Ford Ka: good or rubbish?
Discussion
I'm looking for a bum-basic winter comuter.
Must be reliable, economical and have four wheels and a heater.
A friend has a 2002 Ka which she bought for an au-pair that she then sacked five weeks later; she's now selling the car (and swears never to have another 20 year old German au-pair).
36000 miles, a bit scruffy, £800 (the car, not the au-pair).
What do you think people?
Must be reliable, economical and have four wheels and a heater.
A friend has a 2002 Ka which she bought for an au-pair that she then sacked five weeks later; she's now selling the car (and swears never to have another 20 year old German au-pair).
36000 miles, a bit scruffy, £800 (the car, not the au-pair).
What do you think people?
k to be in as a passenger when you've got a mate driving like he's got someone shocking his balls every five seconds.
I hate the look of them. A big bubble on wheels.
However, I recently had to borrow one and the engine is very nice for what it is. Obviously you are never going to be getting rockets out of the back end but it does move. The car handles very well too. Infact the only handling thing that I can comment on badly (if I was being very picky) is that it feels a little numb round corners and the body roll feels scary, but it holds ok once you get your confidence in it.
It's a car built to a price and it reflects that with plasticy interior etc but it does not rattle and its not completly tat. For the price its a lot of car, and a very good one at that.
However, I recently had to borrow one and the engine is very nice for what it is. Obviously you are never going to be getting rockets out of the back end but it does move. The car handles very well too. Infact the only handling thing that I can comment on badly (if I was being very picky) is that it feels a little numb round corners and the body roll feels scary, but it holds ok once you get your confidence in it.
It's a car built to a price and it reflects that with plasticy interior etc but it does not rattle and its not completly tat. For the price its a lot of car, and a very good one at that.
I like them, borrowed a friend's one once when my car was out of action and I was pleasantly surprised.
This was an '03 plate lux or something edition, had leather interior, body coloured bumpers, air con and alloys, which gave slightly wider tyres and made the handling quite good fun.
Having never owned one I couldn't tell you much other than, as already said, they rust. Some also seem to suffer from quite tappy engine's too.
This was an '03 plate lux or something edition, had leather interior, body coloured bumpers, air con and alloys, which gave slightly wider tyres and made the handling quite good fun.
Having never owned one I couldn't tell you much other than, as already said, they rust. Some also seem to suffer from quite tappy engine's too.
Leaky steering racks (£900 job at Ford garage, £300 from an independent), notchy steering on PAS models ( requires a whole new steering column which is a ford only part), rust in lots of places.
Generally speaking they are simple and robust, but some are starting to show their age a bit as all old fords do.
Generally speaking they are simple and robust, but some are starting to show their age a bit as all old fords do.
Main things,
Rust on the sills, boot lid and round the fuel filler.
They eat power steering racks (the wife is on no 3! same year as the one your looking at!)
Front suspension wears quickly, rocker cover gasket leaks on the endura engine but costs pennies to fix and the spark plugs have a nasty habit of shearing in the head. If you fancy changing them, run it till hot and soak the hell out of them in WD40 and be very careful!
Overwise a great winter hack and really quite a hoot in around town!
Rust on the sills, boot lid and round the fuel filler.
They eat power steering racks (the wife is on no 3! same year as the one your looking at!)
Front suspension wears quickly, rocker cover gasket leaks on the endura engine but costs pennies to fix and the spark plugs have a nasty habit of shearing in the head. If you fancy changing them, run it till hot and soak the hell out of them in WD40 and be very careful!
Overwise a great winter hack and really quite a hoot in around town!
Had one as a courtesy car once, ridiculously slow I had to change down to 4th on a slight hill on a dc as it couldn't even maintain 70. Doesn't actually handle that bad but it's pretty basic inside.
For a cheap runabout it's fine but if you want to do a lot of motorway/cruising sort of driving I wouldn't recommend it. More suited to town driving or short runs. Also overtaking even slow moving vehicles requires plenty of planning!
For a cheap runabout it's fine but if you want to do a lot of motorway/cruising sort of driving I wouldn't recommend it. More suited to town driving or short runs. Also overtaking even slow moving vehicles requires plenty of planning!
Rubin215 said:
I'm looking for a bum-basic winter comuter.
Must be reliable, economical and have four wheels and a heater.
A friend has a 2002 Ka which she bought for an au-pair that she then sacked five weeks later; she's now selling the car (and swears never to have another 20 year old German au-pair).
36000 miles, a bit scruffy, £800 (the car, not the au-pair).
What do you think people?
Wrong car. Japanese Saloon obviously.Must be reliable, economical and have four wheels and a heater.
A friend has a 2002 Ka which she bought for an au-pair that she then sacked five weeks later; she's now selling the car (and swears never to have another 20 year old German au-pair).
36000 miles, a bit scruffy, £800 (the car, not the au-pair).
What do you think people?
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