Ford Ka: good or rubbish?

Ford Ka: good or rubbish?

Author
Discussion

The_Burg

4,845 posts

213 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
Great little cars much the same as a proper mini. (including the rust)
Surprisingly good off road too, not that i'd want to confess anything to the hire company in Feurtaventura.
Engine is essentially and old 'Kent' so quite tweakable.

vit4

3,507 posts

169 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
The_Burg said:
Great little cars much the same as a proper mini. (including the rust)
Surprisingly good off road too, not that i'd want to confess anything to the hire company in Feurtaventura.
Engine is essentially and old 'Kent' so quite tweakable.
Heard quite a few people referring to it as the Mini's spiritual successor, can see why tbh. Never driven one but they do seem like a bit of a laugh, doesn't matter how hard you drive it, you won't get anywhere, but all in good fun. smile Wouldn't mind one at some point.

davepoth

29,395 posts

198 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
If you're used to a beetle then the lack of power won't be an issue. It's a cheap car, but it's a good cheap car. biggrin

ymwoods

2,177 posts

176 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
vit4 said:
The_Burg said:
Great little cars much the same as a proper mini. (including the rust)
Surprisingly good off road too, not that i'd want to confess anything to the hire company in Feurtaventura.
Engine is essentially and old 'Kent' so quite tweakable.
Heard quite a few people referring to it as the Mini's spiritual successor, can see why tbh. Never driven one but they do seem like a bit of a laugh, doesn't matter how hard you drive it, you won't get anywhere, but all in good fun. smile Wouldn't mind one at some point.
Bit like a 107 in that respect smile

littlebasher

3,767 posts

170 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
As a tight git, back in 2002 i leased a new one through work for my weekly commute from Southampton to Sheffield....Proper peasant spec

Stuck 36000 miles on it in just over a year

Thrashed the nuts off it..apart from the stereo catching fire in the dash on the M1 near Nottingham and the clutch being shagged it seemed to survive me pretty well

Definately better on twisty back roads than the motorway though!

Mr Dave

3,233 posts

194 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
They are rubbish.

They are also good.

Good rubbish. Cant go wrong with one really. Other than not looking cool at all.

Engineer1

10,486 posts

208 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
a great road going go cart of a car, if the handling is off walk. My wife's ate springs, 3 changed in 4 years of ownership, but it was parked up on the curb, it also needed the power steering rack changing which is close to scrap the car price on an older car. Having said this when set up with everything right they are fun but can feel a little exposed and underpowered on the motorway. So give it a test drive if it goes like a go cart buy it stick some good winter tyres on it, the wheels are tiny 13 inch so they are cheap or should be then thrash it through the winter.

neiljohnson

11,298 posts

206 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
Proper cheap & cheerful motoring make sure the sills are not rotted through & as already stated the power steering racks not leaking & you should be fine as virtually everything else is peanuts to fix if it does go wrong!!!
Amazingly good fun to drive, power slides at 30mph are fun too hehe

P.s just thought, make sure the passenger footwell is not wet a badly fitted windscreen will leak water here straight into the top of the ecu & costs a fortune to put right smile

y2blade

56,029 posts

214 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
I had one, it was a hoot apart from the engine
mine was one of the first ones (1997 plate) with the rattly as feck Endura E (kent) engine

I had 2 engines and 2 top ends in mine all while it was in warranty

also the front wishbone bushes wear VERY quickly, cheap to fix though with genuine (rubbish) parts


other than that it was great fun
it handled like a go-kart, buy a newer one (2002 onwards) with the Duratec and you should be laughing



Edited by y2blade on Friday 1st October 07:31

Pugland53

574 posts

169 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
I too am after a cheap winter hack and the Ka is one of the cars on my list. My wife has owned 2 over the years and they are a cheap reliable run around. Some of the engines are a bit tappety but ours never rusted. They are cheap to run and insure and you should get most of your money back when you sell in a few months too. They are not the most refined car on the motorway but they do handle very well. For a few hundred quid I think they make a good winter car.

