Tell me your worst, most expensive, or difficult! (A hesitant buyer asking)

[oreolemon]

What were some of the most expensive/challenging/stressful experiences you've had with a festiva. (You've got to know the worst to appreciate the best.)

Hi! I'm new and have my eye on a festiva for sale, with the hope of owning a cheap, reliable, and efficient car. But many people I've talked to have told me that festivas aren't worth buying. I've read online that the mufflers/brakes need replaced often but other than that everyone seems to love them, on the web. I figure all of you might just be the best people to ask about owning and maintaining a festiva. So what is the absolute worst I can expect if I end up buying any of them? Bad safety features, expensive or hard to replace parts, recurring problems, etc.?


About the car in question.(If you want to know which one I'm talking about.)
If anyone wants to know what festiva I'm thinking of getting, here's the craigslist ad.

1993 Ford Festiva - $1200 (Rathdrum, ID)

I know one of you might grab it before I can get my chance to try it out, but it would probably be going to a good home. So I wouldn't mind.


It seems like a good deal. The same guy was selling 2 other festivas in similar condition. It's pretty much the best car I can find in my price range(<$1500) with the fuel economy I'm looking for. I'm iffy about the current price of $1200, but if I was able to talk him down I would have enough for any potential repairs, as soon as I get the car home and checked by a mechanic. Right?(I don't actually know)

I search the forums for a few days, but it seems like this topic hadn't been brought up yet. And the general discussion area felt like the best place to post this.
let me know if anything I'm doing could be done better.
Thanks.

[jfd64]

From the pics,if it runs and drives well looks like a real solid buy.I am in the rust belt so removal of suspension bolts can be challenging if it is a rusty beater.Here we have issues with frame rot where the rear axle beam bolts and the engine trans cradle bolts in front.Overall very cheap and easy to fix.Especially being older being able to fix yourself is a plus.Not the best design on the front bearings and break rotors.They are pressed together.I can have new bearings pressed in at Napa for 85 per side,parts and labor, if i remove the knuckle and take it to them.That is one the more expensive fixes.It is good to keep an eye on rear wheels for bearing slop.Safety?I dont know of any bad safety features but not many good ones either.2 outta 5 safety rating.

[TominMO]

Festivas are good cars. Mainly you want to see that it has little or no rust, esp. in the area where the rear beam bolts to the body. From the pics, that car looks pretty good. They are pretty easy to work on too; a great car to learn wrenching on. Parts are available, especially from RockAuto.com/

Common upgrades:
13" wheels from a 1995+ Geo/Chevy Metro, or other cars (see the wheel list); bolt right on
Aspire brakes, much more powerful; need 4x100 bolt-pattern wheels tho
Aspire front seats, better made/more comfortable; easy swap
new Kia shifter bushings, easy job and greatly improves shifter slop

If you buy American Racing Estrella 14" rims, you can get them with dual bolt patterns for Festiva (4x114.3mm) and Aspire (4x100mm); you could then just change the front brakes to Aspire and still be able to use those wheels. But at least move up to 13" wheels, where you can still get some good-quality tires.

[Advancedynamix]

That looks like a good buy if it's rust free. The lower pinch weld (runs the length between the wheel wells under the doors, on both sides of the car) is a good place to check. Look closely at that pinch weld seam under the car. If it's rusted away at all then there is rust in other places as well and the car is not solid. If that seam looks rust free and solid then check other places for signs of rust holes or bubbled paint.
These cars only eat brakes and wheel bearings if the repair work is done improperly. The front wheel bearings are tricky to get right. When they are done properly, with quality parts, it's common to get over 100k out of a set of bearings and rotors.
These cars are incredibly reliable when compared to any other economy car that is over 20 years old. In fact, they are so simple that they tend to be more trustworthy than cars that are 15 years newer.

