Is the Puma worth selling?

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bohemian_blue

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2017
Messages
2
Location
Czech Republic
Hello everyone,

this might be a strange first post, but please bear with me. My parents want to sell their 2001 1.7 Puma, but I am starting to wonder whether this might be a regrettable decision. The car is not in a 10/10 condition (has been serviced regularly, so runs perfect, and the interior is in great condition, but the exterior has survived one too many city-parking battles). However, I feel like it might be a waste to get rid of it now. I wasn't really interested in taking it over, but given the current prices, selling it now seems second to getting it into the best possible condition and holding onto it. They don't need the money, but have enough cars that this one is left-over.

Anyways, here is an album of the car (and its numerous imperfections).

Would appreciate any feedback from those knowledgeable. Is it worth selling the car in the state it is in now or should I take this up as a new hobby? I've been watching too many ChrisFix videos lately, so feel like anything is possible. :grin:
 
Take it up as a hobby! Looks like a lovely example, and the interior is amazing. If that were in the UK I'd be biting your hand off for it
 
Quick look at the pictures and (welcome btw) easy answer is , if you can, keep it, and so long as the underside is in a similar condition all the damage on the body is in reality a minor issue, bit of time and a couple of spray cans and body will be good, will pay you to cut out the rust on the arches if you can before it gets any worse though.
Love the seats, I reckon them alone would make me keep it!
At the end of the day it is your choice but my vote goes for keep it :grin:
 
Hi
The question whether to keep it or not really depends on the underside of the car rather than the outer bodywork as unless it's a low mileage well looked after car it's likely to be well rusty underneath particularly with all the snow you guys get in CZ. If you can, get the car up in the air on a garage lift and examine the inner rear arches with the arch carpets out, the rear chassis rail near the axle mount and the bottom of the sills and their return into the rear wheel arches. Towards the front examine the floor pans and the seatbelt reinforcement points. Be aware there can also be rust hiding behind the exhaust heat shields. For us in the UK we can get body panels such as wings, doors and bonnets for next to nothing but is your car rare in CZ? The seats should be worth a fair bit by themselves if you decide to sell.
Best of luck :)
Barry
 
:cool: people in the UK swooning over that interior because it wasn't available here.

Is that a special edition there? I think there was one in Europe called the Futura with these seats?

Anyway if you like it, keep it :)
 
red said:
[post]365020[/post] :cool: people in the UK swooning over that interior because it wasn't available here.

Is that a special edition there? I think there was one in Europe called the Futura with these seats?

Anyway if you like it, keep it :)

I'm wondering how I can't get to the Czech Republic and bring a Puma home without the wife finding out :p
 
Apologies for getting back a month later, but I had nothing to report, as the car is with the parents in a different city. Good news is that I finally managed to visit and scheduled a garage visit as well.

WARNING: The following images are NOT pretty. Album link

I was actually appalled at how bad it looked and kind of saddened that it was let to deteriorate to this level, but the technician said that it's all superficial and nothing critical. Apparently, he has never seen a Puma undercarriage in such good condition, so not sure what to make of that. Either Czech Puma owners have zero care for their cars or Pumas like to rust.

red said:
[post]365020[/post] :cool: people in the UK swooning over that interior because it wasn't available here.
Is that a special edition there? I think there was one in Europe called the Futura with these seats?
Anyway if you like it, keep it :)

I went through the sales contract and invoice and no mention of it being a special edition. Contract has the interior labelled as "ALCHEMY" and the seats were an extra itemized as "Seats RECARO".

tuonokid said:
[post]364984[/post] Hi
The question whether to keep it or not really depends on the underside of the car rather than the outer bodywork as unless it's a low mileage well looked after car it's likely to be well rusty underneath particularly with all the snow you guys get in CZ. If you can, get the car up in the air on a garage lift and examine the inner rear arches with the arch carpets out, the rear chassis rail near the axle mount and the bottom of the sills and their return into the rear wheel arches. Towards the front examine the floor pans and the seatbelt reinforcement points. Be aware there can also be rust hiding behind the exhaust heat shields. For us in the UK we can get body panels such as wings, doors and bonnets for next to nothing but is your car rare in CZ? The seats should be worth a fair bit by themselves if you decide to sell.
Best of luck :)
Barry

Didn't manage to get the arch carpets out and check the floor pans and seatbelt reinforcement points, as the mechanic was super busy and managed to give me like 15mins, so this was really just an initial inspection. I'm pretty sure I'll be back there.

One other thing that surprised me was their radical approach to the starting rust on the right rear arch. The mechanic recommended to cut out and replace the whole rear arch panel instead of just sanding and repainting, as this would be a short-term solution. Is that true? Wouldn't the sanding+paint approach last a good couple of years if done properly?

Lastly he gave me crap for letting the paint get so bad and that it would be really difficult to get an exact colour match for any touchups. How difficult is it getting the correct colour nowadays? I haven't checked the badge in the engine bay for the colour code (that's where it is, right?), but the contract states AMPARO BLUE. Any chance to get that in a spray can? :grin:
 
:cool: maybe these seats (and matching door cards) were available as an optional extra then... they are very nice.

Cut out and replace is the main recommendation if you want to do it properly, sanding back, filling and repainting is a short term solution and in some cases might only last 6-12 months.

Amparo wasn't a UK colour specification but I'm sure you could get it matched.
 
Hi
The photos are not much use as they are generally of the front (which tends not to rust badly) or mechanical stuff. The areas you need to be looking at are the ones I detailed previously as they are the areas which will result in the car being scrapped if corroded badly enough as it is just not worth the cost of repairing.
I agree entirely with your mechanic about the wheel arches if rust is bubbling through it needs cutting out and new steel welding in. In the UK we can get aerosol cans of paint made up to match the existing so I would have thought you could as well. You just need the paint code which is either the 6th or 7th down letter code on the plate on your cars slam panel.
 

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