Changing the "Shed" estate to a KA?

[Tuvra]

The tax is up on the trusty old Mondeo next month and the £270 (or somewhere near) tax is starting to grate on me, as is the insurance due to its "high performance" 2.0 engine. This car was bought basically to carry our two small dogs around however since we have moved we now have direct access into the large country park via our back garden and therefore we do not need to carry the dogs about as much.

Estate cars are handy and I have found myself looking at T5's, HOT Aero's, etc however I have now decided that I want to sacrifice the "handyness" for "cheapness", I also want to travel a reasonably rough road to work which is single lane and only has small pull ins to pass other cars so something small with decent suspension / high walled tyres would be useful.

This morning I stumbled across a Ford KA at a local dealer and I must say I am tempted, cheap insurance, cheap road tax, high mpg, go kart like handling and all for under £900. So what kind of issues can I expect from the KA bar the tin worm? Are the engines reliable? I have a guy working for me that can sort out niggly bits like suspension, brakes etc I am just a little nervous about the reliability and life expectancy of the little engine (I know its an old design).

If not a KA then what else? Budget is a maximum of £1k and it must be cheap to run, please no suggestions of T5's for £500 and £500 for petrol etc...

[TameRacingDriver]

I think the Ka is pretty bullet proof, its mainly rust you need to look out for, and I understand the MPG isn't as high as you might expect from such a low powered car.

Not as good to drive but what about a Micra K11. Totally indestructible.

Or staying with Ford, what about a Fiesta 1.25 / 1.4 Zetec?

[SirTK]

I believe the Ka Sport has the 1600 Duratec RoCam engine which is quite brisk and hugely torquey (I have the same engine in my playtime car) but is apparently quite thirsty. You can run it on cheapo Euro 95 petrol though and it goes just as well.

[TameRacingDriver]

SirTK said:

I believe the Ka Sport has the 1600 Duratec RoCam engine which is quite brisk and hugely torquey (I have the same engine in my playtime car) but is apparently quite thirsty. You can run it on cheapo Euro 95 petrol though and it goes just as well.

£220 road tax though, if that matters to the OP. It's down as a combined 37 MPG, so its not too bad on juice, IF you can resist the temptation to hoof it everywhere. Also will you even get one for under £1K? If not, but the MPG and tax doesn't put the OP off, then why not look for a Puma?

[SirTK]

Ah yes, the £220 road tax.

Given the number of sunny days, that's about £1 a mile for me

Edited by SirTK on Monday 20th May 09:34

[Tuvra]

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I couldn't drive a Micra, just something about the look of them, that and the fact that I used to rib one of my rugby team mates for driving one

Fiesta 1.4/1.25 seems a fair suggestion, what alarms me is the number of them that are for sale being advertised as "having new X, Y, Z" recently etc. Maybe completely unfair but its the same thing that put me off a few cars in the past.

Puma is a no go, I should have said I must have back seats of some sort as I need to carry the dogs occasionally (fold seats down with small cage) and also sometimes I would need to carry rugby team mates to training etc.

I did look at the Street KA and there is one locally for £900, I will add it to my watch list. The Tax again is a bit of an issue on these though, the MPG I can live with, after all if it drops low its only myself I have to blame

[Funkycoldribena]

Mate ran a 2002 upto 175k,serviced it everytime Haleys comet went past,only thing it needed was tappet adjustment,still see it around now,must be pushing 200k.

[g3org3y]

Which year? Early KAs had the 1.3 endura engine. Based on a 1950s Kent design iirc. Bombproof but rather agricultural. No power. No torque. If you thrash it, economy properly suffers.

Rust is the killer for these - sills, boot, around the fuel cap.

Brilliant fun handling though.

Seats fold down and it's actually quite practical (for tip trips etc).

[Vince70]

How about something French such as a 106 or a saxo I know French cars are generally tat but the 106 and saxo come from a time when the French knew how to build a generally good cheap reliable little car.

[TameRacingDriver]

Vince70 said:

How about something French such as a 106 or a saxo I know French cars are generally tat but the 106 and saxo come from a time when the French knew how to build a generally good cheap reliable little car.

Pretty good suggestion there.

What about a Seicento Sporting, cheap as chips to run, loads of character, and with the back seats down, an almost van like profile.

[Tuvra]

Again appreciating the responses.

I am undecided on what year KA at the moment, the one that caught my eye is a 2008 listed in a no reserve auction. I don't know what this will make though. There are a number local to me ageing between 1998-2003 and price varying from £500-£900 (classified).

I could live with the French stuff and actually I could live with a Seicento Sporting. How reliable are the Seicento's? I instantly wrote them off as unreliable Fix It Again Tomorrow...

[TameRacingDriver]

I think the 1.1 FIRE engine in the Seicento (which was also used in the Punto) is a pretty reliable lump that likes to be revved hard, and they are extremely simple cars that can be ran on a very tight budget, there aren't many Fiats I'd have either, but when I was looking into it, there wasn't much to go wrong here.

[PedroB]

Having owned and abused both I'd go for either a 1.25 or 1.4 Fiesta. Both of mine were bulletproof and never let me down.

Watch of rust on the sills and rear arches. Also check the rear brakelines, their design means they are prone to getting caked road gunk and corroding. Other than that it is standard stuff, make sure the cambelt has been done too.

[Tuvra]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have my eye on a local 2003 (well 2004 almost, it was registered 22.12.2003) Ford KA with 45k miles on the clock that is ending this afternoon. This is my main target and if I don't land that I will be looking at the other options.

[tigger1]

I had a 55 plate Ka for a few years (1.3 duratec), no problems.

Economy was 40-45mpg with a mix of city and motorway driving (mostly driven like I'd stolen it). Great fun round roundabouts, not so much on short motorway sliproads...

Big enough to fit a MTB in the back (seats down, one wheel off) - but certainly not something I'd want to do long journeys in (although occasionally did).

[New POD]

I find the best way of chosing a sub £1000 car is to look at adverts in your local new agents. You'll find all sorts of low mileage ste, that people have owned for years and looked after well enough. Just pick the 3rd one you see and close your eyes and it'll be fine.


Saw a Rover 75, 35K for £1000. being sold by an old lady as "too big". It was her late husbands.

Thought "Nah"

[D4MJT]

Tuvra said:

I did look at the Street KA and there is one locally for £900, I will add it to my watch list. The Tax again is a bit of an issue on these though, the MPG I can live with, after all if it drops low its only myself I have to blame

Mrs D4MJT has an 05 plate StreetKa that she likes. I can't remember what the tax is like, but she does quite a bit of mileage, around 20-30k a year currently, and she gets around 42mpg from a tank currently. It's a torquey little engine, and the spec isn't bad considering. Hers is the "Winter Edition" so she has heated black leather seats, CD player, heated windscreen, and electric windows and mirrors. The boot is a decent size, the only downside is the alloys seem to be very soft on the StreetKa and SportKa so they buckle very easily on potholes with the 45 profile tyres.

Bar that, it's been pretty much trouble free.