Ford Streetka - Hardtop essential?
Discussion
Don't do it. The sportka was a superb little commuter in its time, and the streeka inherited some of that DNA but they are heavy little things and the Sportka was far from fast even being a chunk light. However, that era ford was a rust bucket - our sportka went through no end of springs and when I get rid it was starting to rust badly on quite a few panels.
Make sure you check everywhere for rust!
Make sure you check everywhere for rust!
Tiggsy said:
are they that bad??? Ex wife had a puma like that but I thought 05 Ka's where ok??
whats the alternative? £2k fun bucket?
Seriously bad. Nice little car, which makes it tempting, but it WILL rust.. Badly. whats the alternative? £2k fun bucket?
Some even failed their first MOT on rust. I remember doing some work on my aunts one last year and as i climbed up from the floor i put my thumb through the A pillar!
You won't have to go far to find out how bad older fords were for rust.
OP.
FFS do not let her buy one of those POS cars!!!
the Mrs bought her Tammy and then reality bit and she realised that she couldn't really drive it every day in the winter. As a result we went out on the hunt for something small, cheap and that she could take the top down on whenever she wanted (often seen in minus temps with the roof down and faux fur hat when she had the S2K!)
We looked through so many different things it was unreal. Tigras seem to leak like a sieve and every single StreetKa we saw looked twice their age. The driving experience was enough to remind you that most of the people on the road don't give a s
t about cars other than that they 'look nice' and go from A to B.
In the end we were about to go out and buy a £1.2k R reg MX5 which we reckoned £800 and a few beers to a mate who is good with basic spanners (like discs and pads and adding a new exhaust) would suit her to the ground.
We had a bit of a look about though and as we are lucky enough to have a bit of capital ended up buying a '57 folding hard top with 16k miles, FMSH, 12 months MOT, just serviced and with the next service free for a fiver less than £9k from a Mazda dealer. Even better it was a mile from home. This was one of my little points on why we should buy it as we had just spent the better part of the last 3 weekends driving 100's of miles looking for/at cars - put a petrol and time cost on that!
FFS do not let her buy one of those POS cars!!!
the Mrs bought her Tammy and then reality bit and she realised that she couldn't really drive it every day in the winter. As a result we went out on the hunt for something small, cheap and that she could take the top down on whenever she wanted (often seen in minus temps with the roof down and faux fur hat when she had the S2K!)
We looked through so many different things it was unreal. Tigras seem to leak like a sieve and every single StreetKa we saw looked twice their age. The driving experience was enough to remind you that most of the people on the road don't give a s
t about cars other than that they 'look nice' and go from A to B.In the end we were about to go out and buy a £1.2k R reg MX5 which we reckoned £800 and a few beers to a mate who is good with basic spanners (like discs and pads and adding a new exhaust) would suit her to the ground.
We had a bit of a look about though and as we are lucky enough to have a bit of capital ended up buying a '57 folding hard top with 16k miles, FMSH, 12 months MOT, just serviced and with the next service free for a fiver less than £9k from a Mazda dealer. Even better it was a mile from home. This was one of my little points on why we should buy it as we had just spent the better part of the last 3 weekends driving 100's of miles looking for/at cars - put a petrol and time cost on that!
Edited by Rude-boy on Friday 21st November 10:09
SVX said:
Daihatsu Copen. Cheap as chips, and if you can get past the badge, the little 4-pot is a bit of a screamer. (Obviously I have no direct knowledge being a well built Co. Director type).
This is a good suggestion.The Ford engine is a fairly wheezy 1.6 8v, so the copen will be a bit more alive.
Pebbles167 said:
This is a good suggestion.
The Ford engine is a fairly wheezy 1.6 8v, so the copen will be a bit more alive.
Understatement alert!!! More gutless than a fillet of fish.The Ford engine is a fairly wheezy 1.6 8v, so the copen will be a bit more alive.
Oh and have a look at the VED for the Ka, that's enough to put you right off as well. It's not a cheap car to run and from our investigations (including having owned a 'normal' Ka a while back) really does fit the description 'Fix Or Repair Daily'.
SVX said:
Daihatsu Copen. Cheap as chips, and if you can get past the badge, the little 4-pot is a bit of a screamer. (Obviously I have no direct knowledge being a well built Co. Director type).
A good shout, They have quite a following too.The SportKa's were a real hoot to drive, one of the most grin inducing cars I've driven, Such a shame about the rest of them, they even looked quite cool too!
Tiggsy said:
hmmmmmm.....oddly, she just sold a coupen thing as she was bored with it (and it was having issues)
Ah ok - Then as other posters have mentioned, a MR-2 roadster is a good steer. But in the defence of balance (and personal experience) a R127 SLK 230 Kompressor (check for rust!) will give plenty of smiles per mile. rhinochopig said:
This or a mk3 MR2.
Depends on the engine, as the 1.8 VVTi (but not the VVTLi) in practically all Toyotas (Corolla/MR2/Celica) I've experienced seem to have a weakness around oil consumption and eventually get the 'death rattle'.Despite the suggestion that '03 onwards models were 'fixed' of the issue, I eventually had excessive oil consumption and it started eating the required 'type approved' catalytic converters.
If I had to choose between corrosion and engine failure, it'd be a much simpler choice.
I found the StreeKa to be a good fun drive - it's important to think of it as a bargain car and not compare it to more premium/established convertibles as it wasn't really meant to compete (much like comparing a Mk1 Ka to a Polo/Jazz/Corolla)
SVX said:
Ah ok - Then as other posters have mentioned, a MR-2 roadster is a good steer. But in the defence of balance (and personal experience) a R127 SLK 230 Kompressor (check for rust!) will give plenty of smiles per mile.
We considered an SLK for a few minutes. Then neither of us could remember the last time we saw one that wasn't being driven by a lady 'of a certain age'.I'm not sure if the OP's o/h id into blue rinses yet...
Rude-boy said:
SVX said:
Ah ok - Then as other posters have mentioned, a MR-2 roadster is a good steer. But in the defence of balance (and personal experience) a R127 SLK 230 Kompressor (check for rust!) will give plenty of smiles per mile.
We considered an SLK for a few minutes. Then neither of us could remember the last time we saw one that wasn't being driven by a lady 'of a certain age'.I'm not sure if the OP's o/h id into blue rinses yet...
And I have an SLK AMG 2013.....so don't want an old one!
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