Puma Thunder - What to offer?

[Y0ungn1ck]

I have the chance to buy privately a very good Thunder, 48k miles, 6 months tax, 12 months MOT

What would be a sensible price to offer?

 

[deejames]

any service history?

has the cambelt been done?

any rust on the arches?

 

[Y0ungn1ck]

Full service history, cambelt 2 years ago, no visible rust on arches. Sensible price to offer?

 

[deejames]

sounds like a good one, i paid £1150 for mine with 90k on the clock history, cambelt done and a tiny bit of rust coming through but it was up for £1500 before i negotiated and to be honest if it was n`t for the company car on the way i don`t think she would have gone for it!

I did see others that were as you described priced around the £2k mark - more if the mileage is genuine so i would say go in below that and negotiate up.

I hope that helps!

 

[Y0ungn1ck]

Thanks for the advice. I need a fourth car like a hole in the head but I always fancied a Thunder and this seems a good one.

 

[Midnight Blue]

He would be mad to take £2k for it if it as good as you say ... but that is only my opinion

 

[deejames]

He would be mad to take £2k for it if it as good as you say ... but that is only my opinion

i would agree but this time of year it is more of a buyer`s market and it`s far easier to negotiate up . . . . i would imagine it will depend on how badly the owner wants to sell

 

[tekz]

Offer £1500, if you get it for that it would be a steal D

 

[Neil]

I wouldn't pay much more than £2K to be honest. Even if it is a Thunder, it's still a ten year old car.

 

[evilrob]

I paid just under £2k for my Thunder from a fellow forum member earlier this year, but only because I had the best service history you can get - a complete history of everything he'd done to the car, warts and all, on the forum! All backed up with stamps in the right places and a folder of receipts.

I also had it checked out by two garages from the Puma garage list before I bought it, which the previous owner was more than happy to allow, both of whom said that it was in great condition. Our very own El Dude has checked it out as well, and even he commented on how new everything looked and felt when he did my audio install.

I've still needed to fix loads of stuff on it though - probably spent the same again putting things right (wishbones, bushes, wheel bearing, coil pack, ht leads, aux belt, driver's side window motor, brake hoses, brake shoes, clutch), but that's par for the course on a ten year old motor I reckon.

 

[yippeekiay]

I'm of the same opinion of Neil. 2k absolute MAX!!!

 

[Midnight Blue]

My sister in law just sold her 02 1.4 VW Polo to a dealer for £2k - think the mileage was around 36k. A good Thunder is worth more than that ..... it was like driving a tank!

 

[tekz]

Yeah, there are many ways to price something, but you have to go on market rates and Puma's are dirt cheap at the moment, probably due to it being about the time they need a lot of refurbishment work done to them being over ten years old now and people just wanting to sell them off instead.

£2000 for a Puma in that condition in terms of what it's worth to me, and / or its functionality = be happy to pay it to be honest if I had the notes lying round.

For one they are great cars, 2. they are fairly 'niche' cars (not your run of the mill Fiesta or Polo). 3. They are underated in terms of speed and handling. 4. They look great. 5. They can have decent MPG if you drive them nicely and 6. They have a great community . Obviously there are lots more good points, and they do have their bad points but most cars do and you come to love them.

To be honest, the most simple way to look at it is as a beautiful piece of modern engineering, stylish, sleek, fast, it's a man made machine that weights a tonne and a half, can drive you and passengers around for years at high speed, with cargo, can keep you warm, or cold, has entertainment, it's fun, it's freedom, it's a marvel! There are much worse ways to spend 2 grand.

I was thinking today that society is far too wasteful, like insurance companies scrapping a working car because the body work will cost too much to repair or something. Should start looking at things in terms of their continued worth, not the difference in price between fixing it and getting a new one.

Make do and mend!

 

[melinamotor]

1600 max :wink:

 

[yippeekiay]

The things with the Polo which makes it more desirable in the current market are - it's a VW so more reliable, cheaper tax, cheaper insurance, less fuel.

Of course, anyone who has/has had a Puma could counter those reasons saying the Puma is - more powerfull, superior in handling, better looking etc but I'm afraid most people buying cars to run as their main car nowadays in that price bracket are looking for the lowest running costs available so the Polo would win that hands down. Therefore, worth more than the Puma.

 

[reddwarf]

Blimey are you serious about 39 mpg?

My wife has a 1.7 and gets about 25 around tow. Even when I drive it to the in laws, mainly motorway, I can't get more than 30 mpg and I'm quite careful and managed to get well over 40 from my v6 mondeo!

 

[yippeekiay]

Yep. If you click the 39mpg link it'll take you to the site where all my petrol usage is listed. It shows it in km & litres unless you log in and set it to miles and gallons.

I've actually had nearly 52mpg on one run (503.7 miles to ONE tank full ) and most long journeys I crack mid 40's doing a constant indicated 70mph so not driving slow either. Some people have a better average than me so I'd say your car needs a good service especially if your struggling to even get 30 on a motorway

 

[reddwarf]

Sadly the car has always been well maintained, by a dealer I hasten to add not me! I maintain my Land Rovers where I can easily get round and under them so not the Puma :lol:

I have mentioned this on two occasions but been told everything was OK

 

[tekz]

If I'm motorway driving I can get 400 miles for a full tank / 40 quids worth of petrol without trying to drive economically. Perhaps your o2 sensors getting lazy or something.

 

[Y0ungn1ck]

Blimey are you serious about 39 mpg?

My wife has a 1.7 and gets about 25 around tow. Even when I drive it to the in laws, mainly motorway, I can't get more than 30 mpg and I'm quite careful and managed to get well over 40 from my v6 mondeo!

We have two low mileage Puma 1.7's in the family and they both easily achieve 38mpg or more in normal motoring. Even my 2.0 Fiesta ST achieves 30+ mpg. There must be something very wrong to get such a low mileage from your wife's Puma - does she realise it has a fifth gear?