[Team Lightning]

I bought my 90L new. Clutch lasted 155,000 had to replace due to broke springs in pressure plate. Front bearings and cv axles lasted over 200k before being replaced. Original motor and trans are running in another car with over 263000 on them. Only complaint in 369,000 was the brakes, an Aspire swap fixed that 5 yrs ago. Great car, I now own 5 inc a bp (1.8 ) turbo car. Yeah, I'm in the festy game for life.

[ryanprins13]

Tell me your worst, most expensive, or difficult! (A hesitant buyer asking)

Before i mention the difficult work i have done on my festiva i should say that between my brother, sister, parents and I this festiva is the most reliable and easy to work on vehicle any of us owned. Thats 38 vehicles that i can remember. I worked in a mechanic shop for a while and in autobody for quite some time (a lot of suspension and front end repairs) and the festiva would be one of the top 10 easiest to work on vehicles. Parts are cheap and factory replacement parts are fairly easy to come by. Performance or specialty parts not so much. The engine and drivetrain is one of the easiest to work on that there is. Very few electronics but still runs good. Many people go over 500k miles on these cars. In over 220,000km mine has only not gotten me to where i needed to go twice. My distributor quit. Grabbed one from a junk yard and was good to go. Other time was i had big subwoofers and a dead battery. I would push start it by myself to get going quite often and the battery acid would boil over everywhere while i was using the amplifier. Ate through a wire. But parts are $5 here, $10 there, $30 is an expensive part. Whereas the same stuff for my 7th gen civic is $20 here, $50 there, $200 for the $30 festiva part...*
I have had 4 civics 2001-2005 and my brother has also had 4, 3 of them being 80's and 90's. They all were less reliable and way higher in maintinance. My current 2002 civic costs exactly twice as much per km on maintinance as the festiva. And i keep track of every penny :p. My 02 civic has also done me very well on being low maintinance compared to other peopls 7th gens. Hardly anything has gone wrong with it but it still costs double the festiva. The festivas also have a durable body. Mine has been through 3 big hailstorms without a dent. 2 of those storms completely destroyed other vehicles. Even breaking windows, writing off expensive cars. That one actually chipped some of my paint off but no dents. They hold up well in small accidents. I believe they are safer than driving a pickup with a load in the box or a trailer but people disagree with me and thats a long post for another day i will have to work on. they are safer than a motorbike, i dont think anyone can argue that. Theres a lot of glass on these cars. I put those small 1in diameter wide view mirrors on my side mirrors and i have absolutly no blind spots. No need to shoulder check- i can see a vehicle in my side mirrors right up until i can see it in my phericle vision. I love it. I still shoulder check every time though. The glass makes the car into a greenhouse in the summer. Easy fix is tint the windows, looks cooler anyway.*
*
So the annoying stuff: the pressed in front wheel bearings and rotors. Its a pain but it is not uncommon with other cars! We get spoiled with the festiva and think this is bad. Many other vehicles have the same thing. My 2002 civic has a hub on the front and its way harder to change the bearing than on the festiva. Rear is also a sealed bearing. Also on my civic i had a shop strip a stud on the front hub doing a wheel alignment. You have to buy a new hub to replace that or press the old one apart, cut the bearing off without scoring the race, hammer in the new stud, press it back togeather... Just for a stripped wheel stud. So you can mail your hubs to an experienced member here, pay him to buy you new bearings, seals, rotors and put it togeather for you and mail it back cheaper than buying 2 front hubs for a civic. Same with the rear. You can pay an experienced member to buy you new drums and install new seals and bearings and mail them to you cheaper than buying 2 rear hubs on a civic.*
The rear struts on like to seize on the lower bolts. Some cutting and welding required. Again, nothing uncommon for any car this age.*
The headlights suck. I put a $40 hID kit in and they are pretty good now.*
Took me a couple hours once to remove a cv shaft. That can happen with any car, usually its easy, sometimes its hard.*
12 in Tires are uncommon but i have only ever bought one set of new summer tires and one set of new winters in 230,000km and 9 years or so. I get em all at wreckers or private sellers. You cant beat tires with full or almost full tread balanced on a rim for $20.*
Heater box foam sometimes gives out after 25 years but theres tons of threads here on how to fix that.*
Your specific concerns of mufflers and brakes: i put a muffler on 200,000km ago and its still there, i cant speak for others, but its cheap if they do go. Brakes just take maintenance. Any small cheap car has its maintenance neglected. Front caliper sliders need greasing, rear pivoting mechanisms need greasing. If you do that the pads/shoes never wear out in normal driving. I replaced all of mine when i got my car just because they were old, not because they were worn. Just replaced my back shoes since its been 9 years/ 200k and they still had lots left. Just had to do my fronts because i forgot to lube the sliders for 5 years and one stuck. 3 pads still had over 3/4 left though.
Well thats probably enough, i cant say enough about these cars. They are one of the most fun cars you will drive, one of the most reliable, one of the easiest to maintain and i dont think you can find a cheaper vehicle to maintain.*



