I posted a while back regarding the possible need for a small runaround and was looking at a Mk1 Focus hatchback or Fiesta. Having reconsidered budgets regarding purchase price and running costs I was thinking of the Ka.
I'd never previously considered a Ka but a friend has just bought an S Reg. I was amazed at just how simple and basic it looked. It was strangely refreshing to see bare metal and basic controls. It even looks vaguely repairable by a DIY mechanic compared to my Pug 406!
Does anyone have any additional real world experience of Ka's and their foibles?
thanks
Edited by Honestjohn on 23/04/2009 at 20:07
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The Endura engine is a great engine, lots of low down torque and very simple to repair, the only time you should need to remove the rocker is to adjust the tappets. Post 98 ones had a stronger camshaft and these are the ones to get, the earlier ones had weaker camshafts which meant at around 60k-100k the tappets needed constant adjusting.
No cambelts to worry about.
Watch the plugs are not rusted into the block
Very simple with not a lot go wrong but suspension bushes do and rust is the main killer of these. Have a very good look underneath some 98 S Ka's are fine others should have been scrapped years ago.
My friends 2000 W example was more rusty than the Titanic when she sold it.
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Car by Car Breakdown?
The KA is a cheap car, made cheaply - it wont be up to much more, than a run around in the town - if thats what you want it for it will do the job well
Anything more than that, then there is much better and be up to the job more.
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edit; i have just re-read ur post - and seen that you have read the CBCBD
:-)
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I found they are fine on the motorway (as a passanger) but at speeds of 60mph plus the noise does get irriting, the Fiesta would be a much better bet if road noise is an issue.
Round the town though I cannot think of a single cheap small car which gives as much fun without killing you in a 10mph shunt.
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ive stopped buying these older than y reg due to corrosion issues
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cannot believe im reading this
KA was a rustbucket from new
get a fiat panda they are galvanised and new pandas are million % better than ka
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KA was a rustbucket from new get a fiat panda they are galvanised and new pandas are million % better than ka
I would agree - there is so much better than the KA, and prbs better value too.
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I bought one when they first came out - my first brand new car - and loved it, but had to sell it a year later to get a mortgage. A few years later I bought another one, and loved it as well. But I would have to say don't do it- I looked to get one for my wife in the last six months as a run around, but EVERY ONE was badly rusted on the drivers sill and often around the petrol cap. Even 54 plate ones. The Ka itself is fantastic for what it is - a simple, cheap town car - but honestly they just seem to rot away after a couple of years. Its a real shame because to drive and to be a passenger in they are remarkably good. Maybe if you find one cheap enough to spend some money on bodywise it could still be an option but I would think that at least half the ones I looked at at around £1500-£2000 (Y - 51 regs) would fail an MOT in the next year on the drivers sill. Probably the best cheap town car I saw was the Pug 106 for condition V price, but in the end my wife kept her Rav 4 and I changed my car instead.
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I've noticed that Ka;s are also very cheap on the used market so I wonder if their reputation for rust is now well known?
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If you can get one without terminal rot, they're fabulous cars. Better to drive than anything at anything like the price, cost buttons to fuel, maintain and repair, and generally very reliable. Perfectly acceptable on the motorway too where that torquey old pushrod engine is quite happy to pull 5th up all but the most severe inclines unless heavily laden. A grin a minute in the twisties as well in the manner of the old Mini - just agile, chuckable and huge fun.
I would second the recommendation of the 106 as well. Better choice of engines (including diesel) and spec levels, much less rot prone, and every bit as nippy and enjoyable to drive. Peugeot parts prices are no more expensive than Fords overall if you use the aftermarket.
Edited by DP on 23/04/2009 at 18:10
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We have a Ka. It's technically my wife's but I nick it all the time. It's a hoot to drive. She bought it new five years ago for £5000. It isn't rusty. It has never had any problems mechanically. It costs buttons to run.
To say they are all rotten is frankly, well,....rot really.
I found a 1p sized rust patch under the drivers door about 18 months ago. It had been caused by the door being shut on the seatbelt buckle. I repaired that and it has been fine since.
Great wee car.
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My daughters 02 has no rust either. Cracking little car
I used to borrow it until she passed her test and since then the inside has not been cleaned and I am afraid of catching a deadly virus.
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for the record
ka"s are like minis you might not see corrosion on the surface but its eating away underneath
rear chassis legs
inner sills
outer sills
floor to sills
front floorpans all round to flitch and side sills
rear floorpans
all over above the fuel tanks
front crossmembers
a panels
rear quarter panels under the plastic wheel arch spats
see a ka as a micra or even a mini from leyland,there is no real rust protection on them
they were cheap and cheareful but as i said they are rotboxes
mk5 fiestas are now going the same way quicker than you can boil a kettle
rust and fords you cant beat it
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I owned one for just over 3 years, it was the most reliable motor I've ever owned, but yes there was a bit of the brown stuff lurking around the sills, but nothing to write home about.
Much more comfortable to drive on a long journey then the 03-reg Fiesta that replaced it.
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Had a bit of an argument about this, a friend wants to buy a MK5 but I told him I hadn't seen one in my hunt which was not rusting. The wheel arches on the MK5 (1999-2002 model) seem to be rotting quite badly.
That said my dads Ford which has a 1996 VIN is still solid underneath but one of the arches has gone.
Had a good look at the underneath of my Corsa when it was at Ted's and its pretty solid underneath, much better than my Fiesta but then it is 3.5 years newer.
I still see a lot of old Ka's on the road so they can't all be that bad.
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