Ford Puma (1997 - 2002) 1.7i 16V 3d (2001/Y) Owner Review
Want to know everything there is to know about this car?
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Summary
What does this car say about you?
It says I'm fun-loving and sporty (and probably showing my feminine side a little)!
What do your friends / family / neighbours think of the car?
Everyone loves the way the car looks!
Would you buy this car again and why?
I would buy another Puma, although they stopped making them in 2002 I believe... Maybe a Racing one next time?!
What are you likely to buy next?
Something in the same vein (coupe) or maybe something sporty with a little more room inside (Type-R or similar).
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Buying experience
Type of dealer you bought from?
Independent
Did you buy this car new?
No
What price did you pay?
£2,300
When did you buy the car?
April 2008
Did you get a good deal and why?
I thought I got a fairly good deal. The dealer gave me a generous part-exchange price for my 1997 Honda Civic against the Puma which was already reasonably priced to begin with.
Is there any special reason why you bought this car?
I wanted a sporty coupe. Read the reviews on various models and narrowed my choice down to either the Ford Puma or Toyota Celica. The smaller engined Celica was too slow, the larger engined one too dear to insure so I went for the Puma instead!
What was the dealer like?
The dealer was extremely friendly, just literally gave me the keys and left me to look around the car, telling me to go and find him when I wanted to take it out for a test drive.
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Driving it
What's it like to drive?
The Ford Puma is an excellent drive, there's no two ways about it. Whether you're in town, on the open road or even cruising on the motorway, it never fails to live up to my expectations. It excels on the winding country roads where it can be thrown around, the handling is superb!
What's it like to park?
Pretty easy to park due to its small size. Visibility is fairly good all round (small rear windows though).
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Living with it
Have you had any problems with the car?
Nothing major to report! The car has done 109,000 miles and starts first time, every time. Whether I'm driving round town, A-roads or long motorway trips it never misses a beat. The rear wiper sometimes takes a little time to work and the parcel shelf is quite badly designed and keeps falling off!! But apart from that, I cannot fault the car.
What's most practical about your car?
It is fairly spacious for a coupe, four adults can easily fit in (we drove 250 miles with four adults in on one occasion). With the rear seats folded down, the boot space is actually rather generous!
Favourite gadget, option or accessory?
My model doesn't have air conditioning (not that I ever used it in my old Honda) but it does have that great Ford feature, a heated front screen. Excellent for clearing the frost and keeping scraping time to a minimum on those cold winter mornings!!
