Spent a fortune on present car.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I have a beauty Ford Puma 1.7 but over the last year it has cost me a small fortune on repairs and general maintanence.

I'm now seriously considering selling it & geting another second hand car. I was thinking maybe a Ford StreetKa or something similar. What do others think?

Conor_3

To start forking out all over again?

jimmo

At a guess I am probably at least 30 years older than you and we have a different perspective on life but to me your Puma is a “boy racer’s” plaything.
A Streetka is a similar animal.
If someone before you has thrashed the pants off your Puma maybe you have already paid for that damage and can expect a few years trouble free motoring and should persevere with it.
If you buy a Streetka you are in real danger of similarly paying for the previous owner’s fun.
If you want cheap motoring you have to go for something more ordinary like an Astra, Corsa, Fiesta or Focus
If image is more important to you then this old man feels that your Puma is a much better bet than a Streetka but something like a Celica would be so much better.
If you want cheap motoring go for the ordinary. If you want image, go for it big time but recognise that it will cost.

mcjordi

personally i wouldnt sell up after spending loads, the puma will be at least 8 years old now they stopped making them on 02 plate so will need looking after if they are to last

sheslookinhot

jimmo wrote: »

At a guess I am probably at least 30 years older than you and we have a different perspective on life but to me your Puma is a “boy racer’s” plaything.
A Streetka is a similar animal.
If someone before you has thrashed the pants off your Puma maybe you have already paid for that damage and can expect a few years trouble free motoring and should persevere with it.
If you buy a Streetka you are in real danger of similarly paying for the previous owner’s fun.
If you want cheap motoring you have to go for something more ordinary like an Astra, Corsa, Fiesta or Focus
If image is more important to you then this old man feels that your Puma is a much better bet than a Streetka but something like a Celica would be so much better.
If you want cheap motoring go for the ordinary. If you want image, go for it big time but recognise that it will cost.

I think you meant Girl Racer

TiTheRev

Both are definately cars for the female clientelle

lovethymini

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

I have a beauty Ford Puma 1.7 but over the last year it has cost me a small fortune on repairs and general maintanence.

I'm now seriously considering selling it & geting another second hand car. I was thinking maybe a Ford StreetKa or something similar. What do others think?

We've been feeling like that with our car - needed over £600 spending on it last month (£260 for fitting a new wiper motor!) and now it's told us it wants a service!

We made a spreadsheet, and after seeing how it breaks down to how much per month it's cost us, we've decided that it's better financially to keep it. It's made us realise that most of the money spent on our cars (all three of them, not to mention two motorbikes) is when we buy them.

You could have fixed the last problem...
You might buy another car and have loads of things to mend on that one too...
My dad's always said to me to expect a car to cost a grand a year - be it in depreciation or running it - repairs etc...
Depends what's going wrong with it, but perhaps you've lost a bit of love for it? I always feel a bit like that when one of our cars misbehave. If you're really considering getting rid of it, have a look on autotrader to see how much you'd be able to sell it for, you may get a nasty surprise. Just trying to help you save your money :money:

Anyway, I think I'd rather have a Puma over a Streetka

hth

gilbert_and_sullivan

Jimmo above talked a lot of sense, cars like the Puma were seldom bought to be driven gently, so assume any car of that type will have been thrashed to hell, which isn't always a problem, but unsympathetic driving is, thrashed from stone cold, idiot gearchanges, wheelspins and belting up and down kerbs, oil change unheard of.

If you've had enough of it, fair enough, the streetka isn't my cup of tea, but i don't suppose its any worse than anything else, it all depends how its been looked after.

Jimmo's suggestion of the celica is a good one, they tend to be bought by mature people when new, and will probably have been looked after well.
Apart from that being a proper Japanese Toyota, the quality is top notch.

The thing to do is find a well looked after, preferably one mature owner model of whatever takes your fancy, with proper service history backed up by a sheaf of previous mot's.
I personally go a lot by tyres on a used car, if someone has bought good quality premium tyres, there's a fair chance they look after their motors and take servicing seriously, on the other hand a set of Chinese ditchfinders tends to tell me another story....a cheap one.
Going to the local bombsite or auction and buying something chavved up with chrome wide wheels all scuffed, blacked out windows and 5 previous owners none of whom serviced the thing will result in the same problem again.

ArsenalFC

If you have spent a lot of money on the car already then it's probably a wise option to keep it for longer until an big repair bill is due. They are old cars so you will not get much for it these days. Ka isn't very good, just a basic car.

But if you really want to get another car then a mark 6 fiesta (2002 - 2007) is a good solid all around little car. Or for less money the fiesta mk4/5 for less money.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

ArsenalFC wrote: »

But if you really want to get another car then a mark 6 fiesta (2002 - 2007) is a good solid all around little car. Or for less money the fiesta mk4/5 for less money.

She already has a Fiesta.

piggeh

If you want sometihng sportier, then get it from an owners club or owners forum on the web. Most posters are likely to have more than a passing interest in their car and it's more likely to be well maintained.