Big MOT time

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Moonandback

New member
Joined
Sep 11, 2017
Messages
6
Hi guys, brilliant forum!

Bought my Puma last October with 6 months MOT for £350. Looking at the MOT history then the car had barely had any major fails, well I'm the owner who has been landed with the bill!

I've had many hot hatches in the past, R5 GT Turbos, 205's, 309's, FN2 Type-R, EP3 Type-R etc. Bought the Puma as a stop gap as I was skint and between jobs, never expected it to drive as well if not better than the cars I've owned previously. The FN2 - sold that after 6 months as got bored once I was used to the power, it just didn't have that hot hatch X factor.

The Puma on the other hand, steering, gear change, chassis, MPG and the way the engine behaves is just perfect for the back roads.

Anyway back on topic, MOT time came, rusty floorpans, sills, rear bushes shot, brake pipes gone, front arms and arb bushes!

Looking at £500-£600 my man says. For a car with 186k miles and probably worth £100 in its current state, fixing it wouldn't make sense to a lot of people but I'm in love so she shall be fixed. Gotta say for a Puma with those miles, the rear arches are solid, the car has very little visible rust and it drives so well. I'm looking forward to driving it once all the bushes are done. I'll get some pics up ASAP for anyone interested.
 
If you liked it beforit should be a very pleasant surprise to drive with new bushes.
 
:cool: welcome to the site, glad you're enjoying it here.

Good luck with the car, bet it'll drive nice with new bushes.
 
Thanks guys it's booked in for next weekend! I'll keep this updated with some pics shortly
 
I have to say my Puma-maths kick in at times like this, Moonandback. When big bills arrive it seems quite reasonable to think "well, if I got rid of the car I'd only have to buy something else, and could be buying more trouble than what I've already got - and at least I know what I'm facing with the Puma"!

Rust can affect so many cars anyway - a friend has had an MOT fail on his expensive 5 year old German 'prestige' car due to a rotten rear subframe.

Good luck with the car!
 
Thanks, to be honest me and my Mrs went looking for a potential replacement last weekend. The budget was what it's gonna cost to fix the Puma (£600 max) but the new car must have 12 months MOT, be interesting to drive and be good looking and in good overall shape (like the Puma)

As you've maybe guessed such a car does not exist at this price level, a car did come close but it was another Puma! It had done half the miles but I couldn't get underneath for a good nosey. Better the devil you know! Future plans include 300mm brake upgrade from the Mondeo and maybe some new springs. Would love to get that engine out service done by the Puma specialist I've seen on this forum, he looks to do a top job.

Out of interest I checked the MOT history on the top 7 Pumas on
Autotrader, all had at least an advisory for rust on sills/floor/rear subframe mount. I suspect the Puma will be pretty rare in 3-5 years time. It's great to be able to pick up a 2nd hand engine/gearbox for £150 or less but sad too because these are wonderful cars.

Good luck with yours too.
 
Well, yesterday was MOT day. Pass, no major issues. Slight bit of rust on one Rear Spring that will get replaced when I get the Rear Arch done as they are on the same side. Happy days indeed! :grin:
 
Mine goes in on Monday, fingers crossed although given the fact it has only done about 400 miles since the last one MOT man expects to pass it anyway without any issues......watch this space
 
£350 For a car with 180,000 miles and a 6 month MOT? A bit too expensive.

MOT's aren't worth the paper they're written on to get a feeling of how good the car is, inspect it yourself. There's a lot of backstreet MOT stations willing to pass any car no matter how dangerous they are, just good tyres and working brakes and they'll pass the car for an extra fee. Often they put advisories like "play in nearside balljoint" or "oil leak, sump" or similar advisories.
 
RoadWarrior said:
£350 For a car with 180,000 miles and a 6 month MOT? A bit too expensive.

MOT's aren't worth the paper they're written on to get a feeling of how good the car is, inspect it yourself. There's a lot of backstreet MOT stations willing to pass any car no matter how dangerous they are, just good tyres and working brakes and they'll pass the car for an extra fee. Often they put advisories like "play in nearside balljoint" or "oil leak, sump" or similar advisories.


Agreed it was a bit expensive but the previous owner had it 18 years from new, I'm the 2nd owner and it's really clean from the outside. There is zero visible rust in the body apart from a 20p size bubble on the tailgate. It's what is lurking underneath that we are tackling at the moment. The pic is of the passenger footwell. It's similar on the other side, but the inner/outer sills, rear subframe mount etc are solid. It looks good and drives really well (even with knackered bushes that are being changed) so I don't feel too hard done by @ £350. Hell I've viewed 60k mile "minters" that were much worse than mine underneath.
 

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