Ford KA?

Doozergirl

I loved my KA. Specced it up with wheels, cd player, aircon etc - felt more solid than the base model and it was a hoot to drive and great being able to nip in and through little spaces in London.

The slightly larger engine for it's size meant I was happy with the acceleration in town, even after driving a 2.0. I got 40 miles to the gallon.

I liked the driving position which is quite high and I like steering to feel quite firm and responsive, which it was - far more than my H's 206 which felt like steering a skateboard!

I bought it brand new and sorely regretted having a) bought it new and b) bought it new and specced it up. I got totally spanked on depreciation after 18 months but someone got a bargain!

moonrakerz

lucy_w86 wrote: »

The person I was referring to assesses vehicles which have been damaged in accidents. The car which obtained the most damage in an accident was always the KA and there were many bad stories.

I suppose if he told you Elvis worked in the local chip shop you would believe that too !

I say again, ill-informed rubbish !

See: http://www.euroncap.com/home.aspx

Stephen_Leak

bestpud wrote: »

I'm just a little concerned as my niece test drove one and said it was awful to change gears and not the nicest car to drive. My friend's daughter has one though and finds it great. Guess everyone is different, eh?

Ford have always been renowned for their light and positive gearboxes - and again the box in the Ka is a well engineered, tried and tested unit. Personally, the stick could do to be a bit shorter, but you're not going to be rallying in it - I hope!

dieselglider

We had a Ka for 4 years, and really liked it. Economy averaged about 47mpg, although not much heavy traffic where we live. Plenty of room in the front, with a boot which was bigger than you'd think.
Only minus seems to be that they, the sills especially, are prone to rust. Just check out the Ka owners forum. And just for that reason, I would say go for a fiesta...

ps, other minus is that the pre '03 models with the pushrod engine, tend to seize the sparkplugs in the cylinder head. Probably because the head is cast iron, and the plugs service life is 30k mls iirc, so they rust in place and then snap when trying to remove them.

Keith

bestpud wrote: »

Ok, I will check that out thanks.

What I have read so far has been quite positive as far as crash testing goes (for a small car that is).

I was driving a Ka when it was hit in the side by another car at 60mph and ended up on it's side in a ditch. The car remained very much intact and I was very surprised how tough the little things are, all of the bumpers came off protecting the passenger cell.