Ford Street Ka 1.6i

This design is incredible! You obviously know how to keep a reader amused. efeedgcbgege

I bought my 54 plate street ka at a car auction last december. i was desperate for a car as my previous car had been wrote off and my courtesy was being collected a couple of days later so i did buy it out of desperation and it was the only decent looking car there. i knew i was taking a chance with it being a car auction and you have no idea what your buying so was expecting a bit to be wrong with it but when i won it at £1400 with 10 months mot and 4 months tax and only 40k miles on the clock i didnt mind. the drive back was lovely i was well impressed. gear change was really smooth. the heated leather seats are really comfy and everything seemed fine i was proper chuffed with my little bargain...

And then it rained. went through a puddle on the side of the road (just a puddle, not a ford, reservoir or a canal- a puddle) and the engine cut out. got it going after about half hour being stuck down a country lane, then hit another puddle i couldnt avoid. cut out again. so an hour late for work that day.

window wipers snapped off- obviously when raining- not good. engine management light comes and goes as it pleases. ive noticed its when its tipping it down with rain or really sunny.

another thing when it rains- theres a leak or a loose seal on the passenger side and it lets all the rain in to the point i have a massive puddle in the footwell which i have to get a cup to scoop it out.

the button for my roof dont work. although you can reach into the boot and pop the clasp so still managed to enjoyed the summer weve had this year.

door handles- driver side went. i went to the scrap yard and bought a handle and had a mate fit it. needless to say it went again a week later so just been climbing through passenger side then last week that side went too so was locked out my car.

hit another puddle (quite a big one) but cut my car out for 3 and a half hours. took breakdown that long to get to me by which point my car had started again so that was a waste of the £40 call out fee.

the lights are a right pain to change and ended up scuffing my paintwork changing the brake lights and the alarm does have a mind of its own sometimes.

had 2 flat tyres in a matter of months and they do seem to go down quite quickly.

tax is excessive but i dont find it that bad on petrol. i get about 240 miles to a full tank which costs me less than £50.

i really like the way it drives (as long as it dont get wet) but just dont think im going to be able to cope with it throughout the winter. im going to see how it goes through the mot next month and get a full service but its on its last chance. i dont want to get to a point like some people have with theres on here when i could just sell it now while the problems arent that bad.

I have a Ford Streetka 1.6 Red. Love it to bits. Recently had to have the cylinder head changed. It ran perfectly for a while but then developed an intermittent fault. Starts first time every time. This is followed by either it running perfectly or running dreadfully. I have had the plugs and coil pack replaced.

The problem (or not) seems to depend on start-up. It always starts first time but the it either runs well or badly. My travel yesterday highlights the problem.

Started well and ran well. Drove to garage about 1 mile away. Started well and ran well. Drove 31 miles including M25 so journey included everything from stop/start to 70 mph. Parked and did some shopping. Started car which then ran dreadfully for about 11 miles. Stopped to report fault to a friend who I was now going to be late meeting. Started car and it ran perfectly for 20 miles. Parked car at home. Started car about 40 minutes later and ran dreadfully again for the 4 miles before I parked it for the night.

When it is running badly it feels as though it is only running on three cylinders but I am sure I can here the sound og the four.

Help................

I've had my Ford Street KA for 6 years and for the first 3 I loved it! So many features and it looked great, it was at that time the best ford i'd ever had (previously owned two fiestas and a puma). But over the past few years it has been one issue after another. Many of the things other people have highlighted on this site have all gone wrong on mine too, despite regular services, and it's costing me an absolute fortune.

The door handles have broken twice on each side, both have been replaced twice. However it still has ongoing issue, every so often going into lock and unlock mode, lights flashing, doors locking and unlocking. I've had all the bushes and arms replaced, front and back and it still clonks over bumps. It's had to have a new clutch as it suddenly wouldn't excellerate or do anything whilst stuck out in the fast lane of a motorway - a very scary journey home! It's also had a new exhaust sensor, an abs sensor, and several sets of tyres.

It now has engine issues, revving far to high that it sounds like youre in third when your in fifth and like the engine will explode any minute, it blasts hot air out whenever you get stuck in traffic for a couple of minutes, it has an intermittent problem with four way flashers going off as you drive along which can only be solved by stopping, removing the key, locking it and then unlocking it! Embarrassing and infuriating!

I would love to get rid of it, but at this moment in time I'd probably only get scrap value for it. In a bid to at least try to resolve the current engine problems so that I can try to sell it, I've taken it to three independent garages, none of whom have had any interest in trying to tackle it, instead finding other more minor things to do. In the end I bit the bullet, braced myself for a big bill and took it to a ford garage hoping they'd sort it, as the so called experts. They had no interest in sorting it either! On arrival and initial inspection they said it was noisy and agreed it seemed to be revving high, but later in the day said a road tester found it to be fine!! They didn't run the diagnostic test they said they'd do, just a quick spin up the road! They claimed the car was old and as a convertible, would be noisy! If they really think 65k miles is a good life for a car it says alot about what they think of their manufacturing! I fear to many long trips and the engine will probably go, it's revving at 4,000 revs doing 70. I can only guess Ford is all to aware it's one of the worst cars they have ever made and hence have no interest in trying to fix them!

