Name that rusty bucket of shit in one!

[Bren]

KA's are cheap for a reason - they are not designed to last indefinately.

 

A work colleague has just bought a 55 plate 1.3 with 30k on the clock for £1100. It seems to be ok, he only wants it for a short time.

 

To be fair, I have seen cars on the internet, on the eastern seaboard of the US ( NY, Conneticut, Boston) where harsh winters means that their own US iron is pretty much fucked in about six years. I remember seeing on youtube a guy repairing a 10 year old chevy silverado that was so rotten you would'nt have got in the thing.

 

I am still welding the SD1 I bought off Pete, up to now had 2 outer sills, front wing and wheel arch, not to mention repairs to inner sills, inner and outer arches, boot floor and floor pan. Every time I find more rot and curse the damn thing, I remember that it is a 26 year old rover that was never meant to last this long.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

  Bren said:

KA's are cheap for a reason - they are not designed to last indefinately.

 

Every time I find more rot and curse the damn thing, I remember that it is a 26 year old rover that was never meant to last this long.

 

Well said that man. I think this is what people need to remember. The same quote applies to my 20 year old Cavalier GSi. GM clearly didn't intend th old bugger to be tearing up the streets 20 years after it was built, so I have to work harder to keep it in one piece.

Having said all of that, I guess there are still several 20-30 year old cars around which are fairly rot free - Pug 205's, most Audis, mk 2 Golfs are generally fairly good, some J tin such as Micras.......

I guess it's well worth reminding yourself that something made by Ford or Vauxhall is likely to rot more quickly than most other things on the road.

[Polystratus]

  The Reverend Bluejeans said:

In rust terms, they're up there with the Anglia, BMC 1100 and Mini. In fact, any sixties/seventies car. They clearly have no rustproofing whatsoever. What 1999 car would have rot like this?

 

Seen a 2005 Ka that had a totally rotted fuel filler cap surround, they must have been rusting since new.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

  wafers said:

I guess it's well worth reminding yourself that something made by Ford or Vauxhall is likely to rot more quickly than most other things on the road.

 

Vauxhalls are far, faaaaaar better on the rust front than Fords though. I've never seen a 1999 Corsa with the sills falling off. Scabby yes, utterly ratfucked rotten no.

Ford built the Ka down to a price, thing (rightly) that the first two owners wouldn't give a shit if it failed it's fifth MOT on rot. I like the Ka though, a very original design which, as a new car, was very good at its job and a laugh to drive. Unlike Corsas of any description, the Ka will be a classic in years to come. They are already 15 years old..............

[fiatdaft]

Mazda is another manufacturer getting a bit of a reputation for rust with the 2,3,6 and mx5,and lets not forget the merc w210,and all the previous c class models.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

  fiatdaft said:

Mazda is another manufacturer getting a bit of a reputation for rust

 

Really? Seen a few ripe MX5 sills though, mainly old shitters.

 

 

 

Don't forget that even plastic rusts in Scotland!

[Lankytim]

  The Reverend Bluejeans said:

  trigger said:

Here's a test for you, Someone find me a Ford Puma, whatever age, which hasn't got rusty wheel arches... Good luck!

 

No such car exists. I'm sorry.

 

My mate bought one recently, its class! Rust free arches all round. The previous owner had the rear ones replaced recently of course.

[stuboy]

seems ka's rust really badly

[RoadworkUK]

It's a crying shame about the KA rust issues.

 

I've stepped into the t(rusty) family KA for a few days while I decide what to do about the clutch on the Rover (no sniggering...). Ours is an early 97R KA, base model, before they started fitting PAS, with resultantly extra-heavy front steering. My parents bought it the same day as their Mondeo Ghia X (which is long gone) thirteen years ago, I was seventeen. I remember trying to convince them to get a KA by reading them reviews out of Top Gear, whos' Hayley Ward had one on long term test, and didn't have a bad word to say for it.

 

It's difficult to countenance now, due to the ubiquity of the things, but they're such special little cars with so many cool little features, the daft clock, the deep storage pocket on the offside rear, the non body-colour bumpers (later ruined), allied to the wheel-really-in-each-corner design for tremendous handling and grip. I took ours out to visit my girlfriend tonight and came home grinning from ear to ear for more than one reason.

 

But, then again, maybe Ford made them deliberately rust to do us a favour? For every one that dissolves like water-soluble aspirin (nice analogy, I'll use that again) and gets binned, e.g most of them, every mollycoddled, stored in an oxygen-free atmosphere, religiously chamoised down after every drive example wil be worth £££ in years to come....?

[tonedepear]

  fiatdaft said:

Mazda is another manufacturer getting a bit of a reputation for rust with the 2,3,6 and mx5,and lets not forget the merc w210,and all the previous c class models.

 

My Mazda6 had surface rust on the arches and roof (!) at 4 years old. It also leaked like a seive.

(None of this was as annoying as the trip computer that told you what you were getting in L/100km and had no option to change to MPG.)

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

  tonedepear said:

  fiatdaft said:

Mazda is another manufacturer getting a bit of a reputation for rust with the 2,3,6 and mx5,and lets not forget the merc w210,and all the previous c class models.

 

My Mazda6 had surface rust on the arches and roof (!) at 4 years old. It also leaked like a seive.

(None of this was as annoying as the trip computer that told you what you were getting in L/100km and had no option to change to MPG.)

 

 

Mazders R shit then. I shall look out for a rusty one - someone else mentioned about fucked sills but thought nothing of it.

[andrew e]

Hey Earl, has the family ka got the round hazard light switch, that subsequently was replaced by a ka badge?

[RoadworkUK]

  andrew e said:

Hey Earl, has the family ka got the round hazard light switch, that subsequently was replaced by a ka badge?

 

Yep! The stupid Ka badge was stupid. All car stereos should have hazard warning light switches built in.

 

I done a writing about it Here.