My Luck...

[jordypants1994]

Hi all,

Long time lurker but only just joined. I currently own a Ford 100e (unmodified) which at the age of 18 is a weird choice according to most but I quite enjoy it. However, the joys of being a teenager and having got a job delivering pizzas for a well known chain means that I have to replace it. Having agreed to sell it today to a very knowledgeable guy I've known for a while, the engine decided to eat itself on a delivery job this afternoon. Seems to be my luck. Anyway, I was wondering what everyone's opinion on the Ford SportKa as a replacement, as I want a fun but insurable car with relatively low ownership costs.

Thanks

[kiethton]

Surely they are simple enough (with enough off the shelf parts) to rebuild the engine without too much skill or knowledge required?

If your set on a new car I would stay clear of a Ka (if in the cheap price bracket) as most are thoroughly rotten by now.

Far safer with something like a yaris 1.5 (forgotten what they call it) or corsa 1.4/1.8 Sri

[Papa Hotel]

Love your choice of first car!

[430T]

SportKA do pretty poor MPG IIRC.

Out of interest, with these pizza delivery jobs where you use your own car, do you have to have business insurance or is that all sorted by the pizza company? I'm considering applying..

[JREwing]

Papa Hotel said:

Love your choice of first car!

Nice choice!
And I recommend the Corsa too. It may be fairly uninspiring, but they just make sense. In my (thorough) experience, they work well and any maintenance is rare and cheap.

[jordypants1994]

With the Ka it's not too much of a problem - there's a mint one not far from where I live at a good price, showing no rust and with full Ford service history.

re the rebuild - I haven't much time for it, but I have sourced a recon unit for not too much so that'll be going in once I get my hands on it I would be tempted once the current engine is out though to attempt a rebuild/fix when I get the chance - which probably won't be anytime soon thanks to upcoming A-Levels and 5 nights a week at work :P

[BlueMR2]

All the stop starting will not do an engine much good.

I'd probably get something cheap and give it plenty of oil changes.

Save your money for a car to enjoy when your job doesn't entail screwing it over every day.

[jordypants1994]

430T - they have insurance that covers you where I work so it's all good

I'm not too worried about MPG as I make money at 20MPG in town on mine, so it's not much of a problem, and I want a car that'll make me smile without breaking the bank to buy and run, seeing as I'm giving up a car that I searched high and low for that makes me genuinely happy.

re the corsa, yaris etc - I'm trying to avoid the 'beaten path' so to speak, as I have relatively decent income and a penchant for different stuff I did find that an Alfa 147 1.6 facelift was around the same price to insure though, but I'm worried about parts costs etc with that.

In fairness the big end had been knocking for a while - it was a matter of time I guess, even with frequent oil changes etc it still munched on itself so I guess this is just nature's course, so to speak.

[Matt UK]

A fit K11 Micra should be reliable and if memory serves me correctly far more fun to drive than many think.

[Paulm4]

Get a shot of an ignis sport, they sell themselves! Great fuel economy too.

[Dalto123]

Matt UK said:

A fit K11 Micra should be reliable and if memory serves me correctly far more fun to drive than many think.

They're not too bad! It has quite rolly suspension so don't expect it to be like an original Mini in the corners. That said the engine is fairly pokey, you need to rev it to get the best of it (from my experience of my 998cc). Reliability wise they're OK, but must admit we have had a few issues with our car in recent months - but that's the first time in about 50,000 or so miles we have owned the car (now on 86K miles - bough with less than 30k) it ever let us down. Only negative thing I have against this car is the rather uncomfortable seats, and you really do feel it when you've done a long journey (to me at least).