B'stard Child

28,324 posts

245 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
koolchris99 said:
rust like nothing else...
+1 (although owning Opel/Vauxhalls means I have to like rust!!!)

jon-

16,497 posts

215 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
FrostyCab said:
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!
This.

I used my girlfriends as a winter hack last year, 50 miles a day, loved it.

Once you get over the lack of power they're fantastic in the twisty stuff. Best handling small car I've ever driven, by quite a long way. Only down side is they're extremely unrefined, so very noisy in the cabin etc.

Returns more than 40mpg however it's driven.

EXTREMELY cheap to service, eg suspension arms £20, full discs and pads for the front, £40.

The 2003+ duratec engine is much better.

Epic snow machines.

robsco

7,822 posts

175 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
The truth is, that they are fantastic fun. The engine is asthmatic and they do rust like nobody's business (sills, around the rear wiper on the boot, fuel filler cap etc.), but if its in good nick I'd be sorely tempted. As for the KA being the Mini's spiritual successor, the first thing that came in to my mind as a comparison would be the Alfasud.

Edited by robsco on Friday 1st October 10:51

HellDiver

5,708 posts

181 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
You'd be better of with a similar vintage Fiesta. Less rusty, and you don't look anywhere near as idiotic driving it.

I quite like the old Endura-E engine, it's great fun revving the crap out of it, and they're pretty much unburstable.

rallycross

12,747 posts

236 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
its very cheap at that price, even if its a basic one with black bumpers and wind up windows its a good price. if its a better spec one with colour coded bumpers and elec winds/c/locking then its worth £1500 if the mileage is less than 70k and its clean.

and they are good to drive, , a bit slow but will sit at 80 on the motorway without a problem, cheap to run, rust is the only real problem.

Edited by rallycross on Friday 1st October 11:29

Mini1275

11,098 posts

181 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
koolchris99 said:
rust like nothing else...
I'd take that back biglaugh.

y2blade

56,029 posts

214 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
HellDiver said:
I quite like the old Endura-E engine, it's great fun revving the crap out of it, and they're pretty much unburstable.
the two complete engines I had in mine along with two further top-ends must have all been Friday afternoon ones then wink


needless to say I kept it right up until the warranty was due to expire then shifted it on



Edited by y2blade on Friday 1st October 11:33

Steamer

13,846 posts

212 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
007 VXR said:
busta said:
Cheap, fun, good in the snow (skinny tyres, no power, weight over the driven wheels) and disposable. Sounds like the perfect winter car.
+1 work well in the snow
boxedin I think they are great fun! Really fun 'go-kart wheel on each corner' feeling.

Downside 1: I'd hate to be seen in one that didnt have 'Hire Car' or 'courtesy car' plastered down the side

Downside 2: People drive right up your bumper!! They think just because you are in a KA you'll punch like a girl

Blackwedge

283 posts

177 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
Rubin215 said:
I'm looking for a bum-basic winter comuter.
Well the back of them looks like an arse biggrin

Seriously though had one for about 18 months as a runabout to keep the miles off my real car and it was dirt cheap to run, reliable and good fun to chuck about. Definitely what the new mini should have been.

soxboy

6,063 posts

218 months

Friday 1st October 2010
quotequote all
If you can get it for that price, do.

My missus had a 53 plate one. Think of it as a hire car and you won't be disappointed. Loves being thrown around, you can rev it as high as your ears can stand.

However, even at that age it rusted like buggery, it was made of tin foil, the suspension needed work. The final straw was when the ECU went, we were told it was a bd of a job to get a replacement (some quotes came in at £700+). Eventually got it mended though, but got rid straight after.

Even when the car was shagged she was offered £800 for it. Got it mended and got £1800 for it, phone was ringing off the hook from people wanting a cheap runabout first car.