2000 Ford Ka from UK and Ireland - Comments

We bought our daughter a late 2004 standard 1.3 as a graduation present, which she thinks is wonderful - her first car.

I've had it fully serviced, oil, filters and fluids replaced and a news set of tyres, the ones on the car had some life left in them, but better safe than sorry.

A week or so ago, she filled up with fuel and went beyond the pump's second automatic shut off and then rounded to the next full £. When she started the car the Engine Warning Light did not go out and has been on ever since. It's something to do with the tank venting part of the emission control.

Our local independent garage who serviced the car connected the analyser but were unable to reset the ECU, so it looks like an expensive visit to a Ford dealer - £95.00 we've been quoted for a reset. Scandalous.

I've got a i.3 collection.

It's a love hate relationship really.

Around town, its awesome. if you belt it out on a flat road it will hold its own, but acceleration is terrible. It's cheap and comfortable, but that's why all the problems start.

It's an 53 plate. I bought it last year with 30,000 miles on it and one careful lady owner (who rode the clutch for 30,000 miles) as my first job after a month was to put a new clutch in it. £450. done. not so great. rust in the door wells. my lights have just stopped working that illuminate the dash. which means I can't drive at night unless I remember my torch. this has still to be fixed. I'm not sure if I have to replace the bulb or the whole dash.

Saying that. when it works I love it and its brilliant. they need a lot of care and attention so if you are looking for low maintenance go with honda or daewoo.

MAINTENANCE!!, simple really, if you look after things they tend to last longer.

The Ka is a cheap city car favoured by student's parents to allow their little angels to visit, so gets a lot of abuse from little 'Hilary' running on fumes 90% of the time and never getting serviced!, Go for cars owned by elderly gents, they are usually highly maintained with low mileages; that's what I do and have never had a problem in 30 years.

The Ka has some silly little niggles. In my experience to date, after buying a W plate for my daughter, we have discovered the following:

Door lock barrels give up (bugger to fit, call a Ford lock specialist, £50 per lock made to your key).

Door wiring looms corrode & give up, central locking gives up first, then speakers & windows. £65 each per loom.

Front discs warp. I find you need to apply a lot of effort to stop, & thus the brakes reach high temperatures, causing the warp.

Power steering pump noise - leaks, check levels, casing & pipes.

Tappets - ancient mechanics for a modern car, but easily adjusted if noise unbearable. Reminds me of Meccano!

Tailgate hinge corrosion - rear wiper relies on good earth contact thru tailgate hinge. Drift out the pins, clean & grease, job done.

Sills & door bottoms rust.

Leaking rear brake cylinders - check these regularly.

That said, if you know a good independent mechanic, most things are cheap as chips to replace & shouldn't cost the earth. When these cars reach 8 or 9 years old and cost you £1200 to buy, you have to expect it is not going to be perfect.

I am 17, and I have been looking at Kas with my dad. We have seen about 20 so far, and every one we have seen has been so rusty. There's rust when you open the doors, the boot, the bonnet and the tailgate. Also you have to look at the drivers seat, most of the ones that we have seen have been stretched or ripped on the side. The bodywork on ka's are normally not that good (slight dents, scratches etc).

Now we are looking at a Ford Fiesta; the next one down from the new model. There are so much better. In fact they actually look like a proper car inside and out. Ka's look like a bubble!

I have a Ford Ka, and it was my first little car, I have never had any trouble with it, they are very economical, and I love it. I think a lot of people on here probably just bought an old cheap car, and expected it to run perfectly, but I'm afraid you get what you pay for.

I have owned 2 KAs - the first was a basic 1999 model, the second (current) one a 2002 Luxury.

With both I experienced some of the small 'common' problems like intermittent back wiper, bushes needing frequent replacement etc. However, I didn't pay much for either of them so ultimately I am not disappointed - KAs are cheap to buy because they are cheaply made.

The most annoying thing about them is the rust, as so many people have mentioned here - around the petrol cap, around the back wiper, on the door sills. My first KA suffered from it badly so when I bought the second one, I made sure there were protective covers over the door sills (which I think all newer models have?), and around the back wiper. Frustratingly I couldn't keep it at bay though as it has appeared around the petrol cap :(

I bought a 2000 KA basic model recently for £1200.

I have had few minor things replaced, for example wishbone, anti freeze added and overall the car looked at. I also treated the rust with a rust kit.

However, the car won't lock now, and whenever I put the key in, it makes a locking and unlocking noise.

The passenger side has never really worked, but I just wondered what it could be and the cost?

Many thanks.

I purchased a Ka, " W", 2000, one owner, full service history, 4xbrand new tyres, new exhaust back box, 10x months MOT and 3x months tax for £1500, for my daughter as her 1st car.

Almost immediately I had to replace the exhaust centre pipe at a cost of £73.

It starts first time, is economical and she enjoys the drive. On the downside, it has rust on both sills, a touch of rust around the petrol cap and will possibly need new wishbones for its next MOT.

Yes, it's an expense, but is easy on the eye, spare parts are on the shelf, most mechanics have experience of working on them and it's not too expensive to insure.

I agree with a previous comment, be choosy what you buy as there's a lot of uncared-for tat out there for sale.

I have a Ford Ka, it's not a bad little runner but the engine cuts out at stupid times. I have a new idle sensor, but the problem still happens every now and then. Just wondering if it may need restarting or something?

I bought my 2000 model Ford Ka 2 years ago, it had only done 19000 miles and I thought it was a bargain. I have since spent more than £2000 on repairs, everything from : the clutch going and having to be renewed, brakes (front and back, front more than once) hand brake cable snapped, suspension arms front and back, steering wheel needing rods, power steering pipe, power steering pump, countless wheel balances/ alignments and now... fan belt. Will never buy another Ford again!