Ford Puma: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Ford Puma fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 9.6 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 2,496 individual Ford Puma tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 67.1% first-time pass rate means roughly 33 in every 100 Ford Pumas presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Ford Puma tested had covered 73,074 miles and was built around 2003.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Ford Puma bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Ford Puma rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Ford Pumas actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Ford Puma

1. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any seat belt anchorage (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 5.4% of tests (23.56x the national rate for this defect)
2. A stub axle swivel pin and/or bush excessively worn, 2% of tests (18.7x the national rate for this defect)
3. A brake hose ferrule excessively corroded, 2% of tests (18.13x the national rate for this defect)
4. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 11.9% of tests (14.31x the national rate for this defect)
5. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 3.4% of tests (9.43x the national rate for this defect)
6. Body, cab or chassis excessively corroded at a mounting point, 1.7% of tests (8.49x the national rate for this defect)
7. Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle., 2.2% of tests (5.64x the national rate for this defect)
8. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 2.9% of tests (3.47x the national rate for this defect)
9. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 3.3% of tests (2.94x the national rate for this defect)
10. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 2.2% of tests (2.23x the national rate for this defect)

From 4,462 DVSA-tracked Ford Puma tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 3.45% of these flagged Ford Puma defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Ford Puma pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Ford Puma year:

• 1999 Ford Puma - 62.6% first-time pass, 302 tests
• 2000 Ford Puma - 65.3% first-time pass, 582 tests
• 2001 Ford Puma - 67.6% first-time pass, 635 tests
• 2002 Ford Puma - 64.7% first-time pass, 487 tests

Other Ford models

• Ford Fiesta - 71.7%
• Ford Focus - 74.4%
• Ford Transit - 67.6%
• Ford Kuga - 82.4%
• Ford Mondeo - 72.2%
• Ford Ka - 72.2%
• Ford Transit Connect - 72%
• Ford Ranger - 76.9%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Fiat Fiorino - 67.3%
• Vauxhall Frontera - 67.3%
• Chrysler Ypsilon - 67.1%
• Peugeot 1007 - 67%
• MG 6 - 67%
• Volkswagen Camper - 67%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate