E30 Zone

I'm getting fed up with swapping clutch cables on the Fix'd It Again Today...

So I'm thinking of a Ford Ka for 'er indoors.
Now remember that she's a mobile care worker,so is using the car around the city.

Thinking of spending £1.5/2k,what do I need to check for,and any other relevant advice?
Anything else I should be looking at?

If it's an old KA with the 1.3 OHV then make sure the spark plugs have been changed recently! They have a habit of seizing themselves into the head

Rust, rust and more rust. The Ford Ka was never truly protected against the elements and they rot worse than pretty much any other car this side of the 00's. Engines are rattly but simple and hard wearing enough.

Always thought a 2-litre zetec would go well in one of these. Drove the 1.6 litre zetec SportKa a few years back and was distinctly underwhelmed by its performance.

Motorhole wrote:Rust, rust and more rust.

This. My wife's sister's W plate Ka's sills went MIA. Underneath it looked like a Fred Flintstone car. She bought a brand new 08 plate Ka and even that has started to rot in places.

Cheap to run though and quite nippy around town.

Fiestas are a better bet Malc. As above, KA's are rot boxes and older ones positively agricutural compared to an uncle Festa.

You should be able to pick up an 04 finesse for 2k which overall ain't a bad old city smoker.

B7 wrote:Fiestas are a better bet Malc. As above, KA's are rot boxes and older ones positively agricutural compared to an uncle Festa.

You should be able to pick up an 04 finesse for 2k which overall ain't a bad old city smoker.

Size matters here...needs to be a thin car,so that 'er indoors can get it into the drive at home.Last two breakdown's with the Fiat have resulted in a Corsa loan and a Hyundi i10,both of which are too wide for 'er to get onto the drive,hence thinking Ka.Is Fiesta a similar width or wider?
Any other narrow,small,cheap to buy/run cars that I have not thought of?


It's the thinness that is the main reason I have stayed with E30 for so long for my cars!

How about a Daihatsu Charade? I think the Suzuki Ignis is pretty slim too, should be able to find them both for not much cash.

Or perhaps a micro-roadster like Suzuki Cappucino or Daihatsu Copen?

K11 micra! Find a late one with good sills, fill it full of wxoil and even you malcolm, will get bored at how little you have to do to it.

Look for a late SE which came with AC and PS and if you pay over 1500 you will need sectioning!!!

Honestly, check them out Malc. As long as it's sound then it'll outlast you

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-51-Nissa ... 1060wt_986

This one wants a bit of chipping on the price but:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-02-NISSA ... _310wt_958

as boring as they sound, we had a micra as above, the 4 door is the model you want good resale ours never once broke down, needed nothing apart from tyre's. and it was abused heavily for about 5 years, lugging everything from the entire contents of my university digs, to all the components needed to build our 4m squared decking area at home. very good reliable cars.

Iv never seen new cars rot like a ford KA everyone seems to be going by the petrol cap!

Rot rot and rot, front arm bushes ,rear axle bushes,front anti roll bar bushes,front link arms,bulkhead heater valves ,rear springs,front springs,rot around the petrol cap,noisy tappits with that old useless ohv engine,seized in spark plugs ohv engine again!,play in front shocker tops,and the later ones with the endura engine in also eat alternators-do not buy a ford ka!

sweep wrote:Rot rot and rot, front arm bushes ,rear axle bushes,front anti roll bar bushes,front link arms,bulkhead heater valves ,rear springs,front springs,rot around the petrol cap,noisy tappits with that old useless ohv engine,seized in spark plugs ohv engine again!,play in front shocker tops,and the later ones with the endura engine in also eat alternators-do not buy a ford ka!

I thought you liked them Pete
as above Trev is on the Nail, Micra's are much better and so is the Ignis,

I bought er-indoors a smart car before xmas I have done more miles in it than she has great little cars but limited to 2 seats,

My uncle is a chapin= no mecanical knowledge at all,so i got him a micra -may aswell weld the bonnet down as they never need anything!