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[ryanprins13]

Now to try and convince you to buy it i used to average 46mpg us. My best was 52.2mpg us. These cars can tow a decent trailer, pulls a 4x8 utility trailer with appliances, gardening equipment better than my 2002 civic. Pretty good cars in snow. I used to mess around with friends to see who could go the farthest in deep snow and i could beat some trucks. Good ground clearance, i can crawl underneath without jacking it up, dont need to jack it up to change oil. *You can put a ton of stuff in the back if you remove the rear seat. Ive hauled a lot of 8ft lumber with the door shut, 14 foot lumber with it open. Had 700pounds of sheep wool in there once, *engines, compressors, tools, animals... Guy on here strapped pontoons for an airplane to his festiva to transport them. I have pulled a ton of vehicles out of the ditch with mine. Biggest was a deisel 80's dodge 250 custom with a 20foot double deck stocktrailer. He was stuck bad in a snowbank and slid right up against a telephone pole so he couldnt give it gas anymore to get out (he had tried for quite a while) i had my brother and sister sit on my hood for traction and pulled him out in reverse. Actually stalled it 7 times in the snow. I had 3 levels high of scaffolding blow over onto my car. So 24 or 27 feet up, 16 or 18 foot long scaffolding and there was 2 of those heavy platforms on each level including the top. Blew over and Landed on my roof and cost $700 to have it fixed so you would never know it happened, lol. Roof and windshield were caved in probly 2 feet only. These cars arent bad for rust. I think there are less mazda protege 5's on the Road than festivas here solely due to rust. They were made in the early 2000's. Civics i think are just as bad, there are just more of them is all. But most importantly these cars are super fun and enjoyable to drive. I havent driven something more enjoyable that was stock.*


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[ryanprins13]

Tell me your worst, most expensive, or difficult! (A hesitant buyer asking)

This is a list of festiva problems someone else posted a few months back.

known problems: owner develops consuming addiction and craving for more power ultimately working their way up to twin turbo V-12 mid engine transplant. cure: bankruptcy.

** * * * * * * * * * * * owner develops obsession with attaching every accessory and convenience ever installed on a festiva, kia pride or mazda 121 from the entire model run.* * cure: eventually you will exceed gross vehicle weight rating. * * * * * * * *

** * * * * * * * * * * * owner is determined to fit 22" tires to festiva. cure: remove fenders.

** * * * * * * * * * * * owner insists on car pulling 2Gs while eating egg McMuffin. cure: read posts by Advancedynamics. he probably drives more on 2 wheels than 4.

** * * * * * * * * * * * owner has done just about everything to the car within his capabilities and budget and still has $175 left to his name. cure: buy another project festiva!

** * * * * * * * * * * * owner can't help but visit ff.com everyday. cure: visit twice a day.

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[wth]

If you catch the festiva bug you will have ups and downs, but never have as much fun as you would have
owning a festiva. have had over 17 of them since 1991 and have enjoyed everyone one of them.
the worst that I can remember was buying one in Kentucky with supposedly a little cancer in front of the
right rear wheel and to get it back home and find out it was rotted out all over the under side just had to
it a descent regifting of its parts to others and some still here in my shed, it was a 89 L.

