Looking for a good repair place

[Teresa]

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I gave my daughter our 1993 Festiva, and we are going to fix it up. We don't know how to do the work ourselves, so need suggestions for a good place to take it. She's in Athens, GA, near Atlanta. It needs any number of things under the hood, a little body work, new front and rear bumper/bumper covers, headlights and tail lights, paint clearcoat for at least the roof, add a/c, new stereo, upholstery......She drives it every day, and it's reliable, but a rough ride these days.

Any suggestions? Is there a club in that area that she can get in contact with?

[batstiva]

First off, welcome to ff.com. The greatest, most time consuming forum on the web.

Wish I could help you with finding a shop local to you, but I'll leave that to our Southern contingent. I would highly recommend for stuff like headlights/tail lights/ bumper covers/bumpers, etc that you not try to buy retail. Remember, the junkyard, and the WTB/FS forums are your friend.

[Wldfire]

Welcome! Wish i could give some advice, but way far away from there! Great little car for your daughter though! I cant say enough good things about my little Festiva! Best car I have ever owned and so reliable! Good luck with things and like Batstiva said the Junkyards are great resources and so is our WTB/Forum!
Take care

[GenevaDirt]

welcome to the site Teresa....please take a moment and add your location to your profile. Will help with questions in the future. As far as help....there are some member s in GA. and I am sure once they read this will speak up as to where one could go for help. As stated....the members here are a great bunch and are always willing to help in numerous ways. If there are parts needed I would suggest a [WTB] thread...please make sure you pay attention to the posting codes. Good luck.

[Teresa]

WTB = Wanted to buy??? OK, I can post there, but first I need to figure out what it is that we need. Once we find someone to do the work, do I ask for a list of parts and start buying?

The frame under the hood is bent, which makes the hood not shut properly, and makes the radiator kind of dangle. Should that be fixed before cv boots, (which need replacing right now), tires, alignment and brakes? Should I plan on rebuilding the engine, or just addressing whatever? Is there a logical order to do things in?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give, as you can see this is all very new to us.

[freshtiva]

The greatest, most time consuming forum on the web.

^ Ha !


Welcome to the site Teresa !!

[GenevaDirt]

Yes WTB = wanted to buy....please make sure you use the brackets [ ] on either side. I would buy/find parts as you go....maybe even consider buying a cheap DONOR car if you have any around you. Swapping good parts off of it to your good runner. I would say CV boots before the hood....but make sure that you do not need the whole cv axle before wasting the money and labor on the boots....new axles will come complete.
I would not think the engine needs rebuilding unless you are having issues with it....they last a long time if taken care of and maintained properly.
Best thing I would think is to first find someone that can work on the car....unless you have a major issue that REALLY needs attention now. I am sure there will be someone in GA. that will be able to work on the car that you will be able to trust....finding them will be an uphill challenge though.

[Team Lightning]

Teresa, PM sent

[TominMO]

I would like to see a local member (maybe Bebandit or Monsoon?) take a look at the car and decide what it needs--maybe even do some of the work on it that's quick and easy, like front brake pads. Adding A/C to a non-A/C car requires finding some parts that are not that available, and a fair amount of work. It would be easier to buy a car already with A/C.

For tires, upgrade to 13" from a JY--13" Geo/Chevy Metros are best. This is a cheap way to get decent tires already mounted and balanced. And when you need to replace the tires, the 13" ones are far easier to get than 12", and there are more choices and better quality tires too. Keep one or two good 12" tires for a spare, and ditch the spacesaver spare tire.

Be sure to have the front suspension parts checked out too--tie rod ends and LCAs (lower control arms).

[Team Lightning]

Tom, I made contact with Teresa and I'm about an hours drive away. I will be glad to help any way I can.

[bhazard]

Having someone that knows festivas work on a festiva is way better than having a 'mechanic' that thinks he knows everything work on a festiva.

[TominMO]

Tom, I made contact with Teresa and I'm about an hours drive away. I will be glad to help any way I can.

Excellent! Festiva Forum members FTW!

[Teresa]

Having someone that knows festivas work on a festiva is way better than having a 'mechanic' that thinks he knows everything work on a festiva.

My thoughts exactly.

[WmWatt]

If the car can be driven your daughter can take it in for a free brake inspection at some national chain, like Canadian Tire here in Canada. Here in Ontario there is a government safety inspection all cars must pass before they can be registered by a new owner. If the same is true in Georgia your daughter will get a list of things the car needs, if any, before she can change the tags over to her name. Many of the standard parts for the Festiva are still available new if she is not willing to look for them in junk yards. She should get an estimate for all the work that needs to be done before deciding if she should keep the car.

[batstiva]

^^ I'm kind of leery of those "free brake inspections" because the end result always seems to be that the car needs everything. That, and the last time I got one of those, I snapped a spindle 10 minutes after leaving the shop. :evil: