Have been offered a Ford KA for scrap money (£80) and was thinking of buying it for a little run around for the wife until we find something she wants.

Car comes with no M.O.T. (just run out) but will come with some tax if i pay for that (tax was going to be cashed in by owner).

Are there any sites to look at for common faults/problems to look at.

IIRC it's a 'W' reg and not in to bad a nick body wise,but apart form that i know nothing about it.

TIA

Edited 2 September, 201015 yr by jaymd

Good deal Jay - that's exactly the kind of thing i want to happen to me for a second run about!

Should you want to MOT it and sell it on for £100 let me know!

Quick google brings up..

http://www.kaklub.co.uk/

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showforum=3

http://www.fk-oc.com/

http://www.kaownersclub.co.uk/

pretty sure one will feature a "things to look for" thread

Good deal Jay - that's exactly the kind of thing i want to happen to me for a second run about!

Should you want to MOT it and sell it on for £100 let me know!

Quick google brings up..

http://www.kaklub.co.uk/

http://www.fordowner...php?showforum=3

http://www.fk-oc.com/

http://www.kaownersclub.co.uk/

pretty sure one will feature a "things to look for" thread

Cheers

is that £100 delivered

i might be able to stretch to coming up and collecting for that price

Check for serious rust,it may not be worth even £80,and never pass an MOT without throwing lots of cash at it.Mate at work was in same situation,needed sills and some serious welding work done underneath,seems to be quite a problem with Ka's.

Offer the guy £140 with a new ticket. If he refuses, walk away. If he accepts, you should get your money's worth out of it whatever happens.

Offer the guy £140 with a new ticket. If he refuses, walk away. If he accepts, you should get your money's worth out of it whatever happens.

She's going to scrap it if i don't want it as she has just got a new car.

Will go and have a quick look at it tonight to check for rust etc.

Front suspension bushes

Broken suspension coils

corrosion

and steering rack failure

Front suspension bushes

Broken suspension coils

corrosion

and steering rack failure

Have read about the steering rack.

The other things won't bother be as parts can be picked up cheaply.

I lok after a 2004 ka for sis in law,she has had it from new & other than routine servicing it has needed a front coil spring & lower suspension bushes. The main problems with the older ones is they rot like crazy,have a good check underneath before you part with any cash,also be carefull if you go to change the spark plugs as the have a habit of snapping off in the cyl head!

I "look" after......doh.......

We have just parted company with the wifes 2002 Panther Black KA Lux which we had owned from new.

In the time we owned it, it did 72K and had the following items replaced:

Rear hatch replaced twice due to rust around the wiper spindle

Rear axle bushes replaced

Rear springs replaced

Front lower suspension arm bushes replaced

Heater regulator valve replaced

Front brake disc's replaced 3 times

Other than that if was mech a very good car and never let us down

But the bad news is rust.....almost every metal panel on the car turned orange with rust which came from the inside out, and not from stone chips.

The KA might have gone but it wont be forgoten for a very long time, due to it leaving an orange stain on our drive which marks the exact outline of where the KA used to park

HTH

Bill.

Right,looked at the little thing last night and it's not to bad.

he even put it in for a MOT couple of weeks ago and i found out what it failed on

Both wishbones

Rear beam bushes

and 2 tyres needed.

Have agreed to pay £190 for it as it has tax till Aug next year.

Car will be towed home (2 miles) tomorrow and i will set about giving it a good clean before doing the repairs next weekend.

Will post some pics up when it gets here.

Picked up the car today (towed home) and started getting it ready.

Washed it and started claying it,bloody thing is covered in crap.Will finish body work off tomorrow as i got side tracked as there is a coolant leak.

Stripped inlet manifold off as it was coming from the back and found inlet manifold gasket is leaking just in the corner.Rubber gasket has split in one place so will get new one next week and refit.Also checked plugs and taken off rocker cover as that needs a new gasket as well.

Happy with the car so far and it's nice to work on a simple motor again.

They are a great little car, "ER" indoors loves hers, its a 2000, "W" reg 1.3 collection, with a genuine 21,500 recorded miles from new, starts first time every time, no rust and apart from a broken front coil spring, and routine servicing, has not cost a penny to run.

Tappets, so no cam belts to break or need replacing, great to drive around town and do not disgrace themselves on the motorway up to reasonable speeds.

They are made of paper, impossible to work on (good mate was a Ford Mechanic and hated them, no space to work in, even just to change lightbulbs!). Front sus, steering rack, trackrod arms all very weak and quick to break. And as they are so light at the front,. they chew tyres!!

I upgraded to my VRS from a KA, and soooo glad I did, but £80, as lont as it still goes and nothign major goes wrong, can't knock that!