My Ka is dead

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

RIP my radiant red Ka T189YNU, bought new from Evans Halshaw Ford in Mansfield in May 1999. I always liked these and at the time was renting one twice a week or more for work. I spotted an ad in the local paper for a new Ka with a years free insurance for £4999. Went down to see what the crack was - turns out they were the last non PAS models. I bought one and tried to px an utterly wanked XR3 on an X plate that pissed oil out everywhere. The salesbloke said 'if you never bring that thing back here, I'll give you a tank of fuel' . I sold the '3 locally for 50 sheets.

I had the Ka for 3 years and sold it with over 60k. It had 7000 mile oil changes (10 quid at rapid fit), tyres, pads and plugs. Nothing went wrong, it would cruise along at 80-90 and never did less than 40mpg. I went on to DVLA before Xmas and saw that the tax had expired. Now the number plate doesn't come up at all and a call revealed that it has been scrapped after 14 and a bit years. No doubt it was as rotten as a carrot but I am mourning the passing of The Alien Craft as it became known.

I still have one of his scuffed hubcaps.

 

RIP little fella.

[wackywacerwill]

Defo made of the same tin as transit back doors these KA's. Good to see that Ford have stuck with tradition mind.

Future OMGOSFTAX candidate? They must be way on the ebb by now.

[phil_lihp]

They're vanishing rapidly, nothing modern rusts quite like a Ka, but I don't recall seeing any modded ones, there seems to be absolutely no following for them in that respect.  I'll probably be proven wrong now.

[srad34]

I never tend to see any of the cars I have sold on locally, not sure what that says about my choice of cars but always thought it was a bit odd......

[eddyramrod]

There's a garage near me selling "prestige" cars, that keeps a fleet of courtesy cars.  Four Kas in assorted colours, the oldest being a Y plate.  So they're not all dead yet!

 

Excellent obit, btw.

[Lord Sterling]

I've driven a fair few KA's, I love them. Rapid little rockets, great handling with good modern styling and a hoot to drive. Shame to hear about your old one RBJ but thats the way it goes sadly.

 

Made me think; Ma_Sterling many years ago got to a point where she was finding it increasingly difficult to pay for the Micra when it was still on finance (and still fairly new too) we went to have a look at a couple of Mk3 Fiestas for sale. Ma took one out for a test drive but didn't get on with it. But had she said yes to the Fiesta and gave the Micra back, one sometimes wonders where it would be now. I'm guessing either on its way to a scrappy or as a delivery runaround for a takeaway or probably sLaMm'D yO on cOrSa KOiLOVaz by the Micra "sports" lot. I'm glad we've still got it.

[Split_Pin]

Well here's a thing. My POS ex had a heavily abused Ford Ka W319SST. She had crashed it and also rallied it around the rural roads of Inverness. The PAS system was temperamental and due to the reckless driving on gravelly roads, the sills were going rusty. Then in 2005 she saw this red 2 year old Honda Civic sport that she just had to have. Consolidating and increasing her debt up to 17k left her 1200 quid short. I lent her this money, bodged the sills on the Ka to trade it in and then a month later she fucked off. I heard that a few years later she had written the Civic off.

 

The Ka is STILL taxed. It must be making the most of the freedom I helped it towards.

[RedSparrow]

15 years seems a bloody good innings for one of these.

Thinking about it they are probably the model I most remember for dissappearing as fast as when they first appeared.

[Junkman]

They're vanishing rapidly, nothing modern rusts quite like a Ka, but I don't recall seeing any modded ones, there seems to be absolutely no following for them in that respect.  I'll probably be proven wrong now.

 

 

 

 

There. I did it.

[dollywobbler]

On the plus side, my old Daewoo Matiz, which I bought new in 1999 (after trading in a BX - idiot) has just been taxed for another year! Go T725 LBD! Wonder where it is now...

[phil_lihp]

There. I did it.

 

I wish you hadn't.  I can't unsee that.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Rust in peace T189YNU.

'Er Indoors had a Ka when I first met her.  I don't think I've ever seen such an abused car, I actually felt sorry for it.  The oil was like black treacle and the plugs were so rusted in place, they were starting to lose their shape.  Regardless of this, the little thing just kept going.  No misfires, no terminal engine failure.  Her driving was interesting* back then and she would regularly punt it into kerbs, crash it down potholes and bump into my Land Rover's tow bar in the dark.

We eventually gave it to one of her friends... and believe it or not, the bloody thing is still going.

