buying small car - ka or cinquecento?

[nik161]

I am looking to buy a small car in the lower tax bracket that also cheap to insure and run, being a ford fan I would prefer a Ka, but my budget of a mere £800 I am finding it hard to find even a Ka1 for that. So I have been looking at the Fiat Cinquecento Sporting, thats probably even more basic than a Ka but I like the looks of it. I have found lots fo reviews on the 'net and they are generally good for both cars.

Has anyone any tips on either car?

 

[dan the man]

Got my GF a KA for 900 quid with 55.000 miles on it.

Not bad condition had the odd bit of paint etc but tidy enough..One fault that did occur was the heater was a constant temp..it turned out a solenoid valve was stuck which opens the pipe for hot to flow to warm the heater up..quite common actually.

As for reliability one s a fiat and ones a ford

ford prob better but im no expert. I dont mind the girls KA as fair nipps along and can throw it about and cheap to run

 

[nik161]

thanks for that, I would not say that the Ka was a girls car - seems to be plenty of blokes drive them!!

I have been looking on ebay and in autotrader/loot etc but anything under 1k seems hard to come by with the Ka, whereas the Cinc is much cheaper

 

[dan the man]

local ads i looked really.

its MY girls car not a girls car

 

[LizzyG]

I've had both, and the Ka was 100 times better. Try to get a Ka if you possibly can, the Cinquecento was just so small I felt really vulnerable in it and it was mega slow. The Ka on the other hand was fun to drive, pretty nippy and good on the motorway too which a lot of small cars aren't.

 

[MrTurner]

It may be worth extending the budget for a KA. They're gonna be a whole lot easier to maintain, prob cheaper to maintain too. If you do motorway miles, you'll prob feel a bit safer in the KA too. Just hold out, try and barter people on e-bay or something!

As for it being girly, no more than the Fiat!

 

[kaa197]

I have a Ford KA and I love it! I have the top spec version so its slightly more expensive but the KA is great, it feels like your driving a (very fast) go cart! Most fun car I have driven. Also good on motorways as it can do upto 95, or 100 downhill Much better all round car in every aspect then the cinquecento (which is very light weight and doggy looking)

 

[Stivino]

Given that the post is over a year old I'd imagine they have a new car by now.

 

[bob-the-builder]

 

[SeanT]

a nice non-maintained/low mileage (therefore never had a service because didn't need one yet, started from cold twice a week to nip to the shops and back and never really gets warm) 5 door diesel (indirect injection, black smoke emitting) Vauxhall Corsa (with some rust on the bottom of the doors) or Peugeot 106 (with a bodykit)

 

[Gallen]

Not being funny but do consider a Peugeot 306. They are better made than a KA (Don't rust - Rust is a serious issue on the KA).

The Peugeouts drive so much better and are way superior inside and far more comfy.

If your budget allows, go for a Phase 2 306, which is the facelift version. Started on a P-Plate onwards.

Plenty on Flea Bay!


- EDIT - Just realised that the OP was 2 years old!

 

[SeanT]

How on earth do people dig up these old posts? And WHY? lol

Don't know

 

[kaa197]

Sorry guys I am new and replied to this when looking for info on KA. Didnt check the date of the post and it seems people just continued from their! LOL