Fault File
All models / All cars / Small SUVs / Ford Puma

Ford Puma

All generations and engines together · 63,365 MOT tests in the 2025 data

Generation

Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.

How this model wears

Ford PumaClass average, all tracked models

Known issues

Measured

Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.

What testers flag

Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.

Faults with the car itself

The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 63,353 tests in this band.

A wheel badly distorted or wear between wheel and hub at spigot mounting
Advisory
0.7%class 0.4%
Exhaust system leaking or insecure
Advisory
0.5%class 0.1%
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction
Fail
0.3%class 0.3%

Wear, upkeep and luck

Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.

A tyre seriously damaged
Advisory
19.4%class 13.1%
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Advisory
18.7%class 18.8%
A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
Advisory
8.4%class 7.2%
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured
Advisory
7.7%class 7.0%
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt
Advisory
3.0%class 2.1%
Nail in tyre
Advisory
2.6%class 1.7%
A tyre seriously damaged
Fail
2.4%class 2.3%
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn
Advisory
1.7%class 1.9%

Unconfirmed issues

Reported

Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.

Mild-hybrid 12V battery drain

Confirmed pattern

On the 1.0 EcoBoost mHEV, the small 48V hybrid system is meant to help top up the ordinary 12V battery, and on some cars it doesn't do enough of it. Owners report the battery going flat every few weeks and needing jump starts, sometimes even after a coil pack or software update. Honest John notes Ford covered some early cars with a recall for poorly torqued hybrid battery connections, but plenty of newer reports fall outside that fix.

Reported from a few months old up to several years · sources: Honest John (Ask HJ), Auto Express, Ford Owners Club forum

Rear brake discs pitting and rusting early

Partly in the MOT data

Owners of low-mileage, short-journey Pumas report the rear discs coming up badly pitted and corroded at the first or second service, sometimes needing replacement under two years old at around £400-500 a pair. Honest John's own answer to one such case is honest about it: this looks less like a Puma design fault and more a case of light rear braking and coastal or garage-less parking not scrubbing the rust off. It lines up with the segment's measured corrosion signature, but the cause here is usage pattern as much as the car.

Reported from around 18 months / 7-10k miles · sources: Honest John (Ask HJ), What Car reliability survey

7-speed automatic feels hesitant off the line

Automatics only

On the dual-clutch automatic, testers and owners describe slow, sometimes clunky responses when you ask for a quick getaway or a brisk downshift, worse than the manual and worse than some rivals. It isn't reported as a failure pattern, more a driveability gripe that shows up in reliability surveys as a general "gearbox/clutch concern" alongside actual faults. Doesn't apply to manual Pumas.

Reported by road testers and some owners · sources: Auto Express, What Car reliability survey

Infotainment lag and screen freezes

Emerging

The SYNC touchscreen is slow to boot when you start the car, and some owners report it freezing or rebooting itself mid-journey. It's an annoyance rather than a wallet-emptier, usually cleared by a software update or, rarely, a warranty swap of the head unit. Turns up repeatedly in reliability surveys under sat-nav/infotainment faults but Ford hasn't put out a public fix for it.

Reported at all ages · sources: Auto Express, What Car reliability survey

Sudden total power loss while driving

Emerging

A minority of owners describe the car cutting all power on the move, including the power steering, usually tied back to the mild-hybrid electrics rather than the engine itself. It's rare enough that it hasn't produced an official Ford statement or a broad recall beyond the isolated battery-connector fix, and dealer visits for it are hit and miss on finding a cause. Worth asking about directly since it won't show up on a normal test drive or an MOT.

Reported occasionally, various ages · sources: Auto Express, Ford Owners Club forum

Viewing one? Ask this

Built from the two sections above.

Let the car sit unused for the viewing, then start it without anyone pre-charging the battery. Slow cranking or a jump-start need points at the mHEV 12V battery drain fault.
Ask when the 12V battery was last changed and check the service book for any hybrid battery connector work. No record on an older car means the drain issue, if it's coming, hasn't been dealt with yet.
Peer through the rear wheel spokes at the brake discs. Heavy pitting or a deep rust ridge on the disc face, not just light surface film, is the early corrosion pattern showing.
Pull the full MOT history, not just the pass or fail. Repeated corrosion advisories in the same spot mean it's not been properly fixed, just patched to pass.
On an automatic, floor it briskly from a standstill and ask for a hard kickdown at speed. A long pause or a clunky, delayed response is the reported gearbox hesitation, not necessarily a fault with this car specifically.
Start the infotainment screen from cold and work through every menu. Slow booting or a freeze/reboot mid-check is the known SYNC screen glitch.
Ask the seller outright if the car has ever lost all power or the steering has gone heavy on the move. A vague or evasive answer here is a bigger warning sign than anything you'll find on the MOT certificate.

Others in its class

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