HELP First Car - KA Needs Welding

[Kalia]

Evening

I think I have rushed into buying a car I have brought my first car a 2007 KA after passing my test last Monday

I noticed it had a squeek when i pressed the breaks occasionally its not due its MOT until April but booked it into Halfords for a service as I have 2 little ones I wanted to make sure it was all safe to drive ect...

They rang me when they was about to start the service to say that they have noticed a few things which needed doing and its stuff it would fail its MOT on so instead of having the service to use the money towards having the repairs done which I have done - they have rang me this afternoon when they were about to fit one of the shock absorbers and noticed there was corrosion to the sub casing? and it had holes in which would need welding but they dont do welding..

Could anyone advise me on how much I can expect this to cost at all? they have said this is what it will now fail its MOT on they have done the rest of the work so its just this but they cant do it..

Also I was just wondering how safe it is to drive with this issue in the mean time until I can get it into the next garage to do the welding..

Thank-you in advance for any help or advice..

[Turn7]

Ka generally fail on front top mounts - stad design is pants and new Ford ones make zero difference.

Rust....

Usually inner wing by fuel filler but also rear subframe - can be quite bad.

Not a huge DIY job but a bit spendy if you have to pay.

We ran one for 14 years, 30 - 125k and it never let us down ever.....just need to service them and keep on top of rust.

Find a decent local Indie if you cant DIY - OR use it to learn how to DIY....

[MethylatedSpirit]

Firstly, every ford KA i've known anyone to own has required almost yearly welding to keep it on the road. So you haven't hit an uncommon problem. Aside from that, very reliable.

Welding is not usually an expensive task (depending on the size and complexity) expect to pay about £50 per hour for labour + some parts.

Use it as a stepping stone. Get some time and confidence behind the wheel and look forward to buying something more refined / bigger / better in 6 months to a year.

Cars are generally expensive. Budget at least £70 per month for basic maintenance (it might come as one big lump of £500 or small little niggles)

[Kalia]

We are seeing if there any family friends who can do it for us.. I dont think the previous owner who had it for 4 years had a service on it ect but i will look after it as long as its fixable ect

Hoping it's not to expensive the mileage on it is low 60k..

Iv no idea about cars and neither has my other half so if we dont have any family friends who are able to do it it will be through a garage of a family friend

[Turn7]

MethylatedSpirit said:

Firstly, every ford KA i've known anyone to own has required almost yearly welding to keep it on the road. So you haven't hit an uncommon problem. Aside from that, very reliable.

Agreed...

MethylatedSpirit said:

Cars are generally expensive. Budget at least £70 per month for basic maintenance (it might come as one big lump of £500 or small little niggles)

You could buy another Ka for that surely....

[paintman]

Turn7 said:

MethylatedSpirit said:

Firstly, every ford KA i've known anyone to own has required almost yearly welding to keep it on the road. So you haven't hit an uncommon problem. Aside from that, very reliable.

Agreed...

MethylatedSpirit said:

Cars are generally expensive. Budget at least £70 per month for basic maintenance (it might come as one big lump of £500 or small little niggles)

You could buy another Ka for that surely....

You could buy something that isn't a rotbox for that.
Typical Ford unfortunately. They've been dreadful for corrosion & I don't recommend removing the big bits of plastic & looking at what's underneath.

[Kalia]

Thank-you really appreciate it

Hopefully wont be to costly and it will keep me going for 6 months - to a year like someone above said - as this is when I will be looking at getting a newer car anyone - this is just for a run around for my first car to build my confidence ect..

Is it usually still safe to drive for the next few days until I can get it into the garage for the welding to be done?
I will be collecting it back from halfords tomorrow who have fitted new Shock absorbers and also done a couple of other bits which needed doing.

[njw1]

Honestly, having had a few Ka's in the family and as much as I like them, I wouldn't bother with it if it's rotten, you'll fork out to have it welded for the mot this year only to be in the same boat next year. If I were in your position I'd cut my losses with it and put the money you were going to spend on repairs towards something else. Mk6 Fiestas are cheap, pretty resilient to rust and leagues ahead of the mk1 Ka in terms of comfort and quality, something small and French would also be a good shout.

Edit, I see you've had some work so I'd get it patched up cheaply for the mot and then you have a year to save up for something better.

Edited by njw1 on Wednesday 5th February 20:27

[Kalia]

Yes they said they didnt know the welding needed doing until half the work was done and they were about to fit the shock absorber..

So we are already paying money out for that work to be done so hopefully we can get the welding done and cheaply and it will get me through the MOT and will do me until I get a new car the end of the year.

Does anyone know if the car is safe to drive in the next few days before it goes into the garage to be welding?

Sorry I was obviously driving around with it for the last week before deciding to get it serviced and then this work came to light.. and some work has been done it's just the welding now.. I am hopefully collecting the car from halfords this morning. But cant get it into the next garage until after the weekend so hoping to still be able to drive it

[MethylatedSpirit]

You're going to have to look at the damage and decide to make that judgment call yourself. It's your car which you're ultimately in charge of.

[njw1]

I wouldn't want to drive it too far if the rot is a structural issue (and it almost certainly will be on a Ka!), the car's not going to break in half or anything daft like that but if you did have an accident there'll be less strength in the bodyshell to withstand an impact.

[Kalia]

Yeah Iv just been and got the car back he said its probably been like it a while but now Its come to the attention to get it fixed so iv drove it home and i have it booked In at a garage tomorrow Halfords are emailing me the photos over soon of the work that needs doing.