2012 Ford KA 1.2L Petrol · WN12 KCK

A clean MOT record over the past three years points to a vehicle with broadly stable roadworthiness, with no advisories or recorded defects on the most recent pass dated 19 November 2025. It is worth noting that this pass followed a previous test just seven days earlier on 12 November 2025, which was failed but carried no defect entries on the certificate; in MOT terms this means the vehicle was initially refused but the issues were either rectified under the new rules without re-test category being recorded, or the retest outcome merged with the subsequent pass. The earlier pattern follows the same shape: a failed test on 2 October 2024 with no defects recorded, followed by a clean pass on 5 November 2024. This repeated pattern of fail followed quickly by pass with no documented advisories does suggest borderline or intermittent items being addressed at the time of test rather than chronic deterioration, but the lack of recorded defect details does limit how reassuring that pattern is for a prospective buyer. At 69,764 miles across roughly 14 years, this Ford Ka is accumulating around 4,983 miles per year, which is well below the typical average and consistent with light use, short urban trips, or extended periods of inactivity between tests. There are no extended testing gaps recorded, with annual MOTs maintained throughout, which reduces the risk of a long lay-up that would otherwise raise concerns over seized brakes, perished rubber, or deteriorated fluids. However, low annual mileage on a small city car does often translate into disproportionate wear on certain components: brake discs and pads suffer from surface corrosion through lack of sustained use, tyres can develop flat spots or sidewall cracking from standing, and the clutch and dual-mass-related items can suffer from dry bearing surfaces if driven only intermittently. Any inspection should therefore focus on the condition of these items rather than assuming low mileage equates to mechanical preservation. Given the absence of specific advisory detail on the record, a prospective buyer should concentrate their mechanical inspection on the areas most likely to harbour hidden wear on a low-mileage Ka of this age. On a test drive, listen for clonks or knocks from the front suspension over bumps and on full lock, as worn lower wishbone bushes and anti-roll bar drop links are known wear points on this platform; feel for any judder through the steering or braking that might indicate corroded or warped front brake discs, and check for pulling to one side which could point to seized caliper slide pins. Inspect the exhaust system from the manifold gasket rearward, as the rear silencer and intermediate pipe sections are prone to corrosion and often only flagged once the vehicle is on a ramp. Also examine the underside carefully for any surface rust on subframe and suspension mounting points, as fourteen-year-old structural components commonly show early signs of corrosion that would not yet be MOT failure material but could become so in the near future. Finally, because the recorded MOT entries do not specify what caused the two failures, it is prudent to ask the seller or testing garage for the failure sheets from October 2024 and November 2025 to understand exactly what was repaired between the failed and passed tests. Items such as headlamp alignment, brake imbalance, or an emissions overshoot are common causes of an MOT fail that can be corrected inexpensively and have no bearing on long-term mechanical health, but a failure relating to structural corrosion, steering play, or brake pipe integrity would warrant far more caution. A thorough pre-purchase inspection on a ramp, combined with a careful road test paying attention to the symptoms described above, remains the most reliable way to convert this largely clean MOT history into genuine confidence in the vehicle's condition.