What do people think of Festivas ?

[redozzy64]

Need some point of views of the late 90's Festivas. Mum needs another car as the Camry has a blown head gasket. My sister and her husband both had a Festiva and say that they are both economical and reliable. I've tracked down a 99 model, auto, in excellant condition with 76k's on the clock for $4800. Any comments appreciated.

[Ford_The_Win]

From what I have heard they are pretty reliable and economic little runabouts. However $4800 is a little steep for a Festiva, even with the low mileage. Safety rating is lacklustre at best as well, something your mum might be bothered about.

[Ben73]

I drove a bright red one 50 metres on a quite street.
I'm 6 foot 3 and felt stupid and felt like I was driving a bubble car.

Would not like to drive on a busy public road, I would feel like everyone is looking at me.

Sorry I have no useful information on them.

[stevz]

They are one of the most unsafe cars on the road. I wouldn't recommend one to my worst enemy, let alone a loved one.

[Windsor220]

You can get much better cars for that sort of money. I am currently driving a 1997 N15 Pulsar that I picked up for $2500. Has CD player, A/C, mags, mild bodykit and other stuff.

The Festivas are probably reasonably reliable and economical but they are cheaply built and not very safe. They were a joint effort with Kia if I remember correctly. Id put it in the same class an on old Excel. Good in its day but not so good now.

[SEZ213]

Originally Posted by stevz

They are one of the most unsafe cars on the road. I wouldn't recommend one to my worst enemy, let alone a loved one.

Funny that, almost all the Festiva's I've seen on the road are driven unsafely, didn't know it was a prerequisite for the car...

[Silver Ghia]

I understand from a couple of owners I know they were pretty good car back then but they're getting on a bit now. Price is quite high IMO, its still a 12 year old car regardless of the mileage, as FTW suggested.

[homegrown]

I payed 3 grand for my car and drive it every where. Its awesome. Has air con excellent on fuel. Fold the seats down chuck all my tools in the back. Im a app. Electrician si it gets a fair work out. My only regret was not getting one earlier cos i was driving my xb coupe to work. Mines 98. Love it.

[Franco Cozzo]

Got a 1999 model in the family since new, takes one hell of a beating and abuse without issue and is still going no problem. Its a 1.5L manual, averaging 6.4L/100km highway driving.

Has floaty as hell suspension so its comfortable on crappy country roads, but it sucks *** handling wise.

Its built by Kia, with a Mazda B6 engine

[homegrown]

Your mum will love it. It has the smallest tank. 35 bucks will fill it up and it drives everywhere on that all week. For your mum yes. For a blokes image no. But im tight so i kove it:-)

[Gman_86_xr6]

As most others have already said, there isn't anything specifically wrong with them. Safety is what you would expect from a 90's micro car from South Korea and they are getting on a bit now, but they are pretty reliable and robust. They run on the bugger all petrol and will get you around town in relative comfort. That said I wouldn't pay more than $2500 for one, even if it only had 20,000 kms on it.

You should be able to pick up a '99 or '00 model Laser for that money, a much better prospect in my opinion.

[XH-Fan119]

had the same issuse buying a early 90's laser, some guy wanted 4950 for a 92 i rang him up just to remind him 'hes dreamin', my best mates missus owns a festiva four door. bugger all room any one taller than a child is cramped in the back but is fairly realible for a cheap car, easy to fix and fuel consumption is brilliant

[FalconXR6]

for fuel consumption - yes

for absolutely everything else - no

[Mongoose]

Avoid the auto like ebola. Other than that, they are very good little cars. And as said, they will go on forever even if abused. Mum had one for nigh on 10 years, took driving into a big tree at about 60km/h before the car stopped working

[Mechan1k]

I had one as a loan car ... holy hell ... I'd rather cycle through the centre of Sydney CBD.

I probably had a shocking one though ... was auto 1.3L ... when you braked ... it hooked left ... and when you accelerated ... it flung right ... had to really hang onto the steering wheel just to go straight.

It couldn't pull the skin off a custard either.

[homegrown]

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I had one as a loan car ... holy hell ... I'd rather cycle through the centre of Sydney CBD.

I probably had a shocking one though ... was auto 1.3L ... .

Mines a Big Block 1.5. Manual definately helps.

[Mechan1k]

hell yeah ... i'd rather a manual in a small car ... I have driven an auto Mirage and that was a dog as well.

If I had a choice ... I'd only get the 1.5L manual ... that's the only one you'd get in these cars.

[Franco Cozzo]

If they can drive manual and want a real small car, look into a Ford KA, its a bit safer and more modern.

Of course, it sucks *** power department wise though.

