Faults:

I have got a green Ford Ka. When I bought the car, the brakes were not good at all. Have had all them changed (really cheap).

Also had to have a new wishbone. The car failed the MOT with rust and a headlight was shot.

The previous owner had a con MOT and never looked after the car.

General Comments:

I have owned this car now for just over a year now and it has never missed a beat; it drives like a dream. It's a bit nippy as well.

I was just wondering if anyone can help me out? I am going on 130 mile trip on holiday for a week on Monday; do you think she will take me there and bring me back? No motorways involved.

Faults:

Rust, steering column groans on full lock, rust round the fuel filler, driver's seat collapsed - did I mention it RUSTS!!??

General Comments:

Bought as second car on stories of legendary handling - probably has that, but it's hard to exploit it when the steering column sounds like it's collapsing. The dealers want ALL the money for spares, and make it known you have the budget buy from the range, and to be honest that modern (when conceived) shape deserved better than a 1950's pushrod engine from the Anglia, albeit with some tweaks.

But the biggest issue, and the thing that is most unforgivable for a car from the new millennium, is that the thing rusts - they all do!! Sills, round the fuel filler, anywhere!!

It's criminal that Italian cars carry the stigma of being rotters long after Italian makers had sorted the problem (Lancia's woes meant they had to), whereas Ford "they have cheap parts" - good job you need a fair few of them - made some right rot boxes for a long time after - the last Escorts, Orions, Mk2 Fiestas and some early Mk3s are bad, but I cannot believe that they got away with the KA and its rust issues.

The sad fact is that they were praised at launch, and when people go back to look for an early "pure" KA to see what the fuss was all about, there will be none. They occupy that throw away end of the market, and by the time that is realised, it will be too late. For me that is the overriding memory and Achilles heel of the Ford KA.

Faults:

The car developed a steering problem where it would veer violently while braking/accelerating/changing gear - turned out to be a fault with the differential, which cost over £600 to fix. This problem had also caused the left tyre to wear excessively around the outside edge, which meant I had to replace the tyre twice within 6 months.

Suspension bushes need replacing around every 10,000 miles or less - which is apparently standard with after-market bushes on a KA.

Bodywork is very prone to rust in certain areas (around petrol cap, around back wiper mount, around door sills where protective covers are not applied). Older models often require welding to the sills.

Back wiper tends to work intermittently, although fiddling with the connection usually fixes it.

General Comments:

I have owned two KAs - one was a basic 1999 model, now I have a 2002 Luxury. I think the experience of owning a KA is down to pot luck - some never encounter any major problems, while others tend to fall apart around you.

My first KA never had anything majorly wrong with it except rust both on the upper bodywork and the structure underneath. Obviously visually that wasn't too good, and it always needed some welding to pass the MOT at around £100 a time. I owned it from 54,000 miles to 80,000.

I bought my current KA a year ago, and since then I have had to pay around £800 fixing various things. Altogether I am quite disappointed with this second KA compared to the first.

However, for what I initially paid for the car, it's not too bad. KAs are cheap to buy because they are cheaply made - which is something you have to accept. When you see forums full of the disadvantages of owning a KA, it can easily put you off - but the amount of KAs you see driving around every day must count for something. They're a popular car because they are cheap and have a reliable engine - you just need to be as savvy as possible when buying one and keep an eye out for the common problems.