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General Fiat 500/Ford Ka comparison

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General Fiat 500/Ford Ka comparison

I think PSA did the electrics, they come with Peugeot keys that's for sure. Probably not a good thing?

My 307 was the worst car I have ever had by a country mile - £6000 spent in the last 9 months of it's life, thank goodness it was a company car.
 
306maxi said:
C4 coupe looks nice enough, C5 is alright looking too. C6 is fabulous for a luxobarge but you're right, other than that Citroens are rubbish. I'm not being sarcastic either :p
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Perhaps it should be re-branded s***roen then :D
 
You know what the problem with Ford is? Every bugger drives one. There are so many of the new Fiestas down my road they're already beginning to look tired and boring. Even if you pick a nice colour your neighbour will get one exactly the same a few months later! Then there's the new Ka which looks nice in white but again, there are 2 white ones on my road alone.

And the interiors on both of them still look like they've been drawn with crayons by a 3 year old who loves spaceships.
 
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Lloyd71 said:
You know what the problem with Ford is? Every bugger drives one. There are so many of the new Fiestas down my road they're already beginning to look tired and boring. Even if you pick a nice colour your neighbour will get one exactly the same a few months later! Then there's the new Ka which looks nice in white but again, there are 2 white ones on my road alone.

And the interiors on both of them still look like they've been drawn with crayons by a 3 year old who loves spaceships.
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Yes, the interior does look rather gash.
 
I get the feeling that the interior designers were given a brief that went something along the lines of;

"Make it look modern, cool and funky. To pensioners."
 
Lloyd71 said:
I get the feeling that the interior designers were given a brief that went something along the lines of;

"Make it look modern, cool and funky. To pensioners."
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Yep. That's one of the main draws for me with the 500. Sure it's retro but it's modern, unobtrusive, well laid out and not ugly!!!!!
 
Yeah I had a C4 coupe when they first appeared and it was an excellent car. Best thing Citroen have ever made.
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The best things Citroen ever made were the Light Fifteen of 1934 and the DS of 1955, but never mind.

The 500 looks utterly charming, the KA looks perfectly charmless, and the new Fiesta is already beginning to look very fussy and commonplace, and has served only to heighten how beautiful the GP is as a piece of design.
 
I went and had a quick look/sit in the new Ford KA when shopping for a new car (even though my heart was absoloutely set on the 500). The interior is ok although the 500 is definately superior in my eyes. The exterior is just... well, hideous in a word. It's like the gawky, younger sibling of the Fiesta.

They don't really stand out on their own either - I saw one around my area recently frequenting at different houses. I thought it was one car until I drove past one day and realised it was 2 different ones - they just look identical :|
 
Round here the old KA is extremely common, the new ones been out since January and Ive still only seen two on the road. It is very ugly, but I like the interior of the higher spec ones. I would have bought one for my wife but shyed away as the 1.2s seem to be suffering the same intermittent starting problems of the 500:( and the local Ford dealers are pretty shoddy.
Ended up with a Pug 107 as it had a decent price, decent finance and we liked it. Its actually turned out to be a funky little car, yes the interior is cheap (but very well put together) and yes the seats are pretty poor... but it has a lovely engine and can be fun to drive if you cane it enough:) And being a Toyota underneath helped too, very reasurring seeing all the Jap parts on it, although theres loads of European stuff too.
 
306maxi said:
Just remember that the Fester is a different class to the Ka. Look at the difference between the Panda and the Grande Punto for example. The Fester is horrible inside with the cheap ****ty silver plastic bit..... truly horrendous and horrible.
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Id say there isnt much of a gap between the Panda & Grande Punto. If anything, the Panda is the better quality product. Partly because it's very well constructed for its class of car but partly because the Grande Punto isn't! I love Fiats, but the Grande Punto is badly put together compared to the rest of the Fiat range. If people did there research better, the Bravo would easily outsell the Grande Punto.

AlexGP said:
I think PSA did the electrics, they come with Peugeot keys that's for sure. Probably not a good thing?

My 307 was the worst car I have ever had by a country mile - £6000 spent in the last 9 months of it's life, thank goodness it was a company car.
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307s are another of lifes mysteries - how the hell have Peugeot sold so many of the God awful things. Ok they look alright, but they drive like a barge, fall apart before youre home from collecting them & were never that cheap either. The amazing thing is, the 308 seems to be doing well - it's almost like all the 307 owners are going back for even more rubbish. Amazing.

Nuova500 said:
Round here the old KA is extremely common, the new ones been out since January and Ive still only seen two on the road. It is very ugly, but I like the interior of the higher spec ones. I would have bought one for my wife but shyed away as the 1.2s seem to be suffering the same intermittent starting problems of the 500:( and the local Ford dealers are pretty shoddy.
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We have loads of old KAs here too, but ive seen like 3 new ones on the road since its launch, and i drive all over the country. Traditionally Fiats dont sell in this area, we had no Fiat dealer for best part of 10 years, but the 500 is way out numbering the new KA. Even What Car said there's no point in getting a KA when the 500 is so much better and in some cases cheaper to buy. I do like the look of the new KA tho, to be fair to it.

I suspect the starting problems are to do with both KA & 500 sharing the 1.2 engines - i bet Ford are cursing Fiat for that, coz all the customers will think its a Ford engine.
 
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I seem to remember reading somewhere that the dash on the new festa was designed to resemble a Nokia mobile phone... Fords ham fisted way of trying to appeal to the younger generation of drivers I guess!

Had a go at configuring a Ka on the ford website the other day... to try to get everything I have in my 500, it turned out to be more expensive, and still didn't get exactly what I wanted in it.
 
nottsfiat07 said:
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the dash on the new festa was designed to resemble a Nokia mobile phone... Fords ham fisted way of trying to appeal to the younger generation of drivers I guess!
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Ewwwwwwww. Makes me not want to buy a Nokia phone again :p
 
Lloyd71 said:
You know what the problem with Ford is? Every bugger drives one. There are so many of the new Fiestas down my road they're already beginning to look tired and boring. Even if you pick a nice colour your neighbour will get one exactly the same a few months later! Then there's the new Ka which looks nice in white but again, there are 2 white ones on my road alone.

And the interiors on both of them still look like they've been drawn with crayons by a 3 year old who loves spaceships.
Click to expand...

306maxi said:
Yes, the interior does look rather gash.
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Well its horses for courses - the fiesta isn't trying to be retro in any way, its trying to be modern. Owners of retro sytled cars are never going to like something thats the other end of the spectrum. I'm not exactly a fan either, but there are lots of people who are.
 
JTD_Liam said:
Id say there isnt much of a gap between the Panda & Grande Punto. If anything, the Panda is the better quality product. Partly because it's very well constructed for its class of car but partly because the Grande Punto isn't! I love Fiats, but the Grande Punto is badly put together compared to the rest of the Fiat range. If people did there research better, the Bravo would easily outsell the Grande Punto.
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Well yes, but I doubt most average joes would agree. Most people think the bigger the car the better it's made. Personally I'd buy a Bravo over a GP as well :) Or a Panda over a GP unless size really is a problem.
 
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