KA - ok for a first time car (Ford Ka in general)

Member Name: charlenejade

Product:	Ford Ka in general
Date:	26/05/09 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: small but nippy and economical

Disadvantages: very cheap, nasty interior and safety is a worry in such a small vehicle

I brought a yellow ford Ka back in 2005. It was my first car and it had only had one previoius owner. To start of with i loved the car. It was only a 1.3, but i quickly noticed how nippy it was. I was in the army at the time so i travelled in it a lot and had to travel very long distances almost every weekend. It seemed to handle long distances very well and was very economical on petrol. The obvious thing with a KA is that its small and cheap so if you are looking for something thats good quality, look somewhere else. The interior was, to be honest awful. You could tell it was cheap as bits of the cheap looking carpet would regularly come unstuck. Also the doors were bare metal which means the car gets cold very quick and looks like its unfinished, but you get what you pay for.

On services i cant really say much as i did not keep the car long enough although i can say the safety of the car did worry me. I would say if you have a child avoid this car. I had an incident in this car where i thought someone was going to drive into me , so i quickly steered the car up a curb and off the road. Straight away i noticed that something was very wrong with the car and when i took it to the garage i was shocked at how much damage had been done considering i was only travelling at 20 mph. I had managed to bend a suspension leg which shocked the mechanic as it was a piece of metal inches thick and he had not seen that damaged in full on road traffic accidents. It just goes to show how cheaply made the car was.

The other thing about this car that irritated me was its use of space. I always knew it would be lacking in that area as its a small car but where the glove box should have been they had put in this tiny little swivel, thing. You would be lucky to fit a few credit cards in it. To me that is just bad design, a glove box would have been a much better use of the space. i dont know if this was just a feature on the millenium editions or if its standard on all KA's but its annoying as hell. Obviously the boot is the size of a shoebox but is acceptable if its your first time car and your on your own. I dont think i would buy one again as i have a family now, but its suitable if all you want is a little run around. Downside is how cheaply made it is.

Summary: If your on your own its great, If you have kids avoid like the plague.

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