[bolokid]

Great little cars. I live close enough and would be willing to help when I could. Parts are not difficult to locate in our area.

[lessersivad]

The CL posting is the twin to mine when I first bought it a few years ago.

As was stated earlier, rust is one drawback on these cars. And fiddling with the front wheel bearings/rotors. Not impossible for a DIYer (bearings/rotors) but not as easy as some vehicles.

The biggest drawback(?) I've experienced is not getting one a LOT sooner than I did.

The biggest advantage that I can think of is a VERY supportive community (forum) that will help with whatever may come about.

[harpon]

Great cars driven nothing but Festivas or aspire since the first-
Got the first 88 carbed 4 speed Festiva with 175 K on the meter from Sunset Ford Westminster CA in 1997 for $700- $900 total- tax and smog and license
rust free California car that apparently had a lot of freeway miles

Drove it until 2011 and 275 K - only alternator battery and brake master cylinder repair, heater core went finally - and new plug wires had me stumped the only time it didn't run like a fine swiss watch- never missed a beat

the best car I ever owned- had to sell it after a flood and moving away- still have a 96 Aspire I've now had for 14 years- haven't turned 118 yet- and also runs great!

below-
88 Festy and 96 Aspire

"New Yeller" 91 Festiva.

[oreolemon]

Thank you, to everyone who's posted! All the information is appreciated. It's all seeming a little more doable, but still a bit daunting and unknown.

Is there a possible thread of things I should get fixed/ looked at that I could refer to if I manage to get the Festiva? I tried searching, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed it.
I would love to hear more of anything from anyone. IMHO, the unknown makes a task a lot more intimidating than any known, so for me, the more problems I know about the better.

the festiva would be one of the top 10 easiest to work on vehicles.

Just in case the CL ad goes south would you have any other cars you would recommend? It wouldn't be a festiva, but it would be nice to know a few good cars to look out for if I need to.

you can mail your hubs to an experienced member here, pay him to buy you new bearings, seals, rotors and put it together for you and mail it back cheaper than buying 2 front hubs for a civic. Same with the rear. You can pay an experienced member to buy you new drums and install new seals and bearings and mail them to you cheaper than buying 2 rear hubs on a civic.*

Should I do that right off the bat after getting the car? This seems like it could be a big issue later. Or am I over thinking things.

i used to average 46mpg us. My best was 52.2mpg us.

If I manage to get it for my daily driver, I will definitely be looking into doing some weird modifications that I've seen over at ecomodder.com. I would love to see how efficient I could make it, just to see if I could, and for the gas savings of course.

Great little cars. I live close enough and would be willing to help when I could. Parts are not difficult to locate in our area.

Thanks! all that's good to know. Honestly, I was a little worried that the area I'm in would be hard for parts. Lewiston definitely isn't known for their abundance of compact cars, but it's looking like it's easy to get parts within driving distance at least.

The biggest advantage that I can think of is a VERY supportive community (forum) that will help with whatever may come about.

The forum community is definitely a positive for me. Knowing there are a group of people all sharing their ideas and knowledge makes me feel like any problems won't be that big of a deal, and I would be able to find some good projects to do on the car too. I'm still a little nervous there will be a problem I wasn't prepared for, or the car has many different problems that take up all my time and the little money I have though.:nightmare:

[sketchman]

One problem I don't think anyone's mentioned. The PO. Most people, at least in my area,, did not take care of these cars well if at all.

And the last one I bought with a minty body, the engine went after a very short while. Like not even 6 months later. Upon puling the valve cover it was obvious lack of maintenance was probably the cause. There's at least one other member who's had the same experiences I've had with these cars.

I don't mean don't buy one, but I would personally now pull the valve cover to check for a clean inside before I bought one, regardless how good the outside looks. Then adjust the price accordingly.