 

We've recently had flooding in Kent and the poor Ka was parked near a river on Christmas Eve.. and got flooded up to it's seats  I would expect this to have killed it, but no- the thing simply started up and drove out of the flood.  All the moderns parked near it needed recovering..

[mat_the_cat]

For a mate's stag weekend we bought a few scrappers from a scrapyard (a Ka being one of them) and basically just razzed them round until they died. I unfortunately clipped a telegraph pole...

 

 

...which pulled the lower suspension arm out...

 

...and rolled the car

[Lord Sterling]

 I hate seeing KA's abused. They really are tough little motors despite the rust.

[mat_the_cat]

I actually quite enjoyed driving it - until that moment above. I couldn't really see why it had been scrapped, as the usual rust didn't seem terminal.

 

It certainly wasn't the intention to destroy it (at least not on my part - some of the guys were clearly hell bent on destruction), just to have a bit of fun away from public roads.

[Cavcraft]

No offence, me old china, but one less of those horrible things on the road can only ever be a good thing.

[saucedoctor]

I was within an ounce of doing this to that bloody Meriva. Hateful thing.

[overrun]

An early XR3 is a rare motor, indeed, these days.

 

You made the wrong decision. :@

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I wouldn't mind a Ka, I think they're great. Unfortunately I just can't get past that horrible, horrible interior. I wonder if I could get one and then mod the interior, like that leather 2CV or the AM Cygnet.

[Bren]

I was reading auto express the other week - it appears that ford's finances are still somewhat in a bit of a state.

 

Maybe if they could build cars that did'nt rust and shit themselves (current mondeo anyone?) things might be better.

 

With modern technology cars like the ka should not be rotting the way they do. They are built down to a price, but sold for a decent profit.

[Split_Pin]

They do go well and the steering and cornering is excellent. I think the dash looks ok but it's made from awful hard scratchy plastic. Even my Corsa dash isn't as piss poor feeling which itself is actually made from tramps' underpants, cured and crusted over in the sun before being forced into shape.

[trigger]

My wife bought a red 6 month old colour collection (Y reg) not long after we first started going out, it wasn't a bad little car and drove really but I never jelled to it, i found it a bit agricultural for the age of the car at the time, still considering it's size we did manage to have sex it it a few times. 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I hired one a couple of months after they were launched, a dark green metallic KA on a P plate. A photographer mate rammed it full of gear and off we went. Saw an indicated 115 on a downhill section of the M1, tailgating a 1.6 Vectra that cut me up on a slip road.

They drove and went so well I didn't give a flying one about the dash plastics. Mine didn't go rusty ehen I had it, so........

[Doctormop]

I bought a 2004 Ka 'style' for 600 quid in 2011, newest car I've ever had quite tatty for its age, 122k on the clock, one owner from new, handled like a go kart, fairly nippy but found the fuel economy quite bad for what it was, averaged 36mpg combined, it actually drove like the mk1 fiesta 950 pop I learned to drive in many many moons ago, sold it after a year for what I paid for it, would have another if I needed a cheap runabout  but wouldn't go seeking one out, if you know what I mean.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I'd have a Ka Luxury with electric windows, mirrors, air con and full leather.

[twosmoke300]

There is no harder engine than an early ka. 8v Vauxhall and di transit come close.

I read some where that the ka is the spiritual successor to the original mini. Cheap , fun to drive and pretty classless

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I read an interview with the Ka design folk, and there was mention of the Ka grille being inspired by the 105E Anglia grille. They do look very similar.

Such a pity about the rust. Kas will have a real following in 15-20 years.

[twosmoke300]

Trigger , you brought back some memories.

When I worked for a Ford dealer I had a ka loaner home one night and me and the missus christened it that evening. Now neither me or the now wife are petite but we managed. I remember having my knee in that silly cup holder carpet hole on the tunnel in the back. Getting some purchase on the job !

[londonm]

There is no harder engine than an early ka. 8v Vauxhall and di transit come close.

I read some where that the ka is the spiritual successor to the original mini. Cheap , fun to drive and pretty classless

And like the original mini, dissolves in rainwater.

[beko1987]

The missus had one apparently, it was a cut and shut. She showed me a massive pile of paperwork where basically VOSA condemned it 3 months after the selling dealer had MOT'd it, and she got her money back through the courts or something.

 

She fucking hates them now, which is probably a good thing as if I wanted a tiny plasticky car that was good fun to drive but rusted faster than you could use the petrol in the tank I'd have a Puma again!