Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

Should I buy this car?

It's £4000, has done 24,000 miles, is an old shape FORD KA with body coloured bumpers, and I am not sure if I should buy it.

I have been trying to buy a car for a year, and finally I can afford it, but I am not sure whether I am getting a good deal really. The clutch is spongy compared to what I am used to, and the car itself was a bit strange to drive, but that could be due to me not having driven for a year.
I am living in Sheffield, and I am also worried that a tiny KA will not be able to handle the hills.

Has anyone had any experience before with KAs or would recommend them? My only other idea is to buy a car that is a little better, but they tend to be £1000 more and have LOTS of miles on them. But at the same time, I am not 100% convinced that I should spend so much on such a small car, that I am not sure will be able to handle motorways.

I do get a 12-month guarantee on the car, but I really don't know whether it's an opportunity I need to grab, or just one that is tempting me purely for the convenience of having a car rather than a car that I want.

Thanks for your help!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Gothica

Much better cars for 4k IMO

Reply 2

lizolove

Original post by Gothica

Much better cars for 4k IMO

What would you suggest? I can only seem to find Corsas at 5k wit 40,000 on the clock. :s-smilie:

Reply 3

Jacko2667

My dad managed to pick up a 5 series 2001 BMW with 40 000 miles (worth £35 000 on release) for 3.5K. My friend also managed to pick up near enough the same spec BMW for around the same price.

My advice is too be patient if you can, a better deal will most defiantly come up. With the economy the way it is, people are desperate to get rid of unwanted second cars for cheap etc. I would not even consider buying the car you described for 4K!!

Hope this helps!

Reply 4

lizolove

Original post by Jacko2667

Cheers. It's from a Ford garage, so it is a genuine one. I am just debating whether it is worth £4000 or not!

Reply 5

TheBritishBloke

Original post by lizolove

Cheers. It's from a Ford garage, so it is a genuine one. I am just debating whether it is worth £4000 or not!

I would never pay £4k for an old-style Ka, you could get a decent focus for that price.

40,000 miles isn't exactly loads; when you're going to be looking at cars that are more than 5 years old (<10,000/Year)

Reply 6

chelsea.grenner

I don't know about the price. But I wouldn't worry about taking a Ford Ka on motorways. I bought one second hand that had more than 80,000 miles on the clock and was great on the motorway, I sometimes was doing 80 and didn't even notice. It's a great little car. Maybe try and get the price down, or look somewhere else.

Reply 7

lizolove

Original post by TheBritishBloke

True. It's whether I can afford the extra £1000 and whether I would get a 12-month guarantee though really. :frown:

Reply 8

lizolove

Original post by chelsea.grenner

Yeah, maybe that's the best option. Although the price was originally £4300/4400, and we got it down to £4000. I have valued it, and it is apparently worth £3000, so I doubt they'd go any lower really.

Reply 9

TheBritishBloke

Original post by lizolove

True. It's whether I can afford the extra £1000 and whether I would get a 12-month guarantee though really. :frown:

Warranties on used cars tend to cover naff all; it covers little things like electronics etc; not really worth the extra money.

Reply 10

2_plus_X_equal_me

After evaluating you i would say a nice ford focus (2007-2008) or either a mini cooper would just be right for you.

No point spending £4,ooo on a ford KA, they look HORRIBLE!.

Reply 11

TheGodfather1

4k for a Ford KA, for that cash you can get these

or if you want something smaller

With that budget you can get a lot of good cars which are 7 years or younger so unless you REALLY REALLY want the KA i suggest to search more before you part ways with your hard earned cash.

Reply 12

JO53PHS

Original post by lizolove

What would you suggest? I can only seem to find Corsas at 5k wit 40,000 on the clock. :s-smilie:

Just throwing this out there...we recently sold a 2009 Renault Modus 1.2 (current shape!) with 20,000 miles and FSH for just under £5000. Not exactly a cool car, and fair enough it is a Renault, but still a lot of car for the money.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 13

Herr

Original post by lizolove

Cheers. It's from a Ford garage, so it is a genuine one. I am just debating whether it is worth £4000 or not!

Though I'm generally an advocate of buying cars from a new car garage even if you are buying a 2nd hand car, but that generally only works where the car is less than 2 years old.

The KA in question though it might be in excellent condition it is in reality not worth £4000 just because it is from a dealer.

They are good cars, generally rather robust and reliable cars, it is better to just buy one privately instead, just ensure it is in good condition and has been properly maintained. Pretty sure you could get one for £2000 and it would have plenty of life left to it. My neighbour has one from 2000, it has clocked almost 200k of kms all over Switzerland and Germany and still goes strong.

But if you really must spend £4000 on a car, there are plenty of better cars to put money into :smile:

Reply 14

1992LP

Original post by lizolove

What would you suggest? I can only seem to find Corsas at 5k wit 40,000 on the clock. :s-smilie:

One very important thing to remember is that mileage means NOTHING when it comes to buying a car. Service history and general condition is much more important than a number on the dashboard.

What you really want is a car that has not been used for short journeys or in town, and ideally has spent its life on the motorway.

Town driving and short trips put far more strain on the components (drivetrain, engine, suspension) than simply sitting on the motorway all day. Lots of stop / starting with a cold engine rather than sitting at 70 all the time with the engine properly warmed up.

A service history is very important too, you want the oil and oil filter to have been changed at least once a year or every 10k or so, whichever is earliest.

You can use this to your advantage as most people seem to think that low mileage cars = better which just isn't the case. This drives down the price of the higher mileage cars that are quite often as good if not better so your money goes a lot further.

Obviously it depends totally on how the car has been driven and treated, so you want to get a thorough inspection done. If you don't know anyone who knows a lot about cars get the AA or the RAC to perform a check.

For £4k I would not be buying a KA, I would be looking at a nice 1.6 Focus or 1.25 Fiesta (not the 1.3, there is a difference!) with average miles on it and a good service history.

I have owned 2 cars that are over 100k, and they are considerably better than many cars with half the mileage I have seen.

Buy on condition and history, NOT a number on the dash :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 15

persov

You can buy a much much much better, more reliable car for the price. Like 1992LP said, mileage really is the last consideration to be taking when buying a car.

Wouldn't you rather spend less and buy a better (higher performance, more space, more refined, better quality interior, higher spec, more reliable) but with higher mileage, that has been looked after? On a ten year old car, anything less than 100,000 miles really isn't that high.

Reply 16

JC.

Mileage isn't everything.
I've got a 1975 MG which had 36k from new when I bought it last year. I've had to go through it replacing everything made of rubber because it was all knackered!

Reply 17

iwantcheese5

£4,000 for a Ford KA just seems far too much, like everyone else has said; there are many many better/cheaper cars out there which would be a heck of a lot nicer to have. Not that I'm saying it's in any way appropriate but you could get an RX-8 with 40,000 on the clock for that money and that's a LOT more car. Heck you could get an Lexus LS400 for <£1000 and be the most AWESOMELY PIMP person in the world and it'd still run smoother and feel fresher than a KA. In fact please get an LS400 I want to see that happen, it would be amazing. Very amazing. Honest. Pretty please. :colondollar:

All this could be yours for £995:

It has cruise control, leather seats, air conditioning, electric windows all round, electric sunroof, electric seats, walnut wood trim, 6 CD autochanger and, even better, has full main dealer service history. Actually I want it, you can't have it. Sorry. :colone: