Fiat!! No No Nooooo NO! Dont do it to yourself, the cars are great but dont leave yourself chance to be a victim of the dealer network.

Can't be any worse than half the Skoda dealers at the moment

I loved the C1 when I had one as a courtesy car. Now why won't they do a 'hot' version!?!!?

Ford Ka - Based on 1995 -2002 Ford Fiesta IIRC, cheap relaible motoring, specs are now quite good compared to a few years agao, watch the base model as sure you just get a tape player still!! The engine is nippy but can be traced back to the 50's as mentioned, never driven one but think it handles quite well. If your going for one try to get one with colour coded bumpers as it looks' terrible with black bumpers in this day and age!!

Hope this helps

Davy

I'd definitely go for a Panda over a Ka anyday - I wouldnt buy a new car that was basically a 12 year old design.

Also, what about a Proton Savvy? Proton sales are very poor at the moment and I'm sure dealers would give you a great deal on a new one.I know Protons have an image problem and aren't the last word in refinement, but for what you need the car for I'm sure it'd be fine.Or a Chevrolet Matiz or Kia Picanto.

Nice to see this is still running guys!

Not bothered about a 12 year old design, my Polo is a facelifted version of a 1970s design and that manages quite well. Older = smaller = ideal for my use.

Not bothered about black bumpers either, I've got one on the back of my Golf! Oh, and as for having a tape player, so does my 17 year old Polo and I've never used that either. I either listen to the radio or talk/argue with my passenger/s.

17 year old Polo?

Is that the old breadvan/Coupe shaped model, they look pretty cool, I wanted one as my first car.

As for tape players you can always get them changed.

I loved the C1 when I had one as a courtesy car. Now why won't they do a 'hot' version!?!!?

IIRC didn't toyota offer one with a 1.4 that was quite well tuned as standard.

Might not have been a UK model mind :(

My wife has had a 2002 Panther black KA lux from new which has now done 56K. Its a nice looking little car with cream leather interior, alloys and lots of electric gismos.

Its never let us down, last year I changed the front disc's and pads at 48K and today while I was doing a service I replaced both front lower suspension arm bushes but other than that all other mechanicals are the originals.

The front tyres wear very quickly, 18-20K and they are gone, the rears are still the originals and have 3mm tread left.

I'm 6ft 2" and 16 stone and have no problems driving it, sure acceleration is a bit slow but it will easily do 80mph + and is still quite at that speed, handling is good, possibly slightly better than my octy vrs

The bad news is rust, when it was 3 years old the tail gate was changed because of rust around the wiper spindle and in the last couple of months rust has started to appear around the fuel filler apperture. We are gutted about the rust, the KA's been well looked after and cleaned regular using Megs products.

Although its been reliable the rust has spoilt it, and I dont think we will consider buying another Ford come replacement time.

IIRC didn't toyota offer one with a 1.4 that was quite well tuned as standard.

Might not have been a UK model mind :(

There is a company supercharging the 1.0 petrol Aygo.. They managed to double the output of the engine..

Toyota also offer it with a 1.4 diesel engine but given the economy of the petrol it's really not worth it.

My wife has had a 2002 Panther black KA lux from new which has now done 56K. Its a nice looking little car with cream leather interior, alloys and lots of electric gismos.

Its never let us down, last year I changed the front disc's and pads at 48K and today while I was doing a service I replaced both front lower suspension arm bushes but other than that all other mechanicals are the originals.

The front tyres wear very quickly, 18-20K and they are gone, the rears are still the originals and have 3mm tread left.

I'm 6ft 2" and 16 stone and have no problems driving it, sure acceleration is a bit slow but it will easily do 80mph + and is still quite at that speed, handling is good, possibly slightly better than my octy vrs

The bad news is rust, when it was 3 years old the tail gate was changed because of rust around the wiper spindle and in the last couple of months rust has started to appear around the fuel filler apperture. We are gutted about the rust, the KA's been well looked after and cleaned regular using Megs products.

Although its been reliable the rust has spoilt it, and I dont think we will consider buying another Ford come replacement time.

the tail gate on my octavia got rusty in a couple places at only 4 years old or possibly younger yet my brothers focus which is now 9 years old has only 2 spots of rust which are on the very edges of the doors where the previous owner has hit things with them and chipped the paint

17 year old Polo?

Is that the old breadvan/Coupe shaped model, they look pretty cool, I wanted one as my first car.

As for tape players you can always get them changed.

It's a GT 'Coupe'. Wouldn't need to change the tape player as I only use the radio. It's just a town car, I'm rarely in it for more than 15 minutes at a time.

After all the thoughts on the Ka, I'm swaying back towards an old VAG banger. Chuffed if I'm spending £5k of mostly borrowed money if its going to get rusty after a couple of years. May as well spend sub £1k on something already rusty!!!

They are far too light chew tyres! handle ok, but feel like they are made from paper, especially the suspension, and are v thirsty! had 2 steering racks and 3 track rod arms within 18 months - they do not like potholes!

They are noisy, rattly and cold!

My Vrs beats it hands down, even doing 50+mpg when I've got my foot down!

Had a Ka for 3 1/2yrs and mate was a Ford Mechanic, and he said from a mechanical point of view, they are badly made and badly designed. It took him 30mins to just change the headlight bulbs!!!:eek: No space at all in the engine bay!

I would look for a cheaper Fabia for under £5k.

It's essentially a MK 4 fiesta.

Cheap to fix.

As for changing the light bulbs, I didn't have a problem doing it for a friend far easier than many other cars I've seen.

Things to watch for the the MK III/IV fiesta suffered from would be sill and rear wheel arch rust I would guess.

I think the Ka is ideal for a cheap run around that is simple, with few luxuries but will keep running for not too much.

A 107/Aygo/C1 would also be a very good buy or a smart if you wanted to splash out.