2003 Ford Ka Luxury from UK and Ireland - Comments

I had an accident in the car just a week after buying it. That part was my fault, but the four-month saga of trying to get it repaired properly was a joke.

However, having finally got Ford Insure to take the car to a Ford dealership body shop, the flawed paint finish has been restored to its former glory and almost all the correct parts are now fitted.

Fuel consumption is appalling. I had expected things to improve marginally from a basic 8v Fiat engine that needed beating within an inch of its life to haul you up to the national speed limit.

I'm traveling no faster and in a much more relaxed style, but the fuel consumption is evil. On my I'm doing around £15-£20 per day where the Fiat used to be about £10-12. Still a darn site cheaper than the train though.

The quality of the car is exceptional, it handles better than a Ford Puma and looks a million dollars with the body-colored bumpers and Luxury model alloys.

I disagree with comment made about fuel consumption. I get between 250 and 275 miles out my full tank and that's around town. It loves the motorway. I am very pleased with my KA. I am just about to purchase a body kit for it including side skirts and rear and front valance. I already have a spoiler on it and I it will look well cool!

4 months to get it sorted try 2 years it seems the problem with body repairs and the KA is they think it's a cheap car driven by poor people that don't care or know what quality is so they put the apprentice on it (this type bod these days are mostly uselsss) and then don't check it before it goes out.. Mine was repaired and I ended up suing the body shop and they ended up paying more than the car was worth in legal fees I then had to get a good repair shop to fix it and they did it no problem (it may have been the last result that worried them) but like everything. Workmanship is a state of mind and on the KA they just don't seem to care.

My wife's 1 year old KA received a large groove the full length of the driver's door and a small dint in the rear quarter thanks to an anonymous person whilst left in her works car park.

It took 3 attempts for the Ford bodyshop to get the repair right. The first time the mastic sealing the new door skin looked like it had been applied by a 2 year old and the paint started peeling off after 1 month.

The second time, after the dealer kept the car for over 2 weeks, the paintshop 'pro' had left paint fingerprints all over the inside of the door and the trim panel near the mirror was hanging off. Also the door had not been cut back and polished properly.

Finally after my wife informed the manager in no uncertain terms of her disappointment at the level of service she was receiving the repair was completed satisfactorily.

I live in Australia and purchased a 2001 Ford KA basic model three months ago locally. The model was current in Australia from 1999 to 2002, a relatively short run. I've yet to see another on the road since purchase. I'm fairly pleased with the vehicle since there are only 45000 kms on the clock.

My only conundrum at the moment is how to remove the tailgate wiper blade from the vehicle so I can replace it. Haynes manual says to use fingers only and pull. But all to no avail after WD40 and finger use.