I looked at some KAs a couple of years ago for my daughter, everyone of em was rusty, got her a nice little Corsa in the end.

Now shes smoking around in a Fiat 500.

bollox to spending £1.5 - £2k malc ! theres over 600 of them on Autotrader for under a grand.

Cheap cars are where its at - especially if you can fix em

If its got to be thin Malc also consider more unusual Jap stuff - my best mate is well into these turds - Daihatsu Sirion and the Daihatsu Cuore - very compact but quite nippy, fantastic fuel consumption and they dont go wrong - my mate put about 30k on an Automatic Sirion in just under 2 years and all he spent on it was basic servicing. They look quirky but if you want small and cheap theyre better than most european stuff.

Thanks to all for your imput,it's looking like a Micra!

She's due her milage allowance from that nice Chancellor fellow soon,so I'll be looking to spend about two thirds of that and trouser the remainder for standing costs and maintainance.

I've had a scan through Ebay,plenty of choice and local as well.

Bearing in mind the end user and type of use,I've spotted a couple of automatic's,are these troublesome?

Avoid the autos.

I've passed loads of these through, most of them 1.0's. A manual is a good car, quite nippy really. My mother insisted on an auto 1.0 when we bought it new in 2000. And it was a slug. It's the only auto i've entertained and I wouldn't entertain another no matter how cheap.

They are a CVT and you will see pleanty spares or repair cars with CVT issues. Only thing that saved mum's was that it only had 24k on the clock when I sold it 18 months ago!!!!

Pick of the bunch is a post 2000 1.0 SE (SE+ if you can find one), as late a you can find and don't accept a high miler. Not that thats an issue it's just that many of these pottered to the shops and back and so theres loads with not much more than 60k up.

SE had Electric Windows, AC (which is uber reliable being japanese) and power steering (that may have been also on the lower S model as well but memory failing now)

Rust is the killer but not as bad as say a KA. Chck the Sills to the rear below where the rear doeors are (would be) and check the front cross member / frontpanel below the rad. Check the inner arches where the meet the sills.

You really want one thats not had the sills welded and shows no signs. if it's been welded then the chances are the cross member is on its way.

Many thanks,Trev,you are a little star!

I went to look at a micra for a mate the other day, 51 plate, he phoned me and said the wheel has fell off, I laughed, when I got there the wheel was cocked over so much it was up against the damper/sill, the rear beam had rusted so much a lump had fallen out and it had literally broken in half

they like to rust across the front cross member and the sills. timing chains can cause problems. and they are built in sunderland, not japan.

B7 wrote:K11 micra! Find a late one with good sills, fill it full of wxoil and even you malcolm, will get bored at how little you have to do to it.

Look for a late SE which came with AC and PS and if you pay over 1500 you will need sectioning!!!

Honestly, check them out Malc. As long as it's sound then it'll outlast you

This & you shouldn't need to pay more than a grand.
Got the Mrs a 2002 se, nippy little thing for a 1.0l.
Only thing it has ever needed in 3 years, is a set of tyres & screenwash.

DanThe wrote:I went to look at a micra for a mate the other day, 51 plate, he phoned me and said the wheel has fell off, I laughed, when I got there the wheel was cocked over so much it was up against the damper/sill, the rear beam had rusted so much a lump had fallen out and it had literally broken in half

Sounds stanced, innit

universal wrote:they like to rust across the front cross member and the sills. timing chains can cause problems. and they are built in sunderland, not japan.

Already pointed out and the timing chain issue is more on the K12. I've not known many K11 suffer it but upteen K12's

B7 wrote:

universal wrote:they like to rust across the front cross member and the sills. timing chains can cause problems. and they are built in sunderland, not japan.

Already pointed out and the timing chain issue is more on the K12. I've not known many K11 suffer it but upteen K12's

I've known quite a few k11 micra's with timing chain issues, that's why I mentioned it!

