Strange topic on a Skoda (VAG) forum maybe but I'm sure there will be some of you who will have had plenty of experience of the little things as you see them every where.

Cutting a long story short, my old Polo is past it's sell by date and I can't be bothered to MOT it again so it's off to the scrappy (unless any of you know of a mk3 Polo already in a scrappy that I can get some bits off? ).

Having looked at all sorts of small town cars that I can get for around a grand on the local forums and in the trader etc nothing has remotely popped my cork.

It needs to be a small car otherwise I'd just use my Golf, and having considered the usual VAG suspects, Polos, Ibizas, Arosas etc etc I can find nothing available that I want. So I thought maybe I could raise the stakes a bit and looked at things a bit dearer. Still nothing. But my head keeps getting turned by the local Ford stealerships knocking out the last of the old shape Ka's in base model format (ideal for me) for just under £5K.

Now I don't have £5k to spend, but when I considered the other things I would likely buy they are mostly around a minimum of 5 years old and aren't that much cheaper than the baby Dagenham Dustbin. Factor in the fact that the Ka would come with 3 years warranty and they don't actually depreciate that badly anyway and they make a fair bit of sense. So a bit of a bank loan and the possibility of 3 years cheap motoring instead of a potential money pit and you can see where I'm coming from....maybe.

Any constructive thoughts?

Hmm. The KA. I spent nearly a year in one whilst my Fabia was resting, and the only good thing I can say about it - you dont have to use the brakes much. Other than that the engine is from a 50's Ford Anglia, they are thirsty for the size, utterly gutless - i dont mean compared to anything.... they are just gutless.

For that sort of cash, depending how small you want to go, Id look at a Smart for 2.

the new Ka look good.

the engine is an evolution Dave with many many changes from the original engine and bares little resemblance

what parts are you after as i live next to a scrappy

the engine is an evolution Dave with many many changes from the original engine and bares little resemblance

what parts are you after as i live next to a scrappy

Its cast iron, pushrod, and rattles. Id say it was quite similar.

what parts are you after as i live next to a scrappy

Of all the things to need on a car: I'm after a bonnet hinge!!! Broke mine and can't find another

Are Ka's that gutless? I'd read much about the wonderful handling but I do need something that actually feels like it's got an engine under the bonnet. I'm currently borrowing my Mum's Citroen Xsara 1.4, now that really is gutless, unless there's something wrong with it as it doesn't seem to want to pull in second gear at all! Still it rides nice over the speed humps....

the 1.3 ka is only 60ps. what age polo is it you've got?

just noticed your sig

Yeah it's a 1991 Polo GT, 75 PS engine. Quite nippy as very low geared.

Was originally considering an Arosa 16v to replace it with, then back to my old favourite a 2.0 8v Ibiza GTI but couldn't find any that weren't sheds, then considered a mk3 Ibiza 1.6 Sport but not quite sure about that one, the last time I drove a version of that engine I thought it was a gutless pig!!! Mind you that was in a MK4 Golf loan car a good few years ago.

I think I may end up with a push bike.

Its cast iron, pushrod, and rattles. Id say it was quite similar.

was the old Endura-E not phased out somewhere around 2002/3?

was the old Endura-E not phased out somewhere around 2002/3?

Quite possibly. I'm not up to date with fords engine line up. What do they use now?

i would stay way clear of the old ka. they were famed for rusting. the new one looks ok but certainly wouldnt have one myself.

I think they have at least a 6 year corrosion warranty so buying a new one wouldn't be too much of a worry there. I'm more concerned about how well they go and how often they fall apart!

I think they have at least a 6 year corrosion warranty so buying a new one wouldn't be too much of a worry there. I'm more concerned about how well they go and how often they fall apart!

The front bushes wear out almost monthly if you use the handling. The wheel bearings are almost disposable too. I wouldnt like to see you waste your ££ on one tbh mate.

Ahh well, back to scouring the bargain basement sections in the classifieds then.

