in advance

Hi - welcome along

As with any car, if it's looked after it'll last for ages, if it's abused or neglected, then it'll potentially be a problem.

The 1.7 is no worse or no better than any other car in that respect. If you've a FSH for the 110K miles, then you should be ok. 15K+ miles a year shouldn't be any sort of problem as long as it's serviced according to manufacturers recommendations.

As for things to check, the things you've noted as well as making sure it's had it's cambelt done every 5 years / 80K miles. Have a look here for basic guidelines:

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?t=2320" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you have any more questions, just ask!

Good luck

Cant speak for every one, but i have a 1.7 with 105000. I have done 800 miles a week for the past 6 months and have not had one problem at all. The only problems i have ever had are small, never actually anything that has stopped the car from working.

I know there are people on here that have had problems but i think any car you buy will have some. All cars have common faults, so buying any car is a gamble.

The one good thing about buying a puma is that any problems you may have will be quite easy and cheep to fix, aswell as getting a great car

Ok, thanks for the replies. Just need to wait and have a good look over the car later this week.
Cheers