Ford Puma ST-line Ecoboost Hybrid – long-term review

Last year encouraged many of us to holiday within the UK, the reasons for which are all too painfully omnipresent still.

As a result of this, the Puma was pressed into service carrying quite literally my entire life on short breaks to various British towns and villages. Like most of you, never before have I taken my own linen to use on a hotel bed in lieu of the linen already there, nor whooshed so many tins of antiseptic spray across a hotel room’s touchpoints – all necessary in our strange new world. As a result of these new considerations, where previously a small holdall would have been all that was needed for a short holiday, last summer I had a large holdall full of the kind of extras I just mentioned.

However, what astonished me most about my breaks wasn’t the amount of stuff I had to take, but instead it was the Puma’s load-carrying capacity. For a car based on a supermini, it has an uncanny TARDIS-like ability. Not only is the boot surprisingly large accepting two large holdalls, a small holdall and a large shoulder bag, but the void underneath the bootfloor (perfect for muddy boots etc) swallows a great deal of other items.

I know initially that I was sceptical about this particular feature’s usefulness, but having used it on many occasions now, I can genuinely recommend a huge hole in the boot. I didn’t even need to press the back seat into service for extra paraphernalia – all that was on the rear bench was a variety of coats and jackets and hats... we went north, a long way north, so layers were very necessary.

Aside from being delighted with the way that Ford has created a genuinely spacious small family car, I’ve also been very pleased to note how frugal the Puma is on longer trips, especially on A-roads and steady motorway trips. Even more pleasing is seeing that the car’s economy was remained pretty impressive during these past couple of lockdown months, especially considering long journeys are now banned, so this economy is for local trips only. 

It seems that Ford has cracked quite a few of the problems that owners have been complaining about for years. Now all it needs to do is address the slightly uncomfortable front end...

I still find that dead front a bit odd-looking – though fortunately, once you’re inside the Puma, you can’t see it anymore. Although someone did recently comment to me that with the lights on at night-time, they thought the Puma was a Porsche. Could be worse!