New driver.

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 02 Sep 2004, 19:43

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by tomsheppard

Yep The Ka is the best small car currently available on price, fun to drive and economy of operation, it makes a good choice. I thoroughly enjoyed mine.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
[:D][:D][:D]

johntaylor · Post by **johntaylor** » 02 Sep 2004, 23:04

The AX metal is paper thin and is a very flimsy car. Go for a stronger car such as the Fiesta, Punto, Corsa. As for a 2CV? i broke one up with the help of a small pair of metal shears, and hacksaw. The doors I bent in half quite easily by hand.

madasafish · Post by **madasafish** » 02 Sep 2004, 23:15

New drivers should drive cars where - if they have a crash- they have a high chance of survival due to car design. That means 3 star crash rating minimum.
AX and ZX have not been rated - too old- but when new were poor and now old and rusty are imo potential death traps. Personally I would not let any of my children drive one. A new style Peufoet 106/Saxo is just about acceptable. Mark 5 Fiestas (to 2001) got 3 stars.
Read car ratings at http://tinyurl.com/5svlf
(Honest John faults on sh cars).
Mark I 106/Saxo is not very good.
On motorways a crash in an old AX/ZX stands a very good chance of being a " drive along in your own coffin".

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 02 Sep 2004, 23:35

Anyone read and seen the rather alarming pictures in this months Car Mechanics magazine about the Citroen Saxo and rust problems affecting cars as new as R registation. And it does not seem to be an isolated case either.[:0]
Not one to bang on (honest) but petrol tank fell out of my 1996 Laguna due to underbody corrosion (serviced regulaly) - been under my ZX and very very little corrosion to speak of, certainly all surface rust and nothing structual. Admittedly no airbags, but then neither had my Morris 1000, and that wiped out a (MK 3) fiesta in 1995 - not a scratch on me![:)]

gardenpeas · Post by **gardenpeas** » 03 Sep 2004, 03:48

ax is the way to go got mine of my uncle 2 years ago as soon as i passed. after 2 year of me nailing it into the ground the one litre beast still purrs even if it is only a 3 speed now 2nd gear gave up on friday. have crashed the front end 3 times now + 1 from previos owners and the ax keeps coming alive for more and so do i. if your daughter drives nothing like me she'll be very safe. and remember the ax will offroad surprisingly well have dent in sump to prove.
ps cable ties, gaffer tape and a hammer all you need to fix an ax

NiSk · Post by **NiSk** » 03 Sep 2004, 11:46

As I said in a previous comment, the international insurance company Folksam, based in Sweden, has published statistics taken from international accident research - note these results are not from crash tests (such as Euro NCAP), but from real accidents with real people. You can check out results at:
http://www.folksam.se/forskning/trafik/ ... torlek.htm
As you can probably guess, red is bad and green is good.
//NiSk

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 03 Sep 2004, 12:26

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by martyhopkirk

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by tomsheppard

Yep The Ka is the best small car currently available on price, fun to drive and economy of operation, it makes a good choice. I thoroughly enjoyed mine.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
[:D][:D][:D]
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
There was a story going round a while ago that the Ford design department downloaded a drawing for a Habitat teapot by mistake when they were working on the Ka(k) body [}:)]

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 03 Sep 2004, 12:35

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by johntaylor

The AX metal is paper thin and is a very flimsy car. Go for a stronger car such as the Fiesta, Punto, Corsa. As for a 2CV? i broke one up with the help of a small pair of metal shears, and hacksaw. The doors I bent in half quite easily by hand.
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What does that prove or disprove though, John? Are there any statistics on percentage of people injured in 2CV accidents? The 2CV has excellent primary safety - excellent brakes, suspension and roadholding.
Most cars now have very thin body panels, and the strength is from their shape. The Deuche has a chassis. What about the body on a motorbike? Where is it?
[rant]
Most of this safety nonsense is a mixture of marketing-speak and our nanny state where no-one is responsible for their own actions.
We should be spending resources on driver education - 'how can I avoid an accident' rather than 'I'm OK when I have a prang because my car is loaded with whoopee cushions and scaffold poles and has a towel rail on the front to make sure the other guy comes off worst'
[/rant]
As it stands, the car-buying public is obsessed with BHP. 0-60 (where can you actually do that?) times and other irrelevances. Given that they can get insurance, a 17 year old can buy a car of any power they want, and go and wrap it round a tree - is that safe?

