1989 Ford Festiva LX 1.3
Summary:
One of the best vehicles Ford ever built
Faults:
A friend of mine told me his wife had a 1989 Ford Festiva that was inspected until 12 12 2001. He said it needed a passenger front CV joint and he said I could have the car for $75. I drove it home and went to AutoZone and bought the whole axle for $65 and installed it. Took about 30 minutes. Then I put a K&N air filter in and then put Mobil 1 full synthetic oil in, and a bottle of Lucas oil treatment. Then filled the 10 gallon tank with 93 octane gas and a 5.25 oz. bottle of Lucas fuel treatment. Then put new oil in the 4 speed trans.
It's one of the most reliable autos we have ever owned. I also bought a $69 power chip that ups the HP and MPG. Will own many more.
General Comments:
Parts are cheap and very easy to find. There are many of these cars out there. I'm 6'3" tall and 250 lb and have more room in this car than my wife's Ford Taurus. They are easy to park and very easy to maintain, and very good on gas at 40+ MPG. My wife and daughter love this car, and use it instead of any of the other vehicles we own.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 21st December, 2020
22nd Dec 2020, 12:41
OMG!
Sweet. Kudos for keeping the beast running.
Synthetic oil and fix the leaks. They run forever.
Bon chance!
22nd Dec 2020, 21:13
Not at all a waste. It keeps carbon deposits from building up. Higher octane is cleaner burning. It’s kept the car running over 350k miles now. Hard to argue with results.
27th Dec 2020, 04:12
Premium fuel often contains more detergents.
28th Dec 2020, 12:10
It's a myth that cars benefit from using higher octane gas than what the manufacturer specifies.
But it's your money -- waste it if you want to.
28th Dec 2020, 22:35
Only make sense if the motor has a pinging issue that can't be resolved. Using a higher octane usually is a fix.
29th Dec 2020, 03:09
Not a myth actually. Using lower than recommended octane levels can damage a car & have severe carbon buildup. The opposite is also true. Manufacturers tell you 87 octane is fine because it’s cheaper. Consumers don’t like cars which “require” 91 octane. More expensive. Automakers know this. Those savings buying 87 instead of just going with 91 matter up until the point you spend 100x that much on a new engine.
10th Jan 2021, 22:15
Try reading the comment again--it said using octane HIGHER than what the manufacturer recommends, not "lower than recommended". But, you say you use higher octane than recommended because you want to reduce carbon buildup, so you spend $6.00 more per 10 gallon tankful on your Festiva, considering premium gas now costs about 60 cents more per gallon than regular.
Or, you could take that same $6.00 and buy a bottle of fuel system cleaner, like Chevron Techron, that is good for 3000 miles, which is about... 7x as many miles as you get per tank at your (claimed) 40 mpg. Again, it's your money--waste it all you want.
17th Apr 2021, 15:28
This vehicle is Ford in name plate only. Engine/Trans are Mazda and it was built by Kia. I drove an '89 for 11 years and presently drive a '93. Truly great cars, just not truly great Fords.
21st Dec 2020, 18:57
93 octane gas in a Festiva, what a waste of money...