The chain's rattle when worn?
Should they be swapped at a set mileage?

Point noted ref auto's,now seen several adverts claiming 'minor autobox fault'!

Also the throttlebody/AFM can go wrong on k11's, causing running issues. Our one we had a few years back used to be fine some days, and then others it would stall at junctions and loose power at times. I know of a few that have had running issues. There is a fix to re-solder some dry joints on the AFM that is documented on the internet. It worked to fix ours, but it doesn't always work:

http://www.micra.com.au/technical-artic ... -guide.pdf

Ours was on an M plate, had it for 3 years and all that went wrong was the issue I said about above, and it needed a small patch welding near the rear of one of the sills. The timing chain was starting to rattle when we got rid of it (had done 120,000miles+) but we didn't bother getting that sorted

Malcolm. There is a forum for these and it's very active and there's some right helpful guys on there. If you want to have a chat about them then happy to give my number

Like I say. If you look at k12s you will find loads for sale with either intermittent starting fault or will not start. Penny to a pound of shit that'll be timing chain and I've known cars with barely 25k up suffering the fault. In the main the only k11s you'll find as spares or repair will be cvt or rust and occasional clutch. If a k11has a chain fault then chances are its mileage related and not design fault. The k12s give no warning as a rattle as such but just one day will refuse to start!

Every k11 I've known has started on the button even with 150k up and 6 inches of snow on it! It's what they do best. Even with knackered dis cap and rotor / plugs they start on the button. Although the later SE type did away with the distributor and has coil packs.

And they are a piece of pISs to work on and get bits for.

The tempest was a nice one if you see one.

This went on the back burner when I discovered what I think was causing the premature clutch cable failure on the Fix It again Tomorrow.

Then this happened last night...





'er indoors was unable to exit the driver's seat without assistance,she has a very badly bruised lower left leg that now,20 or so hours later,is several different colours.Her workmate who was sat in the passenger seat was bruised from the head down to feet and the firemen had to slice the thing up to extract him.

Shame,as both the cill and A/B posts survived,just would have needed a wing and a door.

She'll be off work for at least a week,so the hunt is now on for a low miles/late plate K11 Micra.

sh1t the bed malc hope she is OK

Going straight on at a set of traffic lights!

These lights...



Taxi came from her left.

There's loads of room,so either Jane crossed on red or the taxi did,she cannot remember and was in no state to get out of the car un-aided,the ambulance guy's suspected a broken left leg,but thankfully she's 'just' bruised.

I'm currently trying to speak to the PC who attended,but he/she(there was one of each!)are playing hard to catch.

Blaaaadeeee 'ellllll

So, the missus is ok, back OT.

R5FTW

At least she's OK Malc - I wouldnt fancy being in a smash in something that small

capri_rob wrote:At least she's OK Malc - I wouldnt fancy being in a smash in something that small

It's impressive just how well it held up,the passenger door was,as you can see,just stuffed back into the car,but the total intrusion was in the region of 4'' to 6''.So no real suprise that the passenger was more bruised than 'er indoors.

I was away on me boat,I received a call from Jane's mobile at about 10pm to hear an unknown lady tell me that;
'Your wife has had a little bump in her car'.....'We are taking her to the hospital for a check up and she will call you later'!

The 'later' call came about midnight;
'They have just X-rayed my left leg,they think it may be broken,the car is wrecked,they took the roof off to get my workmate out'.

No moon last night,I was moored up in a remote(ish) spot on the River Ant,no external lights on the boat so I was stuck until I could see where I was going.

Jane was finally released at about 3am,about the time I was burning toast for my brekkie and the sky was lightening.

We are in the typical catch 22 situation,the thing is worth £500 on a good day,comprehensively insured to include business use with an excess of £350.Within the last 5 weeks it has passed it's MoT and been taxed/insured for a further year....