[ryanprins13]

Tell me your worst, most expensive, or difficult! (A hesitant buyer asking)

Thank you, to everyone who's posted! All the information is appreciated. It's all seeming a little more doable, but still a bit daunting and unknown.

Is there a possible thread of things I should get fixed/ looked at that I could refer to if I manage to get the Festiva? I tried searching, but I wouldn't be surprised if I missed it.
I would love to hear more of anything from anyone. IMHO, the unknown makes a task a lot more intimidating than any known, so for me, the more problems I know about the better.

Just in case the CL ad goes south would you have any other cars you would recommend? It wouldn't be a festiva, but it would be nice to know a few good cars to look out for if I need to.

Should I do that right off the bat after getting the car? This seems like it could be a big issue later. Or am I over thinking things.

If I manage to get it for my daily driver, I will definitely be looking into doing some weird modifications that I've seen over at ecomodder.com. I would love to see how efficient I could make it, just to see if I could, and for the gas savings of course.

Thanks! all that's good to know. Honestly, I was a little worried that the area I'm in would be hard for parts. Lewiston definitely isn't known for their abundance of compact cars, but it's looking like it's easy to get parts within driving distance at least.

The forum community is definitely a positive for me. Knowing there are a group of people all sharing their ideas and knowledge makes me feel like any problems won't be that big of a deal, and I would be able to find some good projects to do on the car too. I'm still a little nervous there will be a problem I wasn't prepared for, or the car has many different problems that take up all my time and the little money I have though.:nightmare:

Tell you what, if you get the car i will write out a list of things to do and check as soon as you get it ok? Nothing out of the ordinary you wouldnt do for any other car you just bought really.
Out of the top 10 easy to work on vehicles the festiva is the only fuel efficient one. I haven't looked too close at geo metro's but i wouldn't take one over a festiva. Newer civics like 2001 and up are ok on gas but quite unreliable compared to festivas. I have owned 4 and would take a festiva over them. Newer corollas are supposedly good, i would consider a toyota echo hatchback as well, not a sedan. But they seem to be hit and miss with rust. Thats about it for fuel efficient cars in your price range. Pontiac fireflys are pretty rare.
No, front wheel bearings and/or rotors are something you replace when they just start to go bad, not before. Rear wheel bearings need greasing but anyone could do that.
As far as modifications i think the festiva will lend itself to that better than a civic or echo. Much thicker metal to attach things to
Parts are findable, especially online and other members seem to be willing to find parts for eachother at junkyards and mail them around. Im in canada and a member here mailed me a brand new part i needed from the US and i had it in like a week . I dont believe you will find a more helpful community/support group for any other vehicle.

One problem I don't think anyone's mentioned. The PO. Most people, at least in my area,, did not take care of these cars well if at all.

And the last one I bought with a minty body, the engine went after a very short while. Like not even 6 months later. Upon puling the valve cover it was obvious lack of maintenance was probably the cause. There's at least one other member who's had the same experiences I've had with these cars.

I don't mean don't buy one, but I would personally now pull the valve cover to check for a clean inside before I bought one, regardless how good the outside looks. Then adjust the price accordingly.

Well, you might do that but for someone not mechanically inclined that would be a big task. Its true that many festivas are not well maintained but the same is true for ANY cheap economical car. I dont think your more likely to buy a festiva with an engine full of gunk than a 2005 or older civic, corolla, echo... But out of all of them the festiva would be the cheapest and easiest to fix or replace a motor. I believe if my brother was with me that i could change the motor in my festiva on the side of the road using only the tools i keep in my car provided there was a tree trunk handy and a spare motor. And they are cheap - $100-$400 for a motor. Chances are it will be fine. Talk to the seller about the maintenance he did. Listen to how it runs, if it doesn't run right theres a chance the seller didn't keep up on maintenance but not necessarily. A festiva that wont run at all can sometimes be fixed with duct tape, lol.


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