1998 Ford Ka from UK and Ireland - Comments

Cassette player failed.

Rust developed at the welding around the rear door.

Rear wiper unreliable.

Engine management failure causing the engine to race of it's own accord and the car to fail to slow down on engine braking.

A miserly equipped poorly built expensive little car with no room in it for anything apart from a, rather small, ladies handbag. These cars handle very well and are quite fun to drive, although the early models without even power steering are so badly equipped the cost is hard to justify.

As a second town car there is a lot to be said for the KA, although for shopping purposes the boot is small and the load space impractical. I feel this is a car designed on looks over practicality, which is a shame. The basic design of the car means the the engine compartment is too small for any work to be carried out. I suspect even a small failure would mean out with the engine to fix it. The nice curve of the body coupled with no low level protection means that the sills and lower part of the doors are usually peppered with stone chips.

I wasn't happy with my KA, which I have since replaced. Whilst the drive was quite nice round town as our only car it was totally impractical. My KA started to rust after 8 months. I know that Fords build quality has been questioned but these Indonesian assembled Fords seem to have shockingly poor bodywork finish. I also experienced a problem with the engine management that caused the engine to rev on it's own. When this happened the revs would never drop below 2500 meaning that taking your foot off the throttle approaching a junction had no effect! Stopping and restarting the engine would cure this. A call to the dealer told me this was impossible and simply couldn't happen... Hmmm Head, sand... you get the picture.

Myself and my boyfriend both have KA's with unreliable rear wipers. I also have a problem with my boot release, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

If you look at the boot when open, there are three metal prongs sticking out of the door, if these or the contacts on the body of the car are dirty or covered over, then the door electrics won't work.

When I recently had one of these as a courtesy car, I was tempted to reverse the damn thing into a wall to see if that would shake the boot release into working.

Is it me or are these cars very very ugly??

The engine speed sensor is obviously faulty so fuel shut off on over-run is not working. Easily fixed by a competent garage.

Same thing happened to my boot opener.

Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn't.

If your engine has problems, you better go quick and get it checked.

Happened with my old one: that engine failed and then air con starts to leak. Therefore, it causes that fan to not work afterwards and the electrical loop goes wrong as well.

Many problems with this Ka and I have only had this car for less than a year from new.

The problems with the rear wiper are due to a poor earth contact between the wiper motor and the shell.

Remove, clean and refit and all is well :)

My Ka is not yet 3 years old and already I have had to have my gear box replaced and now my ABS has gone.

Having called the garage it is too dangerous for them to come out and pick it up, so I will have to drive it there myself.

I assure you although I'm a woman my driving isn't that bad. Both problems have been described by mechanic's as known problems with Ka's.

Clearly my next car won't be a Ford.

Our 1997 Ford Ka, used mostly by my wife and not every day, has a continuing problem with damp on the engine! It is mostly a build up around the plugs where water (condensation perhaps?) seems to lay in the area around the spark plugs.

The rocker cover is peeling paint badly and dropping loose peelings into the same area, making it all very untidy.

Is this normal?

The last time the plugs were changed it needed very careful cleaning around this area before they could be unscrewed.

Apart from that the car has served us well. It has some quirky habits such as the engine management, which really confused us after a new battery was put on the car. It took a little while to correct itself although there us a warning in the handbook to make you aware of this happening.

The Ka has a massive UK following, and despite some rather (petty) complaints, it remains one of the best selling and best driving cars on the market.

Every car has good & bad points, the only bad point of the Ka is the rather old and underpowered engine... oh hang on, haven't Ford just announced the 1.6 version?

Stop moaning about petty problems which are rare on these cars. If you get a bad one, it's just bad luck, not representative of the thousands that are on the road, and will continue to be so long after some of the garbage that costs more.

My Ka? 1998 S-reg, 80,000 miles (all mine), only problems are other people attitudes.

A design classic. Broke the mold for car design, whether you like it or not. You wouldn't see half the car designs today if Ford hadn't shown some guts to make the thing.

I've read the "reviews" here, and I do think some people need to study the sector more before making such harsh judgements on the Ka.

First off, it was released on the 11 September, 1996. Back in those days, power steering was still a bit of a luxury item on small cars. Air conditioning and anti-lock brakes were still only fitted to the top range models as standard.

