Faults:

Well rust, rust and more rust. Basic mechanical's were OK over the time I had the car, usually cost me nothing but wear and tear parts being replaced as you would get with any car, and I kept it serviced, but the car rusted very early, especially around the fuel cap, which looked horrific and in the end made me get rid of it.

General Comments:

The car was rust free when bought at only 5 years old, but at 10 years when I got rid of it, it looked awful.

The car in general was one of my first cars so I never had much cash to spend or could get anything decent due to insurance. My old Honda Civic was better, but was unfortunately written off in an accident (not my fault), I would not normally pick a car like this again. The Ka is a gimmicky car with a cramped interior, odd looks, and just not as good to drive as people say. I believe mine was one of the last of the older 1990's shape before a face-lift later on. For a 2006 car it was dated.

1.3 petrol was cheap enough to run, but was very slow.

Overall a car you buy as a first or second car, but not one to keep long term. I actually don't mind Ford's, my father had a Mondeo at the time which was over 10 years old and had no rust and was an excellent car, so I have no idea why the Ka from this time period suffered so badly from rust. For any doubters, I kept the car looked after and serviced on time and clean, but nothing could stop the rust. Was even garaged most of its life. Was glad to see the back of it in 2016, have since moved on to a 2014 Vauxhall Astra GTC, a much better car in every way, though a little unfair to compare the two cars.

Faults:

A/C not working.

Heater broken/malfunctioning.

Steering shakes at highway speeds.

Tonnes of rust, especially around/under the tank filler cap, and the bottoms of doors are rusted.

Rear springs broken.

Battery went flat (probably due to the aftermarket engine/cabin heater, which requires the fan to be run together with it).

Lots (I mean LOTS) of water entered the trunk via the tail lamps; I have fixed it with duct tape. Also holes in the rear body caused by previous owner slamming the rear hatch way too hard when closing it. The thin metal sheet can't stand for that, so the "stop pads" (don't know what they are called in English) have hammered holes in the body, which I have covered with duct tape to slow the rust growing from those holes.

I have seen other Ford KAs with the exact same impact damage on the hatch as ours; people are simple banging that door way too hard. A little shame, because if one closes the hatch door the way it is meant to be closed, that is lowering the door with the hand grip inside, and then closing it with light force, it would have lasted. But people, especially women, think that the hatch door must be closed with the biggest possible BANG - and the metal is simply not strong enough to withstand that.

General Comments:

Bodywork is of very bad quality and craftsmanship. Built from the cheapest available materials.

Replacing the front light bulbs is a NIGHTMARE; never seen such impractical "solution" before.

The good things are there's lots of joy when driving and cornering in the city and back roads. And it's relatively silent in the cabin when doing so. Brakes are very, very easy, and have a wonderful "feel" of precision to them.

Door locks, electric side windows and such are good and work fine.

BUT when you take it on the highway, it becomes loud (not louder than other small cars though) - and the shaking in the steering wheel begins.

The electric fan makes an annoying, rattling noise.

You could ask why we bought such a low quality car?? - Well my girlfriend fell in love with that sweet little yellow KA, and I found it cute also. I thought "well, one used mini car is just as good as the other, it's not important if it is a Ford or Toyota or Mazda or whatever" - And it was only 8 years old, so it couldn't be that bad. And I honestly admit that I didn't really look closely at it, just bought it for the girlfriend. BIG mistake. I will never ever buy something with the brand Ford on it again...

Of course I am aware that the previous owner was a woman, and they don't always treat cars well. If I had owned the car from new myself, all those terrible things wouldn't have happened to it And a car so fragile as a Ford KA simply can't withstand it. We still have our KA; it will have to last for 10 months more. Our plan is to buy another car September 2016; not sure which brand, but not Ford...