[Jimbo_Jet]

Hi! I realise that this is a very broad brush topic, but I'm in the market for my first Puma at the moment and I'm looking for one under 60k miles but most seem to be coming up at 80k or above and so I wondered how long experienced Puma owners usually expect their Puma engines to last for?

For previous cars I've owned (Toyota MR2's & Yaris's) 160k seems to be a bit of a watershed after which most would say that you may be on borrowed time before something serious or fatal might happen to the engines or rust kills or seriously affects the chassis. This of course completely depends on how each car has been maintained but I wondered what the general feeling is for Pumas for ball-park length of life? 120k? 160k? After what point would you not consider buying one as it may be on borrowed time?

I'm holding out for a good condition 'Thunder' in grey or possibly a 'Black' as my second choice if anyone knows of one?

Thanks!

[PG12]

200K miles out of an FRP -

just oem oil + cambelt @ 120K

[happy-kat]

You sold it in a running condition though?

[Greybeard]

Mine has 120,000 in the clock and still pulls like stink, oil use is minimal. I get the impression that the 1.7 unit is very well designed and built and, because of the Puma's light weight and under-gearing (except 5th), is relatively unstressed. A lot of the engine disasters that occur, occur suddenly and are due to broken cambelts, overheating or oil-starvation.

Working in favour of the Puma engine's longevity is the fact that the majority are now in the hands of enthusiasts who know how to take care of them.

[Wild E Coyote]

Is this answer to the question? It is european model, so it is in kms, not miles, but the car's engine was never opened; just serviced. (now and then, badly, actually)…
Just to clarify, not my car, but one I know of...

This post has been edited by Wild E Coyote: 05 July 2014 - 06:30 PM

[happy-kat]

^ that is brilliant to see

[JHT1888]

cool

This post has been edited by JHT1888: 06 July 2014 - 07:15 PM

[CookieMonster]

You need to have a drive and listen to several to get a good idea, I looked at about 15 when buying mine, many of the roughest examples were those with the lowest mileage (sub 80,000) mine had 102,000 regular servicing, the Millenium I bought other day had 132,000 and felt and sounded like it had the fiesta 1.3 engine in it, and the oil looked like it was last changed before car passed the 100,000 mark.

[pumaSV650S]

I drove my low mileage 2002 1.7 very hard for 5 yrs taking mileage up to just 87,000 before the engine was ruined!It was serviced and had an oil change every year but I think it was all the very hard cornering over the years that did the damage?I'd buy a one or two owner car from a female owner rather than a Tiff wannabe lol!

[happy-kat]

There are Pumas out there with engines regularily tracked with no issues, so I guess maybe in it's early life it ran low on oil this appears to be the biggest engine killer.

[symonh2000]

My last Puma had 87k showing when I bought it.

The engine felt fine and didn't smoke but it did use a bit of oil.


Personally I tend to buy cars on condition and history these days rather than on mileage. This is most important on older cars in my experience.



A couple of years ago my grandfather died and I managed to inherit a 1988 Audi 100 2.2 that had done 50k from new.

Despite having a full history it drove like a car that had done 5 times the mileage. Short journeys don't do any car favours, and many parts such as suspension bushes deteriorate even if a car isn't being used.

[johnpidge]

I've just bought two both 1.7s to replace my old blue one - one has 100k on it and the other 92k and both run well - I guess it's how it's been run and serviced - my old blue one had only 75k on it and it ran like a train but I changed oil and filter every 2000 miles I had a Toyota Celica many years ago and said to the garage locally I was worried as it approached 100k and they just laughed - they serviced several with 160k on and one with 190k on it

[Silverkat]

Just to put my two pennies worth in here, my Puma just clicked over to 170,000 miles this week.
She doesn't use a drop of oil (although a bit leaks out of the cam cover) and I give her a good pasting everyday, and I do a 120 mile round-trip commute.
Don't worry about mileage, just check condition of the oil (if its low and/or shitty condition, then the car has probably been neglected) and service them regularly with good quality oil and components and always use branded fuel.
As long as you haven't brought a stinker, you'll have many years of happy (and fun) motoring.

Regards, Al

[ffcwickford]

Hi, we have two Pumas one 1999 with 130k on the clock and a 2001 Puma Black with 152k on the clock. They are regularly seviced by me and I change the oil roughly three/four monthly with Shell Helix! Neither have ever caused us a problem and on a long run both are giving us around 40 mpg. Just love our Kats. I also have Eunos Roadster just for an even more exhilarating adrenalin rush with the roof down - I only wish they had made a soft top Puma!



Regards

Jonthan

This post has been edited by ffcwickford: 09 September 2014 - 06:22 AM