Faults:

Radio stopped reading CDs in the first week of ownership. The dealer took 3 weeks to repair the radio, and again the radio died the next day (this time you could only hear AM radio stations). They didn't want to change the radio, but after many days of fighting by phone, they changed the radio... 3 times... with the same problem. When the warranty ended (7 months), I bought an adapter and installed a Kenwood radio. Problem solved.

Cigarette lighter worked only at night. It was changed by the dealer 2 times, then the warranty ended... and then I use it only at night :s

Door seal strips were useless; you can hear the wind noise so strong on highways, and when there was a storm, the rain came in like the Niagara Falls (only with heavy rain and when parked).

Cheap plastic parts broke easily (glove box, trunk latch piece, trunk spoiler, inside light switch, both front lights bulbs connector), or I'm the Hulk.

General Comments:

Despite those horrible first months with the car, it's a good car. The engine has enough power to drive very fast in the city, and the car was so light, that on the highway in a very steep climb, a BMW 318 couldn't reach my speed (140 km/h). Also it's very cheap on gas in the city (it could be better on highway with a 6 speed gearbox).

The engine was fault free with the normal maintenance (oil changed at 10.000 km, sparks and air filter at 20.000 km, brake pads at 40.000 km).

A serious problem was the noise on the highway. Tire noise + wind noise + engine noise = madness. On long trips you end up mentally tired. This car has no insulation at all, it was made for city use. So easy to drive, and stupidly easy to park.

The gearbox was good, with a lot of torque at low revs, and it had a lot of power. The problem was that the engine cries to have a 6th gear; at 120 km/h it goes at 4100 RPM, and with all the noise it was awful.

On winding roads crossing all the mountains that we have here, the car was super fun to drive; you can feel like a rally racer. It could be a little bit frightening to the passenger, because you can feel the car "lifting" the rear wheel.

It's a good car in the old way, just the engine, wheels and frame. The rest was made by drunken monkeys.

I sold the car 2012 and bought a 2008 Civic LXS (so, so quiet).

Faults:

I've owned two Ford KA's. The previous one needed its front suspension bushes in the lower arms fitted after 3 years. These were fitted under warranty. There was a slight paint defect on the bonnet, a small bubble in the lacquer as it was a metallic. Ford fixed this under warranty, and resprayed the bonnet under warranty.

Other problems were caused by other drivers; one rear ended it, and it needed some panel work repaired, covered by the other driver's insurance.

The latest KA is just as great. I purchased it for £4,500 from a Ford dealership, my local gate's a short walk away. The car only had 2,000 miles and was as new.

Since then I've just recently replaced the front bushes with POWERFLEX poly bushes, but nothing much else to report. The car has been driven around the continent, and on winding roads around Ireland, and it's been an absolute joy to own.

Has character, unlike most modern cars.

General Comments:

Great value.

Cheap to run.

Fun with nimble handling.

Lots of character.