Faults:

Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with the car. Apart from the fact that sometimes when I have my foot right to the floor, a whirring sound comes from the passenger side of the engine bay. I'm unsure of what this is.

General Comments:

Starting with the exterior:

It's a very sexy, cute looking car. I love to just stand and look at it... Makes me sound really sad, but it's a great looking car. I love how the wheels are right in the corners, as this is a great design and it greatly improves the driving feel and usability. It has a tiny turning circle, is very responsive and goes where you tell it to. This coupled with the power steering makes it very fun and easy to drive.

The back of the car has nothing sticking out, which makes it very easy to park, however the boot space hasn't been compromised with the design. If the wheels were a bit further out and met the arches more, this would improve the already amazing handling and make the design more aesthetically pleasing. One more little thing is the wing mirrors - they are very long, look flimsy and let's face it, they look a bit silly really.

And now for the interior:

When I got into the car, the first thing that sprung to mind is the amount of space available. I'm 5'9" and I can be driving the car with 3 adults as passengers, and there is ample room. The seats are very comfortable and the overall feel of the interior is very good for a car in this price range.

There are a load of little cubby holes, which makes up for the lack of a dashboard and glovebox on the passengers side of the car. I can fit pretty much my whole arm into a cubby hole in the driver's side rear passenger's side of the car. As my car is in metallic silver, the interior is balanced with dark cloth upholstery and quite a bit of metal left uncovered, although some people complain about it being too dark if you have a car of a dark colour.

Seeing as I have the collection, it comes with height adjustable seat, electric windows and a CD player. I also have the £500 option of air conditioning fitted to the car.

The sound system is somewhat underpowered, and barely covers the road noise, which can be surprisingly loud at times. If you like a bit of music while you drive I would suggest that you buy a new head unit and some rear speakers for the car.

The driving position is good and you have good all-round visibility. The steering wheel is just the right size and has a good feel. All controls are within easy reach. I am disappointed at the lack of a tachometer, but I hear they included one in the 2003 revised model (with a 70bhp engine instead of the 60bhp).

This brings me to the topic of the engine. With the car being so light, the 1.3i engine makes light work of carrying the car, and a couple of passengers, and it's faster than my Mams' 1.25 16v Mk5 Fiesta. The pedals are perfectly spaced and responsive, apart from the brakes that need a bit of weight put behind them. Gear change is smooth and easy. Some people have complained about not being able to find reverse gear. Sometimes you need so select neutral, take off the clutch, put it back in and you can get it easily. I've not yet had this problem though.

I have owned this car for only a couple of months now, but have had no problems so far. Overall, it's a great car which is solid, and considering it was designed in about 1995, is still a fresh looking design.

Long live the Ka!

Faults:

Window winder failed.

General Comments:

I had 20 months of pleasurable ownership with my Ford Ka.

The only problem was when the window winder failed and I had to encounter the rude, couldn't-care-less, understaffed Ford dealership that I pass on my journey into Liverpool each day. The 12,000 mile service was carried out elsewhere.

I was a little disappointed with the economy of the car, but I didn't drive it in an economical manner: the excellent handling promotes faster driving. I also had to have the front tyres replaced at 12,000 miles due to uneven wear. Does anyone think that this may be due to the prevelence of speed bumps?

The car was equally at home in the city environment and the motorway.

The engine, though delivering adequate power for this type of vehicle, does tend to be a little too intrusive.