Need buying info on SportKa's (not for me, obviously! lol)

Stormster

Stormster

Stormster

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Missus has a 1.3 Ka, and wants a SportKA. At first I was thinking "Hmm, another Ka, awesome" but then I read a few reviews and looked on youtube and I can't knock the fact they look a HOOT! I'm actually looking forward to having a go :o

Anyway, not gonna argue with the missus, she wants one, it has to be 2005 or newer and Imperial Blue and I have found one we're going to see on Sunday.

It's a 2005 model, 2 owner, 48k, FSH and after a phone convo it sounds "mint" and is for sale from a nice sounding, seemingly genuine, Ford fanboy who has got a lovely Sapphire Cossie. Anyway, regardless, I aren't going to take his word for how awesomely mint and perfect this Ka is for the asking price of £2400, so I need to know specifically what goes wrong with them. Apart from the usual rust, heater control valve, bushes going causing knocking, rust around fuel cap; are there any specific issues to that car, engine, suspension etc to know about? Obviously we know a bit with the missus having a vanilla Ka (it's a 99 model though, KA2). But, 2400 is still a lot of dosh to my missus to spend on a car so I want to be as perfect as can be.

Appreciate any pointers, tips and what not to check with the SportKa, cheers all :)
 
Whilst I can't offer you any pointers on what to look out for, be aware that despite their small size, these are pretty thirsty cars. I couldn't believe how much petrol my mrs went through on the couple of mile journey to and from home every day!
 
Great fun, awesome lift off oversteer much like a 106 gti!

Ex had an 04 plate bought at 3 years old for £4k, used it for 2 years and got £3.2k for it. Didn't need anything doing to it in that time (was on 40k when sold). Engine management light came on when it was first bought but the previous owner said it had been stood for 6 months so I stuck some SUL in it and thrashed it for a whole weekend which took the light out and it never re-appeared in her ownership.

But yeah as said not as economical as you would think, 30mpg average with mixed driving iirc.
 
They do seem largely fine mechanically. I had a read on carsurvey.org and about 50% claimed they drank the go go juice and others saying fine on fuel... soon find out! lol.
 
Unfortunately my Mrs 57 plate didn't have a trip computer but I would estimate that she was getting 25-30MPG at best. For a while I was convinced that something was wrong with the car as the tank emptied so quickly (partly due to the pretty high fuel usage and also down to the small fuel tank!).

Solid car though, in her 3 years of ownership (brought from new) nothing went wrong at all.
 
IIRC im sure they use the same 1.6 zetec engine out the mk1.5 Focus?

If so, the engine is pretty reliable. Coilpacks will go every now and then but these are cheap enough to replace at servicing.
 
My friend has 1 which is a 55 plate Imperial Blue, Sport Ka, i do get to drive it occasionally, as i am listed as a driver on the insurance. The Ka has 27k miles on the clock and was bought for £2300.00

It has really surprised me, nippy little go kart really, handles the road really well, the engine has a nice little note to it, and works really well, i put a Cone air filter on it. Sounds nice and sporty when reved. Hits the redline quite quickly aswell, and has decent acceleration.

The engine is a 1.6 8v engine. I read that it is reliable and strong. And can confirm that so far (touch wood) this is the case.

Petrol wise its ok on the juice on the M-ways etc, around town it can become a little thirsty, but otherwise this has been a great buy. Plus when polished on a sunny day, it really does look good :)
 
Paul. W said:
IIRC im sure they use the same 1.6 zetec engine out the mk1.5 Focus?

If so, the engine is pretty reliable. Coilpacks will go every now and then but these are cheap enough to replace at servicing.
Click to expand...

If it is the same engine, they are fantastically reliable, my mums went on for years, and the coilpack was the only thing that went wrong.

It was so easy to fix, that I even did it!

edit: Only an 8v engine, not 16?
 
Paul. W said:
IIRC im sure they use the same 1.6 zetec engine out the mk1.5 Focus?

If so, the engine is pretty reliable. Coilpacks will go every now and then but these are cheap enough to replace at servicing.
Click to expand...

they are a duratec 1.6 8v unit I believe.

My wife killed hers doing 30k a year in it....the cat went, then the thermostat and then the coil pack. Good thing was, the parts aren't exactly expensive and easy to fit (other than the cat, that was a ****).

They are great fun and quite nippy considering......I would recommend looking at other two seaters though. What sort of MX5 could you get for the cash?
 
Reality Bites said:
they are a duratec 1.6 8v unit I believe.

My wife killed hers doing 30k a year in it....the cat went, then the thermostat and then the coil pack. Good thing was, the parts aren't exactly expensive and easy to fit (other than the cat, that was a ****).

They are great fun and quite nippy considering......I would recommend looking at other two seaters though. What sort of MX5 could you get for the cash?
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I think you're thinking of the StreetKa, rather than the SportKa which is basically just a tarted up Ka.
 
Yeah it's the SportKa we're looking at.

Thanks for the feedback guys, it seems the main thing is rust rust and more rust! Cills, floorpan, behind bumpers, C pillars, fuel cap, rear wiper, basically everywhere haha. Engine wise I've not read anything bad bar potentially dodgy fuel consumption as mentioned here also. So will try and collate a list this weekend. Any more info appreciated. If it's rust free and checks out fine I'm looking forward to us bringing it home, they look a lot of fun. As it goes, I am now driving a dog rough tired old 1.3 Ka whilst my Golf is in the bodyshop and...........it's a lot of fun! Slow, naff brakes, but fun!
 
Check the steering is smooth and 'stick free'. Steering rack failures were common on the 1.3. I doubt they would have changed much on the 1.6

Stormster is pretty much spot on with the rust areas.
 
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