I loved ford cars, have been looking at what I might buy next, but after this piece of rubbish and the disgusting response I had from the ford garage I will never buy a ford again.

So I have had my streetka for 4 years in October, I bought it thinking what a wonderful car it would be after having a Ford Ka previously which might I add has never been a problem and is still being used by my nan despite being a very old one at that. Anyway I have this streetka on finance which I pay £190 a month for, which is fine but on top of having to fork out for petrol as it drinks an awful amount of it for the size of engine. (When I can use it that is) The car tax is very steep also. Since having the car which is exactly 3 years and 5 months I've had nothing but trouble!!!! The passenger door won't open from the outside, I have had to replace the clutch, the idle control valve has gone twice and now for the 100th time my car won't start, I can't even open the boot or use the fob to open the doors! Complete waste of time and money. Wouldn't recommend this car to anyone! I have this car sitting outside for the majority of the time, because I can't keep forking out every month because something else has gone wrong! Thank god for the breakdown company.... Sure have got my monies worth from them!

I bought this car thinking it would be cheap to run and that I would really enjoy driving it. Its cute, its funky, quite girly and mosty of all its unique. I couldn't have been more wrong. My boyfriend who is a mechanic thought it was great to begin with, wanting to drive it all the time etc, however he now says how horrific it is and that I need to get rid of it. Which I am.

Both my door handles have broken. Hand break never seems to stay tight for long and has actually snapped resulting in my car rolling down a car park into a bush, resulting in me needing a new rear light.

Alarm also has a mind of its own and goes off even when the car is unlocked and simply won't stop, so it can take up to half an hour to get into the car! (Which is very embarrassing when you're in the middle of town.)

Exceptionally heavy on fuel for the size and type of car that it is, only getting about 28 mpg out of it. Also, does not handle the road well at all - I do not feel safe in this car.

Rear window has cracked, the seal on the passanger side is non-existant and leaks into the passanger side footwell and even my heated seats have seemed to have stopped working.

The fact of needing the key to open the boot is not a very good idea as my fiend accidentally locked mine in the boot 100 miles away from home and couldn't get back in. Then found someone with a ford key and that managed to open it via the little 'secret key hole' inside. Which was handy but completely goes against the point of the safety aspect of it as anyone can get into your boot, which appears to be what ford was trying to prevent.

Absolutely rubbish car. Some people say to keep it now I have had so much work done on it, but I want a car that I can rely on and feel safe in, not one that constantly breaks. Will be selling this summer.

I have ad my street KA convertible for 2 years and every time I don't run it for a week it won't start. Have ad a new battery and alternator and the garage have said they can't see anything wrong. Surely this is not right . What appends if I leave it at the airport whist on holiday ???

Please can somebody help. I am female and on my own and have to rely on a grate

Carol

Great car but needs looking after. 05 with 45K, Had to replace 1) Thermostat gasket £35 only from Ford!, 2) removed heater valve and removed small piece of plastic holding it open - cold air only! 3) Engine light came on New Lambda from FORD £179, Bosch from Eurocarparts £60. 3) New O ring for Temp sensor - have to buy sensor £16. 5) Now broken front spring anothe £50 from Euro's. Finally this morning rear screen split another £60 from Ebay. Never spent so much so quickly on a 2nd hand car. Will look to buy another one next spring though as its great to drive!

I love my car but yes it takes up petrol like there's no tomorrow.

Advantages: heated screens, leather interiors and pretty spacious boot

Disadvantages: parts can be expensive as some can only be purchased from Ford , my door handle has broken twice, the engine space is tiny so a lot of mechanics try to fix something whilst simultaneously breaking something else, the bulbs are really difficult to replace in the front headlights.

I sometimes wonder whether the cuteness outweighs the drawbacks with functionality

I bought my 2003 53 plate StreetKa 6 months ago in December 2011 and have had several problems since, despite the car only having 35,000 genuine miles on the clock when purchased. These include:

Handbrake cable snapping - new one to replace.

Roof leaking during all of the rain we have recently had.

Boot popping mechanism going - so no boot and expensive to fix.

Leaking Coolant Tank - new one fitted

New front suspension arm

New thermostat as engine was over heating

More recently due to the engine over heating and having a new thermostat fitted, the engine started to over heat again leading to (what the garage suggested) may be head gasket problems. Needless to say, the car was not at this point worth spending any more money on and I have recently changed for a reliable, economical Hyundai. Yes the car had a roof that came off, but let's be honest - you may get to use it a dozen times in a year with the British weather.

The engine also never felt right - if trying to pull away in a higher gear from a roundabout (say 3rd) the engine would stutter as if there was a blockage in the fuel line or something. It would lack power - very disappointing.

Road tax is expensive = £135 for 6 months, and the car was very heavy on the fuel, especially with driving 50 miles a day to work and back.

I wouldn't recommend this car as I have had too many problems, and in all honestly, it has some what tarnished Fords reputation in my eyes.