To slate the early Ka1 has having miserly equipment shows a lack of knowledge about the other cars of that price and sector. The Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 Merit came with... err... a slothful 1.2 litre engine, four forward gears, and rubber-covered foot pedals. You didn't get a rear wash wipe, the fifth gear was an option, and that was that. What you did get was a steering effect that was similar to shouting, "hard-a-port" and after a few seconds, the car would start turning left.

The nearest competitor in the early days was probably the Fiat Cinquecento. You think the Ka's engine bay is cramped; try a Cinq. You think the boot of the Ka is small; try the Cinq. The Cinquecento was a good deal cheaper than the Ka to start with, and it has a slightly larger interior in the back, but it's not as comfortable for two people. Horses for courses, then.

The Nissan Micra could be considered a competitor - again, check out the equipment levels and boot space before telling the world that the Ka was hard done by in these respects.

As for the "engine management" problem - that's a dirty idle control valve. You should always get a second or third opinion if you don't rate the dealership's verdict. That's true of all makes!

The boot release, also covered here, is an earthing problem.

It's you; these cars are not ugly.

Odd that, within the Ka Klub, we've not known of any gearbox and ABS problems. You'd have thought with 500 members, we'd have heard of something by now.

All cars will have condensation problems if they're not allowed to properly warm up.

And on to the Ka's design. Was there anything like it when released? No. Is there anything like it now? Perhaps. Volkswagen have tried to go all "cute" with their Lupo, but it looks contrieved and poncy, and it drives somewhat... limp. The Yaris has a sort-of funky, Ka-ish look about it, too. Following where Ford's "Edge" design led, then!

So in summary - slate the Ka all you like, but ensure you've actually studied the other cars in the sector. Otherwise, we'd all be telling us that the Ka is too small (it can't seat eight people plus luggage), too slow (it doesn't have a 7.5 litre twin-turbo V8), too thirsty (it doesn't have Ford's new PSA-licenced 1.4 litre HDI engine, oh hang on, watch this space), etc. etc. etc.

And for goodness sake, try finding a new car that handles as well as the basic Ka (available for £5K if you look hard enough) for the same money...

The DervMan

www.dervman.com.

Rust is a major problem with the KA, particuarly around the door and dorr sill areas. Watch out for metal kick plates ie on the Collection model as water will turn the underside of the plate into a rusty mess.

Great car, but the the rust problems are a disgrace.

The Ka is quite outstandingly ugly, and built like a sardine tin to boot. The gearbox and engine are quite rough. It is not even slightly innovative and didn't "break the mold" (sic) - it is just a Fiesta with a silly body on. That body, incidentally, dents very easily and rusts too quickly for a modern car.

The first comment here was very fair. Funny how the "Ka Fan Club" rush to its defence at the slightest criticism and, apparently, would like to pretend it has no faults whatsoever.

My wife bought a Ka early in 2003, a 2000 model with 21,000km on it. It is great fun to drive, and quite refined for its size. It has a little underbody rust along some of the seams, from being kept near the sea by the first owner, but I have fixed that. It also had a round rust spot under the driver's door, the dealer had repaired under warranty. We've done 10,000km in it, so far its been reliable, except for refusing to start a couple of times, the immobiliser is a bit sensitive. Overall it is not the most refined model in the Ford range, but it is certainly the cheapest.

Our 1998 Ka has not had a single problem from new, yes it is a pitiful 1.3 engine, but the idea was it has low cost insurance, yes the 1.6 is avilable, but why get one when you can get a 1.6 rs turbo engine to fit.

They don't rust any worse than any other ford (and there are some really rusty fords out there ;)

the black bumper models are ugly, but the body colored ones are much nicer.

1998 Model.

Feels like it is too high on the road for corners to be appreciated.

Plenty of leg room for tall drivers.

What in God's name where they thinking with the Glove Compartment area. It leaves space for the belly of a 30 Stoner.

It gets to 80mph no sooner than night becomes day.

Feels a little like a train in its momentum and unsafe.

Breaking is light progressive then non existent.

Shape is unique and can be complemented for initiative.

Steering is too heavy on the one I drove (on loan for 2 weeks). The steering margin reaction arc is to large and leads to delayed response in handling.

It feels like a car that you really would like to push and push and push until she blows up right in your face and only then will justice be done.

Why make a car like this for a starter - a starters car should be a lot better, better brakes, sterring and handling, cos they're the ones who will need a car to forgive them for their inexperience, n'est pas?