Faults:

I can honestly say the only thing wrong was a bit of rust around the petrol cap.

General Comments:

This car is absolutely brilliant. I might be saying this as it was my first car, but I found it really easy to drive, and I loved it whilst I had it, and was really sad when it got sold. I would definitely recommend it to new young drivers.

Also, I just want to say there is a lot of room in the car for a small car, and it is very fast I thought.

Faults:

Various bits of the suspension have had to be changed.

Passenger door leaks after it was replaced following a break-in.

Rear windscreen washer gave up.

Speaker in driver's door works intermittently.

Some rust patches appearing.

General Comments:

I bought the Ka as a more economical form of transport after I wrote off my 1.6 Fiesta. I needed something reliable as my daily commute is around 90 miles, including motorway and country lanes.

The Ka has proved to be brilliant and reliable. It's got a poky little engine and holds on well round corners. The only time it let me down was when the brake pads fell apart meaning the car wouldn't move, but this was down to a fault with the pads rather than the car itself.

I kind of expect suspension problems because of the speed bumps around where I live and it is getting on a bit now. The most annoying thing has been the leaking door which was never right after it was replaced, but of course it didn't rain and show the fault until it was much too late to take it back.

I partly chose Ford because I have problems with my back and I find the seats which Ford fit to be really comfortable and supportive. With the fully adjustable seat in the Ka 2 it is possible to get just the right position.

All in all the car has been great. Although it is still going strong the mileage is very high now and it must be getting towards needing some serious work so I've just replaced it with a Ka Collection. I hope my good experience will continue!

Faults:

Exhaust rusted out and split between the downpipe and the silencer. This was because the car went from barely being used (averaging perhaps 10 miles a week) to regularly doing a 25 mile trip everyday. This is because I live in the south of Manchester and went to a college in Cheshire.

Random, bizarre electrical fault that cured itself. The central locking (which you could lock yourself from within the car by pushing the handle inwards) acquired a mind of its own and would lock \ unlock itself at random. I couldn't leave the car by itself because of this.

Hydraulic tappets regularly went out of adjustment, despite supposedly being a self fulfilling prophesy. Was never a serious problem, it just created a dent in the (already marginal) performance. They were always noisy.

Lost performance once on a country road because I was trying to cook a sausage on the exhaust manifold. It had dislodged the lambda sensor. Once the sausage was chucked, power was restored.

Thermostat leaked coolant.

Air con intake frequently got blocked with leaves.

Handbrake always needed adjusting. I was doing plenty of handbrake turns though. What a car for that! The short wheelbase and ice made that a right laugh.

General Comments:

I was given this car by my mum. Lucky bugger me, no? A great first car it has to be said, especially when your transport at the time consisted of a ragged 1966 Renault 10 with a sporadic misfire, leaking door seals and an automatic gearbox that never wanted to work.

For a 1300 (OK, 1299cc) I thought it was somewhat underpowered. On gradients and on the motorway you normally had to drop down a gear to get the engine in its powerband. I suffered a bout of road rage because of that, because a bloke in a Rover 75 V6 reckoned I wasn't going fast enough up the hill. I had my foot to the floor and was redlining in 3rd. I gave the sign of displeasure at his actions, he proceeded to stop and throttle me (I had my window down as it was a hot day).

The handling was incredible for a car of that size. Impressive grip levels in the dry and wonderful feedback through the power steering. All this and it was still an easy car to park.

Brakes were pretty appalling. Wear rates were fine, but for a car weighing 980 kg dry a larger servo is needed.

Standard fit stereo (CD 6000) an absolute boon. Tight bass and a great stereo reception.

Air con powerful, but hit the performance and fuel economy hard. Air con, motorways and overtaking required a lot of planning.

Back seat was cramped, along with the boot. The back seats didn't even fold flat. Parcel shelf was cheaply constructed.

Seats gave you back ache during long drives.

I stayed out of the fast lane in my Ka. Beyond 80 mph it was not comfortable. Or quiet.

Very easy to drive. Easy to modulate clutch, nice throttle, progressive (if underservoed) brakes.

Exterior metal very thin and bent easily. Paint finish a bit dodgy in places and easy to scratch, although the large bumpers took scrapes with aplomb.

It was my first 'proper' car and based on the above evidence, I didn't give it the respect it deserved.