New Owner

[lornalouise]

Hi there,

I am looking at purchasing a streetka in the next couple of months, once ive sold my mini. I have heard of a couple of problems they might have and just want to double check on them first and also have a few queries.

1- leaky roof? ive heard that the streetka's have alot of trouble with leaking. whats your experiancee with this?

2- Alternator? ive heard that this is notorious for breaking all the time. what your experiance?

3- what are parts like to get hold of? e.g new steering wheel?

4- what colour are the dashboard lights? blue? red?

5- Anything i should look out for when buying? rust? roof? etc.

Any advice would be appreciated!;-D

Thanks

[nickdando]

I have a 55 registration Winter 2. The car had done 18,000 miles when I picked it up in December 2009. Last year on the way back from Scotland, the alternator packed up and I had to have a new one fitted at a cost of £300 and an extra day's holiday in County Durham.

I've had a few leaks, but these have generally been when I've been washing the car and have just been dribbles down the inside of the side windows. A minor dribble outside Glasgow last October in a torrential downpour on the passenger's side window which was receiving the full brunt of the storm.

The driver's side window winder motor is pretty feeble and will need replacing soon.

Occasional electrical oddities, such as the headlight warning buzzer not coming on when I've left the lights on.

Heated seats don't seem to work.

The heated rear-screen on the hardtop is also feeble.

Air-con will need a re-charge as the cold air isn't that cold and travelling down from Scotland on a hot day with the roof up was getting a bit steamy in the traffic delays on the A1 in Yorkshire.

Thirsty, and expensive to tax. The tax is £235 per year and I rarely get better than 30 mpg, climbing to 35 mpg on a long run. About 240 miles to a tank of petrol, generally.

Nick

[grahamfromoldham]

I have a 55 registration Winter 2. The car had done 18,000 miles when I picked it up in December 2009. Last year on the way back from Scotland, the alternator packed up and I had to have a new one fitted at a cost of £300 and an extra day's holiday in County Durham.

I've had a few leaks, but these have generally been when I've been washing the car and have just been dribbles down the inside of the side windows. A minor dribble outside Glasgow last October in a torrential downpour on the passenger's side window which was receiving the full brunt of the storm.

The driver's side window winder motor is pretty feeble and will need replacing soon.

Occasional electrical oddities, such as the headlight warning buzzer not coming on when I've left the lights on.

Heated seats don't seem to work.

The heated rear-screen on the hardtop is also feeble.

Air-con will need a re-charge as the cold air isn't that cold and travelling down from Scotland on a hot day with the roof up was getting a bit steamy in the traffic delays on the A1 in Yorkshire.

Thirsty, and expensive to tax. The tax is £235 per year and I rarely get better than 30 mpg, climbing to 35 mpg on a long run. About 240 miles to a tank of petrol, generally.

Nick

As Nick said, a couple of niggles but then again the cars are around 5-7 years old now so its to be expected. Mpg is spot on with what my missus has got..2004 Green StreetKa, same as what Nick said.

We had the alternator done a few months back and it cost us about £170 fully fitted.

Dashboard lights are a green-ish colour.

I just fitted some after burner lights to the rear on her car and they have made it a little more unique. I have also fitted some blue neons in the footwells for a nice glow at night-time, dead easy to fit.

Again, same as what Nick said, no leaks as such, just the odd dribble when its washed. Here in Oldham last weekend we had torrential rain for almost 36 hours and not a drop made it inside. In the manual, Ford says they cannot guarantee water-proof of the hood, but you'll be fine I'm sure. Don't think you'll sit there getting wet when it rains, its unlikely from our experience.

Just bear in mind that they're not the cheapest car to run with the tax, oh...and get an insurance quote first, I think you'll be sadly surprised as they seem expensive to insure, as well as run with the cost of fuel. This is our 2nd car really just for summer and when its hot and you have the roof down, this is when this little car comes into its own.

Enjoy it if you buy one, there's plenty out there with low mileage. Have a look at a few though like we did as the first one went to look at, the leather seats were badly worn. But on the one we bought its immaculate.

[lornalouise]

thanks for that,really helps. cheers

[nickdando]

I find that the bottom edges of the rear wings get a hammering from gravel and stones on the road. Even fitting the genuine Ford front mud flaps hasn't really helped (they're too small). I've removed most of the paint, but as the wings are made of plastic, at least they're not going to rust.

I use a corrosion inhibitor called ACF-50 (picked up from my motorcycling days) to spray onto the mesh grilles, both front and rear as rust can take hold quite quickly. This particular product is a thick purplish goo that dries on the surface and produces a barrier. It doesn't wash off, or damage electrical components, or rot rubber, unlike WD-40. It's also used by the military to prevent oxidation of aeroplane serving on aircraft carriers.

Nick