We found our Puma at Motorpoint’s Peterborough site
The Puma’s combination of ability, desirability, equipment make it a compelling option on the used market
You don’t get to be the UK’s best-selling new car by pulling the wool over buyers’ eyes.
The car? The Ford Puma, a model based on the Ford Fiesta that, one year since production ended, is the best-selling used car in the country – and by some margin.
And now we believe the Puma to be the best value nearly-new car out there for its for its balance of price, ability, freshness, desirability and equipment – as well as for the fact that there are just so many to choose from and they are available everywhere from main dealers with their approved used schemes to local independent dealers with a reputation to protect.
We found ours at a used car supermarket: Motorpoint’s Peterborough branch, to be precise. It’s a Puma 1.0 mHEV ST-Line X registered in 2023 on a 23-plate and with 11,000 miles.
Ideally, it would have done 5000, the most that many people would consider for a late-plate car to be genuinely nearly new.
However, on the plus side, its higher mileage means it costs just £18,999 or a solid £8700 less than a new, run-out version, the price of which starts at £27,700.
Go for the more expensive and updated Puma announced in February – which costs from £28,250 and features a restyled nose, a ‘floating’ touchscreen powered by Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment system and an enhanced suite of driver assist functions – and the saving increases to £9250.
It is possible to get a discount on this latest, updated Puma – as much as £3500, reducing the saving in the case of our nearly new Motorpoint example here to £5750.
However, with running costs in the form of depreciation, which is returning to normal levels, rising insurance premiums and servicing costs and the ever-present prospect of dearer fuel, that £5750 is a useful sum to have in reserve.
Why a second-hand Ford Puma is such good value
Those who wonder why Ford killed off the Fiesta have only to see a Puma to realise how much more car it offers – an impression reinforced when its numberplate says 23 and the price hangar in the window £18,999.
A walk around and a glance over the interior of our Puma exposes the odd blemish but otherwise it is a tidy example of one that’s less than 12 months old.
To ST-Line’s sport suspension, bodystyling kit, heated windscreen and sundry driver assist features, X trim adds larger 18in alloys, rear privacy glass, Sensico synthetic leather seats, wireless charging and climate control. It’s a well-equipped small SUV.
It’s good to drive too. You would expect a year-old car with 11,000 miles under its belt to be fresh and that’s how our Puma feels.
Still tight, still supple and composed, still happy to swap gears without complaint and its 123bhp Ecoboost motor still ready to spin up with a delighted burble, it prompts sighs of relief all round.
Given the state of the roads and, let’s be honest, the state of driving today, you never quite know how a used car, even one as fresh as our Puma, is going to come across.
We’re happy to report ours feels as good as new – for a lot less money.
