The car itself? W735 XBT, a Millenium Edition Puma.
Bought in November 2011, it replaced a Micra that I suspected would need a shedload of work on it's suspension, and I was pretty sure the flywheel was scored as not long after buying it it started screeching on engaging gear. There was no way I was spending £300 on a Micra that I didn't like much in the first place, so I started checking out my options, and Pumas appeared on the radar. After an unsuccesful attempt to view a Lux from a proper shady dealer, I saw one advertised by someone who I recognised through my works connections, so I dropped him an email, let him know about the Micra, and we agreed on a trade in value and purchase following a viewing. Saw it on the Sunday, thrashed it round the industrial estate, utterly loved every second of it. It felt a bit loose and rough around the edges, but superficially it appeared in decent shape so it was bought and insured.
Price: £1100, -£500 for the Micra - so £600.
![Posted Image](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6778584571_24554d436b_z.jpg)
No Signs by StevenRaith, on Flickr
The first thing that I knew needed attention was the clutch - I did an oil change and could barely get it on the ramps it was slipping so badly. So ordered a LUK three piece kit (£150) and a mate fitted it for £100 and a bottle of whisky.
That improved things dramatically - refitting the gear linkage made the whole thing feel snappier and all-of-a-piece.
Next job was tyres, brakes and alignment. I was severely time-hampered by this as had to do a 400 mile round trip, so took it to the local tyre fitters, who charged me £300 for four Dunlop SP FastResponse boots, fitting, balancing and alignment. This resulted in another step change in the handling and feel of the car, and it took the next 1000 miles of motorway riding and valley hacking with relative aplomb, but there was still some slack around the car, and the back end never really felt too well tied down. No worries I think, it's MOT time soon, I'll get it fixed then.
Oh, and now the problems begin. The issues found were as follows:
Corrosion - chassis (small plate required), brake lines, fuel lines.
Suspension problems - rear bushes, front lower track arm bushes, rear top mounts, one rear shock absorber, front drop link.
other - Exhaust flexi pipe had come off.
Total cost of this was £630, which is annoying enough (I have savings for this very reason, arf) but more annoying was the garage trying to suggest I should replace the cat (they didn't think of cutting the downpipe after the cat and fitting a new flexi-pipe - thanks to those on here who pointed me to that!) which was just stupid, but on top of this the clutch sensor switch came back broken and stuffed under the interior cowling, causing it to kangaroo like a sod (temp fix with gaffer/carpet tape - will replace it soon) and the rear beam is banging over lateral yumps and ruts - so i don't think they've refitted one of the rear suspension components properly. My moneys on the rear beam itself as it sounds like the sound is coming from something large and bulky, if it were just the top mounts I can't see it making such a 'wide' noise.
So, total costs so far, exluding fuel and insurance?
Purchase: £600
Tyres: £300
Brakes: £40 (self fitted)
Clutch £250 all in
MOT work: £630
So the car currently stands me over £1800.
Which you'd think would be enough to make me baulk, but there are some points worth considering - and ones I'm sure you're all aware of, but which newbies considering an older/cheaper car might not be.
First of all, it's a car over ten years old, made to a price, and run by people who are generally not the 'maintain at any cost' type. It's no surprise to me that the bushes were shot, that the suspension had issues, etc - these are problems you have to expect on an older car.
Second, if I had spent £1800 on a 'clean' Puma, I'd have had to do exactly the same work, just more likely next year rather than this year - all older cars do this, and unless you know for a fact that harder wearing parts (SS exhausts, polybushes, etc) have been fitted, then you just aren't going to avoid it.
That, and even with knackered bushes and soggy shocks, it still drives brilliantly, the engine is a peach of flat-torque-curved, power-to-the-redline goodness, with a lovely BDA-esque rasp towards the cut out, the gearbox is fantastically snickity and quick, and it just does everything so bloody well.
It'll pootle to Sainsburies, take a fortnights shopping in the boot, a camera bag and a laptop in the back seat (and empty takeaway wrappers, gaffers tape, a rotary polisher... and other things I haven't bothered to clear out), and when you hit a b-road, you can open the throttle up and it hunkers down and lets you grab it by the scruff of the neck and drive it like you stole it.
So I don't mind spending money on it.
I know a good few people who have had some quite alarmingly fast cars, some rather rare and exclusive cars, some one off trackday specials, and the closest car I've been in to the Puma in terms of it's 'do anything' attitude is a PPP'd bug-eye Impreza. It has that similar unerring ability to do everything, get thrashed, take the kids to school, crawl around the car park, be comfy, be reliable, and be 'reasonable' in terms of running costs; with the subtle rear spoiler on the WRX (Non-STi) it's a proper q-car too.
The thing is though, a £1k example of those that isn't there for breaking is hard to find, they barely break 30mpg, and while the WRX is faster in a straight line by a long sea mile, cross country I honestly don't see it being noticably quicker without risking life and limb - for 80% of drivers, 80% of the time, the Puma does 80% of what the WRX does for 50% of the running costs.
The next job on the list for the Puma is to have the CPS refitted/replaced, and the rear suspension assessed to make sure that the MOT garage didn't cock something up - it might, after all, just be a loose spare wheel tray.
Problems that are still to be investigated/sorted to satisfy me:
Cambelt - although the valves have been replaced at some point, I don't know if the belt has been done. Or if it has been done properly. engine pulls well enough, but I'm always a little wary of these things.
Rear arches - the only major rust spot on the car.
Minor rust/chips - little dings and scratches here and there - I'll try to teach myself cutting and filling for these, it's a skill worth knowing given that my income dictates most of my cars will be a little older. This will be particularly important on the leading edge of the bonnet, which looks like someones taken a scattergun to it at some point.
Suspension - going to investigate full polybushing to save me any more painful MOT experiences.
Possibilities:
Coilovers - decent ones. If nothing comes to mind that won't destroy the car for day to day use, I'll get a full set of KYB OEM spec dampers and decent OEM spec springs.
Full paintwork cutting and repolishing - the paint is faded in a few places, and thanks to the shade of it, it's bloody obvious. This will be done after the rust is sorted, obviously.
It'll be interesting to add to this thread and see what the overall running costs are after a couple of years....