Hydraulic fluid hose failed - my daughter reported smoke from the engine bay and had the good sense not to drive further. Hose was repaired under warranty - and subsequent recall of all KA in Australia followed.
Front plastic guards came loose and wore away on the front wheel.
Gear lever knob fell off.
Clock failed and was replaced.
Black plastic fenders fade quickly in the Australian sun.
Window clip caps fall off and steel stud corrodes quickly.
Gearbox whines at certain speeds and tends to lunge when changing gears.
Fruitbat droppings (a car hazard in our area) stripped paintwork very quickly.
Cabin is noisy.
Great air conditioning - a must for all cars in Australia.
Tight black shag pile of floor carpet shows dirt and hard to clean.
A nippy little car that holds its own in city traffic. Fuel economy is great and has been a very good learning to drive car for my daughter.
Bright and breezy and fun to drive.
Pricing by Ford was eratic and initially high for the quality. Sales discontinued early - not well supported by Ford. Service costs are high for a cheap car.
Ford tried to market the car against higher quality low priced small cars and came off second best. I now think Ford do not to know about them.
I haven't seen any of this present in the uk versions. I agree about the black bumpers (fenders) looking worn, but this problem can be solved with the collection which has colour coded bumpers (fenders). Ford must have messed up with the aussie version.
Well what can I say it's a ford crap crap crap. I bought my Ka from my local dealer in Margate, Kent, England. And within a week the steering rack blew all its seals this was fixed under warranty and then the next day it blew again and it was fixed again then the same day the front suspension went. so I took the car back and said stuff it. the car on the out side may look cool and all that, but under the bonnet/hood lerks a pile of crap a kent engine that is noisey and rough as door nails and all ways need feteling. and the cabin noise oh my god you cannot hear your self think the noise is deafening on long jurneys and the engine rusts before you eyes why ford made an engine out of cast iron I will never know. you can read all the spill on these cars, but don't be fooled just stay away buy a peugeot or skoda or somthing as I have gone back to my Daewoo Espero 1.8 CDI which is the best car I have ever had as it takes all the abuse I can throw at it and I do abuse it and when Daewoo come back that's where I will be going as they can build cars they might not be a big name, but there car are built to last.
Daewoo are finished mate, and if you think they made good cars, you have no place criticising a Ka.
As an Australian 2001 Ford ka owner with 45000kms on the clock I agree more or less with the above comments. Every ka I looked at for purchasing had those plastic window stud covers missing with resultant rust, but this is really an insignificant item as far as rust goes. The plastic top of the gear-change lever had broken off, but the roadworthy mechanic super-glued it back on and is OK.
As an afternote, the spellchecker on this program is a bit finicky with a penchant for dashes.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site