MsCozmik
New member
Hi to everyone!
Bought my second Puma last week, 9 years after buying my first one (that cost £10k) and with a gap of 8 years. Could be a long story but briefly, my son has had a huge run of bad luck with 'other' cars over the last 3 years and lost £ks. Last month he resorted to train and pushbike to do the 60 mile round trip to work. Then I thought ... I buy a car, own it, maintain it and he drives it till he manages to out-run his bad luck and get himself something reliable!
Enter ... 1.7, moondust silver, 2000 (X), 71k, 3 previous owners, book stamps but limited previous paperwork. Was advised that the cambelt was changed at 50k but again no paperwork. Not the perfect spec for a 10-year old car but we did all the usual checks and were happy. This was clearly meant to be. I naturally did a 360' turn on the test drive without giving it a second thought (it was a mini-roundabout!) and easily turned through corners without having to drop the gears, though I did a few times for the fun of it. Why the surprise, passengers?
Front brake discs and pads had been replaced in August (paperwork) but I wanted it to have a full check so took it for a full service and full brake service within days. Not to Ford as I won't pay their labour costs unless absolutely necessary. The rear brake shoes were bad so have been replaced but other than that the advisories are that the fuel filter is corroded and washer motor noisy. Mechanic said the existing cambelt has some wear but not equivalent to 71k miles so thinks it probably has been replaced at some point. I had the car for the day as the mechanic is near my workplace but soooo didn't want to give it back to my son!
Plans - get a good feel for its condition over the next 6 months or so, if all okay, have the advisories from the service sorted (unless it's easy enough for me to do it) and consider a full cambelt change, with aux belt, tensioners etc. There is minimal rust on the under edges of the arches. Nothing to panic about but something I will have corrected if we're in for the long haul. I have a feeling we are and there will be a fight over who keeps the car. My son has said he may buy it from me next year ... hmmmm! :roll:
I can't believe how easily I dismissed the Puma I had all those years ago. This is nothing less than a fantastic car, not given the full credit during its production and why oh why did they bin it for the Ka? It was just a car to the previous owner, he's getting a van because of his dog. I'm glad he loves his dog more coz now I can love the Puma!
Really looking forward to joining a few meets (another chance for me to drive it), I see there are a few locals as well as those further away so all's good.
Bought my second Puma last week, 9 years after buying my first one (that cost £10k) and with a gap of 8 years. Could be a long story but briefly, my son has had a huge run of bad luck with 'other' cars over the last 3 years and lost £ks. Last month he resorted to train and pushbike to do the 60 mile round trip to work. Then I thought ... I buy a car, own it, maintain it and he drives it till he manages to out-run his bad luck and get himself something reliable!
Enter ... 1.7, moondust silver, 2000 (X), 71k, 3 previous owners, book stamps but limited previous paperwork. Was advised that the cambelt was changed at 50k but again no paperwork. Not the perfect spec for a 10-year old car but we did all the usual checks and were happy. This was clearly meant to be. I naturally did a 360' turn on the test drive without giving it a second thought (it was a mini-roundabout!) and easily turned through corners without having to drop the gears, though I did a few times for the fun of it. Why the surprise, passengers?
Front brake discs and pads had been replaced in August (paperwork) but I wanted it to have a full check so took it for a full service and full brake service within days. Not to Ford as I won't pay their labour costs unless absolutely necessary. The rear brake shoes were bad so have been replaced but other than that the advisories are that the fuel filter is corroded and washer motor noisy. Mechanic said the existing cambelt has some wear but not equivalent to 71k miles so thinks it probably has been replaced at some point. I had the car for the day as the mechanic is near my workplace but soooo didn't want to give it back to my son!
Plans - get a good feel for its condition over the next 6 months or so, if all okay, have the advisories from the service sorted (unless it's easy enough for me to do it) and consider a full cambelt change, with aux belt, tensioners etc. There is minimal rust on the under edges of the arches. Nothing to panic about but something I will have corrected if we're in for the long haul. I have a feeling we are and there will be a fight over who keeps the car. My son has said he may buy it from me next year ... hmmmm! :roll:
I can't believe how easily I dismissed the Puma I had all those years ago.
This is nothing less than a fantastic car, not given the full credit during its production and why oh why did they bin it for the Ka? It was just a car to the previous owner, he's getting a van because of his dog. I'm glad he loves his dog more coz now I can love the Puma!Really looking forward to joining a few meets (another chance for me to drive it), I see there are a few locals as well as those further away so all's good.
