2000 Ford Puma Lux from UK and Ireland - Comments

It has the worst paint finish I have come across on a car, it has orange peel paint all across the bottom of all the wings.

Gear box needed replacing after 3000 miles, this is not a one off case, I know of five other Puma owners who have had to have their gearbox replaced/overhauled within 10,000 miles.

The dealer service is totally rubbish, once they have given you the car they don't want to know. Also the customer compliants department at Ford known as CAC (Customer Assistance Centre), is totally unprofessional, they only specialise in fobbing you off. CAC is a very good acronym for it.

One little fact Ford does not want you to know about, is that last year they recalled more cars than they sold. So if you are thinking about getting a Ford, forget about any chance of quality.

Don't buy one if you value your money.

Interesting fact. Bear in mind the recalls of the Firestone tyres and cruise control problems.

I bought mine as an import from Germany and the money I saved paid for an extended 4 year warranty with plenty left over (cost about 350 ukp). The warranty turns out to be better than the actual Ford warranty, which does not cover things such as catalyst/etc)

Worth bearing in mind for anyone considering an import vs. UK model.

(No difference in spec before you ask!)

Help me please!

I bought my Puma new in Jan 2001 and already the paintwork along the sides has gone a weird milky way and on close examination it looks like a mass of tiny cuts and stone chips. (I had mudguards fitted to prevent this as I had seen a few second hand Pumas looking like this) There is also rust where the doors meet the sides.

I have reported it to my dealer as far back as April this year and they say they have never seen anything like it before (ho ho)

Has anyone else got this paintwork problem? I really would appreciate your comments as the car was only one year old when I first noticed it.

Thanks to all the other reviewers, I thought that it was just me that was unimpressed with the paint work on the Puma. Stone chips are a nightmare, orange peel on lower sills (both sides).Very disappointed as I had saved for two years to buy my dream car. Also don't expect a lot of help from your dealer.

I was the Ford Puma owner who orginally made the comments you have responded to.

My Puma is now 2.5 years old, has covered 28,000 miles.

I had problems with the paintwork to the point that a

patch of rust appeared on a door, I managed to get Ford to pay for it. You need to ring Fords 'Customer Assistance Centre' (CAC), I don't have the number to hand, but ring Ford Directly and you will get through to them. CAC is run by Ford on a number of occasions I have had problems outside of Warranty which I felt were unacceptable in all cases I first got the delear to look at the car, tell me what the problem was and then rang 'CAC', on each case Ford has agreed to pay 50% of the repair costs. OK its not 100% but considering I nearly 2 years out of warranty its better than nothing.

My Puma is just comming up for its first MOT and I'm 100% sure it will fail, as one of the rear light completely mists up. This is another Ford Problem, my Puma is going in to the delear on the 8th Jan, then let battle commence between me and Ford.

Once my car is through the MOT I'm getting a new motor, never again will I buy a Ford. The best bit about the Puma is the engine and that's Yammaha.