Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

This car had sat for 7 years in a college parking lot. Paid $300 for it & put a quart of new oil in & 1 gallon of fresh gas, & jumped the battery. The second time the car rolled over, it started up. Drove it home. Got its regs. & insurance, & inspected the next day; it needed nothing. Total cost in the car so far $444.50, then filled the fuel tank & drove 100 miles & got 44 MPG.

Then put in racing plugs & wires, a K&N air filter system, & put Lucas in the 3 speed trans. & in the engine oil. Also 1- 5.25 oz. of Lucas in every full tank of gas. Then filled the tank full & drove 100 miles & used 1.9 gallons of gas. That's 52 MPG. The car's weight is 1700 lbs.

My wife & daughter love this car. I also put Lancer 1995 15" wheels & tires on.

Faults:

Just rear wheel bearings about every 20000 miles.

General Comments:

I bought my 1993 Festiva with 100000 miles on it for $250. The lady I got it from said the clutch was bad, but only needed adjusting.

I put Bosch Platinum +4 plugs in at $5.99 each, & Bosch wires & a K&N air filter system on the car. Then bought a performance chip for $60 that took me from 63 hp to 107hp, & 51 mpg to 58 mpg, or 7 more mpg.

It has a 1.3 liter engine at 63 hp & a 5 speed trans.

I also put Lucas engine treatment in every oil change, & also in transaxle & a 5.25 ozs. bottle in at every full tank of gas.

The rear wheel bearings go bad about every 20000 miles or so, so I ordered heavy duty ones from a California speed shop. I have not had to replace them since they were installed.

I have changed the oil & filter every 3500 miles, & the car now has 404521 miles & runs very strong. I have had 9 of these cars; 1988, 1989, 1990, 1990,1990, 1991, 1991, 1992, 1993. The best cars I've ever owned.

I also put 13" wheels on all of them from a Dodge Vista Cruiser Wagon.

Faults:

The clutch gave out. It was due to my abuse. The parking brake cable rusted through.

General Comments:

The festiva is the best car ever. I have had 15. The average story is. I bought it for $600 with 100,000 miles on it and drove it for another 200,000 essentially trouble free miles. It is not slow. It is huge inside. I've met people 6'7" down to 5'0" who find it comfortable and roomy. I have fit a lazy boy in the back. I have carried full size motorcycles in the back.

The are the most durable car with the best bang for the buck ratio. I know of 3 with over 500,000 miles on them. If you buy one you will fall in love with it.

They are also very cheap to mod and make fast. There is a huge cult following. Just type ford festiva into google and see. There are many people on the web willing to give you advice as well.

I own a Honda Element and an Accord. The festiva is far superior to any car I've ever owned or driven. Buy one or don't. I'll buy the rest.

Did I mention 40 - 50+ mpg?!