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 03 Sep 2004, 12:39

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">AX and ZX have not been rated - too old- but when new were poor and now old and rusty <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Interesting - never seen a rusty ZX, and seen plenty of non-rusty AXs.
I am sure the manufacturers marketroids love it when their 'old is bad - new is good' mantra has managed to brainwash a goodly percentage of the car-owning public.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 03 Sep 2004, 13:41

Well Mike and Marty: anything other than bigotry to base these comments on? As far as I know, the only criticisns that can be levelled against the Ka are poor demisting (Buy one with a/c) and an old engine which only returns 40 MPG over 45,000 miles. If you don't like the looks, well, that's up to you. There's a damn sight more room in it than a Saxo, bits are cheap and their agility brings the BMC Mini Cooper to mind.

TomH · Post by **TomH** » 03 Sep 2004, 17:17

edited: link to 2CV crash test already given!
alarming video!!

gardenpeas · Post by **gardenpeas** » 04 Sep 2004, 01:49

ka useless ax brilliant
i've heard of rusty 4 year old ka's not passing mot's and the plugs rust to the stupid old iron block
and try getting a fruitmachine in a ka (it's possible with an ax just) and whats with the evil rear lights on ka at night they scare me my ax doesn't never blown a bulb either genius french electrics
(vw polo better than ax)

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 04 Sep 2004, 03:19

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">ka useless ax brilliant <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
you sound like my next door neighbour who thinks that his Vauxhall Vectra is the greatest car ever built in the universe ever!!! Mondeo, Passat, Primera???-all rubbish according to him.
Personally, I wouldn't want an AX myself, or a Ka ( but I have had an Anglia and a Mk1 Fiesta- same motor, which absolutely flew in 1100 form ), but I wouldn't rubbish anyone else's choice to drive them- its just not my particular ride of choice.
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">genius french electrics <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Was your tongue in your cheek when you wrote this?- look inside a BX!!!

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 04 Sep 2004, 13:13

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by tomsheppard

Well Mike and Marty: anything other than bigotry to base these comments on? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Only personal experience with them Tom!
Had a Ka as a crown car (so had done many many miles,) and did not wear well - rattled, squeaked, air bag light always on, felt too close to the cars in front due to tiny bonnet, switch air con on and car would not move! - Hated it, surprisingly roomy for a small car but still did not feel comfy or safe in it at any speed in traffic, and though i used to trail Imps, I wouldnt feel safe in one of those either! I DID feel safe in my Minor 1000? How weird is that? No airbags there of course (and No i dont feel safe in the ZX at speed despite its rust free atire as im aware of how hard the dashboard is likely to be if i hit it).[xx(]
Look, go with your head on what you feel is safe, cheap to run and so on and pay no attention to the rest of the blokes in the pub! Though i would urge you to flick through this months CM magazine and look at those pics.[:)]

Post by **martyhopkirk** » 05 Sep 2004, 15:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by NiSk

As I said in a previous comment, the international insurance company Folksam, based in Sweden, has published statistics taken from international accident research - note these results are not from crash tests (such as Euro NCAP), but from real accidents with real people. You can check out results at:
http://www.folksam.se/forskning/trafik/ ... torlek.htm
As you can probably guess, red is bad and green is good.
//NiSk
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Pleasing results for my Xantia then!- not soooo hot for the ZX..... Amazed @ the Ka, felt quite scary when i had one....