[BLUEYBA]

Can I suggest a 1999-2002KN/KQ laser. Just recently bought an SR and 140000klms with the kit and mags for $7000. its a 1.8 litre with air and steer. great little car which is actually sourced from Mazda. If you look around you may not get the SR cheaper but you may get a lower spec model for less. oh these have dual airbags as well

[Mechan1k]

One of my work colleagues has one (Ka) ... and commutes down to Sydney from the central coast in it. I used to bag it out ... but he gets good economy in it and has never had an issue with it at all. Seems like a decent run-around vehicle ... more modern than the Festiva

And there's a fair swag of mods for them from Europe as well.

[In Focus]

Saw one of these recently, left me standing on the freeway, and I was doing the 110km/h limit. I look across in disbelief as this car passes me, and I see a kid of about three asleep in the back seat. I'm thinking, "I sure hope this guy doesn't lose control or blow a tyre."

On the car itself, my Mrs. had one for about 5 years, never had any trouble with it. Probably because it was relatively unsophisticated: there's nothing high tech in them to go wrong.

[Yellow_Festiva]

They are an honest car. Simple, reliable and economical. Parts are cheap and easy to buy.

THEY ARE NOT MADE TO RUN ON E10. This may be of concern when ULP is phased out and you are forced to use PULP in a cheap runabout.

They are not safe by todays standards, (and when released as well lol) they were built to a price and it shows.

Get the 1.5l manual model. From 98 onwards (the one with the rounded headlights). There was an short run of 1.5l engines that were DOHC 66kw units but most 1.5l engines will be 12v 57kw mills.

Mine did 205,000 km when it was involved in an accident and the only time the bonnet needed to be lifted was for routine maintenance.

If you were to buy one, get one that has been held by the owner sor several years. Get real service history and the lowest km possible. The cheap ones that go for $1500 - $2000 have changed hands several times, are abused and worn and are really not worth the money.

[mash again]

i dont think of festivas

[Pis-ton broke]

I drove a '99 1.5l 2 door 5spd manual for a bit. cheap to run and it got flogged down some rough country roads and i thought it handled that ok. It was comfortable for me, an a relieable car. I must have put 60,000km on it. never put a spanner on it, excluding services of coasre.

[ebxr8240]

Good cars for what they are...
She will possibly love it no matter if auto and small engine...
It's the price range your in, which is half the issue...

[phillyc]

We had an earlier manual 1.3L Festy from new. It was the squarer shape. Terrific little car for what it was. Quite capable of taking a beating too. So low kms are not a necessity.

What you are now looking at is something that didn't evolve much from a design from the mid 80s. The price is high too.

History / lineage
Mazda 121 > Fiesta > Fiesta > Kia Rio

ie very first square 121 from Mazda, then Kia got the tooling and made the Fiesta. Same time Mazda introduced the 'rice bubble'.

The next Fiesta was based on the previous model. Eventually Kia and Ford parted ways and the Kia Rio was spawned from the 2nd gen Ford Fiesta.

I'd be going a Ford Ka (manual only - not sure if auto came out later), otherwise similar coin could get you into a older Euro Fiesta but with more kms.

Good luck with your search!

[XR Martin]

Originally Posted by phillyc

We had an earlier manual 1.3L Festy from new. It was the squarer shape. Terrific little car for what it was. Quite capable of taking a beating too. So low kms are not a necessity.

What you are now looking at is something that didn't evolve much from a design from the mid 80s. The price is high too.

History / lineage
Mazda 121 > Fiesta > Fiesta > Kia Rio

ie very first square 121 from Mazda, then Kia got the tooling and made the Fiesta. Same time Mazda introduced the 'rice bubble'.

The next Fiesta was based on the previous model. Eventually Kia and Ford parted ways and the Kia Rio was spawned from the 2nd gen Ford Fiesta.

I'd be going a Ford Ka (manual only - not sure if auto came out later), otherwise similar coin could get you into a older Euro Fiesta but with more kms.

Good luck with your search!

Dont confuse the Fiesta with the Festiva, totally different cars.

[phillyc]

Originally Posted by phillyc

We had an earlier manual 1.3L Festy from new. It was the squarer shape. Terrific little car for what it was. Quite capable of taking a beating too. So low kms are not a necessity.

What you are now looking at is something that didn't evolve much from a design from the mid 80s. The price is high too.

History / lineage
Mazda 121 > Festiva > Festiva > Kia Rio

ie very first square 121 from Mazda, then Kia got the tooling and made the Festiva. Same time Mazda introduced the 'rice bubble'.

The next Festiva was based on the previous model. Eventually Kia and Ford parted ways and the Kia Rio was spawned from the 2nd gen Ford Festiva.
I'd be going a Ford Ka (manual only - not sure if auto came out later), otherwise similar coin could get you into a older Euro Fiesta but with more kms.

Good luck with your search!

My bad. I'm usually the one correcting that mixup!!!

Fixed.

[XR Martin]

Do you hate your mother that much?

[davocol]

It has a 1 star safety rating, unless it's for your mother in law. Give it the wide berth.