Mind you, how about a VW Fox? Guess I may have to start another thread there LOL

I liked my Ka3 when I had it.

It did handle very nicely though being a 2000 it had the older engine which was a bit lame and not that fuel efficient.

The newer ones come with a much better engine though I wouldn't want the poverty spec trim that you are likely to get for £5k

Poverty spec would suit me fine, it's just something to drive to work, Sainsburys and the council tip. All I need is a basic small car. I have a Golf GTI for doing the 'real' driving!

Ford KAs are not usually good news, they suffer with rust around the sill and inside the arches. Fairly reliable apart from that and if anything does go wrong you can replace most parts for next to nothing.

Although to drive they aren't great. Feel very vunerable in them and they handle pretty badly for a small light car. Why not replace your Polo with another Polo, or are the newer models too big?

For the same money as the Ka you wouldn't get much Polo. If I was paying £5k I would want lots of warranty (I'd have to borrow a fair chunk of that amount and would want my money to go as far as possible) and I don't rate the 1.2 engine in the Polos. Had one as a courtesy car once and not overly impressed. Maybe a Fox 1.4, but I'm not overly keen on them. And yes, the Polo is a bit big too really as the handy thing about my old Polo is that it can fit through some very small gaps!

In very simple terms, I don't mind spending about a grand on an old-ish car and at that price would be expecting to pay out for a few repairs along the way. I wouldn't want to buy a slightly newer car for £3k as that would probably need as much spending on it in repairs as the 1k car judging what I've seen on sale so far, the £2k price difference from a £1k car would pay for a lot of repairs and or modifications to the cheaper car. If spending £5k I would want a nearly new car with lots of warranty and thus not have to pay out for any repairs!!!

I know some people who used to use them as driving school cars, the consesus was, though they were easy to drive, and quite reliable, they seemed to go through "consumables" at an alarming rate....

for example new discs and pads every 10,000 miles, (bear in mind my fiat is up to 61,000 miles now, and the brakes haven't yet been touched!) new clutches every 20-30,000 miles (80k in my vRS, clutch still felt like new) ect ect....

although parts are cheap, they just seemed to get through alot, even things like exhausts! I can't even remember having to have a new exhaust, not since I used to run on "banger mentallity" motoring......

Poverty spec would suit me fine, it's just something to drive to work, Sainsburys and the council tip. All I need is a basic small car. I have a Golf GTI for doing the 'real' driving!

What does your budget get you in terms of a 107/C1/Aygo?

I think they are a very nice city car , surprisingly spacious and good fun to drive.

Very economical too,

I probably only do about 3k per year. I work 2 miles away and don't exactly have an exciting social life. But if the suspension is fragile then I'd be in the dealers a lot as a regular route I drive has over a dozen speed humps some of them quite nasty.

What does your budget get you in terms of a 107/C1/Aygo?

I think they are a very nice city car , surprisingly spacious and good fun to drive.

Very economical too,

I've not really looked at many alternatives to the Ka TBH. It's only the fact that I drive past a Ford dealer on the way to work and they often have nearly new Ka's outside for under £5k. I was originally just looking for an old cheap small VAG car, hopefully something with a bit of character.

The C1 sort of half appeals to me in an odd sort of way

I know a couple of people with 1.3 Ka's (one old engine, one new). They were actually Ford's test bed for the Puma which is why their handling is leaps ahead of anything else in their class and the 1.3 engine is perfectly adequate although will not set the world alight. Neither has had any issues, despite the cars regularly taking them to airfield days. My main gripe was that I couldn't get comfortable behind the wheel so best to drive one to see what you think.

Casting the £5k net a little wider, there are a fair few up-to-1 year old small cars (eg Fiesta, Micra, Corsa, etc) on the Trader in budget, and if you stretched a little you could get a brand new Panda Active or Panda Dynamic close to budget:

FiatSupaSaver.com - Why Pay Dealer Prices? Brand New Fiats- Huge Discounts

Chris