Puma: the real 5-year cost
The Ford Puma is Britain's best-selling car for a reason, and its running costs help explain why. At £25,980 to buy with 50.4 mpg combined, five years at 8,000 miles a year costs £27,857 — about £464 a month. Fuel runs to £1,046 a year, insurance £608, maintenance £454, road tax £190. Those are modest numbers for a car with SUV styling, a huge boot including the famous MegaBox, and genuinely enjoyable handling.
The Puma proves you do not need to pay big-crossover money to get crossover practicality — it undercuts the Qashqai on purchase price while costing barely more to run. We have totalled five years of fuel, insurance, maintenance and tax to give you the honest monthly figure. The results confirm its reputation.
| Purchase price | £25,980 |
| Fuel (5 yrs) | £5,232 |
| Insurance (5 yrs) | £3,040 |
| Maintenance (5 yrs) | £2,270 |
| Road tax (5 yrs) | £950 |
| Minus estimated resale value | −£9,613 |
Puma depreciation is gentle because demand is so strong — being the UK's favourite car is a residual-value superpower. Even so, year-one nearly-new cars save real money. To keep costs down: the mild-hybrid 1.0 EcoBoost is at its best with smooth inputs, so avoid harsh acceleration; service at independent Ford specialists; and keep the mileage sensible, since high-mileage examples lose value faster in this segment.
Our verdict: the Puma is the default answer for a reason. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, fun to drive and easy to sell — the complete package for British family buyers, with the five-year maths to prove it. It is no surprise Britain keeps buying them in record numbers. Few cars get so much right for so little money.