1997 Ford Puma 1.7 (with luxury pack) review from UK and Ireland

I loved my Puma till recently.

There had been lots of little faults like the parcel shelf falling off, rainwater getting into the boot, paint chips occcured easily on the bonnet, but these aside I was mostly happy with my purchase.

I paid £15,700 for it- the price dropped by about £2000 only days after getting it on the road so I intended to keep it as long as I could.

In April 2002 it ground to a halt.

Despite having been serviced regularly, the timing belt snapped after 33,000 miles and the top of the engine had to be rebuilt- costing a total of £2500!

The belt should have been under warranty till 100,000 miles, but the garage tried to blame me for not checking the oil.

This was not the case and my battle with the dealer continues.

Ford customer care were of no help and fob-bed me off politely.

Loved the stylish look.

Good for overtaking those Sunday drivers.

The seats are hard, but I liked the way the sporty shape held me in.

The white instrument panel and shiny metal details look good.

Rear and all round vision is to be questioned.

Beware of the dealership, they look after themselves.